Pro tip: You don’t want to be the dude bouncing around campus in a flashy pair of rapper-sponsored headphones. Make your impending transition into adulthood a little easier by embracing a philosophy of understatedness, which is (and will always be) a smarter alternative.
This headset from Logitech ($119), for example, which the company touts as “the #1 choice of the world’s top touring musicians,” is a nice place to start. It comes with your usual array of silicone and foam tips to fit most ear shapes, and the buds themselves sport some clever design choices (the red side, for example, indicates “right ear”).
But really, it’s about sound quality: Mids come through with refreshing clarity, while the bass is more tasteful than overpowering (which isn’t to say that these suckers can’t boom).
Plus, it comes with a mic/remote to make weekly phone calls to Mom less of a hassle. I never said anyone grows up completely.