Best <$200 headphones for gift to 12 year old w/Touch?

[MotionMan]

You are better off getting him a pair of 50 dollar headphones....he will shred em as said. At that price you can even afford a spare.

As said, not this 12 year old. I have no problem giving him something expensive and nice.

Also, like I said, $200 is the limit, not the minimum.

Thanks for all the imput so far. Keep 'em coming.

MotionMan

 

[0roo0roo]

cx300 mk2 are nice...and decently cheap
but they are in ear. good match for an ipod.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

grado sr-60's are a great way to get him into audiophile world.

 

[Patranus]

Bluetooth.

I got some Sony ones which might not be the best but being Bluetooth more than make up for it.

 

[guachi]

I'm a huge fan of Sennheiser headphones.

One downside of the high-end stuff with portable devices is that the resistance on the headphones can't be adequately overcome by the low power of the portable player. On the upside, this means that the headphones you can use with them are cheaper. I'd get whatever $50-60 dollar pair of over-the-ear Sennheiser headphones you can find. The sound quality should be excellent.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Audio Technica ATH-M50. From all my browsing around on Head-Fi, most people seem to think they're the best under $200. I had them for a while, and they are quite good. Very sturdy, and they sound awesome.

I have these.

For a kid, just get the Sennheiser HD280s for $80. They are awesome for an iPod.

A kid will not know the difference between the two. The Audio Technica ATH-M50s do have more bass though.

Now that I did what everone else did and told you what to get, let's go back to the begining. What kind of music does this id listen to? bands, etc. Chances are that it is over-produced garbage which does not warrant high end cans.

Senn HD-280s:http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-...5435280&amp;sr=1-1
Audio Techinica m50s: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica...5435353&amp;sr=1-1

Those are for over the ear (sealed). Your other option which is open air (if you want it) is the grado SR-60s. Very nice with more bass then the two above:
http://www.amazon.com/Grado-Prestige...5435414&amp;sr=1-1

PLEASE DO NOT GET THESE IF HE INTENDS TO TAKE THEM TO SCHOOL!

 

[note235]

DBA 02 or Vsonics imo
there are threads over at head-fi
and i personally own the DBA02 haha

 

[modestninja]

As said, not this 12 year old. I have no problem giving him something expensive and nice.

Also, like I said, $200 is the limit, not the minimum.

Thanks for all the imput so far. Keep 'em coming.

MotionMan

It's hard to make a decent recommendation when all you provide is price. Do these need to be portable? Will he be listening in noisy places? Does he care how they look? What kind of music does he listen to?

If they are going to be used in a quiet place and don't have to be portable them some cans will work better than others for the same price. Same thing if portability/noise cancellation matters. Also, some cans work better for classical, some better for hip hop, some better for rock, etc...

 

[MotionMan]

It's hard to make a decent recommendation when all you provide is price. Do these need to be portable? Will he be listening in noisy places? Does he care how they look? What kind of music does he listen to?

If they are going to be used in a quiet place and don't have to be portable them some cans will work better than others for the same price. Same thing if portability/noise cancellation matters. Also, some cans work better for classical, some better for hip hop, some better for rock, etc...

Assume they are for general use (home and in car) and that he likes the typical 12-year-olds music. They do not need to fold.

MotionMan

 

[simonizor]

Unless you know some freak 12 year old who is in to keeping all of their things extremely organized and clean, spending more than $20 on a pair of headphones is a HUGE waste of money.

 

[MotionMan]

Unless you know some freak 12 year old who is in to keeping all of their things extremely organized and clean, spending more than $20 on a pair of headphones is a HUGE waste of money.

I would not call him a freak, but I would trust him with $200 headphones.

MotionMan

 

[simonizor]

I would not call him a freak, but I would trust him with $200 headphones.

MotionMan

Then he's a freak. I wouldn't trust the average 12 year old with $200 anything.

 

[MotionMan]

Then he's a freak. I wouldn't trust the average 12 year old with $200 anything.

He (and his friends) happen to have been taught responsibility from a young age. He is more responsible that I was at that age. He also happens to be a good student, good at sports and a sweet kid (like many of his friends). He was just awarded the highest 6th grade award at his school, Dean's Award, for basically being a great kid.

Maybe if we called kids like my nephew something other than "freak", others might aspire to be like him.

/rant.

So, about those headphones...

MotionMan

 

[sdifox]

Then he's a freak. I wouldn't trust the average 12 year old with $200 anything.

I had a microscope when I was 12. Mind you I was a neat freak when it came to my stuff. yes, it was a plastic dohicky, but it was still a 200 dollar plastic dohickey.

got that out of my system now :biggrin:

 

[Joseph F]

I'd say to go with a pair of Sennheiser HD280s or Sennheiser HD 25-1 IIs. You can't go wrong with either. The HD 25-1 IIs are the more portable of the two.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I would not call him a freak, but I would trust him with $200 headphones.

MotionMan

He will not know the difference between a $80 pair of cans and a $200 pair. It is asinine. Especially without a dedicated headphone amp. I can barely tell the difference when an iPod is the source/amp.

There are leaps when you get headphones being powered by an iPod.
$5 sounds ALOT worse than $10
$10 sounds ALOT worse than $20
$20 sounds ALOT worse than $80
$80 sounds just an itty bitty better than $160 (unless you have a dedicated headphone amp)

If you really need to spend that much, why bother even asking us for advice. Just run off to Amazon and get the highest rated $150-$200 cans. We are telling you what you need to know. Take it or leave it. Your mentality is that of a person I would have expected to get those Bose noise canceling pieces of garbage by now.

 

[Joseph F]

He will not know the difference between a $80 pair of cans and a $200 pair. It is asinine. Especially without a dedicated headphone amp. I can barely tell the difference when an iPod is the source/amp.

There are leaps when you get headphones being powered by an iPod.
$5 sounds ALOT worse than $10
$10 sounds ALOT worse than $20
$20 sounds ALOT worse than $80
$160 sounds just an itty bitty better than $80 (unless you have a dedicated headphone amp)

If you really need to spend that much, why bother even asking us for advice. Just run off to Amazon and get the highest rated $150-$200 cans. We are telling you what you need to know. Take it or leave it. Your mentality is that of a person I would have expected to get those Bose noise canceling pieces of garbage by now.

FTFY

Also, he has stated that $200 is the maximum. He didn't say that he has to spend that much.

 

[MotionMan]

He will not know the difference between a $80 pair of cans and a $200 pair. It is asinine. Especially without a dedicated headphone amp. I can barely tell the difference when an iPod is the source/amp.

There are leaps when you get headphones being powered by an iPod.
$5 sounds ALOT worse than $10
$10 sounds ALOT worse than $20
$20 sounds ALOT worse than $80
$80 sounds just an itty bitty better than $160 (unless you have a dedicated headphone amp)

If you really need to spend that much, why bother even asking us for advice. Just run off to Amazon and get the highest rated $150-$200 cans. We are telling you what you need to know. Take it or leave it. Your mentality is that of a person I would have expected to get those Bose noise canceling pieces of garbage by now.

Reading comprehension fail is asinine.

Thanks, anyway.

(BTW, though I don't know anything about headphones, I knew enough to veto the Bose the others wanted to buy.)

MotionMan

 

[darkswordsman17]

Guys stop threadcrapping about it being a kid.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

OK, I'll make it simple.

If the goal is to simply spend as much as possible on sealed (over the ear) headphones that an iPod can power, then the answer is the Audio Technicas that were already mentioned (model M50). I have these on right now. A 12 year old probably wants bass. For sealed cans this is probably the way to go as these have a better low end than the Senn HD-280s and most other headphones in this category. Where category is defined as (1) Under $200, (2) for a kid (more basss is typically good to a kid), (3) over the ear (sealed) and (4) powered by an iPod.

(BTW, though I don't know anything about headphones, I knew enough to veto the Bose the others wanted to buy.)

MotionMan

You know more than alot of people.

If you want to spend less, the Senn HD 280s are an alternative.

The other bottom line is that without knowing exactly what this kid listens to, there is no way to recommend anything perfectly? The Audio Technica M50s are pretty much it in my opinion.

The nest step in sound quality would be to get a headroom BitHead which is a $150 headphone amp.
http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/amplifiers/headroom-total-bithead.php

The Airhead which would also work is $100.

You could try coupling the airhead with a lower cost pair of headphoens that need a dedicated amplifier. Probably not for a 12 year old unless he is an erd like us (likes engineering, etc)

 

[MotionMan]

OK, I'll make it simple.

I am buying for a 12-year-old. I am not a 12-year-old. There is no need to sound condescending.

If the goal is to simply spend as much as possible on sealed (over the ear) headphones that an iPod can power, then the answer is the Audio Technicas that were already mentioned (model M50).

Still not reading very well, but thanks for the input otherwise.

You know more than alot of people.

That is what a lot of people think, too.



MotionMan

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Sorry, just trying to make it simple. Not condescending. Stop overthinking what I said. The best thing you can get in your requirements is the Audio Technica M50s. They cost $150. If you want to spend less, you can. But your cap is $200 and you wanted to know what to buy. I gave you what is possibly the best option within your requiremnts.

 

[MayorOfAmerica]

OK, I'll make it simple.

If the goal is to simply spend as much as possible on sealed (over the ear) headphones that an iPod can power, then the answer is the Audio Technicas that were already mentioned (model M50). I have these on right now. A 12 year old probably wants bass. For sealed cans this is probably the way to go as these have a better low end than the Senn HD-280s and most other headphones in this category. Where category is defined as (1) Under $200, (2) for a kid (more basss is typically good to a kid), (3) over the ear (sealed) and (4) powered by an iPod.



You know more than alot of people.

If you want to spend less, the Senn HD 280s are an alternative.

The other bottom line is that without knowing exactly what this kid listens to, there is no way to recommend anything perfectly? The Audio Technica M50s are pretty much it in my opinion.

The nest step in sound quality would be to get a headroom BitHead which is a $150 headphone amp.
http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/amplifiers/headroom-total-bithead.php

The Airhead which would also work is $100.

You could try coupling the airhead with a lower cost pair of headphoens that need a dedicated amplifier. Probably not for a 12 year old unless he is an erd like us (likes engineering, etc)

Having owned the Audio Technica M50's I can say from my experience that they are ok, but they have a flat sound stage ... They are monitor headphones, which are great for studio work, but for everyday listening they are just ok. I'd prefer to have a little more depth for everyday listening.

 

[Doclife]

The Sony MDR-V6 Studio Monitor may cost $70 but sure sounds like a $200 headphones.

 

[Joseph F]

Having owned the Audio Technica M50's I can say from my experience that they are ok, but they have a flat sound stage ... They are monitor headphones, which are great for studio work, but for everyday listening they are just ok. I'd prefer to have a little more depth for everyday listening.

Remember that soundstage is highly preferential. Some people like Grados which have a very small soundstage and others like a wider soundstage such as the higher end Sennheisers.