Hello Jai, I was in your exact position around a month back. I had finally decided that I wanted to take my listening experience to the level that I had heard several others claiming, and I decided for some good pair of headphones that weren't going to burn a deep hole in my pocket. I did extensive research online and I found out that to maximize the quality output, a pair of noise-isolating headphones would do the trick.
Now, the definition of "noise-isolating headphones" is that they are headphones which function essentially as ear plugs and block 70-80% of outside noise so that you can get immersed and hear the finer nuances of the music. The thing to look for in them is proper and comfortable fit, amount of noise-isolation, and bass response. Another subset of headphones which are considered good in quality are "noise-canceling headphones." But, and you may be surprised by this, these headphones do not really deliver the best sound and if you look at the overall consensus online, they will concur. The definition of "noise-canceling headphones" is that they are headphones which release reverse waves for sounds that are coming from outside of the headphone domain and play music through the ear-piece as any other headphone would. So for example, if in the background you are hearing cars passing by, the headphones take those sound waves and invert them so that the crests and troughs cancel each other out and all you hear is the music that is playing. The reason these are not good headphones, IMHO, is that 1) they are very expensive 2) they are bulky 3) they don't deliver accurate sounds sometimes 4) the noise canceling doesn't always work effectively and 5) they have a relatively big, plastic unit in-between the wires that control the noise cancellation (unless you look at the Bose headphones, which are "active noise canceling" and have just an on/off button on the headphone itself). In all my research and experience with trying to hear ARR as best as possible and as much true to the sound that he intended us to hear :) , I would suggest you a pair of Etymotic ER-6i noise-isolating headphones (earphones in this case actually) that I decided to buy when I was in your position recently. They are made by a US-based company specializing in hearing products and they have by far the most excellent sound, richness, and response of all headphones and for the price it comes at, I would say that it is the best deal you can get. It has excellent noise-isolation and you can truly immerse yourself in ARR's music or any other music for that matter. And, they are very comfortable, which is often a problem over extended use. You can go to www.etymotic.com for more information. They are readily available on Amazon and many other places and most definitely fit into your budget. Cheers, Samarth
