I’m looking for a pair of headphones as a present for my 14 year old daughter. She listens to metal and indie mainly and wants on ear headphones.

I know precious little about these things but have spotted quite a few sound afficionado threads on here so I’m hoping there may be someone in the know.

So, any recommendations?

B&O over ear, just in budget.

Mr Nutt, Better than BOSE or Beats?

Why spend so much??

AKG K451/2

http://www.whathifi.com/akg/k451/review

Sub £50 now too.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50X-Monitor-Professional-Headphones/dp/B00HVLUR86

Another vote for the AKG K451s here, read the reviews, and also for a 14 year old, less attractive to thieves than the big name ‘phones.
I have a pair for watching stuff on the iPad and find them great.

What sort of time periods will she be using them for?
If anything remotely long I would suggest some ‘over’ ear (ones that surround the ear) rather than ‘on’ (ones that press on the ear) – personally, on ear get uncomfortable for long listening sessions.

way better

What sort of time periods will she be using them for?

Marathon sessions! Never has headphones off!

these: http://www.beoplay.com/products/beoplayearset3?gclid=Cj0KEQjwkIurBRDwoZfi1bGCxocBEiQAmcs-ehHFaFEbljBkovE0P-m_hwVmqNW9gA0E9H1NZFC0Z6IaAnxv8P8HAQ

A couple of options: – AKG 550’s can be had for £100 – pretty good sound and very comfortable, Sennheiser Momentums at £169 are pretty good also – I doubt either will look cool enough for a 14 year old but they will sound miles better than some Beats costing a lot more!

AKG

Mr Nutt, Better than BOSE or Beats?

In the way a Jaguar E-type is better than a Corsa VXR (every which way possible except in appealing to chavs).

Grado SR-80, and google for mod’s to the foam to make them more comfortable.

The SR80’s are open backed so will piss off everyone within a 10ft radius, although they are one of the best at that price point, the AKG 550 are very good indeed but I’d suggest Sennheiser Amperior for the sound quality plus they will carry much kudos amongst your daughters peer group as they are an improved version of the HD-25 which pretty much all recording studios/dj’s use.

PS : obviously i have the Amperiors 😀

I would advise against buying a 14yo open backed headphones. She will want to use them, say, on the train. You cannot use open headphones on the train.

Beyond a certain price your source is going to make more of a difference to her listening quality. This is especially true when you know that generally, more expensive headphones require more power to drive. Therefore, if this is mainly for listening at a laptop, a tablet and an iPod/iPhone, I would split the money between a small but effective headphone amp and the phones themselves.

I would get a pair of ATH M50’s and a FIIO e6, or e11x.

http://www.woodbrass.com/en/casque-gamme-hd25-sennheiser-hd-25-ii-p115427-af833-gbp.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwkIurBRDwoZfi1bGCxocBEiQAmcs-ej8VZhlIQbyEaY2pPBo9ZkHdBfvWWsKslbpYoYBuwsoaAudM8P8HAQ

beyerdynamic DT990 or 880 depending on if you want a flat response or a bit of a ‘hi-fi’ sound. dont forget to get the right ohm rating for the intended use.

I would have thought these fitted the requirements, over-ear, folding like Beats, wireless capability, ability to answer the phone, not too bulky, enough bass for any metalhead, and dead cheap at sixty bucks. What’s not to like?
http://www.meelec.com/Air_Fi_Rumble_Enhanced_Bass_Wireless_Headphones_p/hp-af80-bk-mee.htm

Fair point, although mine are quiet enough to listen in the office, depends if she can exercise any self restraint with the volume (unlike anyone with beets earphones!).

B&W P3? Looks good, sound amazing. On ear, rather than over ear, but very comfy and surprisingly good sound isolation.

Hmm….missed the metal bit; the B&Ws may be a bit warm for that – they have great low end, but don’t have the usual scooped EQ and so the midrange is VERY rich which can overpower some music a bit. They are still stunning to listen to though. For general Indie stuff they’d be great.

Mr Nutt, Better than BOSE or Beats?

this would apply to almost any decent headphone…

Shure SRH840 :

http://www.trustedreviews.com/shure-srh840-review

If she’s listening to music from a phone, iPod or stereo consider spending some of the budget on a headphone amp.

In all honesty (my opinion) the use of an amp with portable headphones is rather cumbersome and unwieldy in use, the gain in sound quality is minimal unless you are sat critically listening and it is far better to use a suitable headphone that can be driven sufficiently from the headphone jack output, she’s 14 yr’s old and prob listens to downloads that are sub 320kbps so i doubt she’s going to notice the difference nor will she be posting critical reviews on Head-fi like the spotty music geeks who believe the marketing.

FWIW I used to have quite an expensive collection of headphone amps/micro DAC’s from the likes of Ray Samuels, Headroom, Fostex etc..etc and i sold them all as they were a pain to carry and unless i was sitting down in a quiet environment then they made sod-all noticeable difference.

I have an Iphone 5s and these days i only use/own Sennheiser Amperiors headphones (good for portable equipment) , Klipsch X10i canal phones and i have a pair of Etymotic ERP-4 canal phones as well.

I also have plantronics bluetooth in ear but audibly they are really very poor, and a crap battery life so i haven’t used them since i bought them – thought they’d be good for the bike but nope – they’re shite.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD-380-Pro-Collapsible/dp/B001UE6I0G

Probably 30% of the professional sound engineers I work with use these as their out and about field headphones.

I have got a pair and they are very good for a sub £100 headphone.

Sony MDR V6, a well priced classic for good reason.

Beyerdynamic do good stuff but are not really 14 year old fashionable.

Fashionable and with a price tag I’d go:

If you can get her to wear Superlux they do decent (comparable to headphones at least double the price) knock offs for peanuts.

Once again, thanks to all who took the time to respond.