Headphones

When it comes to hi-end headphones the European and American manufacturers rule. Some of the better makes are Sennheiser, AKG, Audio Technica, Koss, Beyer and Grado. These manufacturers also have many entry level headphones for $20-100 that offer superb sound with portables.

You probably won't find these headphones at your local Circuit City. My advice is to check out the mailorder FAQ on this page to see where you can mail order them from.

By all means stay away from those $40 Sony headphones, they are nothing more than $2 headphones inside some fancy "Studio" design. I had the unfortuante pleasure of buying one of these Sony headphones a while ago at Circuit City. Sounded like garbage. I gave them to my sister.

If you are not up to buying through mail order then I suggest running to your local Radio Shack to buy s pair of Nova 67, headphones. They retail for $35 but are often on sale for $20 and for twenty bucks they are a steal. Definitely a class above your typical mass-market junk, offering a nice low-end hi-fi sound. I own a pair of these and I think they are actually made by Koss. The headphones work perfectly with portables.