Has there been a recent thread on earbud recommendations?
I like earbuds for their compactness, specifically for air travel, and they don't have the long thin plastic pieces that make headphones so prone to breaking when stuffed into carry-on baggage.
My current earbuds came with my Sansa e-series and I pretty much hate them.
They are a thin foam shell over rigid plastic, so there's no give. I cannot wear them for more than an hour or so without discomfort and that sucks on a long flight. Because of their shape and rigidity, they just won't stay in my ear. Additionally they just can't get very loud, which is important when my mp3 player is trying to compete with the rumbling drone of turbofan engines or even my lawn mower.
I've seen lots of the newer designs, where the section that enters the ear canal seems to be made entirely of soft rubber, but I don't know much about which work best.
So could someone point me to a recent thread on good earbuds or post some suggestions?
Believe it or not, the Zune Premium Headphones which came with the new Zune 80 models a year ago are actually quality. I have several other "high-quality" earbud sets, but none of them are quite as good as these.
These are the ones I've got. They've got interchangeable sizes for the silicone covers. Different colors options if that matters to you. They aren't the absolute best at noise isolation, but for the price, pretty solid. Used to work as a janitor and they did a fantastic job canceling out the commercial vacuum I had to use all the time.
And I love the cable manager that it comes with.
I use ultimate ears metro.fi 2.2.
I use some 20$ sony ones, the thing that make them the doo-doo for me was they came with different sized ear caps (small, med, large) so that you could get a comfortable fit out of them.
I second the Zune headphones, use them daily at the office. The only problem I've found so far is the braiding around the cord is a pain if it snags and the buds cause my ear canal to become a bit sensitive after prolonged listening (5+hours).
I use Steelseries Siberia earbuds at home and enjoy them quite a bit.
I'm going to totally ignore your ear-bud thing and suggest something different.
I got a set of Sony MDR-XD200's.
These are the ones I've got. They've got interchangeable sizes for the silicone covers. Different colors options if that matters to you. They aren't the absolute best at noise isolation, but for the price, pretty solid. Used to work as a janitor and they did a fantastic job canceling out the commercial vacuum I had to use all the time.
And I love the cable manager that it comes with.
Best sounding ones I have ever gotten for the Sub 30 price tag were the T-Bass line, but they are fragile.
I suggested the ALtec Lansing UHP line elsewhere.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?ur...
I have the UHP 326 set. Braided insulation is much more durable, they still sound really good.
Not recent, but: http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/45419
I'm still using the skullcandy Ink'd. I bought a pair of JVC buds for $20 and they sucked. Hard. The Ink'd are $20 msrp but can regularly had for $15 or $16. I found some at a local department store for $9.99 and stocked up. They also have the 3 different size rubber caps to fit to your ears.
I seem to be hard on my headphones. I only get a few months at best out of them before the wires fray and one speaker or the other goes out. Maybe buying higher quality headphones would help with that, but I can't bring myself to do it. The skullcandy's work well enough. The sound quality is okay, fantastic if you compare them with the JVCs I bought.
They would work fine as-is for lawn mowing duty, I've done that before, but I don't like turning up the volume too much. I just bought a pair of these:
to wear, the ear buds fit underneath them fine. I don't have to crank the volume any more than if I was wearing them in a quiet place that way.
Third on the V-Moda's although I'm currently using the Apple in-ear set now because it includes all the controls for the 3Gs.
I'm going to totally ignore your ear-bud thing and suggest something different.
I got a set of Sony MDR-XD200's.
What, you couldn't find anything bigger? 
BadMojo wrote:I'm going to totally ignore your ear-bud thing and suggest something different.
I got a set of Sony MDR-XD200's.
What, you couldn't find anything bigger? :)
They are very very comfortable and light. It's like I'm not even wearing anything. Not even pants.
Klipsch makes some decent ones, I have their Custom-1's and like them for everything from pod casts to music to audio books, they are comfortable to wear for hours at a time.
Some of the best ear buds I have ever had were some cheap $10 Sony's you can buy at Wall-mart.
![Pyroman[FO]'s picture](https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/pictures/pictures/picture-27.png "Pyroman[FO]'s picture")
Ultimate Ears MetroFi makes some excellent earbuds
I just bought these which are basically rebranded Ultimate Ears. Usually at least $80 and these are $30.
The quality of a good pair of earbuds can't be beat. I was used to the $20 Walmart specials before and it's night and day.
Not recent, but: http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/45419
Thanks, I thought I'd remembered seeing one a few months back.
They are very very comfortable and light. It's like I'm not even wearing anything. Not even pants.
Might be something I get to replace my aging desktop headphones, but I'm not going to pack those on a plane.
I can't believe nobody has mentioned the Sennheiser CX-300.
I had the Zune Premium earbuds (before I lost them) and they were good but the excessive noise from the braided cord that would come through was annoying.
These aren't really earbud's though I think they are classified as in-ear canal.
The sound is pretty good and isolation is OK. They aren't on the level of as my old Shure EC2 ($99) but completely blew away some skullcandy headphones ($30)
They also have the cord design I like. The right earbud cord is longer than the left so it can wrap around the back of the neck.
The sound isolation is good enough that I don't like walking in the city with both in. So I'll wear the left one while the right one can wrap around and hang without getting in the way.
These have been the best bang for buck headphones I've owned.
I can't believe nobody has mentioned the Sennheiser CX-300.
They were mentioned several times on fleabagmatt's older thread.
Secret Asian Man wrote:I can't believe nobody has mentioned the Sennheiser CX-300.
They were mentioned several times on fleabagmatt's older thread.
Thats what I get for starting a post then getting a call. Stupid work getting in the way of my posting...
And it's hard to go wrong at $20. Think I'll spring for a few with Amazon Prime free shipping.
XB200 Ear Buds I got these for $15 at PAX and they are nice, noise canceling, come with a nice carry case, and a good company behind them.
Anyone have any suggestions for earbuds that have absolutely NO sound isolation?
I've gone through about three pairs (f*cking cats chewed them all) of standard Apple earbuds, and despite the guffaws I can already hear coming through the interwebs, I actually think they're perfect for my needs. I heard good things about JVC's Gumy phones, but they annoyed me because they only had a 1m long cord (although the point is now moot since the cat destroyed them... and NO, I never learn my lesson).
XB200 Ear Buds I got these for $15 at PAX and they are nice, noise canceling, come with a nice carry case, and a good company behind them.
I remember seeing those for sale at PAX, but I knew nothing about them so didn't want to spring on an unknown.
Anyone have any suggestions for earbuds that have absolutely NO sound isolation?
I've gone through about three pairs (f*cking cats chewed them all) of standard Apple earbuds, and despite the guffaws I can already hear coming through the interwebs, I actually think they're perfect for my needs.
Yup, the stock iPod 'buds are still my go-to's for when I go running. I also discovered that for me wearing the in-ear canal phones on a plane is a bad idea.
Quintin_Stone wrote:Secret Asian Man wrote:I can't believe nobody has mentioned the Sennheiser CX-300.
They were mentioned several times on fleabagmatt's older thread.
Thats what I get for starting a post then getting a call. Stupid work getting in the way of my posting...
Verdict so far: I'm not used to the "in-canal" type, so it took some getting used to. These things are really good at blocking ambient noise. I mean, I couldn't even hear my wife in the seat next to me! I didn't think I'd care for the wrap-around-back-of-neck thing for the right ear piece, but it's fine. I am finding it difficult to get both sides hitting the same feeling of ear depth. Usually one feels like it's wedged in a bit further than the other and it throws off my symmetry. I had no problem hearing songs at less than 50% volume on the plane ride.
I'm happy w/ my Denon IEMs. I see now that Grado has a set of IEMs for >$100 that should be worth a look.
Anyone have any suggestions for earbuds that have absolutely NO sound isolation?
I really dislike the feeling of earbuds just hanging loosely in my ear, like most MP3 player and phone stock models do. When I want to be aware of my surroundings or my ears are just tired from wearing in-ears, I use my Sennheiser PX 100s. The Koss Porta Pro is an identical design and very popular, I just like the feel of the PX 100s more. Great sound, low price, excellent durability.
Not to whine, but earbuds are very unhealthy for your hearing capabilities. They cause double the damage 'normal' headphones do, because the sound waves can't escape and resonate in your ear canal.
I have the Sennheiser PX 200 headphones, they're very lightweight, fold easily and are very resilient. They're two years old now, and despite taking them on vacations, commute etc. they only show some wear and tear on the ear cushions. Sound quality is very good, better than any earbud I ever had.
Not to whine, but earbuds are very unhealthy for your hearing capabilities. They cause double the damage 'normal' headphones do, because the sound waves can't escape and resonate in your ear canal.
Not completely accurate, I think
http://blog.hifiheadphones.co.uk/200...
Basically, normal "iPod" style earbuds are bad because they don't block ambient noise but sit right in your ear, so you crank them up and end up with alot of power ramming your eardrum. The in-ear type, however, block ambient noise and can be turned way down. The pressure difference is fine, because your eardrums deal with that every day. As long as you don't crank in-ear earbuds up really high, you're fine.
Yup. It's all about how much volume you have to use to hear correctly. Listening to the iPod style earbuds cranked up loud enough to hear in a noisy area is damaging. Putting in something that blocks a lot of that ambient noise and being able to listen at a drastically lower volume is much better for your ears.
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