Heya everyone!
Apologies in advance for the wall of text.
I've been lurking the forums and reading all the guides on the site a lot over the past few days. Some great information here, it's really useful to a head-fi newbie like myself. I thought it was about time I joined and actually started interacting with everyone, rather than just sneakily watching and reading!
 
I'm currently looking to buy my first entry-level semi-decent set of headphones. However, I have quite a few criterion that need to be filled, and so I've been doing a large amount of research in to different makes, models and types that would suit me best. Here's a quick overview of what I'm looking for.
 
Budget - £50 or less
Source - iPod Nano 2GB (2nd gen), Nexus 4, laptop/pc
Requirements for Isolation - I mainly listen to music on the go, when I'm travelling by train/bus/etc and when I'm in the library working at school. Two way isolation is important for me - I don't want people to hear my music, and I don't want to hear people!
Preferred Type of Headphone - Full sized for sure. Comfort is relatively important too - I prefer the more velvety/fabric pads, I find they're more comfy and my ears don't get as hot. IEMs are a no for me - I dislike how they look, and I don't like how they feel. I wouldn't be happy spending money for them.
Preferred tonal balance - From my research, I think what I prefer is a "warm" sound - a slight boost in the bass/low end mids. I'd definitely say that I don't like listening to treble/high end heavy stuff, I find it tiring and it just feels "tinny". I'm sure there's a technical term for that somewhere.
Past headphones - Nothing fancy. I have a pair of Sony ZX 300s that someone gave me for Christmas, I do quite like the sound of them, but the isolation is non existent and they're not particularly comfortable. I've also got a pair of QOOpro headphones  that have decent isolation, but the pads are way too hard, and begin to make my ears ache after a while. Also I dislike how they look... my pair are green, I feel like I've got two turtles strapped to my head.
Preferred Music - Pretty much everything, from hip hop and rap, to soul, RnB, to techno, funk, EDM, reggae, acoustic... everything from classical to pirate metal (link in case you didn't know of it's existence, it is not my primary music taste but I do enjoy listening to a track every now and then!).
Location - UK.
TL;DR
I want a pair of headphones with decent noise cancellation that look nice and are not too expensive. Sound quality doesn't have to be perfect, but no high end boosts.
 
From what I found, it seemed the Superlux HD681 Evo were almost exactly what I wanted (I love the style too). The problem with them is the isolation, which the reviews say isn't great.
I checked out the AKG-K81DJ, but I don't really like them ascetically.
 
I've been reading through both this guide http://www.head-fi.org/t/433318/shootout-111-portable-headphones-reviewed-creative-aurvana-live-2-added-02-25-14#post_5828504 and the http://www.head-fi.org/a/headphone-buying-guide for help, but I'm truly stuck.

I think I just need to talk to someone knowledgeable about this.
Help!


Thanks.

Take a look at the Philips Citiscape Uptown.
 
A little above your budget, but I think really covers all of your bases.

If you want isolation you should check out the AKG K1000!
 
All jokes aside, viralcow is right.

viralcow said:

Take a look at the Philips Citiscape Uptown.

A little above your budget, but I think really covers all of your bases.

Click to expand...

I just looked them up, they look okay and as you say, fulfill all my needs. They are currently on Amazon for £54 too. The one thing I'm insure about on these is the cable. From the review here on head-fi and the reviews on Amazon and those elsewhere, it seems the quality if the cable really is a let down compared to the quality if the rest of the build. Seeing as I'm going to be carrying these around a lot, I'm wondering if I should look for something more robust. Then again, they do look really good to me. Ughh.

thickglasses said:

If you want isolation you should check out the AKG K1000!

All jokes aside, viralcow is right.

Click to expand...

Aha, AKG's self-described set of monitor speakers with a headband between them; The K1000 are a unique design that is the equivalent of wearing a pair of loudspeakers on the head."
Obviously great isolators

Currently I'm torn between the Uptowns or the 681 Evos.
EDIT: Just stumbled across the HD-662 series, which apparently isolate very well, and unlike the Uptowns I can replace the pads with velour pads, which is what I prefer.