Budget Earphones

Narom

Alright, I'm in the market for some in-ear phones for my iPod, and wanted to find out what some of my options are. Now, here's an idea of what I'm looking for in a pair:

- A price of $30 or less.

- They should be fairly comfortable. Also, they should stay securely fastened--I don't want them to fall out of my ears easily.

- I don't want anything that increases the Bass notably. That was a big problem with the Koss ones.

I've ordered these ones for now since they're cheap, but I started reading those reviews and am seeing some potential pitfalls.
So, any suggestions?

chaossoldier

Edit: Reading comprehension. Just noticed you said in- ear.

MinionOfCthulhu

I have a pair of these earbuds (that's what you mean by 'in-ear', right?), and they're actually pretty good. And cheap. I don't normally like earbuds but they're decently comfortable and don't fall out too easily. Plus they're cheap.

Narom

MinionOfCthulhu wrote: »

I have a pair of these earbuds (that's what you mean by 'in-ear', right?), and they're actually pretty good. And cheap. I don't normally like earbuds but they're decently comfortable and don't fall out too easily. Plus they're cheap.

Heh. I actually have a knock-off pair that looks exactly like that, except without the Sony name.

By "in-ear", I mean something that actually goes a bit into the ear canal rather that resting outside.

lordswing

Sony MDR EX81LP? You can find some under $30 on froogle. That was going to be my purchase after my stock iPod phones died, but I went with another brand, as there was no way I could fit those earphones in my pocket.

Doc Holliday

Amazon has the Sennheiser MX500 on sale with free shipping for $15. This is an absolute steal. I love mine. They're the fullest sound from any earbuds I've used (as opposed to Sony's mantra of thumping bass and tinny highs) and they're super comfortable.

edit: oh, reading comprehension FTL. Sorry I don't know of any cheap ear-canal headphones. I can't stand the sound of my own breathing. I know Koss has a sponge-style pair that are supposed to be good (and cheap) maybe give those a look.

143999

Doc Holliday wrote: »

Amazon has the Sennheiser MX500 on sale with free shipping for $15. This is an absolute steal. I love mine. They're the fullest sound from any earbuds I've used (as opposed to Sony's mantra of thumping bass and tinny highs) and they're super comfortable.

edit: oh, reading comprehension FTL. Sorry I don't know of any cheap ear-canal headphones. I can't stand the sound of my own breathing. I know Koss has a sponge-style pair that are supposed to be good (and cheap) maybe give those a look.

Free shipping on orders over $25.

FreddyD

I picked up some Skullcandy for $10 at Wherehouse Music (now F.Y.E) and I haven't regretted the purchase. The best thing about those is that you can crank them up to 11 and people still won't be able to hear you.

ZackSchilling

FreddyD wrote: »

I picked up some Skullcandy for $10 at Wherehouse Music (now F.Y.E) and I haven't regretted the purchase. The best thing about those is that you can crank them up to 11 and people still won't be able to hear you.

And likewise. Even after you take them out.

Seriously though, be careful with in-ear headphones. It's a lot easier to permanently damage your hearing with them. It doesn't need to hurt in order to be damage.

Exit: Mother

FreddyD

ZackSchilling wrote: »

FreddyD wrote: »

I picked up some Skullcandy for $10 at Wherehouse Music (now F.Y.E) and I haven't regretted the purchase. The best thing about those is that you can crank them up to 11 and people still won't be able to hear you.

And likewise. Even after you take them out.

Seriously though, be careful with in-ear headphones. It's a lot easier to permanently damage your hearing with them. It doesn't need to hurt in order to be damage.

Exit: Mother

Actually, my hearing is pretty sensitive. I carry around a pair of these at all times.


But I'm not sure how loud your earbuds have to be to start doing permanent damage to your hearing. I usually play it on the safe side.

Narom

ZackSchilling wrote: »

FreddyD wrote: »

I picked up some Skullcandy for $10 at Wherehouse Music (now F.Y.E) and I haven't regretted the purchase. The best thing about those is that you can crank them up to 11 and people still won't be able to hear you.

And likewise. Even after you take them out.

Seriously though, be careful with in-ear headphones. It's a lot easier to permanently damage your hearing with them. It doesn't need to hurt in order to be damage.

Exit: Mother

Funny you should mention that. I had actually started considering the in-ear ones because I had read a news article talking about the potential for hearing damage from regular earbuds. Their reasoning went that outside noise is not blocked by regular earbuds, so one could inadvertantly be listening to higher volume music in attempt to drown out surrounding noise. When I thought about it, I had been listening to some songs on a rather high volume level.

It made sense to me at the time, and wikipedia seemed to say the same. It's a shame, cause I was more or less happy with the stock earbuds. Speaking of which, I might look into Apple's offerings as well.

bombardier

Doc Holliday wrote: »

Amazon has the Sennheiser MX500 on sale with free shipping for $15. This is an absolute steal. I love mine. They're the fullest sound from any earbuds I've used (as opposed to Sony's mantra of thumping bass and tinny highs) and they're super comfortable.

I was going to suggest these. I picked up a set for myself not too long ago and they're great. The best part is the rolling up case though.

FenixDrakken

I picked up a pair of Marshmallows (black) at Wal-Mart for $20. The sounds is pretty clear, if not a little bass-heavy - definitely a step up from my stock iPod earbuds. Best twenty bucks I ever spent. I have to turn them upside-down and wrap the cord back around my ears to get them in deep enough, though.