[jwramp]

I've got a few lady-friends (seniors in high-school, like me) who are interested in upgrading their headphones. This of course, made my ears perk up and listen. They aren't really picky, just have said they they want "big ones". So, i need your opinions (especially you lady-fi'ers).... i'm thinking a nice pair of headphones would be a great x-mas gift for them. Probably under 40 bucks, with nice looks (probably an essential quality for them... people normally frown on my grado's... until they listen to them, though) and good sound for the money.

 

[Capital R]

Big ones, eh? I'll recommend the cheaper Sennheisers, like the HD212's or HD201's or HD497's. They look pretty good, and they rock for the price.

 

[sgrossklass]

Koss UR-40 perhaps? Pricing for these should be quite reasonable in the US (unlike over here, where I'd rather buy a Philips), and from the pictures they're not as ugly as HD497 (open) or HD212 Pro (closed). (And yes, I have a HD497, and to me these are not too far from plain ugly, and I'm not too picky normally.) The new entry-level Senns should fare quite a bit better in terms of looks.

 

[skudmunky]

HD 201, 202, PX 100, portaPro are what I'd recommend. Don't know much about other headphones. The HD-202 has muddy bass though. Haven't heard the 201.

 

[worminater]

senn hd212pro sounds nice and has a bit of an emphasized low end that gives a bit of an initial "ooh" factor to people used to cheap headphones. Also look pretty nice in my opinion compared to grados/etc; and if its a gift for a lady, initial impression helps..

 

[Meifa]

PX-100s are pretty nice. Not "big," but they sound good.

 

[raid517]

Erm... do women actually care how things sound? I don't mean to be sexist - but every woman I have ever known seems to be just as happy listening to a cheap $10 radio as they do any high end audio system.

Well anyway, if the want 'big ones' I think that about says it all. I think this is a case of one instance where size really does matter. There are plenty to choose from at the lower end of the scale.

Actaully, I wouldn't mind doing an experiment. What would happen if you got maybe 10 women and tried them first with a reasonably low end set of phones and then a reasonably high end set? Would they be able to tell the difference? Which would they prefer?

It would be interesting to find out.

GJ

 

[Meifa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raid517 Erm... do women actually care how things sound? I don't mean to be sexist - but every woman I have ever known seems to be just as happy listening to a cheap $10 radio as they do any high end audio system. Well anyway, if the want 'big ones' I think that about says it all. I think this is a case of one instance where size really does matter. There are plenty to choose from at the lower end of the scale. Actaully, I wouldn't mind doing an experiment. What would happen if you got maybe 10 women and tried them first with a reasonably low end set of phones and then a reasonably high end set? Would they be able to tell the difference? Which would they prefer? It would be interesting to find out. GJ

Not again!

The short answer is yes, we do care about how things sound.

 

[raid517]

Well there are some very musically inclined women in the world. Maybe if you have a musical temprament it might make a difference. But you must surely be in a minority? My guess is that maybe 95% of the folks here would be guys.

In any case, sorry for the stereotype (pun intended) - but you often find that there is a little (and often a lot) of truth in every stereotype.

Or maybe I'm just not as experienced with women as I think I am?

GJ

 

[luuk]

I think akg k26 will be good (don't know about the price though), doesn't audio-technica have some nice big headphones for a low price?

 

[Emon]

It's not that women or non-audiophiles can't notice the difference, the trend is just that they don't care.

 

[Ayreonaut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emon It's not that women or non-audiophiles can't notice the difference, the trend is just that they don't care.

An audiophile is someone who really cares, a lot. Everyone that tries can hear a difference, unless they are deaf. My wife really enjoys listening to hi-fi and is glad that I have built a great HT for us to enjoy. But she wouldn't have put in the effor into it on her own because she doesn't care that much.

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayreonaut Everyone that tries can hear a difference, unless they are deaf.

Not at all. It's called "lead ears" and I've seen it with some of my friends. I know people who can't tell the difference between an SR-404 and a pair of iPod earbuds.

Only a small fraction of the population would have what we call "golden ears" - and even that is debatable, since many people who claim to have "golden ears" fail in DBT to prove it - "lead ears" is simply the other extreme of the spectrum.

I do agree in general, though - quality isn't a small subjective difference; the majority of people will be blown away by a serious hi-fi system, provided that the music is something that can really show off the system's qualities.

 

[kdread]

Why is it that women always want "big ones" ???!!!

 

[Andresin]

Why would they care more for looks because they are female?? I really believe any advice based on musical tastes/sources used/desired sound signature etc. would be much better than advice based on gender. But of course they all have pink iPods and listen to Britney Spears, right?

Maybe you could create a team sexist-fi.

There are lots of recommendations for nice cheap full-size headphones. Search.

IMHO of course