[starpollen]

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 consumer who cares about looks. Leaning towards the blue Fanny Wangs, but the V-Modas are also sick... and there are tons more better-quality, lower-price headphones out there. I'm into electronic music, by the way, but I don't want the bass to be so jacked up that it's artificial. Particularly if I want to hear accurate sounds when playing around on the launchpad.
 
Any thoughts? Since I'm hopelessly indecisive, this may also be to help me figure out what kind of consumer I am, lol. This will be my first audiophile-wannabe purchase
 
(I've also read through threads on these different headphones. Still not decided though. So thought I'd try throwing this out there! Very open-minded, just learning, please be nice, hehe)

 

[Error403]

Out of those, the only ones I've heard are the Fanny Wangs and I would say they have a very laid-back approach; elevated bass, ok midrange and somewhat veiled highs. They're not for listening to details, they're just for listening and looking good, and they're not very comfortable for long periods of listening, maybe 2 hours and it hurts. Not trying to turn you off them, they have excellent accessories and they do have a brilliant sound for electronica if you just want to listen, not analyse.
Otherwise, I've read the V-Moda's are a touch muddy and the Senn's are balanced all-around (as they're meant to be studio headphones, to my understanding) the Shure's will likely have elevated bass and treble, as they're DJ cans.
If you want good sound and looks, then I'd say look into Pioneer, their HDJ range has pretty nice sound (V-shaped sound signature) and looks good, as well as their newer "Bass-Head" headphones, which have just come out in Japan.

 

[starpollen]

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 read lots of gushing reviews on these classics, haha. But it's weird because many say that it offers great bang for its buck and that it was their first best headphone... until they moved on a year or so later. Seems like these are the boring all-around starter pack headphones?
 
The Sennheisers still appeal to me... and maybe some Ultrasones. Hmm. I'll keep your words in mind