My current notes, still looking for comparisons between these so I can cross off the inferior cans. As usual on Head-Fi, the upper end of the pricerange was magnified.
Made mandatory:
I will be getting an HD201 regardless of which of the below list I select. Call it a backup.
Likely choosing one of these:
JVC HA-RX700 - OEM A700
JVC HA-M750
Sennheiser HD485
Audio Technica ATH-SJ5
Audio Technica ATH-M30
Beyerdynamic DT235 - which replaced DT231
Not ruling out:
Koss UR40 - durability=fail, but otherwise...
Sennheiser HD212 - durability=win, but otherwise...
PX100
Ruled out for various reasons & reviews:
AKG K581DJ (=K81DJ)
Too uncomfortable for a gift
ATH-ES7
Too expensive, or this would be a great choice
PX200
"More expensive and worse sounding than PX100"
KSC-75
No clips allowed, need a headband. UR40 is the solution, and supposedly sounds = or slightly >.
PortaPro
UR40 beats it slightly & sounds better designed
iGrado
Noted as being very uncomfortable, otherwise would be great
SR60
Too expensive
SRH240
Very few good reviews of these, and expensive to boot unless you haggle
EH-350 (=HD497)
Noted as being inferior in SQ to HD485, though indestructible.
ATH-FC700 (=FC7)
Noted as uncomfortable with mediocre SQ for the price.
HA-RX900 (=A900)
Noted as inferior in SQ to cheaper HA-RX700, except for extreme bassheads.
Panasonic RP-HTX7
While stylish, noted as inferior in SQ to KSC-75. UR40 takes precedence.
HP460
Noted for being too fragile