Hi TOSG
Welcome to Head-Fi. Sorry about your wallet (standard greeting)
I'd like to ask you to please fill out your profile!
It would really help if you could provide more info about
:
your taste in music: rock, classical, jazz, etc. Where do you place priority in your music, ie vocals, instruments, bass/treble/midrange, etc
your sources : portable CD (pcdp), home setup, office, computer, etc
and how you plan to use the phones (just listening, DJ'ing, portable, home, office, etc).
This way everyone can give you some intelligent feedback.
I own the DT250-80 and like them a lot. They are easily driven from pcdp and computer soundcard without an amp. I find them good for PC gaming too. They are closed and isolate somewhat but not as much as say the HD280 for instance. The cloth pads are very comfy as is the top headband. Check out my profile to see what I listen to and what else I have.
To respond to your question with other headphone recommendation might be premature but I can tell you that other close headphones that typically are compared with the Beyer DT250-80 are the Sony V6 (also now sold as 7506 I believe), Senn HD280Pro. There are others that can be compared and a search will turn up more info for you.
I bought mine from Headroom as I live in the US (where are you?) (
www.headphone.com) mainly because they have a good return policy (30 days - no questions asked). In europe, another source is Meier Audio (
http://www.meier-audio.com/).