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Alright, I have been scouring the internet for all the information I can find when it comes to the perfect set of headphones. However, with so many differing opinions, I am having a hard time settling on one pair. The headphones will be used mainly for gaming, as well as occasional movie watching and listening to music. I have decided that I am willing to spend $200.00 maximum on the new set, but preferably ~$150.00 - although if a pair can sound wonderful at $20.00 I wouldn't complain!

So far as I can tell, the top picks are as follows:

Medusa 5.1 Home Edition,

Anything Sennheiser,

SteelSeries 5H V2 non-USB,

The reason these stand out is because almost every review or comment has something to do with them, and how great they are. I would rather not have anything USB powered, and the reason I like the Medusa's so much is that they come with their own amplifier. Also, I will admit that I am a fan of appearance, if it does not look very styleish, I don't want them. I wouldn't be opposed to just buying the Medusa's or the SteelSeries, but all the reviews I read say the bass falls short on the mid range driver, or some other little thing wrong, these will be my only audio so obviously I don't want them to have major fallbacks...

So Sennheiser is out - I don't know why but I think they are really gawdy.

Anyway, those are the brands I have found, but welcome any help in selecting a pair.

For the record, currently I have the audio card that came with the P5E motherboard, Supreme FXII I believe. So something compatible with that would be great. I plan on upgrading the audio card some other day.

Grado headphones are supposed to be really nice also.  Little uncomfortable at first but until broken in.  Their SR125 go for around $150 and 225 for $200.

I've had a pair of old Sennheiser that were great for their price.  Either of those should do you well.

AKG is a fairly well known for their sound also.  they have a new HD line out but since it is a newer line reviews are hard to find. 

The best thing to do is read audiophile reviews as they will let you know about how the phones sound compared to other whether the bass is tight and punchy or lacking and if they stay flat across the frequency range.

I'd say anything in the price range your looking at form any of these companies would make you happy.

Sorry didn't mean to really make it harder for you with more choices??? 

I had a pair of the 595s and I was dissapointed but not I bought the razers 5.1 and in games it sweet with the extra positioning noises and its helps alot in scrims and matches, and music sounds great on it. It deffinetly doesnt have the bass of a subwoofer, but much better bass than the 595s.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1234050

 The Medusa 5.1 are some of the better 5.1 headsets around but 5.1 headset are just not very good. Being the best 5.1 headset is like being the thinnest fatty at at fat camp.

EDIT: 5.1's are still good for positional audio but that's about it. Most high end sound cards support some sort of surround sound emulation that will work nearly as well.

I bought the 5.1 specifically for gaming, but after playing with the eq and some of the settings I get the nice 5.1 when in game and great sound when listening to my music in itunes. So honestly its all an opinion. Ive been told 5.1 are horrible there only good for gaming and there a waste. I went against that persons advice and im happy I did lol just goes to show everything is an opinion.

My only advice would be to get a warrenty if you go with the headset I purchased the razr. Because my brothers pair fell apart in 2 months mine on the other hand are brand new, and I purchased a 2 year warrenty for 20 bucks and they will replace or repair my headset for free reguaredless of the damage. So im happy but I didnt purchase mine at newegg.

I'd recommend the Ultrasone brand.  I demo'd lots of different headphones awhile back (including Sennheiser) and settled on a set of Ultrasone HFI-700's.  They beat everything else, imho.  Mind you, these are closed-back headphones.  If you're going to be using them in a quiet environment and don't care about other people listening to what you are listening to, then open-back headphones would be better.

Ultimately, you should just try 'em out yourself.  Bring some favorite music to local audio shops and demo 'em.