For a middle ground between gaming and your music preferences look at the surprisingly cheap Jaycar Pro Monitors (http://www.jaycar.us/productView.asp?ID=AA2065&keywords=AA2065&form=KEYWORD).

For headphones that are better for your music than gaming check out the ATH-M50 (generally these are ~110, sometimes sales bring it to $100.)

A lot of the headphones recommended don't isolate that well so take those recommendations with a grain of salt. Any headphone with (semi-)open in the name is going to leak sound out and let sound in with few exceptions.

that jaycar looks really uncomfortable. im sure lange wants something comfortable.

Maybe they look it, but they aren't uncomfortable at all to wear. I find the m50's more uncomfortable personally.

they're not uncomfortable unless you have big ears (which unfortunately rules them out for me)

Hey before you buy, don't forget to read reviews about comfort. I'd say it's second to audio quality in terms of what really matters when you buy a pair of headphones. I bought some open air (aka not noise-cancelling) Sennheiser HD485's and they're the most comfortable things I've ever owned. They don't even touch my ears and I can wear them for 6+ hours without any discomfort.

Haven't seen Grado mentioned yet, so I'll throw Grado SR80s out there as a suggestion. They are over the ear as opposed to full sound-canceling. Easily the best headphones I've used for the price:sound quality ratio.

Grados are open-back and have narrow soundstage. They don't really fit the description.

Samson SR850

Totally no name, perhaps even OEM for some other companies, but they have a wide soundstage, great reviews on head-fi.

Semi-open so uh... Yeah no sound isolation sorry :(

There are the JVC HA-RX700/HA-RX900 which are AudioTechnica's A700X/A900X copycats

Oh I'm dumb, didn't notice he requested sound isolation. Disregard my post.

I use the AD700s, I think they are perfect for tf2 and generally using them all day, they don't have any active noise cancelling, though I wouldn't recommend that anyway. Having the headphones constantly bombard me with noise-canelling frequencies, I don't need none of that. When playing anything at regular volume I really don't hear any outside noise even if it's loud.

:}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXimXP0La-E

I just found this after reading and opening up youtube. What do you know :p

Wirecutter recommends Audio Technica ATH-M50 (http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-headphones-audio-technica-ath-m50) which are currently $119 from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000ULAP4U/thewire06-20)

Geez, I wonder how sore Audio Technica's dick is going to be after reading that link. That link spreads a lot of misinformation. The m50 are a great pair of $100 headphones for those who like bass heavy music in a portable format.

The m50 are not the second coming of Christ. There are many other headphones in the price range that compare favorably to them and often do some things a lot better. The direct competitor would be the VMODA-M80 but for other musical/gaming preferences there are far better choices. The article tries to compare them to the HD800 and the HD650 just because they are ranking favorably on head-fi. It then later tries to say they are even better than the HE-500 and the Beyer T1. Either the writer spent 1 minute gathering research for this article or they were payed by ATH, the m50 does not belong in any comparison to these headphones.

Bottom line, the m50 are a great option in the price range but to say anything else is plain wrong. Hell, I would argue that once you get to $150 they become over-priced, and as a result Euros should not be looking at them. The reason why they get such favorable reviews online is that the general internet population prefers bassy music and don't want to spend that much money on headphones. They are perhaps the least offensive headphone to most people and they don't require external devices (amps) to sound to their potential.

It's a razer product, but you can find them for 25$ on ebay - the carcharias, despite its flawed manufacturer, are really really comfortable - they may just stop working (hence buy used for cheapos to see if you like over the ear head-phones).

I wear glasses when I play, and most head sets tend to drive the ear piece into my skull, but the fit on the carcharias is great. The mic on it is pretty nice too if you're into that.

akg k240 mk2

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro-Headphones/dp/B000065BPB
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, right on budget

I can personally recommend them as I have one pair, it was the first really good pair of headphones I bought in my life, keep in mind I bought them already second handed and even then they have rocked for the last 1+ year

They block outside sound amazingly good, mine are not 100% condition since the ear pads wore out and the "plastic-leather" cover is tearing apart, still they block sound really well and are awesome for music, whether it is dubstep, rock, rap, even jazz, the lows, mids and highs are pretty even. I also play tf2 with them and can't complain.

Hi Lange.

I know it is not in your price range, but i would highly recommend those headphones.

Since i bought them, i dont want to hear any music or game sound via other device.

THEY ARE BY BABIES.

Do yourself a favor, and get them!

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD25-1-II-Closed-Back-Headphones/dp/B000TDZOXG

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61zW910C0HL.jpg

Why getting those headphones?

- Build like a truck. Honestly, it can last minimum 5 years if you care about them.
- Wires are easily removable and you can replace them yourself, very easy.
- They come with 2 set of ears pad.
- So many DJ / television / journalists use them.
- Block noise very well...

They are classics.

Good review : http://www.amazon.com/review/RP0NRQVC2F5M/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000TDZOXG&nodeID=172282&store=electronics

G35/G930

I'd also like to say this since I've had ear surgery in on both years <no tubes> You might have an infection, so I'd recommend going to see your doctor and ask if he can recommend a Otolaryngologist.

Hey Lange~!

Astro A40's are currently one of the best headphones on the market for gaming. I have my in game sound turned down the majority of the time since I have music, and I am still able to distinct if a spy uncloaks or takes fall dmg to find him.

They are also really comfortable. Prior to these headphones, I wore Turtle Beaches Px 21 that broke all the time and were heavy after wearing it for more than an hour. Astro A40's never have felt heavy and are really durable. I even sat on them one time and there were still good.

However, these are priced at $249, and are out of your price range. Was just giving you some good suggestions if you wanted to go the extra mile.

http://www.astrogaming.com/a40-audio-system-astro-edition

http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-GameCom-780-Surround-Headset/dp/B00B1KJK22/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1366138636&sr=1-1&keywords=gamecom+headphone

On sale right now. I like them however I've only had these and a cheap pair for LogTech headphones that absolutely sucked.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro-Headphones/dp/B000065BPB

I swear these are the best headphone ever made, they have incredible frequency response, especially the lows, which stay full and tight. They are also REALLY comfortable, I wore them for 20+ hours straight when I bought Skyrim. The external noise reduction is also really nice for cutting noise, but its not so strong that you become oblivious to the world around you.

Short Version: 10/10 would buy again and again.

lange - lots of headphones today on ebay daily deals...HD 419's half off

http://deals.ebay.com/tech-deals

lol