Headphones

[stan2]

i think you have most of the good suggestions already, but you might also consider shure. they make some good models in that price range, similar to ety's. however, some people may not care for the in-ear type. on the other hand, if she's going to walk around with them, she won't want the grados or senns... i'd buy from a place she can exchange. cans are kind of a personal taste thing...

[Quagmire]

Thanks guys. No she's not going to walk around with them. She is a dedicated listener and uses headphones so that she can listen at levels she enjoys without disturbing the rest of her rather large family. I think she is currently using something that would be considered a "walkman" type headphone, but that probably has more to do with affordability and her lack of knowledge about better quality cans. I'm personally very proud of her and want to continue to encourage this appreciation of music that she has. No one else in the family has inherited this particular trait from me, at least not to the same degree, and I have no doubt that at some point when she moves out on her own, her uncle will be instrumental in setting her up with a good introductory audio system. Just makes me all misty thinkin' about it. Hehe

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I do have one concern... Like I said, part of the reason she uses headphones is out of courtesy in not disturbing others. Will any of the affore mentioned headphones create a problem if she is sharing a room with a sibling?

Q

[edtyct]

Sealed headphones not only keep sound out; they also keep sound in, though some do a better job than others. "Circumaural" headphones will not necessarily be silent to people nearby. But sealed cans usually don't sound quite as good as their open counterparts. You'll notice that most of the headphones dedicated to reproducing music as faithfully as possible, at any price point, are open designs. Those made for travelers and musicians, which tend to emphasize isolation, are often closed. To tell you the truth, the Etymotics that I mentioned before may be the best compromise between sound, isolation, and price. In-ear monitors are definitely not a gimmick. But if you're not breathing down someone's neck, even an open set of cans at reasonable levels won't necessarily bother someone else in the room (though, if that person is anything like my wife when she's trying to sleep, forget it). By the way, the better the headphones, the less is the need to turn up the volume. And turning up the volume on lousy headphones usually results in fatigue at best and pain at worst.

Ed