Looking to Buy a Present - Budget $150 - Headphones or Earphones

• 

  iridiumstem on 27/04/2015 - 12:36

  +2

  I personally think you should ask the friend's opinon as the preferences do determine whether the friend will like the headphone or not a lot.
  At that price range, ATH-m50x do pop up a lot in recommendation list, doesn't necessarily mean that he/she will like it.

• 

  lemc6125 on 27/04/2015 - 14:08

  +1

  Don't bother with beats, they're just for show. Unless that's what your friend wants.

  • 

    iridiumstem on 27/04/2015 - 14:24

    -1

    Actually the later beats models are alright, believe it or not. Beats Solo 2 was fairly decent, bass heavy but not just bass heavy.

    • 

      iridiumstem on 27/04/2015 - 16:35

      +1

      If I got negged for recommending a beats model…

      Here is a review by Tyl. If you think he's lying, measurements to Beats Solo 2 as well on the review.
      http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/time-rethink-beats-solo…
      http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/time-rethink-beats-solo…

      And Head-Fi Forum page, just to add on top of it.
      http://www.head-fi.org/t/730815/beats-solo-2-is-the-head-fi-…

      I honestly don't care about the negging (actually I do a little, hence I am writing this), but I think it's really unfair to judge all Beats headphones as "a crappy, hipster headphone" when some of them actually do sound alright. I personally thought Beats Solo 2 was bass heavy, my girlfriend flat out told me that it was too bass heavy for her to enjoy. That being said, I didn't think it was "oh god where is everything else" bass heavy. I frankly thought these would make a decent outdoor headphone (though being bass heavy, I'd probably touch on equaliser if I want to listen to anything other than pop or hip-hop).

• 

  ProjectZero on 27/04/2015 - 14:33

  These are pretty good, I have a pair myself.

  Great SQ and build quality isn't too bad.

  • 

    blade12 on 28/04/2015 - 18:52

    Yeah, I have the 1st version of these and they were rated highly on Choice. Actually prefer them over the ATH-m50's in terms of comfort with decent sound quality to match.

• 

  cupcake on 27/04/2015 - 14:49

  Headphones.

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  porsche26c on 27/04/2015 - 16:40

  Thanks for the comments. I'll check out the audio technica range and the creative on cotd. Seems cotd have a few discounted models.

  • 

    watty on 27/04/2015 - 17:58

    +1 for the Audio Technica range

    I personally recommend the ath-ad900x (even though I use it for gaming only) but since your budget is $150, the ath-ad700x should fit your bill. Keep in mind these are open ended headphones which gives a better sound stage but will leak a lot of sound. Read some reviews on them and decide for yourself :)

    Like the comment above, the ATH-m50x is the best option but recently (aussie dollar has to do with it) I've had difficulties finding it for $150 or less.

    Good luck!