Help deciding on $50ish, isolating, portable/foldable headphones

ddan49 · September 1, 2012

Hello,

So... I've tried doing some research. I don't want IEMs because I have ear problems with them. Here's what I basically need:

Portable. These headphones need to be portable enough to put inside a backpack filled with textbooks. Another key here is durability, so they won't break while I'm carrying them around. They won't be under the books, but they'll be between the top of the books and the zipper of the backpack.
Isolating. I'm going to be on a loud school bus a lot while listening to them, as well as on a plane sometimes. I don't like my music loud (I'm prone to hearing loss), so I really want them to isolate well so I don't have to turn my music up that loud.

Now, comfort. Comfort isn't as much of an issue... I'll never listen to them upwards of an hour. However, if the comfort issue can't be fixed by bending the metal strip at the top upwards repeatedly (to lessen clamping force), it starts to be more of an issue. I think my head is fairly average, maybe on the larger side. This shouldn't be much of an issue.

Aesthetics. This will play a TINY part, but it should be considered a LITTLE. Basically, between two very similar headphones, the one that looks better will probably win. I don't really like the look of headphones that have the brand and version of headphones and other stuff on the headphones (like the SONY V-6), but that does NOT play a significant part in my headphone selection (if the SONY V-6 was the best by far, I'd get it).

Sound. This is, of course, important. I am NOT an audiophile by any means. I have no amp. My portable music player is a Philips GoGear Aria 8GB (for which I can't find the output for headphones in ohms... I'll assume 32) or possibly (if I can find it) an iPod Nano (5th generation with the large screen and clickwheel right before they made them crappy touchscreens). Because of this, tiny differences (which aren't that tiny to you guys probably) won't make much of a difference. I'm "youth" (as you could probably tell) so I do, of course, like some more bass in my music. Here is the music I listen to:
- Electronic (more drum & bass)
- Club/Dance
- Hip Hop
- Rap
- Pop (Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson, that kind of thing)
- Rock (Beatles, Queen, Rolling Stones... y'know... the good stuff. The sound quality for this isn't as important because the music I have for these is in a lower format, so headphones won't make much of a difference)
- European "groove" (not sure what it is really called, but I like it. Kinda chill music... maybe downtempo?
So I've done some research. I've come up with some possible contenders:

SONY V-6 (these are almost TOO expensive)
AKG K 518 LE (same as K81DJ)
Philips O'Neill "The Stretch"... cheapest of the bunch

I now have one more thing to add to the lineup. This is quite a bit more pricey, and I'd only think about these if they had GREAT isolation, but... the ATH-WS55 BASS
I'm REALLY leaning towards the ATH-WS55s ($80 on Best Buy)

Hopefully this wasn't too long! Thanks!