I'm not nearly as high-fallutin as you guys..I have two pair of Sony MDR V150 phones..they're very light and comfortable and for the money have great sound.I've got one set plugged into a Yamaha board and the other into a Soundblaster sound card external to the computer..since I'm recording digital from keyboard to computer..there's no noise/distortion. I think largely the sound quality depends on the competency of the musicians. My phones cost 20 bucks each.