Headphones for a Laptop

I will second the Sony MDR-V6 or Sony MDR-7506. I had the V6, and now use the 7506. Fantastic cans, for a song...bout a hundred bucks on Amazon. 63ohm and 106db/mw, easy to drive straight from laptop.

When I use external DAC and amp...even better. :-)

you should audition the Grado sr80i or sr225i. Own sennheiser HD650s($500) and sr225i($200) and the grado holds its own. The sr80i($100) are probably one of the best deals in audio today.

I own the Sony MDR-V6 as mentioned above. Although I think they are nice, the grado's outclass them hands down. Better transparency, focus, detail, and tighter bass (not as much of it though).

Make sure to listen to the Grados before you buy them...its all preference after all.

Would be interesting to know which one you going to buy.

Thanks for all your helpful replies.

My wife is getting me the headphones as a xmas gift, so I had to let her know which ones to get. I opted for the Phiaton ms400s mainly based on their great reviews. I'll try to let you kow how they sound in January. BTW - she bought them from Amazon for only $149 (msrp is $249) with free shipping.But this was the red and black style. I prefer the new all black style but Amazon wanted $219 so I'm getting the red. I may add an amp or dac if needed, Thx again you guys n Merry Xmas.

Just thought I'd wrap up this thread by giving my impressions of the Phiaton ms400 headphones I've been using since Xmas 2012.
Overall, I'm very pleased with these 'cans'. My impression is they're a little bumped up in the bass but still maintain good detail and texture from bottom to top. The all-important midrange I would describe as neutral to the source/recording but, at the same time, very smooth and natural. The treble sounds very good; extended highs with a smooth and natural quality. I've never seen a frequency response curve for these headphones but I suspect it would show a slight bump in the bass region with a slight attenuation in the upper treble region. The only reason I say the upper treble may be toned down a bit is because I've never experienced listening fatigue even after hours of listening. The build quality is impressive with the use of carbon fiber and they're very comfortable with soft leather on the ear cups and headband. I've bought several of the all black versions of these headphones as gifts and everyone has been very pleased with them. Highly recommended.
I'm using a HifimeDiy tiny dac ($35 from Eastern Audio) that attaches through the USB port and bypasses the laptop's internal dac. And I'm using J River's Media Center to manage high resolution lossless music downloads and ripped cds. So far, so good with computer audio.

Thanks,
Tim