In-Ear Headphones vs Earbuds ???

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Apple made a big deal out of the Earbuds' use neodymium transducers, does anyone know if the In-Ear headphones also use neodymium transducers and if not what do they use?



Do the In-Ear headphones offer a sound quality improvement, or is it mainly a comfort thing?



Basically, are the In-Ear headphones worth the price?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 41
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    I'm just curious what their range is. Any better than the original buds which were 20-20,000 Hz?
  • Reply 2 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BuonRotto

    I'm just curious what their range is. Any better than the original buds which were 20-20,000 Hz?



    Better wouldn't really matter much since the range of human hearing is approximately 20-20k Hz IIRC.
  • Reply 3 of 41
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Frequency range is one thing. Frequency shape is another. How the speakers (whatever kind) replicate highs, mids, and lows in comparison to another is important to know.



    Ear buds generally have a crappy low end, due to their small size.
  • Reply 4 of 41
    I have one of those:





    linky



    And they are great, iPod's standard are not even close.



    B&O makes nice ones, but boy $$$$$$$$.



    Anyways, one thing to notice, you absolutely can't eat anything when wearing these, you can literally hear your jaws moving... creepy



    another plus is they fit much better than regular earbuds, as they are inserted in your ear canal. If new ipod's headphones are similar, they should be much better to listen to, not even because of their range or different drivers, but simply because better fit.
  • Reply 5 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally posted by piwozniak

    I have one of those:





    linky



    And they are great, iPod's standard are not even close.



    B&O makes nice ones, but boy $$$$$$$$.



    Anyways, one thing to notice, you absolutely can't eat anything when wearing these, you can literally hear your jaws moving... creepy



    another plus is they fit much better than regular earbuds, as they are inserted in your ear canal. If new ipod's headphones are similar, they should be much better to listen to, not even because of their range or different drivers, but simply because better fit.






    and you cant hear the phone when it's ringing literally a few inches behind you. just ask my roomate about that...

    great buds.

    they kinda stick out of your head funny though--strange look for some reason. do you notice this too? or is it just the result of the shape of my head?
  • Reply 6 of 41
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by popmetal



    Apple made a big deal out of the Earbuds' use neodymium transducers, does anyone know if the In-Ear headphones also use neodymium transducers and if not what do they use?




    They look suspiciously like Sony's mid-end Fontopias, which use 'neodymium transducers.'
  • Reply 7 of 41
    kennethkenneth Posts: 832member
    "The iPod In-Ear Headphones have great sound quality and bass response, and come with three different sized caps to ensure the headphones fit comfortably and securely in your ear."



    I want the new in-ear headphone for my 15-mons old iPod.



    SONY in-ear headphones

  • Reply 8 of 41
    chychchych Posts: 860member
    Pretty much every headphone these days use neodymium magnets in the voice coil, they don't really tell you much about the quality so it doesn't really matter what magnet they use anyway. They're just stronger than ferrite magnets so they can move the diaphragm faster, I guess.



    Personally, I find in ear headphones more comfotable than any other type of headphone; I use the Etymotic ER-4 and they are extremely comfortable (and sound incredible). I've used the Sony EX-70s and they were pretty comfortable and sounded decent (bass was too strong though).
  • Reply 9 of 41
    badtzbadtz Posts: 949member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by chych

    I use the Etymotic ER-4



    WOW! Nice headphones! I've always wanted one





    .... about Apple's In-Ear Headphones .... i REALLY like the new design! Looks awesome! Hopefully they sound as good as they look
  • Reply 10 of 41
    alliance, it must be your head :-)



    You can hardly see these, once you stuck it in, you are in your own world, you can hear your thoughts...



    Kenneth, DON'T buy black ones directly from Sony. Instead look on eBay. People are selling Japanese version, which has shorter cord (ideal length for use with an iPod) + extension. The ones you buy from Sony don't have extension, but a long cord, too long IMO.



    Oh and Japanese model comes in white too.



    chych, these are the best, but don't they cost $300 ?



    eBay
  • Reply 11 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally posted by _ alliance _

    and you cant hear the phone when it's ringing literally a few inches behind you.



    Agreed. I use my iPod outdoors a lot, while running, skateboarding, and when I had the SONY in-ear headphones, I couldn't hear a THING, other than the music. Scary.



    In-between tracks, I felt completely deaf. That just creeps me out. It's personal preference, I suppose.
  • Reply 12 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally posted by francisG3

    Agreed. I use my iPod outdoors a lot, while running, skateboarding, and when I had the SONY in-ear headphones, I couldn't hear a THING, other than the music. Scary.



    In-between tracks, I felt completely deaf. That just creeps me out. It's personal preference, I suppose.




    I have used my ipod while cycling, and I can't imagine riding with no sound from outside....scary. iThink it'sgood way to get hit by a car.

    also the sweat factor when working out, I had been using the inear type fones but the sweat would get to feeling wierd as it ran into my buds and soaked , and bleh. I started using the clip-on type for cycling for the safety, and sweat factor. No they don't sound as good but then nothing sounds too good when your dead, or when you are wiping the slimy sweat and dirt from your expensive in ear buds.

    each to his own though, Randy
  • Reply 13 of 41
    but if you have to take subway for 40 minutes 2x day, these are perfect.



  • Reply 14 of 41
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Best Ever



    I had in my iPod ear buds and then put these in and wow. These things made the iPod sound like complete shit. My friend who had these uses them for work on the road for Clair Brothers. So I guess they are pretty good, but man o man did they sound amazing.



    Well I'm pretty sure it was these, I don't recall what they were called completely but I think these are it.
  • Reply 15 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally posted by piwozniak

    but if you have to take subway for 40 minutes 2x day, these are perfect.







    I have the Senheiser PXC-250 noise-cancelling headphones. That way, I don't miss the hot babes on the subway who are trying to say something to me.
  • Reply 16 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    Best Ever



    I had in my iPod ear buds and then put these in and wow. These things made the iPod sound like complete shit. My friend who had these uses them for work on the road for Clair Brothers. So I guess they are pretty good, but man o man did they sound amazing.



    Well I'm pretty sure it was these, I don't recall what they were called completely but I think these are it.






    $499 ?!?!?!
  • Reply 17 of 41
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by piwozniak

    $499 ?!?!?!



    Quality at a price I guess



    Seriously though, if that is them, they give you sound like you've never heard. The clearest and crispest sound. I am pretty sure he didn't pay for them though, I'd assume he got them free since he does sound stuff out on the road. Haha out with Bet Midler now.
  • Reply 18 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally posted by israces

    Better wouldn't really matter much since the range of human hearing is approximately 20-20k Hz IIRC.



    True. Slightly off topic, but just FYI: the philosophy behind "audiophile" formats such as DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD is actually to make use of those inaudible frequencies because they apparently induce harmonics in the sound and reflect off surfaces in such a way as to irritate certain listeners by their absence in regular CD-quality audio. Big time speaker manufacturers such as Bowers & Wilkins like to advertise their tweeter units as "super tweeters" capable of extending up past 30KHz.



    Never heard of a SACD-capable pair of headphones though, and naturally, they'd be a bit redundant with MP3 or AAC audio anyway.
  • Reply 19 of 41
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by israces

    Better wouldn't really matter much since the range of human hearing is approximately 20-20k Hz IIRC.



    Stating a range like 20-20k Hz is pretty much meaningless with specifying the tolerance. 20-20k Hz ±3 dB, for example, is a much better frequency response than 20-20k Hz ±10 dB. Also, specifying a frequency range tells you nothing about distortion characteristics, phase shift, etc.



    A printed spec claiming 20-20k Hz tells you very little about sound quality. It's far from a reassurance that a given product sounds so good that it can't get any better within the limits of human hearing.
  • Reply 20 of 41
    Yes, but just like CosmoNut pointed out, freq. response is just one of the factors, distortion, resonance, flat response, sensitivity, all these are factors. What makes some speakers and headphones better than others even though they have the same freq. range?



    These $499 headphones are unique, that's for sure as they are 2 way headphones. But still 499 is a lot.



    I hate when someone says 'audiophile', what does that mean?



    We all can judge sound quality by listening, Spending thousands of $$ on audio gear doesn't make one hear better. Not to mention that there are other factors too, first of all you are listening to a compressed material, secondly i have no idea how good iPod's d/a converters are, but that makes huge difference.



    We're talking about earbuds, and these will never be as good as full sized headphones. Just like regular speakers, you can't get decent low end without big cones driven by heavy magnets.



    peace



    edit: shetline, you beat me to it.
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