[KimLaroux]

Quote:

Its Christmas...Just get him what he wants.He will love you for that. Getting him what he wants, not what you think he should want. Get the Beats this year and by next year or the year after he will want something better. Its a lesson in life and a good one at that.

 
dleblanc343, I think your little brother just created an Head-fi account. 

 
That or it's a troll.

 

[fatcat28037]

He's 11 years old. Buy him a Sony MDR-V6 for $70.00 and tell him if he doesn't like it you'll bury him under the porch with his other little brother. 

 

[devouringone3]

http://kotori.fostex.jp/201/set, if he likes the translucent Rock Nation Aviator
 
Show him the Kotori application; he can make them the colors he wants.
 
Also you can buy them with a Canadian credit card directly on the site (for 14 000 yen = 172 CAD). All you need a Japanese street address and postal code which is simple and easy to obtain on Tenso.com (site all in English and straightforward). First shipping in Tokyo is free, and Tenso asks like 25 bucks for international forwarding + their service fee; it arrives to you in 3 days after that (but note that the headphone takes a week because they are being made upon order).
 
Not to put you or him pressure into changing his choice, I just wanted to convince you that it's really super easy to buy them from Japan using Tenso.com. They measure like this but a bit better: http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/CreativeAurvana.pdf
 
 
If he really, really wants the Beats though, I will agree with what ProblemChild and Omshallom said, get him what he wants; he will be super happy. If he wants to get serious about music listening he will do it later, by selling the Beats and upgrading (and you will help him when that time comes).

 

[CashNotCredit]

My $0.02 (keyboards really need a cent sign button):

Honestly, just ask him what he likes about the Beats. Don't judge, or even word it as "Why do you want the Beats?" because that creates a negative connotation. 

If he says, "They look really cool." then who can really judge him. Aesthetics are purely subjective, and visual appeal is every bit as valid as sonic appeal.

If he says, "All my friends have/want them." then you can have a very important discussion, and maybe teach your brother an important lesson about marketing and the like.

The "Get him what he wants!" and the "No, don't let him fall victim to the hype!" comments are both a bit extreme, in my opinion. Try having a bit of dialogue about it first. Worst case scenario, he learns reasoning and how to explain why he wants something, a valuable skill that many adults lack. Best case scenario, he learns how to research products to find one that fits his needs, again, a valuable skill that many adults lack. Either way, you both win.

 

[reddragon]

Quote:

My $0.02 (keyboards really need a cent sign button):

Honestly, just ask him what he likes about the Beats. Don't judge, or even word it as "Why do you want the Beats?" because that creates a negative connotation. 

If he says, "They look really cool." then who can really judge him. Aesthetics are purely subjective, and visual appeal is every bit as valid as sonic appeal.

If he says, "All my friends have/want them." then you can have a very important discussion, and maybe teach your brother an important lesson about marketing and the like.

The "Get him what he wants!" and the "No, don't let him fall victim to the hype!" comments are both a bit extreme, in my opinion. Try having a bit of dialogue about it first. Worst case scenario, he learns reasoning and how to explain why he wants something, a valuable skill that many adults lack. Best case scenario, he learns how to research products to find one that fits his needs, again, a valuable skill that many adults lack. Either way, you both win.

 
 
 
cant word it better than you, your wording skills, how do i describe it? many adults lack?

 

[KimLaroux]

Quote:

My $0.02 (keyboards really need a cent sign button):

Honestly, just ask him what he likes about the Beats. Don't judge, or even word it as "Why do you want the Beats?" because that creates a negative connotation. 

If he says, "They look really cool." then who can really judge him. Aesthetics are purely subjective, and visual appeal is every bit as valid as sonic appeal.

If he says, "All my friends have/want them." then you can have a very important discussion, and maybe teach your brother an important lesson about marketing and the like.

The "Get him what he wants!" and the "No, don't let him fall victim to the hype!" comments are both a bit extreme, in my opinion. Try having a bit of dialogue about it first. Worst case scenario, he learns reasoning and how to explain why he wants something, a valuable skill that many adults lack. Best case scenario, he learns how to research products to find one that fits his needs, again, a valuable skill that many adults lack. Either way, you both win.

 
I agree with this, but the idea is flawed from the get go: He's gonna reply "they look really cool" either ways, just because it's what he's been led to believe. When a product is hyped, people do not go around saying "I want it because everybody else does!". They usually try to reason themselves into really, sincerely wanting them as being the best choice available. Sure there's people who don't even bother and admit they will buy something only because everybody else does. But for a kid, they will usually make a mental list of all the cool reasons why they should own this product. Confirmation bias then boosts these arguments to irrational levels. They may know down inside that they only want it because it's hyped, but they will deny themselves these arguments to concentrate on the "positive" ones. They just won't admit that their pride is on the line, and they will feel sub-human if they cannot afford to own what everybody else does. Owning this product becomes a standard of life. So when you ask a kid who wants a specific product from a specific brand and nothing else, the answer will be one of these many self-imposed arguments.

 

[reddragon]

Quote:

 
I agree with this, but the idea is flawed from the get go: He's gonna reply "they look really cool" either ways, just because it's what he's been led to believe. When a product is hyped, people do not go around saying "I want it because everybody else does!". They usually try to reason themselves into really, sincerely wanting them as being the best choice available. Sure there's people who don't even bother and admit they will buy something only because everybody else does. But for a kid, they will usually make a mental list of all the cool reasons why they should own this product. Confirmation bias then boosts these arguments to irrational levels. They may know down inside that they only want it because it's hyped, but they will deny themselves these arguments to concentrate on the "positive" ones. They just won't admit that their pride is on the line, and they will feel sub-human if they cannot afford to own what everybody else does. Owning this product becomes a standard of life. So when you ask a kid who wants a specific product from a specific brand and nothing else, the answer will be one of these many self-imposed arguments.

 
 
thats very true as well... the op should still probably talk to his brother to see what reason his brother came up with though

 

[KimLaroux]

haha, yeah, totally.
 
One thing you can do is make him list all the reasons why he wants it. Usually they become less and less convincing as they name out reasons, and end up feeling silly by the end. It ends with them throwing their hands in the air and saying "I just want them because, k?"
 
At which point you can just roll your eyes and go back to doing whatever you were doing.

 

[Irishpwnstar]

Quote:

He's 11. Get him counterfeit Beats for $11.95 and watch them rot in a corner a week later. Grouchy old 20-something man advice.

I believe this is the best course of action my friend.
And I also agree with what Mal said..

 

[reddragon]

Quote:

I believe this is the best course of action my friend.
And I also agree with what Mal said..

 
 
i own the counterfeit beats, havent listened to it for a long time. didnt think its that bad, considering its only $11.95.

 
 
p.s. some people say it doesnt sound that much worse than the real thing

 

[gee money]

Here's my story on this...
 
Christmas time last year, my 13 year old niece said she wanted a pair Dre Beats. Despite my efforts to convince her mother otherwise, she basically said that while she believed in what I was saying in terms of better headphones for the price, or even cheaper for the price, it would not make her (my niece) happy unless she got the Beats. She wanted them probably for the same reasons that your 11 year old brother wants them now. So on Christmas morning she got the Beats and I've never seen her happier. Her happiness made my family and I happy. That's what's important. She's never going to become an audiophile no matter how many times I try to convince her about better sounding HPs. So it's better to let her be happy with the beats.
 
Your brother is 11 years old. Get him the Beats and make him happy. Assuming you both live under the same roof, you have plenty of time to teach him about audiophile quality HPs and equipment. 
 
Good luck!

 

[5370H55V]

My advice is to discuss it with your brother. If you can't talk him out of the Beats then just get it for him and let him be happy on Christmas. That doesn't mean to give up on convincing him, however. Knowing kids, he'll probably have new toy syndrome, where for the next few weeks he'll be much more into music than usual and be more interested in others' headphones. This is probably your best chance to convince him; when he's starting to be interested in better audio but not attached enough to defend his Beats yet. With the Beats in hand you can have him do some extended comparisons between your rig or some of the cans suggested in this thread. Who knows, if you can convert him quickly enough you might even be able to get a refund on the Beats.

 

[reddragon]

Quote:

My advice is to discuss it with your brother. If you can't talk him out of the Beats then just get it for him and let him be happy on Christmas. That doesn't mean to give up on convincing him, however. Knowing kids, he'll probably have new toy syndrome, where for the next few weeks he'll be much more into music than usual and be more interested in others' headphones. This is probably your best chance to convince him; when he's starting to be interested in better audio but not attached enough to defend his Beats yet. With the Beats in hand you can have him do some extended comparisons between your rig or some of the cans suggested in this thread. Who knows, if you can convert him quickly enough you might even be able to get a refund on the Beats.

 
 
or just have him go to best buy and try it out from there, i have a friend who has beats pro now and i think hes starting to want better audio. by telling him that dr dre uses the m50, hes now looking into the m50. he said hes going to build an ultimate man cave, i will see what he gets for his man cave in terms of the audio part.

 

[ProjectDenz]

I doubt a 11 year old child will notice or care about true sound quality. Spending all that money on something that actually sounds decent would just make you feel more better about the headphones than the child. They just want the brand name, get them a counterfeit Beats if they want it, I doubt they would tell the difference next to the real thing.
 
Also 11 year olds don't often take good care of things, I doubt a genuine Beats would last very long due to it's shoddy build quality.

 

[reddragon]

Quote:

I doubt a 11 year old child will notice or care about true sound quality. Spending all that money on something that actually sounds decent would just make you feel more better about the headphones than the child. They just want the brand name, get them a counterfeit Beats if they want it, I doubt they would tell the difference next to the real thing.
 
Also 11 year olds don't often take good care of things, I doubt a genuine Beats would last very long due to it's shoddy build quality.

 
 
the beats pros are built pretty solid though