glslvrfan on 19/12/2009 at 15:47
For my daughter. She really only likes the little earbuds so I figured a pair of Skull Candy. I would like to stay below 70 for both. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you.
june gloom on 19/12/2009 at 16:25
Skullcandy is shite. I don't use earbuds so I can't recommend anything, but I can suggest you avoid the fuck out of Skullcandy. None of their headphones are worth the money stores ask for them.
Vivian on 19/12/2009 at 16:32
Get a sanza player (the Clip is cheap as hell (£30ish?) and sounds amazing, the Fuze is a bit more money (£60ish?), also sounds amazingly good and has a browser wheel and SD slot etc) and sennheiser cx300s - best earbuds for the money. Dethtolls right about skullcandy, they're awful.
Muzman on 19/12/2009 at 16:41
(
http://www.headphone.com/headphones/in-ear.php)
May be helpful (note, they distinguish between in-ear and earbud designs)
Skullcandy, with their name, price and response curves I'm seeing there, would I suspect hold a particular market niche.
I guess you'd have to weigh up what she listens to, how much variety in her listening and how much care she's likely to take of them before investing in some gear in the more... serious end of things, let's say.
If it's just for some loud Beyoncé on the bus or whatever they might be fine.
Aerothorn on 19/12/2009 at 17:04
Muzman beat me to it - Headroom has solid recommendations, in my experience, though sound quality is subjective enough that you'll find people squabbling about this stuff till the end of time. One big factor is where she'll be using this and what she's comfortable with. A number of people don't like the feel of IEM (in-ear headpones) vs. earbuds, but IEMs isolate sound a lot better. If she does want earbuds, check (
http://www.headphone.com/selection-guide/earbud-headphones.php). The fact that the guide is rather small shows what a move there has been from earbuds towards IEMs.
If this is something you want to spend a lot of time on, I always check (
www.head-fi.org) for headphone advice, but it can be a pretty overwhelming place. Plus, your daughter probably won't have a problem with whatever you get. So I'd just go with the headroom guys. The folks who run it are also very nice - feel free to send them an e-mail with any questions you have.
That said, Skullcandy apparently has an F rating from the Better Business Bureau, so I might avoid them for that reason alone. I've had great experience with Sennheiser as a company, and I think they have some decent cheap earbuds.
As for the music player, it's hard to say - I use a Zune 120 but those are well upwards of $70.
thefonz on 19/12/2009 at 21:00
Sansa 4gig Clip - best MP3 player I've ever owned, along with a set of...wait for it...SKULLCANDY TITAN earbuds.
Never had a problem with them and the bass levels are perfect for my need to listen to heavy metal. They're cheap and deliver what they say; I dont understand the hate towards them - and I used to own a pair of Shure headphones and I think they're overpriced nonsense.
Gingerbread Man on 19/12/2009 at 22:03
I love my V Moda Bass Freq buds... They're around $30 US usually and have great sound. Plus they've got passive noise isolation, so the upshot is that you don't have to turn them up very much to get loud, clear sound with plenty of low end. Easier on your battery, too.
Fingernail on 20/12/2009 at 11:23
Hey, phones are designed for different things. Shure ones are likely going to be aimed for monitoring purposes, not home listening. When you need to listen in detail you need something that represents as accurately as possible what's being played, but that doesn't mean it's a subjectively "nice" sound.
Briareos H on 20/12/2009 at 11:37
On the other hand, shure in-ear transducers are auditory sex in its purest form. I can positively say that I'd try to make love to my SE210s if I wasn't the remarkably well-endowed man that I am
edit:
this isn't the perfect thread for ranting since they haven't even been mentioned but I had somehow to let it out one day. The Porta Pro are the worst piece of shit that ever got called "good headphones".
