[zephyrus17]

What's a good pair of headphones for an iPod nano(2nd generation)?

My budget is around $300, and the only requirement is that it has to be an ear-cup.

 

[Awk.Pine]

I'm not up on these things, but I'll ask some questions that might help others help you.

By ear-cup, do you mean around the ear or on top of the ear?

What kind of music do you listen to? Are you most interested in bass (hip hop, pop, electronica, etc), midrange (alt. indie, jazz, americana, etc), or overall balance (classical, eclectic taste, etc)?

Do you care about isolation (blocking out external noise)?

Would you be willing to consider a portable amp plus headphones, if it stays in your budget?

Is headphone size important? (You have a small player, maybe you want small cans.)

What kind of experience do you have with hifi? Might be blasphemy to say it, but you might not need to spend $300 to get what you're after.

Oh, and don't expect a straightforward answer; you'll mostly just get folks recommending what they like, and you can read about those cans elsewhere on the forums.

Welcome to HeadFi!

 

[TaZ82]

Try the Grado's and Alessandro's. The SR-225, SR-325i or the MS1 and MS2 should be within your budget.

It's just my 2 cents worth

Oh what kind of music do you primarily listen to? And do you need any noise isolation?

 

[feh1325]

make sure your files are at a high bitrate

 

[zephyrus17]

By ear-cup, do you mean around the ear or on top of the ear?
I guess different locations have different names for it. I mean, when I put on the headphones, both my ears are full covered. Can't see any part of the ear from any angle.

What kind of music do you listen to? Are you most interested in bass (hip hop, pop, electronica, etc), midrange (alt. indie, jazz, americana, etc), or overall balance (classical, eclectic taste, etc)?
I listen to various. Specific sound quality isn't *that* important to me. Just somewhere in the middle ground will be fine.

Do you care about isolation (blocking out external noise)?
Some blocking would be good. But I think getting a pair of proper headphones with Noise Cancelling would be pushing my budget.

Would you be willing to consider a portable amp plus headphones, if it stays in your budget?
What's a portable amp?

Is headphone size important? (You have a small player, maybe you want small cans.)
I don't worry about size. I just want my ears fully covered.

What kind of experience do you have with hifi?
hifi? This will be my first pair of headphones. So it's quite all right if this pair doesn't fit me perfectly.

Quote:

Welcome to HeadFi!

 

[FatCat]

Shure E500 - 290-310$ on eBay. Best for iPod imo.

 

[Ichinichi]

Welcome to head-fi!! Sorry to say, but you need to do some more reading before posting a suggestion thread like this. $300 is a pretty decent budget for a beginner's set of cans. If you post such a generic recommendation request I can already tell you the replies you'll get at that budget for full-sized cans.

AKG K701
Audiotechnica A900
Beyerdynamic DT880
Sennheiser HD 650 (pushing your budget passed $300)
Sennheiser HD 600 (around your budget)
Sennheiser HD 595 (more below your budget)
Sennheiser HD 580 (up near $200 now that they've been discontinued, but you'll need a portable amp since its got a high impedance 300Ohms)

unless you like punchy, in which case a grado is what you're looking for.

but each has its camp of supporters since each manufacturer has its own general sound.

what about soundstage? is that important to you? open is often more airy than closed. a more forward presentation? different cans give a different projected "sound image", closer or further away from you. are you listening to these outside on the street? closed would probably be a better bet. what about the idea of carrying an amp with you? the package is suddenly more bulky and another cable is required.

you'll need to read more on these forums if you're seriously thinking of starting in this hobby. otherwise you might as well go and get a pair of bose Quiet Comforts (right at $300) !

 

[Lumient]

At that budget you have (too) many options. Should fit your budget.

Here's one:

AudioLineOut Bling Bling Dock for your Nano

iBasso T1 headphone amplifier

Sennheiser HD-595

 

[zephyrus17]

My apologies, I didn't know. Problem is, here in Singapore, the headphone scene is very, very small. It's a conservative country in this area. So I'm not really sure if I can actually buy these brand/models, and if I could, I wouldn't know where.

 

[Ichinichi]

you may want to seek out jaben (a store in singapore, uncle wilson is who you're looking for) and also seek out theory_47 and Singapura; they're both really nice people and both evidently in singapore as well. one last thing, there are resources elsewhere for others in your area.

 

[evian_vortex]

zephyrus : Well , you can always try Uncle Wilson @ Jaben ~

 

[zephyrus17]

What if I wanted Noise Cancellation as well?

 

[Ichinichi]

i've a feeling you're about to discover that the head-fi scene in singapore is larger than you imagine!

 

[Xsparc7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zephyrus17 /img/forum/go_quote.gif My apologies, I didn't know. Problem is, here in Singapore, the headphone scene is very, very small. It's a conservative country in this area. So I'm not really sure if I can actually buy these brand/models, and if I could, I wouldn't know where.

Are you sure you're from Singapore? I'm not from there but I do know Jaben

 

[zephyrus17]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ichinichi /img/forum/go_quote.gif what about soundstage? is that important to you? open is often more airy than closed. a more forward presentation? different cans give a different projected "sound image", closer or further away from you. are you listening to these outside on the street? closed would probably be a better bet. what about the idea of carrying an amp with you? the package is suddenly more bulky and another cable is required.

Honestly, I don't really care about soundstage. Actually, I have no idea, since I've never experienced different 'sound stages'.


Are the Bose Quiet Comfort 2 good?