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Another important thing to note about the SR60's is that they are an "on-ear" design, which means they rest right on your ears when you wear them. Some people can be sensitive to this. I owned a pair of these for about a day. I loved the sound, but I couldn't wear them for more than about 15 minutes at a time because of the pain / numbness they caused in my ears. As a result, I favor "circumaural" designs. Sennheiser is my preferred brand for this type of headphone.

I strongly recommend checking out headphone.com, particularly their buying guides, and their "value" ratings. They consistently make solid recommendations, and their amps are supposedly quite good, though I've never had a chance to use one of them myself.

Can't go wrong with the SR-60's but, as mentioned, they're open-air which means a lot of sound leaks out, and a lot of sound leaks in. Fine for listening alone in the living room, but you're sure to annoy your office mates.

Denon and Beyerdynamic offer some great closed cans, albeit out of the price range quoted above.

Check out www.head-fi.org, an indispensable resource to all things headphone related.

@therobbstory Lots of extensive reading can be found at Head-fi, but it's always good to simplify it a bit just for the beginners to get started. I would go for the higher end SR325i series as they get much more bass response compared to the SR60's. Then again, they're $300, thrice the price you're willing to pay..

AKG and Audio Technica both have good closed, circumaural (the seal goes around the ear) designs in your price, and below.

I second http://www.headphone.com/ --it's a site that has a clear rating system for headphones, descriptions of the sound they produce, and explanations of differences between closed v. open, circumaural v. supra-aural, etc. (They are often over-priced when it comes to buying, however, so find what you like there and then scout Amazon to buy.)

They give high marks to the Grado SR60--however, if you will ever be using your headphones in noisy circumstances (commuting on a train, listening on an airplane, etc) a closed, circumaural design or an in-ear design will generally block out noise better than something like the grados.

for closed headphones I would recommend the AKG K271. I have a pair and they're excellent, especially with an amp. I also have the newer Nixon Master Blaster, a fuller sound without an amp, but not as comfortable.

I use SR80s at an office with no problem. I don't listen so loudly that others can hear and the open design allows me to hear when someone says something to me. I like to still be aware of my environment, and the open air style works for me.

The stock pads are pretty uncomfortable. You can buy replacements that are better. I was lucky enough to have a crappy old pair of Sonys sitting around that I hadn't used in years but had a pretty comfortable donut-style pad that fit perfectly on the SR80s. Problem solved.

I've had my Audio Technica ATH-M30s for so long that I wore out the original earpads and had to order replacements (which only cost $3!). They're my favorite closed ears.

As for open ears, I have a few misc. pairs of Sennheiser that are awesome.

And SR60s are good too. I really like the funky styling.

The Sony MDR-7506's are okay. Ask a recording studio owner what headphones to buy, and you are likely to hear about Sennheiser hd280's. For only $100, these headphones are marvelous. I won't buy anything else for my studio, and yes - I do listen to my iPod with these headphones outside the studio.

Trust an audio guy that has worked on a lot of albums, the hd280's are well worth the Benjamin.

Almost forgot, here's a review of those Sennheiser headphones: http://rockgearreviews.com/2008/12/sennheiser-hd280-pro-closed-back-headphones/

i tried the hd280s and didn't like them (djing/production). I swapped them for the sony 7506 and i'm much happier.
it could be b/c i've djed with sony headphones for the past decade and i'm used to their sound.