Best phone under $50?

[kuma]

I read the reviews of Sony's XD series. They seem to be great phones. But I only have a budget of $50 and want a pair of portable and over the head phones to work with my VP.

How about this one, Sennheiser PX-100/200? How good are they? About sound quality, design and so on. Any one can do a more detail review of them?

What other choices I can have?

[Ishiyoshi]

If you like the XD series, I would recommend the XD200 (range from USD$20-US$30).

[Damage]

XD200 fits the bill at only $30 USD. However, it's still quite large for portable use, the cord way too long for it as well. For home listening, I consider them best bang for the buck (it is bigger than V6, as a comparison).

Here are my other recommendations:

Senn PX series, though they are $10 more than the $50 limit on your budget.

Koss PortaPro/PortaPro2. The former is $50, and comes with a leatherette pouch. The latter is only available at Circuit City and comes with nothing else, and is $20 cheaper. Both are exceedingly good for the price, though I prefer the former over the latter... Probably Psychosomatic.

Panasonic HJE50s. If you need a semi-canalphones, you won't find anything else better than this.

Koss's "60ohm series" drivers. Most of these comes in at or below $50. Found at Circuit City, Tower Records, Radio Shack (they are Koss OEMs), and other large retail chains. They offer strong, punchy bass, sharp trebles, and vocals to match accordingly. The cheapest of these starts at $20 (the clip on KSC75s), and are considered by many best bang for the buck.

Phone to avoid:

Koss the PLUGS. Just... Bass and nothing else. And not the good kind either.

Sony EX-series. They've been superceded by Panasonic HJE-50s. IF you can't find the Panasonics, the EX series are ok, but not recommended over the HJEs.

[kuma]

Thank you, guys for the great list. I am sure I can find my best fit from it.