[Mogget]

Right, so, I've lurked a lot here and still can't make up my mind!  I'm looking at buying my first good headphones, to use with my unamped Sansa Fuze.  The budget is around $100 (Canadian).  It seems that a lot of people think highly of ATH-AD700's, and also the Alessandro MS-1's.  I've also seen a few favourable reports of the Senn HD 280 Pros.
 
My musical tastes are highly eclectic:  rock (eg. Red Hot Chili Peppers), folksy (eg. Great Big Sea), country (eg. Brad Paisley), rap (eg. Eminem), techno/electronica/whatever (eg. Daft Punk), classical (eg. piano concertos), operatic (eg. Andrea Bocelli), ... and the list goes on.  I also game a bit.  I should also mention that isolation isn't really a big concern, and that I'm probably looking for something relatively balanced-sounding -- I figure the sound engineer mixed it to sound a certain way, and why should I go messing that up?  That said, since I've never heard really good sound outside a theatre, I probably wouldn't know any better at this point.
 
So, I think this is the usual question of the best bang-for-the-buck all-around set of cans.  Any advice from you experts?

 

[GALACTUS]

not an expert but.... I have ad700, k701, m50, a700, hd595, hd650, hd800,.......If I lost my job, I would never sell the ad700....

 

[Mr Joboto]

Because you game, and listen to classical, I'd say the AD700s. They might not have 'enough bass' for your electronica but are brilliant all-round headphones.

 

[Mogget]

Back from the dead!  So the AD700's sound pretty great, but I've also now heard good things about, say, the M50's.  What if I were to hypothetically remove the "gaming" part of my requirements?

 

[Mr Joboto]

Then, yes. 

 

[David.M]

 
you mentioned listening to rap & electronic., AD700's won't deliver anything special in that category. Get yourself a M50 and be done with it. I know i would if i was in your situation

 

[Mogget]

Hmm, the more I look around, the more the AD700 doesn't seem to be my best option.  I do like the sound (figuratively speaking) of the M50 more and more (pretty enthusiastic recommendation there, David.M!).  Any idea how it stacks up against things like the Senn HD 555 and the Shure SRH 750 DJ?   The latter I can actually get from a retailer in Canada for a semi-reasonable price, which is somewhat remarkable in itself!

 

[Slaughter]

The 555 is okay for music and more comfortable than the M50, not that the M50 is not comfortable. I much prefer the M50 for music. Something sounds weird and plasticky with the 555. Great for gaming though.