Earphone recommendations?

LoneIgadzra

I am kind of sick of all these wal-mart earbuds I have kicking around that all sound varying degrees of mediocre. Can someone recommend me some brands/models that don't sound like crap? I'm not made of money and don't need $100 luxury phones, I just want some that don't sound like iPod phones for as little money as possible.

wasted pixels

As far as earphones go, you're not going to find much difference in quality within your price range. Sennheiser and Denon make mediocre in-ears that are priced around $50. They'll sound marginally better than your typical stock Apple earbuds.

I'll be frank with you, though: $100 headphones aren't "luxury", they're entry-level.

Campy

Bought me a pair of sennheiser CX500s which you can pick them up for about £40 ($60) and I've never looked back. I use them predominately for music and everything sounds tasty, nice clean highs and mids and some seriously hefty bass considering they're bud ear phones. They've got a little volume control on the wire too, whilst not entirely necessary has proven useful for me. Mine came with plenty of different size rubbery bits, so you'll be able to find one to fit your lug holes, and also a little leathery pouch so they don't get tangled up and wrecked in your pocket.

Only thing you have to worry about is getting skanked with a fake pair, so don't go buying from amazon sellers or anything, stick to big stores and such.

Rigor Mortis

If you're willing to spend $70 you could probably find find someone selling Ultimate Ears super.fi 3s for that. They're good enough to be sold (rebranded by M-Audio) to the pro-audio market

I paid $75 Canadian for my set so with the exchange rate you should be able to find them for... $60 something US$ (list $130)\



Edit: Ultimate Ears also has a Metro.fi line made targeted at casual listeners. It's quite affordable.

xzzy

The $30 in-ear headphones I bought from Target work pretty well.. made by Philips. I'm not mister sensitive ears though so what's important for me is that they don't cause discomfort over long periods, more than whether or not they sound like a million dollars.

Only complaint with them is the wire shielding is this sticky rubber stuff, and if it gets tangled up with anything it's a bit of a chore to clean up.

LoneIgadzra

I'm not Mr Sensitive ears either, I'm just sick of all my earbuds that sound like garbage. iPods have very poor bass. Got some crap generic thing that has better bass than iPod buts gets distorted at high volumes. Got some others that have a superior, rich sound, but are really quiet, to the point that I have to crank my computer all the way up to just get something normal sounding.

I like earbuds due to portability, but every $20 pair of headphones I've ever owned sounded way better.

shadydentist

Seriously, I've given up on finding a quality set of earbuds. I bought these cheap $10 Koss sparkplugs for the sound isolation when I'm out and around, and use a real set of headphones at home.

ack

I usually just look for seinnheissers, I've never been unhappy with any of their phones. They last until I lose them, one of my sets looks so beat up from stepping on them multiple times they still work after like five years. The only problem is the cheaper end of them will probably run you at least ~$50 but I could be wrong.


also: http://www.headphonereviews.org/recommendations.php

I don't really know how great any of these are but there ya go.

killa283

jvc air cushions

$25 ish

very nice, good bass, good detailing, low impedance. a few colors to choose from

here are some red ones http://www.amazon.com/JVC-HAFX66R-Air-Cushion-Headphones/dp/B000UNVNJY

i use those as my portables, full size for gaming, speakers for home use.

Ego

If you want quality sound with something the size of earbuds, I strongly suggest investigating intra-aural earphones. They're admittedly more expensive but you can get far better sound than out of earbuds, especially for low-frequency sounds. They're also much better for preventing hearing damage, as most people don't realize just how loud they turn up earbuds. Intra-aurals block out outside noise, and you end up listening to music that sounds louder but is actually playing at a much quieter volume. The downside being, they really do block out outside noise, like car horns honking at you.

mongrol

Don't ask here. Ask here!

tsmvengy

I have some Sennheiser CX 400 earbuds and I like them.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-CX-Ear-Headphone-Black/dp/B000WOIG8C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1235055570&sr=1-1

wavecutter

Without a doubt the Grado SR80's are the best headphone I have ever owned. I know you don't want to spend a hundred bucks but I urge you to consider buying these. If nothing else go to high fi store and try them. I think you will be impressed.

bent

I'll vouch for sennheiser, but I've only tried their over-ear phones and never the cheaper in-ear solutions. I'm currently on a pair of HD 415's.

Rigor Mortis

Ego wrote: »

If you want quality sound with something the size of earbuds, I strongly suggest investigating intra-aural earphones. They're admittedly more expensive but you can get far better sound than out of earbuds, especially for low-frequency sounds. They're also much better for preventing hearing damage, as most people don't realize just how loud they turn up earbuds. Intra-aurals block out outside noise, and you end up listening to music that sounds louder but is actually playing at a much quieter volume. The downside being, they really do block out outside noise, like car horns honking at you.

Just to add to this - the reason for the superior sound is different driver technlogy. Because of the airtight seal they produce, intra-aural earphones can use the far more efficient armature drivers instead of just microspeakers/coils/etc. (So if you're using intra-aural earphones, using the right size silicon piece for your ear is quite crucial to sound quality)


PS - the Ultimate Ears set I recommended is intra-aural