[three4me]

I want to get my son headphones for Christmas for under $100. He will use them pretty much for his ipod to listen to music and ipad to watch movies. The ones I have looked at are Sony MDR-V6, Sennheiser HD-280 pro headphones and Sony MDR-XB500. Which one of those would be the best fit for him? Or is there something else out there that is better? He really wants the Beats but I am not spending that much plus the ones I have mentioned seem to have better reviews on amazon. Please help me pick him out a decent pair of headphones! I know if I pick one out it will probably not be what a 13 year old would pick out lol. Thank you )  

 

[Gallade475]

well, i'm 13 so i could give some insight. Sennheiser HD280's would not be very good for him because they have subpar bass and are terribly uncomfortable. For 100 bucks, a Used V-Moda M80 would be stretching it by 30 dollars, but the superb build and sound quality will be worth it. It's also quite stylish too, and give the bassy sound signature a 13 year old may want(I like balance and warmth personally). They are VERY comfortable for an on ear headphone also, and they are easy to drive from an iPod.
 
Best of luck to you.

 

[BillsonChang007]

I'm 14. The only reason why I like Beats is because of the design but I don't like the sound and so do the build quality. Go for the Noontec Zoro. It share almost the same design as the Solo HD but sound thousand times better and build so much better.

Good luck

 

[ChevymanZL1]

What kind of music does he like to listen to and are you only looking for closed back headphones?

 

[warrenpchi]

three4me, do you happen to know what type of music he listens too?  Knowing what kind of sound profile he'd like could help us narrow in on a great sounding pair for him.
 
Without knowing exactly what he listens to - but making certain assumptions about what type of music he might be listening to - I'd suggest the following as viable options in case the $100 budget is a hard limit:
 
Pioneer HDJ-500 @ $89:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047QTLVC/

Pioneer SE-MJ751 @ $78:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007TW93CI/
 
Please note that the above suggestions take into consideration the fact that he might want to look cool.  They are NOT the best sounding headphones at this price range - but neither are they the worst sounding - not by a long shot.

 

[three4me]

Quote:

well, i'm 13 so i could give some insight. Sennheiser HD280's would not be very good for him because they have subpar bass and are terribly uncomfortable. For 100 bucks, a Used V-Moda M80 would be stretching it by 30 dollars, but the superb build and sound quality will be worth it. It's also quite stylish too, and give the bassy sound signature a 13 year old may want(I like balance and warmth personally). They are VERY comfortable for an on ear headphone also, and they are easy to drive from an iPod.
 
Best of luck to you.

Thank you I will check out the V-Moda M80! You are very helpful!

 

[Rightclick/Scissors]

"But these are better than the Beats, Timmy, because...."
 
Just get him the Beats, man. It's Christmas.

 

[sulkoudai]

Get the V Moda Crossfades, they can be bought new for around 100.
 
awesome design and mainstream sound.

 

[three4me]

Quote:

three4me, do you happen to know what type of music he listens too?  Knowing what kind of sound profile he'd like could help us narrow in on a great sounding pair for him.
 
Without knowing exactly what he listens to - but making certain assumptions about what type of music he might be listening to - I'd suggest the following as viable options in case the $100 budget is a hard limit:
 
Pioneer HDJ-500 @ $89:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047QTLVC/

Pioneer SE-MJ751 @ $78:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007TW93CI/
 
Please note that the above suggestions take into consideration the fact that he might want to look cool.  They are NOT the best sounding headphones at this price range - but neither are they the worst sounding - not by a long shot.

Thank you! I will look into these. He mainly listens to rap and pop. But also listens to Country and Rock. If $100 is a hard limit than how much does a decent pair cost?

 

[Rightclick/Scissors]

Is it the On-Ear or Over-Ear Beats model he wants?
 
Sony make some pretty great mid-level stuff, in terms of bang-for-buck. Not always killer design, but never too unstylish, either.

 

[mbamg]

https://www.blinq.com/#consumer-electronics/headphones/sony-dr-zx701ip-drzx701ip-monitor-headphones-for-iphone/81733
 
Too good to pass up on.

 

[three4me]

Quote:

"But these are better than the Beats, Timmy, because...."
 
Just get him the Beats, man. It's Christmas.

I know its Christmas and he is going to make out pretty good this year even if he does not get his beats and has to settle for something else. So far for the big gifts he is getting is an ipad2, iphone 4, black opsII, Assassin's Creed 3 and for the family 27" iMac. So if he really wants those Beats he better be saving that money it is just not happening this Christmas lol.

 

[Rightclick/Scissors]

Audio Technica ES7 or ES55s might cut it. You could get white ones to match the ipad.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-ES7-Portable-Headphones-White/dp/B00164F1EY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1352596350&sr=8-2&keywords=audio+technica+es
 
Very stylish but affordable alternative.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHO9561-28-Over-Ear-Headphones/dp/B003VNKKV2/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1352596554&sr=1-12&keywords=white++headphones
 
The Sony MD7506s, the next step up from v6s, come in at just under 100 bucks and at the price are incredible! I've owned a pair, and was VERY happy with them. Puts Dre to shame.
 
If he's into Headphone geekery, I modded my set with a pair of velour pads (available online for a $10), to smooth out the bass and improve the comfort significantly. He'll be into pretty serious headphone territory with a pair of those.
 
 
 
Oh, and age has nothing to do with it...
 
Every head-fi'er is 13 when they put the cans on.

 

[three4me]

Quote:

Is it the On-Ear or Over-Ear Beats model he wants?
 
Sony make some pretty great mid-level stuff, in terms of bang-for-buck. Not always killer design, but never too unstylish, either.

I guess I am not sure? Are the boys that age wearing one more than the other? When I put in amazon over ear beats a brand named Skullcandy came up. Is that a good brand? It has decent reviews and is cheap ;o)

 

[MegaMushroom]

I feel you can do much better than the beats sound and especially lookwise.  While I can't vouch for the sound of the V-modas they do look dang snappy.  (Reviews are quite nice as well.)  And after borrowing my friend's Beats Solo I was left less than impressed.  The Solos are all bass with some midrange and almost no high end.  Another headphone to consider would be the Ultrasone HFI-580.  Another bass oriented can, but the mids and high end sound much much much more solid... nevermind the bass which is pretty epic in my opinion. You can prolly find em on Amazon for about 100-130 dollars.  Take a look at the DJ1 series as well.  Same headphone, but different color.