headphones

Looking at buying another set of around the ear headphones.
Have been researching for a few days and have yet to decide. Looking for some recomendations in the $100-$200
I still have a set of Sennheiser HD280 pros (which have electrical tape holding them together). I only use them on my computer.
At presernt I have narrowed my search to Sennheisser HD 595,s, 598's AKG K 242's,and Grado Prwestige Series SR124i
Also, sould I invest in a sound card?

Hey Bill O: I can't give you an opinion on a sound card but I can recommend the Grado SR125i headphones. I have a pair and they have wonderful detail and refined bass at a reasonable price. Hopefully you will be able to listen to the ones on your short list to make sure they are comfortable and sound right to you.

How is the build quality and comfort.

My Sennheisers are comfortable, yet the plastic head wrap is cracked, the covering on the foam earcups are torn,

My Grados are pretty comfortable. They are an on-ear style that uses a full foam ear piece and I can wear them a couple of hours without them bugging me. The outside of the drivers are plastic but the build quality is good. Not like their really top end models that have wood over the drivers, but certainly acceptable. Replacement foam ear pieces are readily available from Grado to maintain comfort and should they get dirty.

A couple of things to note. Since these Grados are not an over-the-ear style others can hear what you are listening to and you will be able to hear (depending on how loud you listen) sounds around you. The other is that while you can get an 1/8" plug adapter to use with an mp3 player the Grados drain the battery pretty quick.

Yesterday, with the help of Gonk to activate my 990's headphone jack, I used the Senn 280 pro's with the 990.( first time to use headphones with the 990 )
The quality of sound comming thru the 280 pro's were greatly improved through the 990.The problem isn't as much to do with the loudness of the 990 vs my computer , but detail. If the 990 was a 10, my computer sound was a 2.
This leads me to the question what souind card sound to buy for my computer ( Azer AM-5620 ) since simply upgrading headphones is not my going to give me all that I want.
Reading much for the past 2 days on sound cards leaves me confused, not as to what they are, but all the different posibilties one can obtain form one. Any knowledge from others would be graetly apreciative.