Great-Sounding Gifts for Audio Geeks!

Whether your loved one is an audiophile or just likes listening to music or audiobooks, here are my favorite gifts for the holidays!

Starting off small and portable… if your loved one is constantly on the go, Braven Bluetooth speakers are an awesome choice! The 710 is beautifully designed and sounds great! You can make calls through it with it’s built-in microphone. It has NFC for quick pairing and a 1400mAh battery for 12 hours of playtime! That’s a lotta “I’m on a Boat” time! It’s $90 and comes in silver, blue or black.

http://youtu.be/43W615Hohu8?t=5m45s

Or, for the water lovers, come summer, they’ll appreciate the BRV-1, which can get immersed in water at 1 meter for 30 minutes. It still sounds great with 3 watts of audio output per channel. Shock resistant, same battery life as the 710, AND it’s cheaper at $75.

http://youtu.be/43W615Hohu8?t=3m48s

If you want something a little bigger, but still portable, the Samson Expedition Express speakers won a Geek Beat Editor’s Choice Award and have remained a favorite around here! It’s a full PA system that only weighs 10 pounds. It can either be set on a table or use the stand mount on the bottom. It’s Bluetooth, but also has all the pro features like XLR, Line in, Line out, and MP3 In. It’s got a 6-inch woofer and can be paired together for stereo sound. This thing does it all for $200!

Now… I wouldn’t exactly say the Samsung GIGA speakers are… portable. But they CAN be toted around and setup for your next tailgating party. Like we did at the Geek House Grand Opening. These things are AMAZING and cost $650! 2300 Watts. They’re big and beautiful. They have lights that dance to the music. And they’ll play your favorite music via Bluetooth. We certainly didn’t want to send them back!

You could encourage someone to MAKE audio of their own with Blue Mics. The Yeti Pro. The Spark Digital. Whatever choice you make, they’ll be happy! The Yeti Pro is a bit larger. Great quality. Good sound. And it’ll record the whole room or switch it to interview style. Check out our Editor’s Choice review of the Spark Digital

Now let’s talk headphones! Cali and I have been using the V-Moda Crossfades for years. They sound great! They FEEL great! They fold up for traveling. And they’ll put whatever logo you want on the cans! For just over $100, you can’t go wrong!

If you really want to treat your loved one to awesome headphones, for $300 you can go with the Harman Kardon Over the Ear Noise Cancelling Headphones. With the square cans, they set themselves apart from a design perspective but don’t worry… they feel great and sound awesome! Check out our Editor’s Choice review.

But when I want earbuds, I go straight for the RHA T10i. I fell in love with them when I saw them at IFA in Berlin. They’re GORGEOUS – they’re molded from metal injection and stainless steel. The company takes great pride in their product! So much so that they include tuning filters that you can swap back and forth to get the best sound for the type of audio you’re playing!

Now if you REALLY wanna get crazy, spend $570 on the Beyerdynamic T70P Headphones. What’s the right word for them?? Hmm… PLUSH. That’s it. They so comfortable and soft. You never want to take them off! They sound incredible. These are the ultimate choice in headphones. Now… they’re not flexible or portable. Heck, they come with a BIG case! They’re more the… wear at home not out and about type headphones. But nothing sounds as good as these do and are perfect for the audiophile.

Or maybe they’d prefer not to wear headphones while at home, so you could just outfit someone’s home with Sonos speakers all over the place. The Play 3’s or the Play 5’s are beautiful and sound awesome. You can play your local music or playlists from online services like Pandora or Spotify through the app on your computer or mobile phone. We use them all over the Geek House in people’s offices so everyone can listen to whatever they want, and the beauty is that everyone can listen to something different with zones.

But when we want to rock out the entire Geek House, we turn on the KEF Flat Panel Speakers. Seriously… people are RUINED when they hear these speakers!

And you know what? You could always bring a smile to someone’s face with a gift of audio art! Epic Frequency takes an audio file and turns it into a piece of art that anyone would be proud to hang! We have Einstein talking about E=MC2’d hanging in UpDesk Central here at the Geek House. And the Geek Beat team gave me “I’m Awesome” for my birthday to hang in my office. You know, just to remind me of how awesome I am! You can get songs. Speeches. Create your OWN audio file. You name it. They’ll do it.

Check out all our holiday ideas in our gift guide.