The All Purpose Advice Thread

Recco for an on/over ear toddler headphone (3 yr old girl)? Need something for my daughter that's plane ride-friendly.. So something that isolates well and is comfortable, as well. I'd like to keep it under or around a hundred.

 

I'd grab an older Bose model off ebay. Seriously. Comfort is good, and your toddler won't care about sound quality when the active noise cancellation is really what you're after.

 

I’ve only tried a pair of Bose quietcomfort 25 once, and I couldn’t stand the active noise cancelation for more than a few minutes. Gave this weird feeling in the ears, like there was pressure on the eardrums or something. I might just have sensitive ears, but I thought it could be worth mentioning since it’s for a 3-year-old.

 

We've bought headphones for the kids for traveling and paid about €8-10, no more.
We're doing no more than 10 flights a year and our 5 year old kills one pair a year. We bought a model with volume limiter which seems to work well.
But most importantly it's no big deal if he manages to destroy it, drop it, step on it.
I wouldn't care much about paying for active NC. Go for a model that is comfortable for the kids and that doesn't break the bank.

 

Report time.
I had the chance to borrow Jot from a friend. I compared GO V2A infinity balanced output with Modi Multibit/Jot balanced output with my Oppo PM-2 mod. Honestly very little differences to my ears, maybe slightly clearer & slightly faster. I guess GO V2A inf performs better than it should for the price/format. So a little bit "disappointed" (but both work very well with my Oppo)
I also tried with my Andromeda on SE on both device and I really liked what I heard from Schiit combo. It was so quiet for such a amp with so much power with such sensitive IEMs. Amazing. I really like the combo Modi Multibit/Jot/Andromeda and I didn't anticipate this.
So I decided to buy one Jot for further comparisons since price is very low for such a beast.
I wonder how GO V2A would perform as balanced DAC ... need to find a 3.5. TRRS > dual XLR cable

 

I second something with active noise cancellation. Last Christmas we got our then-three-year-old son some awesome star wars on-ear kids headphones, with limited volume, for holiday air travel. We thought ourselves geniuses. Then we started flying. I set him up and he said (or shouted, really) I can't hear anything. Then we realized, oh yeah, flight noise, porous on-ear headphones, and limited volume for child safety. Shit.

I ended up giving him my rockets and turning the volume wayyyyyyy down. The seal helped, but they were a bit big for his tiny ears. It mostly worked, when they didn't fall out:



Before the next plane ride I'm getting some used Bose for him.

 

I need to buy a new amp for my headphones. I so far have been able to find a Rega ear 2 and an Asgard 2, opinions/suggestions? I will mainly use it with my HE 560's.
My budget is around their price

 

What DAC are you planning to use?

 

We had the same complaint filed from our oldest. But then my wife came back with the 'tough titty said the kitty...' argument and now he's happy even though the volume ain't too high

 

A LA Audio DA3 (Sound Classics SC-1002A) It has two PCM-63K.

 

If you haven't already, you may want to try comply isolation tips. You can get a sample pack with all three sizes for about $15, your kid might be just as happy (and safe) and you can allocate the excess funds for some nice tubes or something

 

Have you considered Skullcandy? Notwithstanding the lifestyle-skater-boi thing, they've got a pretty strong warranty to fit the lifestyle of their core demographic, which is essentially "kids who break stuff".

 

Have you tried other active noise cancelling headphones before? I've gotten that feeling from cheap ones, but usually Bose is better than that. It really comes down to the seal or particular ear shape sometimes though.

 

Ah, will check it out when the next one breaks

 

Unfortunately, I haven’t. I only have that limited experience with active noise canceling on the QC25. I have small-ish ears, so the seal was good at least. Ear shape or something else, didn’t work very well for me sadly, was a very uncomfortable feeling.

 

I'd be remiss not to mention the VE Monks, which A) $5 is terrifically cheap AND sound good, B) make sure if your children is listening loudly you can hear them, and C) ugly enough no one will steal them.

 

UE 6000 might work. I got a pair for $40 a few years ago. The ANC isn't great, but I'm sure a 3 year old won't care. Decent sound for the price and mine have taken quite a bit of abuse. Tyll really liked them when they came out. My concern with this and any full size headphone is how it would fit a toddler.

There's a decent looking set on ebay right now that would fit your needs.

 

Some guy I know says the PCM 63k is a great chip and yeah it has a Telefunken ecc801s tube. I planned to go NFB 11, but magnahifi sold out in like 5 min.... The LA audio and asgard 2 is about 40% more.... I could go 19 DSP and C 2.2 for 120$ more than a NFB 11

 

I used the Asgard 2 with the HE560 back before I sold them both. It is a fine pairing. At that price point I can't recommend anything obviously better. Since you are in Europe, have you considered any of the offerings from Meier Audio? I had a little 2Move portable ages ago, which I liked. His stuff doesn't get as much time in the States but I know it is popular with some of the European Friends. The Rock is under your stated budget, but the Jazz (a bit over-budget) has his crossfeed circuit and "active ground" topology. No comment on "active ground", but I actually liked the crossfeed, especially with recordings that have excessive stereo separation.