When I give gifts, I always strive for the item given to be practical but a little luxury for them.  Something they may not think to buy themselves but it would be really nice to have, or something stylish they maybe didn't know about yet, but is useful and not just going to add to the "stuff" they already have.  And I always think: is this a gift I would like getting myself?

A good pair of earphones/earbuds I think is such a gift.