I have Senheiser, Ausio Technica and Sony. They all sound pretty good but the Senheiser seem to be the most durable. Though that is hardly a fair assessment as the Sony's, while beat up, are like 10 years old. I like Audio Technica products too. All this to say, I agree. Good suggestions imo.
I couldn't find the Audio Techinica's. I think I may have left them in Michigan earlier this year when I went to record some violin for an album I'm working on. The Sennheiser's are just the HD 280 Pro's. Nothing fancy, but they get the job done. The Sony's are just MDR 7506 -Also, nothing fancy but reliable and I saw them used a lot back when I was recording in other peoples studios so I got a pair. The odd ball in the group is the HFI 450 from Ultrasone. I loved these, but one of the cans went dead on me. I don't know a lot about headphones and my hearing is abysmal at this point.
Yes and just off camera I have about 200 more. Want one? Pm me your address and I'll gladly send one over tomorrow.
The bass response on a lot of the HD series has been a complaint from audiophiles for a while now actually, so you are definitely right about that. Even with my HD 598's I notice it. I'm not an audiophile so I'm not as concerned with all the technicalities of it.
Bass response an balance don't play together well on small speakers. The reason people like the way headphones like beats and such sound is because of a huge boost in the low range that is essentially faking lower frequencies on your headphone speakers. Your best best with headphone is a $50 pair of akgs unless you want to go up to the higher priced sennheisers, but it kind of depends on what you need/are using them for. I think beyerdynamic makes some pretty good headsets as well.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/K77?adpos=1o8&creative=55678058761&device=m&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CM2f4r-M1sYCFchffgodsHkOVw These are the nicer versions, we use them in the studio.
http://www.gabrians.com/product_p/AKG-K240STUDIO.htm?gclid=COqUkMSM1sYCFQenaQodhe4Dbg