[Erikk]

I'd like to get my 8 year old a pair of over the ear headphones for his birthday. He saw the Monster, I think beats, headphones in a commercial and got all excited for them.

http://www.amazon.com/Beats-White-On-Ear-Headphone-Monster/dp/B003I84KTS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1344707667&sr=8-3&keywords=Monster+headphones

I'm definitely not considering $300 headphones for him and I know Monster at best is pricey for comparable quality and at worst is garbage. But I am willing to get something better than just piece of junk $10 supermarket ones. Call my budget $25-$75 and the closer to $25 the better tho I might even consider up to $100ish if some amazing headphones that were incredibly durable were 50% off for one day or something crazy like that.

I'm very experienced in home audio/video (in fact I am a custom integrator) but portable audio is an area I really have very little experience in current products (my shure earbuds from 10 years ago still sound great for my limited mobile audio listening) so I'm hoping some more knowledgeable experts here might chime in.

TIA

 

[obobskivich]

Kona Audio makes a set designed for kids that has a volume limit built in, and is supposedly fairly durable. Etymotic makes the EtyKids in-ears that are also limited and (I assume) durable like other Ety products.

Otherwise you might look at the Koss R/80, Bose AE2, Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, M-Audio Q40, or Creative Aurvana Live (and in all cases, he'll swim in them). I don't really like any of these (and probably wouldn't like the Kona as well) for true mobile use, because isolation and durability are major concerns there - Etys though...never had or heard a complaint. (And other IEMs can also apply, but I like the idea of volume-limiting for a child's headphone, and would assume that the EtyKids will also have smaller tips to fit smaller users).