[pheoni]

So my sister has been using terrible headphones for years now, and I'm tired of it. And so is she, she just refuses to say anything about it ^-^. We're talkin stock Apple ear buds and $2 headphones from the drugstore. Her music listening tastes are across the board, and I can't get a read on what kind of sound profile she likes. So I figure I'd try and get her a sample of different things to get an idea of what works for her. She'll also be using them to watch movies/tv about 30-50% of the time. Will mostly be driven by iPhone/iPad.
 
I've got about a $100 budget, but I'm really looking for value winners here, so I'm ok spending $50 and putting $50 into her next (better) set down the road. I don't expect these to last more than 6 months for primary listening, then get downgraded to backup headphones after she gets a better set around her birthday (prob thinking $150 budget then). I'd much rather step down, than pay for the step up.
 
She's in a residential treatment center for some trauma she suffered as a child. It's nosy environment most of the time and she needs an escapt, so the over ear needs to be closed. Isolation and comfort are currently more important than sound quality. And the headphones need to not be fragile. She takes pretty good care of her stuff, but she's going to have these sets on her most of the day and she's constantly moving to different spaces/rooms. Most/All of the listening will be done while sitting down though.

These will all be holiday presents, so they need to be purchasable somewhere online with regular stock. No hunting for used or hard to find items (Though if you have a pair to donate or find them in stock somewhere I'm all ears).
 
TLDR; - $100 total, 1 each (IEM, On-ear, over-ear), different sound profiles.  
 
These are my current thoughts, but I'm open to suggestions. 
 

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IEM:
 
Brainwavz Delta IEM ($11.50 AMZ) - Picked from Wirecutter's holiday deal guide for best in-ear <$30. Here's what they say about them:

 The highs are clear with good detail, the bass is well formed (with a slight bump in just the right area to add a lively kick to the beat), and the mids have a richness to the sound and a sense of depth of space that is uncommon in this price range. Every kind of music sounds good on them.

 So that sounds like a "V" sound profile or maybe Neutral? Thoughts?
 

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On-Ear:
 
Koss PortaPro ($25 AMZ) - Picked because I've always been told everyone should own a pair of these sometime during their life. From the headphone buying guide on... well here:

 (B[ass heavy]) Koss PortaPro, $30-$40. Strong but slightly muddy bass, recessed mids, slightly rolled off highs.

 
Also considering the Koss KSC75, but leaning toward the PortaPro's. Convince me!
 

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Over-Ear:
 
Monoprice 8323 ($20-30 shipped-Mono or AMZ) - I've seen quite the cult following over this pair of cans. Also in the guide here:
 

 (W[arm]) Monoprice 8323, $23. Removable cable, good portability, comfort, folds up for travel, and isolation. Good sound to price ratio, good balance.

 
Also considering the Sennheiser HD20x series, but the Monoprice 8323 looks more comfortable.
 

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So I think this covers basic sound profiles except maybe bright and neutral? I think it might be a good starting point. 
 
Other notes:
 
I'm likely going to cave and get a pair of Sony MDRNC13 for the active noise canceling on a budget. Sometimes she just needs isolation over sound quality. Picked for the wirecutter review. I'm not considering these part of the budget, but it would be nice to fit them in. ^-^
 
I'm also willing to hear arguments for/against a super cheap amp (FiiO E6 ?).
 
And remember, these are just her first taste. I plan on upgrading her to a better set in about 6 months based on what she likes. Who knows, maybe she sticks with the ANC most of the time. Anywho, thanks for your time and help!
 
 
Edit: Title correction; added detail about iPhone/iPad.

 

[pheoni]

Planning on pulling the trigger on this tonight if no one has any input. ^-^ Obviously I haven't made a huge mistake otherwise someone would have come and argued with me about it.
 
Still very open to input though. Thanks for lookin.

 

[billybob_jcv]

My advice is to forget the on-ear - even if we are talking about the classic porta pros. I think the refurbished Sennheiser HD439 are better than both the portapros and and the Monoprice.
http://www.vminnovations.com/Product_50177/Sennheiser-HD-439-Around-The-Ear-Portable-Headphones-Refurbished-.html

 

[pheoni]

Why should I forget the on ear? I know a number of people who have a preference for on-ear headphones vs over ear. How will she find out if she's one of them or not? 

 

[billybob_jcv]

You asked for feedback and I gave my opinion - which is that a $50 over-ear is better than either of the lower cost choices. I would rather have a comfortable & good sounding headphone. I've never heard an on-ear that I preferred to an equal cost IEM. I'm not bothered by IEM comfort - I actually prefer having a deep insertion to having my ears squished under on-ears. It is true that not everyone feels that way. I don't think the Monoprice are particularly comfortable over-ear headphones. I think the HD439 are very comfortable. You are always free to ignore advice!

 

[pheoni]

My apologies. That wasn't intended to be rude. You just offered an opinion which went against what I was asking for, which is ok. I just wanted to know the logic behind it to see if I should adopt a similar view point. And your comment on the monoprice not being comfortable is also helpful detail. ^-^

 

[Sattelight]

I don't own the portapro but I do have the koss ktxpro1 which I believe is supposed to be similar in build and it isolates very poorly. I'm not 100% sure if that translates to the portapros or not but you may want check on it if noise isolation is important. (On a side note they sound great for the price)

 

[TLoFP]

Warning, I am new to head-fi, but here it goes:
 
I got the sense from your post that isolation is paramount. From my research that pretty much narrows it down to IEM and closed over-ear headphones. Because isolation is a factor I would also suggest to not buy on-ear headphones, due to their poor isolation.
 
Besides that I think both your IEM and mono-price selections server as a good sampler.
 
I have also never had any luck with active noise canceling headphones. I think the Sennheiser HD280s are considered to be some of the most well isolating head-phones out there. Their sound profile is very flat and lean on bass. (Don't take my word on this, they are well reviewed.) They run about $100 so maybe not for the first round but something to consider down the road. As far as ruggedness goes for the HD280s: I rolled over the cord multiple times, with my office chair on hard industrial floor. I have yanked the headphones off my head many times and they were still stuck in the desktop. In general they suffered an immense amount of abuse and they have traveled allot too. Amazingly the headphone cable is still in tack and the headphones themselves are going as strong as day one. This is after approximately eight years of daily abuse.
 
TLoFP

 

[pheoni]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I understand on-ear headphones don't provide the same level of isolation as IEM or Over-ear. I couldn't find an on-ear option with decent isolation until I hit the $70+ range. So I figured that the on-ear option would give her an idea of what an open headphone sounded like. I believe the portapro's are semi open.
 
Edit: I realize this may have been helpful to point out in the original post. Sorry about that ^-^

 

[Sattelight]

Ah well portapro is probably a good option then