Sennheiser HD 450 Headphones

i've had a pair of these since the mid-90s. i used them intensively for years as a roving radio reporter: you can dismantle them in seconds so they take up almost no space in a bag
 
i've also used them for long periods while editing: they're comfy and have a neutral sound which means the ambient sound is very clear
 
one nice thing is the cable attachments: they use a socket rather than a fixed joint. the cable is long (good) and but when a clumsy person gets them trapped underfoot when standing up from the mixing desk chair, they just pull out instead of breaking. something else i like is that it's easy to push one side back a little so you can hear your surrounding while still getting a decent sound from that channel
 
i still use mine today. these have to be some of the best value cans ever, as they weren;t that pricey to begin with, and mine have lasted 17 years now. i'm on the fourth set of pads and i covered the worm-out padding on the 'U' bit ages ago with the kind of foam wrap you can use for bicycle handlebars
 
now if they only made them in a cordless version

These were my very first headphones, and ten year old me selected them by listening to demo models. If I'd been able to, I would have gone for the higher models because they had better treble, but the bass and mids on these were great. I had these for a decade or so until my brother just announced he was taking them and walked off with them. Alas, my poor headphones got lost forever, and I'm still kind of pissed about it :3
 
AFAIK they still make these for use at the BBC, so occasionally they appear on eBay, but they don't have a retail model anymore. I can only hope they're as good as my memories.