What would be the best cans for me?

You prefer open or closed headphones ?

For less than 200$ you can try Hfi580/780/pro650/srh840 for closed headphone and HFI-2400/HD598/558/AD900... for open (the last 3 aren't very bassy).

For 300$+, maybe D2000/pro900...

Ditto

If you can find Pro 900 for a good price then get it. I play Battlefield 3 with them and they are amazing! Really powerful bass and not messy.

I'd also suggest trying out the Grado SR325is - if you're OK with having an open back set of cans.  Mine are somewhat modded (upgraded Moon Audio Silver Dragon V3 cables),  but even the stock ones which can be had for just shy of $300 are good for general music listening and gaming.

To give you an idea,  I was playing Skyrim last night on my PC and was able to clearly hear when someone or something was behind me based on foot steps. I also play BF3 and COD MW a lot.  You're gonna love the sound of explosions and background music :-)

I have an Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card driving them and they sound great for all sorts of music genres...Rock, Pop, Country, Hip Hop, R&B, Jazz, Acoustical, Dance, Electronic etc.

The one thing I would suggest with the Grado's though is to change out the ear pads to the G-Cushion Jumbo pads if you can.  I think they retail for under $50,  but it places the pads around your ear,  vs. on your ear (which can get a little uncomfortable after a couple of hours of gaming or listening).

Good luck!

Your sound card will drive them with ease. I'm currently using Pro 900 straight from Xonar ST (basically the same sound card). And it sounds great! At 40% volume (with normal gain settings) it is about as loud as when I have my amp on 11 o'clock. If I increase the gain it gets really loud.

Conclusion: Xonar ST(x) drive these headphones with ease.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voxata 

I'm looking into the Pro900, lots of good reviews - I do notice that the Impedance is 40 Ohms, what does this number matter so much? In my head I think of requiring more power for stronger bass, but given the reviews this seems to slaughter alot of high imp cans out there in bass quality.

I see. No, from my understanding more impedance means higher voltage is required to drive them. You need good amps for higher impedance. It doesn't have anything to do with sound quality. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong 

You are correct. I think though that if you have more impedance, you will be more likely to use an amp, which means better sound. I doubt headphone companies do that so you'll buy an amp though. I think they make higher impedance headphones so you can run more power from better amps through them--Right?

Impedance is not as important to "driving the headphones" as is sensitivity. 

How do you measure sensitivity?

In decibels.  All headphones should list their sensitivity.  For example, the Sennheiser HD650 is 102 dB and the HiFiMan HE-6 is 83.5 db.  In this case, the HE-6 is the more difficult to drive headphone.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redrider469 

How do you measure sensitivity?

I thought decibels were the measurement of the sound pressure? I can see what you're saying about the HiFiMan's though. I was just wondering because Ultrasone's have that decentralized driver which lowers the sound pressure level by 3-4dB. How can moving a driver position change how sensitive it is?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_pressure