Thanks for the thoughts! Yeah, I think I'm crossing out the V-Modas (sadly) because that's the general sentiment I've heard on them.   The Pioneer HDJ-500s look nice. I'll have to look more into those.   A friend very strongly recommended the Audio-Technica ATH-M50s, and I've definitely...

I've narrowed my under $200 choices to the following: Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Shure SRH550DJ V-Moda Crossfade LP Fanny Wang On-Ears   I want better listening (obvi), and I'm going to start tinkering around with a Novation launchpad in a few weeks, but I'm still a clueless mainstream...