Mmmm I'd say pretty much depends on if you are interested in immersive (fun) (oompawoompa explosions, lots of bass, etc) gaming or just in competitive, cheat-like gaming (milimetrical pinpointing of enemy sound, clarity etc.). If you are interested in the later, I can't help you. If you are in for immersion, then I can give you my limited impressions.
I have only owned the Creative Aurvana Live and the
Koss KSC75. As you, i was looking for bang for the buck headphones when i joined these forums (back then when i still thought spending 100+ bucks on headphones was plain dumb), and while I have only tried those 2, I did some extensive research and read tons of other people's recommendations. I could safely afirm that I highly doubt you'll find a better bang for the buck than the Aurvana (CALs for future reference), specially considering you can get them at 50% of the full price in the official site (that'll be 50€, and well, its the official spanish website.
There is nothing that does not cost triple that ammount that I would consider buying as an upgrade to them.
About the mic and the case, I would remove those limitations, since you can buy those separately (and if you don't like on-table mics, there are plenty of clip microphones that you can attack to your headphones). Otherwise you might end up with headphones that come with those features out of the box, but that are ultimatelly much worse when it comes to bang for the buck.
The Aurvanas do come with a small puch, but nothing fancy, just a random bag that won't protect the headphones from anything more than dust.
As for portability, well i would not consider them as designed for it (they don't fold, for instance), but they are fairly small for over-ear headphones and lightweight, and they have a short cable with a detachable extension cable. When you seal them properly in your head, at moderate to semi-high lvls (i have never felt the need to go higher), they barely leak any sound out. As for outside noise isolation, i can't speak much. I know that when i wear them at home i often need to remove one of the earpads if i'm expecting a call because i just don't hear other people talking to me, or the cellphone, or the doorbell. I do have used them in places like the bus (intercity) or airplanes, but those are not particularly noisy.
Something you should also consider is the source. When i bought them I plugged them in my old desktop PC onboard audio (Asus P5Q-SE motherboard) and I was completelly disapointed by the sound. No punch whatsoever, extremelly quiet and unable to get to loud volumes. Some time after that, I bought a new PC (Asus P8Z68 V-Pro motherboard) and I was suddenly in love with all my music. Now I have spent a few months living in Germany, where i could only bring my laptop, and the sound is back to good but underwhelming. The CALs don't really need expensive source to sound good as many other headphones recommended here do, but keep in mind you might be disapointed if your source is just not good. Digital equalization (Realtek HD Audio manager) helped a lot here too.
They are also EXTREMELLY confortable. I wear them the entire day, day after day, and it never gets painful (and i'm very sensitive to that kind of stuff, i can't stand on-ear headphones for more than a few minutes before my ears start hurting terribly).
All that said, keep in mind that the bang for the buck comes at a price. In this case, it seems that all the budget went to sound quality and comfort. But if you are looking for a pair of sturdy-built headphones that would live through apocalypse, you might be disapointed. My main two complains here are:
a) The joint between the headband and the earpads is ****. With extensive use the metal parts just starts gnawing the plastic and it eventually breaks and gets detached. And you can't use superglue on plastic because it just melts. I have had 2 pairs of CALs, both new, and both have broken in both joints after a year. It's not the end of the world, i have managed to keep the whole thing together and with a good seal with gardening rope. Although its not something i would take out to the streets if you are concerned about swag and all that stuff:
b) the cables feel a little flimsy. I have had to peel them several times because one side stopped working and needed to do a joint. In any case, I am by no means an expert, so if I can do those fixes, anyone can, and ugly as they are, the headphones keep performing as the first day.
* Now take all this with a pinch of salt, I'm the kid of person who treats new stuff as if it was a Disney princess for a few days and then just get used to it and just trash it all over the place. They have fallen to the ground incountable times, I have tripped over the cables a lot and even used the cables to swing myself in my office chair as if it was a hammock. So if you are half as caring as I am, you might not have any of these problems. Note as well that these headphones have some REALLY EXTENSIVE usage. Just notice how worn out the earpads and the headband are, and that has nothing to do with unproper handling.
As for gaming sound, well I can tell you I have played both online and offline games such as BF:BC2, BF3, Arma 2, WoW, Guild Wars 2, etc and they all sound great (I do play other games, but you don't need high end sound hardware to play non-tech showcase games such as Europa Universalis, Xcom or Faster than Light). The positioning is good too (although for what I read you might find much better options if thats your primary concern).
**** FROM HERE I'M JUST GIVING YOU OTHER PEOPLE'S OPINIONS - I HAVE NEVER HEARD THESE HEADPHONES SO I'M NOT A PRIMARY SOURCE ***
Now, since I joined the forums I have consistently got recommended the Beyerdynamic DT-150 when i have asked for immersive all-rounders (that meaning that they are good for all musical genres, but also gaming and movies), and they are actually the smallest jump i might consider taking from the CALs. They cost around 140€ (although most people tend to agree they do benefit a lot from a decent dac/amp, so expect to spend at least 100/200 bucks more), are said to be built as tanks (they are aimed to a professional public, not to consumers, hence they are durable and ugly, but said to be great sounding). They do come with a detachable cable (something i'm also interested in, precisely because i treat my headphones like crap and i'd prefer the cable to detach instead of breaking when i give it a yank), although they are probably the further you can get from being portable (huge, ugly, long cable, non-foldable).
But precisely because of that (being ugly as hell and not aimed at a consumer audience), they seem to be the next step when it comes to bang for the buck. The budget goes to sound and build quality, not to getting them look like Dr.Dre Beats headphones. They are made in Germany, which for me is synonym of quality.
There is also a version with an attached mic (I believe the name is DT-190) which i seem to recall is exactly the same but with the mic. I don't know if the addition is worth the price premium (over just buying a separate microphone)
You can also check Mad Lust Envy's Gaming Buying Guide, where you can read a review of the CALs as well.
For quick reference:
HEADPHONES
D: $0-$50
Koss KSC35 / Sportapro
Koss KSC75
Koss UR40
Philips SHP2500
Sennheiser HD201
Steelseries Siberia V1 (*headset*)
Turtle Beach Z2 (*headset*)
Ultrasone HS-15 (*headset*)
C: $50-$150
Astro A30 (*headset*)
Audio-Technica AD700
Audio-Technica M50
Creative Aurvana Live! (aka "CAL")
HiFiMAN RE0 (IEM)
Nuforce HP-800
Sennheiser HD280 Pro
Skullcandy SLYR (*headset*)
Sony XB700
Tritton AX720 (*headset*)
Turtle Beach PX21 (*headset*)
Ultrasone HFI-15G
B: $150-$300
AKG K612 Pro
AKG K701 (K702)
AKG Q701
Astro A40 (*headset*)
Astro A50 (*wireless headset*)
Beyerdynamic DT770 (Pro 80 ohm)
Beyerdynamic DT880 (Premium)
Beyerdynamic DT990 (Premium)
Monster DNA On Ear
Monster DNA Pro
Philips Fidelio X1
Sennheiser HD598
Sennheiser PC360 (*headset*)
Skullcandy PLYR 1 (*wireless headset*)
Sony MA900
Tritton AX Pro (true 5.1 *headset*)
Yuin G1A
A: $300+
AKG K702 65th Anniversary Edition
AKG K712 Pro
Audeze LCD-2
Denon D7000
HiFiMAN HE-4
HiFiMAN HE-400
Koss ESP-950
MrSpeakers Alpha Dog
MrSpeakers Mad Dog v.3.2
Sennheiser HD650
Shure SRH1840
Stax SR-407
Ultrasone Pro 2900
Ultrasone Pro 900
Virtual Surround Devices
Astro Mixamp Pro (2013 Edition)
Astro Mixamp Pro (2011 Edition)
Astro Mixamp 5.8
Beyerdynamic Headzone (Base only)
Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D USB
Tritton AX 720
Turtle Beach DSS (old version)
Victor SU-DH1
External Amps
Fiio E9K (aka E09K)
Fiio E12
Objective O2
Schiit Magni
External Microphones
AntLion ModMic
Labtec LVA7330
Mini Clip-on Microphones (Neweer, HDE, DX models)
By the way, the general consensus here seems to be "stay away from hardware tagged as "gaming" because it's normally a rip off", so since I'm seeing the headphones you mentioned as "Bitfenix Flo Gaming Headset", maybe you should rethink your choice. I don't even see them mentioned once in the audio forums.
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