re: Good Noise Canceling Headphones in the $100-$150 range?

1) consider your actual need for noise-canceling headphones. If you're going with an over-ear sealed set of cans, active noise canceling may not be necessary. And adding active noise canceling will up the price $80-100 for little to no impact on the quality of the sound.

2) there are several brands with good over-ear offerings in this range. audio technica, Sony, and Sennheiser have great offerings in this range.

3) check out Inner Fidelity's Wall of Fame. They give very good and rather unbiased reviews, and they break down headphones and earbuds by category and compare them against similar products.

4) if you're around NOLA, check out the Best Buy on Veteran's Blvd. it's got a Magnolia Center (many elsewhere, but I believe that's the only one in LA), which means they have a good selection of higher-end audio equipment, especially headphones. You can actually put your hands on several pairs of headphones that you wouldn't find many other places and form your own opinion.