Budget - $100 - $500. Would rather pay $400 for headphones that last 2 years than $125 for headphones that last 6 months.

Source - Tablet, smartphone or desktop computer.

Requirements for Isolation: Lots. Used to and like Active Noise Cancellation. (Spend ~2 hours each day subway commuting; at work want to block out co-worker/computer noise to focus).

Preferred Type of Headphone: Over Ear.

Preferred Tonality - Balanced.

Past headphones:

• Loved my AudioTechnica ANC-7. Used near daily for about 4 years; eventually headphone fabric wore out and foam started coming out. Can't find anywhere (yes they are listed on amazon but the reviews say they ship ANC-7bs)
• Then tried ANC-7b (the stopped making the old model). The new battery design sucked and in about a month the battery holder started falling out and had to be duct taped. Also the foam padding was much cheaper and then foam starting falling out in about 4 months.
• Next tried Bose Quiet Comfort 15 (even though I know Bose is overpriced). Hate that it there's no passive mode for when the battery dies and noise cancellation didn't seem better than AudioTechnica's. Music quality seemed muddier (like they distorts the real sound profile to add extra bass). And now ~6 months later, the right headphone intermittently goes out (replaced with some uncomfortable low frequency noise).

Preferred Music - Alternative Rock (e.g., Radiohead) to Punk (Rancid, Pogues) to folk (e.g., OCMS, Earl Scruggs) to classical to coursera lecture videos to silence. Yes silence, as in I turn on noise cancellation on to do mute distracting low frequency noises while I focus to do work.

Additional wish-list: Works in passive mode as well for when the battery dies.