Filed under: iPod Family
Make your iPod sound better
It is the age
old story (well, as old as the iPod at least), you plunk down hundreds of dollars for an MP3 players, and yet you use
the cheap ear buds that come with the darned thing. I am guilty of this myself, but I figure since I am no audiophile
and MP3's are hardly lossless I am not losing anything.Mike Wendland would beg to differ and has written an article detailing how you can get a better experience out of your iPod (namely get better headphones).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
_don said 10:07AM on 2-22-2006
This article recommends the Griffin ear buds. These are great little things. They clip on to the existing iPod ear bud and have three size of in-ear...um...part. I'm no big fan of big bass sounds, but they do have good sound quality. I especially like the ambient noise (all that other sound) cutting. At work, I'll sometimes just put them on to cut the office noise. And its a good way to ignore people :-)
And the price is right at $20 (that Canadian).
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Hoover said 10:21AM on 2-22-2006
No way, gotta go with the Shures - with the orange foams. Mainly because after a few weeks they get quite grungy, and nobody ever asks to borrow my iPod.
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Brandon Hays said 10:32AM on 2-22-2006
Wow. This is possibly one of the most uninformed headphone reviews I've ever read. The Shure e2c is the best headphone he's ever heard? I have the e4c, and after listening to that, you would not have said that. I'm no audiophile, but I know that the sound coming from any sub-$50 pair of headphones is usually craptastic.
A budget-consious headphone review should include the Sennheiser PX200 ($40-60 street), and of course the Sony Fontopias ($30-50), widely regarded as by far the best-in-class at the price points Mike was reviewing in.
For contrast, here's a review that calls my Shure e4c headphones "flat" and "uninspiring" next to the e5c.
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_13_1/shure-e4-e5-earphones-2-2006-part-1.html
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phlyingpenguin said 10:52AM on 2-22-2006
I absolutely hate the standard audiophile "this costs more money and sounds like an orgasm in your ear" mentaility, but this review is absolutely terrible as far as what it recommends.
In the range of products he's tested in it, it might be true. However, I've heard nothing but terrible reviews of the souped up iPod headphones from apple that he lists as his first recomendation. He lists that without any justification in the article too. Not only that, he fails to mention that Apple has sold this same pair of headphones without the Nano lanyard for years.
If I'm going to spend $49 for a pair of headphones, I'll get Sony's Fontopia EX71s in either white or black. I can't recall if it's $49 in my local Best Buy or if it's $10 more, but it doesn't really matter. Those headphones are a ripoff compared. Sony even has one or two models under that one that probably sound and feel better than Apple's upgraded headphones. I'm not really a huge fan of Sony's heavy bass in their offerings, but I'd have to be insane to buy those Apple headphones.
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Ralph Daily said 11:01AM on 2-22-2006
I buy the Shure E2C orange foams separately, put them on my Apple in-ear headphones and like the sound. It works so well that I got the Nano lanyard in-ear too and did the same thing.
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Mr Tipples said 12:14PM on 2-22-2006
etymotic
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Oliver said 12:22PM on 2-22-2006
Those apple in-ear headphones (pictured) constitute the worst 40 bucks I've ever spend in my life. Not only was I unable to get a good fit (which is kind of the whole point, especially when shipped with 3 sizes) but after 9 months of extremely infrequent use the darn things fell apart! The 'glue' that holds the end pieces together seems to have softened and now they just pull apart all the time. Nothing a bit of superglue won't fix, but that really shouldn't be necessary.
Oh and they sounded crap too, even worse than the default earbuds.
BTW, anyone have some experience with SONY's Noise Canceling Headphones MDR-NC6?
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Muzz said 12:50PM on 2-22-2006
I got the Etymotic Research 6i earbuds as a gift and absolutely love them.
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Tony said 4:00PM on 2-22-2006
The Sennheiser CX 300 are your best choice for 50-60 dollars. They're in-ear, sound really good, block out most noise, and are quite comfortable.
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dude said 4:12PM on 2-22-2006
Scotty, your comment about MP3's not being lossless is true, however "not losing anything" in terms of audio quality on dirt cheap standard ipod earbuds is an ignorant statement. Even the seperately purchased "premium?" apple ear buds are bad in terms of sound quality. You need to listen to high end inner ear monitors from etymotic, shure, or some open headphones such as sennsaphonic's 580's/600's. The audio reproduction accuracy of most headphones below $50 (and some costing even more) is awful. Apple earbuds sound fine to someone like yourself, but that is only because that's all you've listened to. It's like saying a unicycle is a great way to commute 5 miles to work not knowing a bicycle, car, or train exist. A blog as popular as TUAW should not have a lame article opener containing some clueless writing that shows how detached you are from the topic you wish to share with your readers. Share useful, insightful information with your readers instead of nonsensical opinions.
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Scott McNulty said 4:23PM on 2-22-2006
Dude, if that is your real name, perhaps you didn't notice that I said, 'since I am no audiophile,' thereby stating that I wouldn't notice the difference between the two headsets (and I haven't when I tried). So, it isn't an 'ignorant statement,' but rather a statement of fact for ME. Whist quoting me you left out one little bit: 'I am not losing anything.' See the 'I' there, that means I am talking about myself. I did not say 'Since MP3's are hardly lossless you aren't losing anything if you use crappy headphones.'
Had I said that, your well thought out (though insult ridden) response would have been appropriate.
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Ben C said 9:22PM on 2-22-2006
After trying many headphones both inexpensive and expensive, I've finally come to the conclusion that the Ultimate Ear super.fi Pro 5 are the best in-ear headphones I've ever used. My main problem was the lack of bass in the Etymotic series (specifically the Etymotic ER-6, which I own) which I orginally bought for its astouding clarity, but paid for it later when I missed the clean and clear bass found in even the inexpensive Sony Fontopia series. BUT I warn everyone who either owns the Fontopia series headphones or is considering buying them:
If you own them, be careful of the part of the wire that is supposed to go behind the neck, its breaks EXTREMELY easily and renders the headphones useless. To anyone considering to buy the Fontopia series headphones, be sure to buy the Neck Strap Headphones MDR-NX1 because they are the same headphones internally but have the addition of a neckstrap that won't wear away to nothing. But be warned of the headphone's short cable as well, it should be fine if you put your MP3 player in your breast pocket or have a small MP3 player like the mobiBLU Cube that can simply hang from the input jack, but for everyone else, either use an extender or if you own an iPod, consider the Apple iPod Radio Remote.
Hope this helps some poor soul like I once was trying to find the perfect headphones.
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BM5k said 5:42AM on 2-23-2006
For everyone else out there that has too much money to spend on headphones, the best experiance I've had has been the Bose triports. Yeah, they were 150$, but my ears thank me every time I put them on.
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Russell Fortune said 7:20AM on 2-23-2006
http://www.bang-olufsen.com/web2/systems/product.asp?section=systems&sub=ls&prodid=33
Those are my babies! I used to have Sony Fontopia but i hated in ear and how uncomfortable they were for me. These things probably have slightly better quality, absolutely NO distortion whatsoever in any way, a guy at B&O told me in 10 years of working there noone had brought back blown hardware. They also look fantastic, are amazingly comfortable and come with an awesome leather pouch :D
£90 though :S
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natmgriff said 2:51PM on 2-23-2006
Sony PSP headphones sound a ton better than iPod's, are a ton more comfortable (to me), wrap behind your neck (and seem to do a better job of that than sony's), and are white. Plus, you can get them used at EB Games for $3.99! I have bose triports, which sound super, but are kinda unpractical for going around town and sony ex71 but couldn't stand the in the ear canal factor...makes my jaw hurt! I use my PSP's headphones more than anything else! : )
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