I'm a college student myself. I have a Panisonic portable CD player. It's faily good, cost a little over $100 bucks.
Your musical taste and living conditions are your biggest factors when choosing new gear.
For me, I wanted open-air headphones, I live in a faily quite home, just a newborn babie that crys now and then. I didn't want close cup as I still wanted to hear someone if they knocked on my door. That and I felt that the open-air allowed my ears to breath better, the sound is more to my taste. I listen to alot of Alternative, Metal, some classic rock, techno, rap, industrail, classical, new age, pretty much I listen to it all.
I wanted a headphone that could be driven faily easy, that would be for home use, either hooked up to my portable directly or to my stereo reciever. I wasn't planning on buying a headphone amp and my budget was about $225-ish. The lower the better. Comfort was a big deal to me, thats why I looked towards Sennhieser. I wanted to wear my headphones for hours and hours at a time without getting a the imfamous headphone fatigue.
I was willing to spend big bucks on headphones that would hopefully not sound like headphones.
Even though I liked metal and rock, I didn't want headphones that added to much bass or that messed with the sound, just wanted clean, clear, unaltered music. The Sennhieser 500/600 series did just that.
For a while I was debating as which to go with, the HD580 or the HD590. Most people felt that the HD580 sounded better, but they also tended to like classical music more so then I. Most commend about the HD590's where that they sounded a bit light compared to the HD580s.
I got to test the HD580s at a GoodGuys store, and I felt that the HD580s need a bit of lightness to them. So I went with the 590's, plus the HD590s are far eaiser to drive, making the better for portable player use.
Today I couldn't be happier. I watched the movie
Signs and listened to bands such as, Enigma, Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack, Gorillaz, Distrubed, Godsmack, Busta Rymes, The Smithes, The Rolling Stones, and a few others.
The only CD that sounded poor was the Godsmack CD, and it was mainly cuz it was burnt from MP3s that I downloaded from the net. The CD Disturbed, sounded good, not the greatest, it could be that i'm just getting sick and tired of them by now.
Jazz, Classical, Hip Hop, and Rap, is where these headphones really shine. More so in Claisscal but the rest it still does a fantastic job.
I really felt the theater experience when I watch the DVD movie
Signs. If you ever seen that movie, you'll know the detail that movie has with a 6 speaker surround system or how it sounds in the theater if you ever watched it there. The Sennhieser HD 590's did an a "couldn't ask for more" fantastic of a job.
I highly recomend Senneiser headphones. Regardless of your sistuation. If you need closed cup, get the HD 25 or the HD 280 Pro. If you want open air, get the HD580 or HD 590, and if your buget permits, hell go with the HD 600.
As for a cd player, you can always go to a store, plug in some headphones and test out the sound, also have it pluged into a stereo reciever and see how that sounds. If your happy, just get some headphones.
As a general rule, i find it a safe bet to be willing to spend double the cost of the audio source for the speakers or headphones.
Speakers/Headphones make such a bigg improvment on the sound. But be warned, the Sennhieser HD580 and 590's are not the kind of headphones you want to take outside.
Try and visit a GoodGuys store or any other audio store that allows you to demo headphones. Everyone's taste are differn't. I'm a Sennheiser man.
Who knows what will be your favorite brand.
If there's anyway I could add small speaker(s) to the source, that would be good too... just to sleep by, so nothing spectacular. I would also like it as small as possible because it will probably be competing for space on a desk crammed with homework.
