Various in-ear earphones
These seem to be popular nowadays, and I want to replace my clip-on Koss KSC-50s because they are uncomfortable to wear with my glasses. I just got glasses for the first time so I'm still kind of learning the turf. I thought of getting a pair of in-ear earphones because standard earbuds fall out unless they have an ear clip, which is just what I'm trying to avoid.
Anyway, I posted about this in a thread about the new Apple In-ear Headphones, but somehow, all traces of that thread have vanished. The search doesn't seem to work, and I can't find my post listed in my list of recent posts. I have no idea what's going on but I may as well ask my question again:
How do the Apple in-ear phones compare to other models, such as the Sennheiser MX500? The guys at head-fi.org seem to like the Sennheiser MX500 but they're only like $16 or thereabouts. That seems pretty cheap and I'd be worried about build quality, sound quality, and comfort. I know that cheap doesn't exactly mean bad, my $25 Koss headphones sound better than some much larger and more expensive ones, but does anyone have advice?
Anyway, I posted about this in a thread about the new Apple In-ear Headphones, but somehow, all traces of that thread have vanished. The search doesn't seem to work, and I can't find my post listed in my list of recent posts. I have no idea what's going on but I may as well ask my question again:
How do the Apple in-ear phones compare to other models, such as the Sennheiser MX500? The guys at head-fi.org seem to like the Sennheiser MX500 but they're only like $16 or thereabouts. That seems pretty cheap and I'd be worried about build quality, sound quality, and comfort. I know that cheap doesn't exactly mean bad, my $25 Koss headphones sound better than some much larger and more expensive ones, but does anyone have advice?
Comments
Some of your questions might be answered in this thread.
Maybe not, but I hope it helps some.
As a fellow glases wearer, I can sympathise - I tried a pair of clip on earphone, and boy did they hurt
The Sennheisers are a good set of phones. I have a pair, but don't use them because they don't fit in to my ears to well, and fall out
I now use a pair of the new Apple in-ear phones, and I'm very happy with them. If you can get a good seal, they sound really great. However, if the seal is bad, they loose the bass and sound really tinny. This can be an issue as the silicone tips are be a bit shiny, and may fall out over time. There's a good tip over at iPod Lounge about how to get a good seal. Someone at the forums there posted that the caps from the Sony EX51 or EX71's fit the Apple earphones, and give a much better fit without falling out.
Have you thought about regular head phones? The Sennheiser PX100 and PX200 are very good. I bought a pair of PX100's for my wife, and I'd consider getting some myself, except I need phones that don't leak sound as I listen to my iPod on the train and underground.
Hope this helps
Dave.
They work great, on Flights you can barely hear the engine drone. A little bit pricey but you can find good deals if you hunt for it. I got mine for $70.00
If I even consider going as high-end as the Shure E2Cs, I'm sure I'll be happy with them, but I would also want to think of something that is perhaps between the MX500 and the E2C considering how huge a price difference there is. That leaves the Apple ones, which seem to be okay other than the seal which people have trouble with, and a bunch of Sony ones that I can't find much information on. There are probably so many models that it's hard to keep track of. You did mention Sony EX51 and EX71 - instead of buying these and putting the pads onto the Apple headphones, why not just buy one of those in the first place? How are they?
I might just get the MX500s because they're so cheap. If they don't fit, I'm only out $16. Of course, with the Shures, I bet they'd fit fine right from the start, but $70 is a lot to spend.
They are a huge improvement over the stock iPod earbuds. Because they seal by being placed in your ear canal, they keep sound from leaking in or out. When you're wearing them and listening to music, you can't hear any outside noises.
Also, because they insert into your ear canals, it really improves the bass response. kind of like pushing in on the Apple earbuds.
They come with 3 sizes of the rubber inserts.
The only thing that I don't really like about them is the way the cords are arrnged from the ear pieces. They're not a Y cord like the iPod buds. They have a short cord to the left ear, then the longer one coming from the right ear comes around under your chin and attaches about 4-5 inches below the left.
They have a short cord to attach to the iPod. I have a long torso, so they just barely reach when I wear the iPod on my belt, so I have to use the extension cord that comes with them. That one's really long so I use the little plastic case to wrap the extra cord around, and that makes a neat little bundle, but I could see how that might irritate some people. Some use the plastic case for storing the earbuds.
They also come with a nice litlle cloth bag that everything can go in.
You can get the black ones at a lot of places, but the white ones are availabale in Japan or from a couple of websites. I got mine from here.
The bottom line is they sound really good. Good luck!!
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
You did mention Sony EX51 and EX71 - instead of buying these and putting the pads onto the Apple headphones, why not just buy one of those in the first place?
Good point
I'd forgotten that you work in a library, so yes, leaky phones are out
I think the way to go is probably the Sony EX71's.
Dave.