Beyerdynamic T 70P 32ohm are the newest and truest audiophile headphones. 500$ price tag
beyerdynamic dt770's 32ohm (lower bass)closed back.
beyerdynamic dt990's or 880's 32ohms (wide sound stage) open back.i've owned all of these models and the sound stage is better than anything else in the price range.
AKG K 701 or 702 62ohm - wide sound stage, with proper lows
Denon AHD2000 - heavy bass- wide midrange
Grado are fancy on-ear cups. the SR225i are the midline bangers. Grado SR325IS are a step up but are an extra 100$ to the one before without much improvement just looks. the RS1i are wood carved cans. bad ass on ears. i owned a pair of these. i have big ears so they were a little small for me but they sounded really good without a amp. the GS and PS 1000's are the top of the line. if you have the money you might want to look into these. the sound stage on these are stupid wide.
Sennheiser makes some good cans. but all of them in my opinion require amplification. if not, yea you might be happy but your are forsure aren't going to get there full potential. they are mostly open back style and leak alot of sound. aswell as allow alot of ambient in.
ULTRASONE are the beast of the crop. cost a ass and a tit. fancy as hell and there are no comparison for sound.
Sony MDR-XB500 are low end. loud sound for the money but dont expect them to last
Sony MDR-SA5000 these are the highend. there are pretty huge. but they have the widest sound stage i've heard. the bleed alot of noise. i dont recommend these but they look good to me.
Sony MDR-XB1000 super comfirtable. heavy heavy bass.
Sony MDREX1000 best in-ear headphones made to date. simply because they are the most expensive. if you buy these. dont lose them are you are going to kill yourself.
dont recommend dre beats. but if i were to get any it would only be the new pro editions. they deliver bass and a higher treb than the Gen.1 models without amplification.