 | Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia Headphones
Buy new: $35.00 / Used from: $19.96 These are probably the worst earphones that I've ever tried. I bought these back in 2004 when the street price was around $40. The best way that I can describe them is hollow with coloration on the higher frequencies that will make your ears bleed.
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 | Sony MDR-V300 Monitor Series Headphones with Folding Design
Buy new: $32.99 / Used from: $32.87 A good all-around pair of headphones for the price. The bass is a bit lacking, but they're capable of reproducing nuances in recordings. Some reviews have talked about them being fragile. I disagree. I've had my pair for about 10 years now. The foam pads are starting to wear, but the frame is still intact.
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 | Sony MDR-V600 Studio Monitor Series Headphones with Circum-Aural Earcup Design
Buy new: $67.82 / Used from: $33.99 The big brother of the MDR-V300s. These provide the bass that the V300s are lacking. The construction is much more rugged, and the circumaural design is typically more comfortable for extended periods. It's hard to find much better for the sub-$100 price range.
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 | Sony MDR-ED21LP Fontopia In-The-Ear Headphones
Buy new: $15.98 / Used from: $10.00 I have owned a pair of these for about 13 years now. They have started to come apart (the earpiece are separating). These predate consumer earphones, but the extended ear piece significantly improves the bass response but is less invasive than earphones. I'm not sure if they have changed much or not, but my ancient pair has a good flat response across the board. One of my favorites.
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 | Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Pro Earphones Gun Metal Blue
Buy new: $399.89 As much as I love the sound of these things, they just don't stay in my ears. The rubber earpieces worked for about a week, then started to lose their friction. They could use a good washing, I guess. If you have small ear canals, you probably won't be able to use these. This is the one and only pair of earphones I've listened to that sound like big circumaural phones.
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 | Sennheiser HD-280 Professional Headphones
Buy new: $83.99 / Used from: $70.00 The only pair on the list that I DON'T own, I tried these out in a store and couldn't get past the added sibilance. However, they provide great noise isolation and otherwise have a nice sound. As with other Sennheiser phones in my list, added sibilance seems to be something common for that company.
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 | Sennheiser CX300-B Earbuds (Black)
Buy new: $19.79 This is a decent pair of earbuds, especially for the price. The tips are comfortable and the sound is respectable. I'll get to the CX400s in a sec, but in short, the drivers are slightly lower-quality. That being said, the sibilance isn't as jacked up, but they don't sound as detailed as the 400s. They have an asymmetrical cable too, which I personally don't like.
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 | Sennheiser CX 400 In-Ear Headphone (Black)
Buy new: $69.95 / Used from: $22.00 In comparison to the CX300s, these are much, much better for very little more money. You get much more detailed reproduction out of these and it comes with several accessories that come in handy that the CX300s don't have. These have a symmetrical cable (my preference), a cable winder, cable clip, a storage pouch, and a break-away setup (0.6m cable + 1m extension cable).
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 | Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro-80 Closed Studio Headphones
Buy new: $199.99 By far the best bass response of any headphones that I've ever tried. I mean real bass. There's a lot of added detail far below 80Hz, not the cheap, thumpy bass sound that you hear a lot, which comes from a boost in the 100-150Hz range. These do have a lot of bass, but they have a very clear reproduction across the board.
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 | AKG K240 MKII Headphones
Buy new: Too low to display These are my all-around favorites. These provide one of the most realistic responses of any headphones. I've heard it for myself, but if you ever watch behind-the-scenes footage in recording studios, you will see these a lot. I just wish that I had bought a few more pairs of them before they released the MKII and raised the price. Still worth it at their current price.
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