Headphone recommendation for a College kid
 

My son is interested in buying a headphone amp. and headphones for college. I already gave him the lecture about damage to his hearing if he listens too loud. Taking a pair of speakers/amp. etc is difficult as he has to fly to college (it is a 17 hour drive each way) ie portability is key. His budget is limited also, say $200-300 for headphones, not sure which headphone amp. . The source is going to be his computer, ipod and iphone.

If they can be "real" headphones and not "earbuds" consider some Sennheiser noise cancelling phones. Sound good, great for blocking noise from flying and college party noise.

I have a pair of the Bose noise canceling phone that I take on the airplane with me and they are nice for travel. He wants OTE phones not earbuds.

Sennheiser has 3 or 4 models that would fill the bill. I think you can buy the top of the line noise cancelling "450" model for under $300 and the "350" model for under $200 from Amazon.

Just realized that OTE could be 'On the ear" or "Over the ear". The models I spoke of above are "Over" the ear types. I own a couple of pairs of the Sennheiser "250" "on" the ear noise cancelling phones and would suggest them as well.

Look at the "portable headphone amps" from Ray Samuels. :thumbsup: News - Ray Samuels Audio

Look at Grado SR60i which are great. Grado SR 60i @ HeadRoom

If he wants sealed then the DENON AH-D1001K is a good choice. DENON AH-D1001K @ HeadRoom

While the SR60 is by no means "noise canceling" and probably won't do him much good on a plane, it is, IMHO, the best sounding <$100 set of cans you can buy, bar none. Put the change toward a decent HP amp.

So this is what my son ordered online: Stereophile: AKG Acoustics K 701 headphones The reviewers last sentence summed it up ...."the AKG K 701s are the best-sounding headphones I've heard—and not for the money, and not for picking apart a recording or playing gotcha! with recording engineers. The K 701s just flat-out sound more like music as I hear it than any other headphones I've ever heard. I love 'em and I won't be sending 'em back. "

He did all the research himself read lots of reviews and got a great deal here at buy.com: AKG K 701 Headphones - K701 - Compare Prices and Buy at PriceGrabber

When he first mentioned these headphones I never heard of them, but they look pretty nice and have decent reviews. Anyone else familiar with these ?
He also ordered a portable headphone amp. which he can plug his computer or ipod into. I already warned him about not playing the head phones too loud. He never really cared for hi fi until he heard my new system. Realizing the best hi fi dollars he could spend as a college student was on good headphones and a headphone amp. he is starting to appreciate the difference between MP3 and lossless music. He went to a few concerts so now he has a better appreciation. The seed has been planted :D I'm going to help him with a system for his bedroom when he is home again. He goes to school at Vanderbilt and has to carry everything (4 duffle bags full of stuff, flat panel tv etc.) on a airplane so bringing speakers, integrated amp. etc is not in the cards.

I have listened to the AKG 701's they are very nice, one of my customers traded his Sennheiser HD650s for a pair and never looked back.

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