Portable headphones as a gift, straight from an iPod.
Oct 19, 2008 at 4:33 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 17

PhoxHound

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So I've got some extra cash on hand and I'm looking to buy some portables for my mother since she listens to her iPod basically all the time and I'm sure she'd be WOW'd by some good portables. No IEMs please, she can hardly even stand wearing earplugs. My max budget is 70 dollars. Here's what I've been considering.

She listens mostly to classic rock and rock. Stuff like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc. If possible it'd be nice if they were also good with soul or jazz music.

Even though I realize I could buy a FiiO for 10 dollars it would be awfully hard for me to explain to her what it does and why she should bother plugging it into her iPod.

Earbuds:
Yuin PK3 - Very well within my budget and good Yuin quality.
Yuin PK2 - Stretching the budget but apparently fantastic earbuds for the money.
I'm not sure if I should consider the OK series or not, or if there are really any non-Yuin earbuds worth considering.

Portables:
Koss PortaPro - The legends. I doubt she'd like clipons much (KSC75) so the PortaPros seem like a very logical solution.
AKG 414P - These have the advantage of being closed and with an apparently decent seal. Considered the 27i but they appear open.
Beyerdynamic DT235 - Again at the upper budget range but they have the advantage of great style and apparently good SQ.
Sennheiser PX100 - I'd probably pick the PortaPro over these if for no reason other than the warranty, unless these really sound that much better.
Grado SR60 - While these have the benefit of by far the best SQ of the bunch, they have two main drawbacks. First is the price, this is the absolute very highest I can go. Two is the extreme openness and leakiness. While this is fine in, say, the car, if these are to be her go-to set of 'phones I'm afraid of disturbing people on say airplanes. The comfort may or may not be an issue.

If you could give some input that'd be great. =D
 
Oct 19, 2008 at 4:49 AM Post #2 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoxHound /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Grado SR60 - While these have the benefit of by far the best SQ of the bunch, they have two main drawbacks. First is the price, this is the absolute very highest I can go. Two is the extreme openness and leakiness. While this is fine in, say, the car, if these are to be her go-to set of 'phones I'm afraid of disturbing people on say airplanes. The comfort may or may not be an issue.


Wait, what? She's gonna be wearing them in the car? While driving? I'm not sure that's a great idea, and the S60s are hardly inconspicuous headphones, I'm pretty sure the cops would have something to say about that, if they saw someone wearing over-the-ear headphones whole driving...

Unless I misunderstood you and you meant someone else was driving? And if so, I'd think that'd be annoying for the driver, as with the plane..
tongue_smile.gif


Personally, I don't have much experience (read: ANY experience) with any of these 'phones but if I were buying them for myself, I'd definitely go for the Grados, most of their stuff is legendary around these parts and I have always wanted a pair, they're not easy to get a hold of over in Australia, though, so I have never taken the plunge..
 
Oct 19, 2008 at 4:56 AM Post #3 of 17
Go with the PX100, they sound good, fold up into their own hard case, and have a very neutral design. Simple and unassuming.

Although the porta pros are legendary, they aren't exactly the most aesthetically pleasing, to me they say "I'm circa 1990 and like boom boxes." The SR60s are retro cool, and that's it. If you rock the look then perfect, otherwise, in public, they just look silly.

I think at this low end level style is important!
 
Oct 19, 2008 at 4:58 AM Post #4 of 17
I dunno, a lot of people at least around where I live listen to headphones in the car, especially when other people are playing crappy music on the radio.

Not while driving of course.
 
Oct 19, 2008 at 6:17 AM Post #5 of 17
I can't imagine any situation when that would be a good idea...
 
Oct 19, 2008 at 6:39 AM Post #9 of 17
"No IEMs please, she can hardly even stand wearing earplugs."

if prefer earbud, go for PK3 as it's more fun compare to neutral PK2. sometimes i think PK2 sound boring compare to UM2
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Oct 19, 2008 at 2:45 PM Post #10 of 17
Quote:

Originally Posted by wuwhere /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Don't cheap on mom, get her at least a UM2, an SE530 or a Tripple Fi. She'll thank you for it. John, Mick and Robert would sound their best on these buds.


2 problems with this. One is that I stated she doesn't like things way in her ears. The other is that those are ridiculously out of my 70 dollar price range. I'm not kidding when I say that's as high as I can go.

I saw a guy wearing PX100's in a library once and I heard nothing even though I walked right past him. Thus I'm assuming they don't leak much and would be a good choice. So as of now the choices are:

PX100
PK3
PK2
 
Oct 19, 2008 at 3:03 PM Post #11 of 17
Hi!

Well, since PK3 sound better than PX100 the choice is easy. Oh... Warranty... you have to think about that. Sennheiser warranty (at least in Europe) is not bad.

Jonas
 
Oct 19, 2008 at 3:40 PM Post #12 of 17
Take a look at her hair. Will she wear something that squishes a band of hair across the top? Would iGrados be better going across the back of her head? Would she wear over-the-ear phones like the KSC75s? Or is she likely to only wear buds? If you think this through then your choices will be narrowed significantly.

Mooch
 
Oct 19, 2008 at 4:58 PM Post #13 of 17
Her hair is pretty short so I doubt she'd mind headband phones. I know for a fact she doesn't like street-style and I really don't think she'd go for clips.

How's the build quality on the Yuin's? Do they tend to have cable issues or is there nothing to worry about there?

If the PK3 sounds better than the PX100 then it pretty much is just between the PK3 and the PK2. I suppose the SR60 is still in consideration but again, using these on public transportation (particularly airplanes) would be slightly problematic.

Is the OK3 worth a look as well?
 
Oct 19, 2008 at 5:31 PM Post #14 of 17
Early batch of Yuins have problems with cables. but that's only affected very early batches.

I personally suggest Yuins for their durability, portability and ease of use.

PK3 and PK2 has different sound characteristic. PK3 emphasis on lower end spectrum while PK2 emphasis on mid and high. So it depends on music preference. i cant comments on OK series though.
 

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