Why not going to a few music shops and test all their HPs?
Choosing a HP is a matter of personal taste and you must wear the HP for some minutes before you can tell if it is right for you.
We could only give you some brand names and models. Those are not necessarily fitting your needs or your head.

Open/closed type? For listening, mixing ( better not! ), musicians recording HP? MP3-Player or another gadget that does not cripple the sound?
What do you want to do with it?

I know you'd give me the rule stick over my knuckles for it, but yes I have been mixing with headphones. Not because I want to but because my room is not soundproof and my wife doesn't want to hear the songs 100 time in a row. It drives her mad. I have been thinking of near-fields anyway (small budget) and just adjusting my mixing times around when she's not here. The problem is that would mean not mixing as often. If I do that then I wouldn't replace the HP's and continue to use them for monitoring during recording only.

If I go with near field monitors my room is 13ft x 12ft so they wouldn't have to be very big and I wouldn't need a sub either. But... there are so many to choose from and I can get indecisive. Would the M-Audio BX5A Deluxe be any good for this or should I just suck up the $$$ and get the JBL LSR2325P?

Nothing wrong to mix with HPs, if this is the only way to get the job done.
It was "only" 28 years ago, when I had the same problem with my wife, although she never complaint ..she was just ..looking.. you know that " look"?? LOL...

As to the monitors, I can't give you any real advice. I have some smaller edirols and M-Audios on my office PCs, but they never could be used for mixing.
For editing and gaming, yes, . no problem. For listening to uncritical music for fun on a PC? Any time. But in a studio it is just not the kind of tools we can use.
Also, it is even more important to check monitors personally and test them in your room, if ever possible. Loud is not important, but clean sound, range and good imaging certainly is.
Much involved in the performance is your room acoustic. Surely, it depends on how deep you wanto dig into your hobby, but if you plan on doing more and better productions in future, wait till xmas and
present yourself with better Monitors. Those are one of the most important and most directly involved links in the chain. No 5.000 $ EQ can give you a good job, if you can't hear what he is doing to your sound...
For some reason am not too fond of JBLs, but they might work for you. It is certainly a step in the right direction.

I have several phones...Shure SRH840's. Real nice tracking phones and for listening. I have not mixed on them. A very quality sound however and they do a good job illuminating what I hear. Nice bass response, even and full. I also have AKG K270's. These I would mix on. They're pretty flat and very comfy. @ 75 ohms they're not as loud as others. Dual drivers. I also have Sony MDR 7506's and an ancient pair of MDR V6's. Both bright but lightweight and comfy. I dont trust these enough to mix steadily with them but I have done so. I also have several pairs of Sennheiser HD212Pro's. The most surprising headphone for the money I've ever heard. I bought 6 pairs for my tracking phones @ $30 each and they're now 6 years old and none broken!! They bleed a bit too much for close mic'ng a singer but are just fine for something mic'd up more remote. They actually sound pretty darn good. Go figure.

Thanks for the list Davedog.

If I decide to buy monitors to replace the HP's, has anybody ever heard of these guys?... KAM Fidelio 6.5 http://www.kaminstr…

I'm just checking out all the options first. There's a ton out there and each manufacturer has a dozen models. It can drive a person mad. I don't have the option of going and listening to a bunch of monitors first because the local store is very limited in what they offer or keep in stock.

WHAT ABOUT THE TANNOY PBM 6.5 MK2 monitors and what would you pay for a used pair?

I've never owned Tannoys but I see them almost every day. They are selling consumer models now. I don't know what that means for their "pro" line. Certainly there are one or two consumer loudspeakers that are also used in professional studios but that doesn't say much in itself either. I would do some reading. There are some mixed reviews on how the PBMs sound.

Not to trash on a new company but the KAM monitors don't look too impressive. It looks like another company capitalizing on cheap labor in other countries. Of course, I've never heard them before but it appears that not a lot of other people have either. The photos they have on their site are just pics with attendees at NAMM.

I would save a bit of money and spend it on the best monitors you can afford. You don't want to be making that purchase again soon. $400 will get you some entry level Yamaha HS50M or KRK Rokit 5. Until then, the Sennheisers 212Pros that Davedog suggested would probably do fine for now. Sennheiser Make nice headphones. Shure also have some nice ones I have a pair of SRH440s that sound quite nice. Very good bass response. Not sure I would mix on them but they are great for tracking/listening.

So KRK is alright hey? Whenever I look at them I just think, "they look like cheap toys." Maybe it's the yellow speakers and the packaging... my visual impressions getting the better of me. My budget isn't big so if they are a decent sounding monitor then maybe they'd be good for me. Is there a substantial difference between the Rockit series and the VXT series?

Well, price for one. KRK VXT 8 are $650 a piece here in Canada. Probably cheaper in the US but still. Much more expensive than the Rokit series. Of course they are also more rugged, louder and probably of better design than the Rokit as well. Still not quite in the range of Genelec as far as I know but a good monitor for the money. They don't sound "good" but they translate very well from my experience, from the desk to the car to the stereo. It all sounds good.

Just be careful of the low end. There isn't much to hear below 60Hz. It's there but these won't let you hear the rumble you might want to hear if you plan on adding a lot of bass drops. For that you might want to add a sub but for what I do, I don't need it. I just try not to play on that low end, otherwise it starts to get muddy real quick. You can get the punch you need from your bass tones though. Just be aware of the limitations.

Edit: tech specs state 53Hz - 20kHz +/- 2 dB. The Rokit 5 retail at around $160 each.

I normally dont recommend any sort of budget monitor. I will say for a true budget monitor the Alesis active M1 MkII is a very nice sounding speaker. Like ANY monitor you have to learn them. Since you cant afford Genelecs or a pair of Westlakes, you gotta start somewhere. Look at used ones if you can.

I like the akg 240's over the 270's because of a less prominent high/high mid. the 240's will bleed more so they aren't for tracking vocals w/ a condenser. The 270's sounded a bit bit harsh in comparason, like sony's, even though the 270's are twice the price. While my personal monitoring system (treated) 10x11x7.6 room + hr8's is not super accurate, I have used the 240's for reference on some mobile recordings for fun. They translate reasonably. When i track with them, i find that their comfort level comes w/ the compromise of movement. They move around more than a tight fitting headphone, like a sony, or sennhieisser.
i have seen people hang 240's from their 'headband' while in storage, this usually permanently maxes out their clearance, and makes them fit low on my ears. I store my pair laid down, and have a great fit/sound each time.
So, far the senheisser's 280's 'i think' are the best compromise in mix translation, fit, and long term comfort.
FWIW i think i made a mistake buying monitors that have 8" drivers vs, the 6" model. I have to get the low end 'where i like it", then turn it down a few db consistently. nature of it.
In the studio, it's the opposite i have to get the high's/mids where i like em' and then turn them up. Since the meyer hd 1's sound bright to me, i have to mix bright(er) to get it to translate.
The point of breaking headphones is a good one. My boss opts for cheap senhiessier ones that bleed and are bass-heavy. He says he's sick of replacing drivers, and full, stepped-on, pairs of pricey phones, over the past 20 years. Can i blame him? Yes. Can i afford such maintenence. No.

I've been looking at a pair of Yorkville YSM2P-II monitors and have heard that they are quite decent for the price. I did listen to them and they sounded good in the store, but when looking at the specs I see the frequency response is only 70-19000Hz (crossover frequency @ 2000Hz). That freq. response concerns me a little bit. Does anybody have experience with these monitors? Should I stay away from Yorkville?

I can get a pair of Wharfedale Diamond Studio 8.1 ProActive monitors for about the same price and their frequency response is 50-24kHz (+/-3dB) - crossover @ 2000Hz. They aren't a local purchase though so I can't try and return them.

Everything below 80 Hz, you'll need some pretty serious woofers. IE: a sub. But, I don't personally think a sub is necessary nor a good thing for the most part. A sub can make you hear things that aren't there. Unless the sub is part of a 3 way system or you have carefully matched it to your current monitors it's going to cause more problems than it's worth. Personally, I think 70Hz is fine for a standard woofer.

Thanks then. Maybe I'll seriously consider the Yorkvilles. For $199 ea. they seem really good.