Over the ear headphones for ipod.

[highland145]

Recommendations and a little help, please. My 11 year old wants Dr Dre solo's for Christmas. Overpriced crap from what I've read but it's the "style". So how do I (if it's even possible) convince him to get over the hype and go for quality? Can you go to places like Best Buy and listen to different pairs? And what does AT suggest?

Thanks,
Robert

 

[uhohs]

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/inexpensive-and-terrific-noontec-zoro

sometimes those are on sale for $50-60

 

[Childs]

I dunno, wearing knockoff Beats might get your son ridiculed. You should look at ebay for counterfeit Beats. At least then you can always say you thought they were legit...

Otherwise man up, and tell him Christmas is a time for celebrating the birth of Christ, not materialistic things that would make baby Jesus cry! :biggrin:

 

[highland145]

I dunno, wearing knockoff Beats might get your son ridiculed. You should look at ebay for counterfeit Beats. At least then you can always say you thought they were legit...

Otherwise man up, and tell him Christmas is a time for celebrating the birth of Christ, not materialistic things that would make baby Jesus cry! :biggrin:

Wasn't planning on getting knockoffs and I don't mind spending the $$. I mind spending the $$ on junk.

Think I'll take him somewhere where he can listen to different ones and try and educate him. Going to be hard to overcome the "cool" factor with his friends.

No worries. He understands the meaning of Christmas. More than most.

 

[Childs]

As I understand it, Beats are more of a status symbol. People wear them like gold chains in the 80s/90s. From what I've read they are not junk. Build quality and aesthetic design is actually pretty good, but sound wise, nothing that $100 headphones can't match or exceed. But you aren't paying for sound quality. These are headphones made by Monster Cable. You buy these because it says to other people that, well, you can buy them.

In my time, its akin to having an actual Sony Walkman, or jeans made by Levis, not Wrangler, or Air Jordans. Probably not something you can reason with him about.

 

[highland145]

As I understand it, Beats are more of a status symbol. People wear them like gold chains in the 80s/90s. From what I've read they are not junk. Build quality and aesthetic design is actually pretty good, but sound wise, nothing that $100 headphones can't match or exceed. But you aren't paying for sound quality. These are headphones made by Monster Cable. You buy these because it says to other people that, well, you can buy them.

In my time, its akin to having an actual Sony Walkman, or jeans made by Levis, not Wrangler, or Air Jordans. Probably not something you can reason with him about.

Understand the status symbol thing. Hard to say no when he makes good grades and stays out of trouble.

Heh, still have the Walkman cassette player I got for Christmas(1982?). IIRC, they were about $100. Surprised my folks went for that. $$ was tight.

Thanks.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I recently picked up a pair of Audiotechnica ATH-M50 based on a few hours of consumer research. So far I've been very pleased with the purchase (currently $113 on Amazon). They should be comparable to the high-end Beats in build quality and have much more accurate sound. (I did listen to a few pairs of Beats and found the bass levels to be overwhelming.)

They're a closed design and just 32ohms, so they're efficient enough to be driven by an ipod. They're designed more for home/studio use, however, so the cord options (either coiled or very long straight cable) aren't ideal.

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

I've got some ATH-M50's too and I like them alot. I've also go some Incase Sonic headphones and I really like the way they sound. They come in 'hip' colors and have a different style, they are comfortable as well.

 

[Childs]

Understand the status symbol thing. Hard to say no when he makes good grades and stays out of trouble.

Heh, still have the Walkman cassette player I got for Christmas(1982?). IIRC, they were about $100. Surprised my folks went for that. $$ was tight.

Thanks.

I never did get a Sony Walkman until you could get them at Walgreens for like $20, but it didnt even have auto-reverse. Is it just the Beats brand that you dont like? Maybe show him the Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro. I have some DT 770 Pros, and they are pretty good. I may get the Custom One Pros next, but I dont go anywhere with headphones so I may skip this model. Anyways, they look cool, dont need to be amped, and are made by Beyerdynamic.

hahah...since I have no kids and didnt have much growing up, I would buy him what he wants just to see the look on his face when he sees them. Especially if money isnt an issue and he's a good kid. But I'm sentimental that way, and it might set a bad precedent for future christmases.

I recently picked up a pair of Audiotechnica ATH-M50 based on a few hours of consumer research. So far I've been very pleased with the purchase (currently $113 on Amazon). They should be comparable to the high-end Beats in build quality and have much more accurate sound. (I did listen to a few pairs of Beats and found the bass levels to be overwhelming.)

They're a closed design and just 32ohms, so they're efficient enough to be driven by an ipod. They're designed more for home/studio use, however, so the cord options (either coiled or very long straight cable) aren't ideal.

I use these at work, and they are pretty good, especially for around $110. The only thing wrong with them is you cant change the cord. Even the coiled cable would seem to be too cumbersome for an iPhone on the go.

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

I use these at work, and they are pretty good, especially for around $110. The only thing wrong with them is you cant change the cord. Even the coiled cable would seem to be too cumbersome for an iPhone on the go.

You can make it shorter if you have a soldering iron and a new 3.5mm plug though. Or switch it to a completely different cable(if you have coiled and want strait). I do it for people as a hobby, if your interested in it then send me a PM.

 

[Childs]

You can make it shorter if you have a soldering iron and a new 3.5mm plug though. Or switch it to a completely different cable(if you have coiled and want strait). I do it for people as a hobby, if your interested in it then send me a PM.

I can do it, but I was referring to simply unplugging the cable from the headphone and replace it with a shorter one. Many of the newer mid to high end headhones have this feature. I just secured the cable to my desk, but the OP was looking for headphones for his son, probably for use with a phone or mp3 player. The Beats for example, allow you to switch out the cord.

 

[highland145]

Went to BB today and listened to several. Preface with I have some tinnitus and don't hear well. The beats have a lot of bass but didn't sound crisp/clear to me. I really like the Bose quiet comfort 15.....$300...um, no thanks. He picked the Sony DJ over the beats. Go figure. The $60 sennheisers sounded better than the DJ to me.

Would really like to hear the bose earbuds but at $150, I'll stick with my cheap disposable skull candies.

Thanks, Guys.