[JHex2]

Hi all,
 
I just went traveling with my brother and his old sonys were leaving black flakes on his ears, so out they go. His birthday is coming up, so I wanted to get him new headphones. 
 
He's not an audiophile, more of a "normal" person. So he doesnt want to use an amp or anything other than an iPhone or iPad or iMac. Crazy, I know. 
 
But this is my golden opportunity to get him something good.
 
I was looking at the following headphones
 
Momentums
AKG K545 > frontrunner
Beyer DT1350s
 
I am very open to any over ear headphones that would be relatively good for travel. Good noise isolation and comfort. 
 
I was also thinking of getting them recabled so they are more durable and dont break. 
 
Any input would be much appreciated. My price range is less than 500. If you know a place that sells the headphones and does the recabling, all the better. His b-day is 20May for a timeframe reference.
 
Thanks guys!

 

[gradofan1]

Have you considered the beyer T70p's? They have low impedance and are over ear (not on ear like the 1350's), so they'd isolate more noise.
 
No point in getting them recabled -- you might as well spend a few hundred bucks extra and get a t5p. But if you insist, BTG audio does a great job with recabling.
 
If you're open to open back headphones (don't care as much about the noise isolation), the sennheiser HD600 or HD650 is the obvious choice. It has detachable cables. But it requires power to drive and you're not going to get that from an iPhone. Otherwise the HifiMAN HE400 with its recent $100 price drop is another detachable cable phone with open back, which CAN be driven off an iPhone or Macbook.

 

[JHex2]

The HE400s do seem very nice, and his favorite color is blue. Do you think he could throw them in a backpack, or are they too fragile for that?

 

[gradofan1]

Nah, they're pretty durable. I have the HE300/400/500/HE6 and the build quality seems pretty good.

 

[ubs28]

I guess the B&W P7 is a safe bet.

 

[cel4145]

The HE400s do seem very nice, and his favorite color is blue. Do you think he could throw them in a backpack, or are they too fragile for that?

The HE-400s would not be good for travel. They are open headphones which means no isolation.

 

[Claritas]

For portability, you need closed.
 
For comfort, you're less likely to go wrong with over ear because on ear models (such as HD25-1, DT1350, &c.) rely on clamping pressure to get a good seal.
 
* What sort of music does he listen to?
 
One of the currently popular models to look into is HP50. I haven't tried it as I prefer a bass light sound (not that it's supposed to be bass heavy but it's billed as warmer than neutral).

 

[milk]

The momentums are a pretty good route for what he needs, small and pretty portable, look fantastic, and have a bit of the friendlier sound the average consumer may appreciate, such as a warm mid range and present bass while retaining good detail. I would go with these out of your 3 mentioned, it's hard to be disappointed with them, or if the comfort may be an issue, the Sony MDR 1-R may do the trick, they're more comfortable and have an even warmer mid range which makes them very easy to listen to.

The dt 1350 are really great but can be unappealing to someone looking for the casual listener or "normal" sound sig as they can be cold and very analytical at times.