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Any good-looking, high quality headphones out there?

mrat93

mrat93

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Dec 30, 2006
2,357
3,425
I'm looking for something to replace my Apple iPhone wired headset. I want earbuds that fit most people, have high quality sound and, sound isolation. Also, the standard functions on the iPhone headphones such as play/pause/skip controls and mic. I'm looking to pay from $75 to $125, $150 max. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
What you mean by good looking?
Sizel?
Color?
Shape?

Please clarify:
- In Ear Canal Phones (like the v-moda vibe)
- Earbuds (like the originals from apple)
- Over the ear (like Bose QC2)
- On the ear (like Bose QC3)

Noise Isolating?
Noise Reduction?

There are many options: buy brand new ones, used, dissect your apple ones and connect your preferred ones (handson soldering may be needed), get an adapter and use any you want.
________
easy vape vaporizer
 
Last edited:
McGiord said:
What you mean by good looking?
Sizel?
Color?
Shape?

Please clarify:
- In Ear Canal Phones (like the v-moda vibe)
- Earbuds (like the originals from apple)
- Over the ear (like Bose QC2)
- On the ear (like Bose QC3)

Noise Isolating?
Noise Reduction?

There are many options: buy brand new ones, used, dissect your apple ones and connect your preferred ones (handson soldering may be needed), get an adapter and use any you want.
Click to expand...

mrat93 said:
I'm looking for something to replace my Apple iPhone wired headset. I want earbuds that fit most people, have high quality sound and, sound isolation. Also, the standard functions on the iPhone headphones such as play/pause/skip controls and mic. I'm looking to pay from $75 to $125, $150 max. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Shure also makes the adapter, i'd recommend that in the lowest quality shure headphones...
 
Sorry.. forgot to mention that I don't want a separate adapter for the headphones to fit. And even if I did, would they still have the same controls and mic?
 
I have both the v-moda vibe duos ($100) and the Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 4vis ($150).
My recommendation would be to get the UEs. They're very comfortable and they're easy to put in and take out (not always the case with in-the-ear 'phones). The sound is very clean and detailed with plenty of volume. As far as isolation goes, they work great without resorting to using hard, plasticky ear tips used in phones like the Shure e3cs. One negative (sort of) is that artifacts in the audio files become apparent in comparatively loud passages, especially in 128 kbps and even in 256 kbps.
The vibe duos are decent enough. Comfortable, but not so great on airplanes because the isolation is a little weak. The sound is nice if you're a fan of really deep bass, but I find the lower end a little absurd. If you absolutely needed to save fifty bucks, I suppose these would be a nice alternative, but in my mind they don't compare.
Both have the inline mic. My v-modas don't have the control button for answering calls because they were made early on in the production run, but it's been added to the new ones.
In the visuals department, they take two different approaches, but I think they both look pretty nice. The v-modas take sort of a garish, industrial appearance that I really like. Then there are the UEs that just sort of stay out of the way.
Hope you found this helpful. Good luck!
 
Just want to note,

The Shure SE110 and the headphone adapter would be perfect, because the Shure headphones come apart in the middle so it doesn't add any extra length. I'll try to post pics, but I can tell you those earphones sound great, I haven't compared them to the UE's but the v-moda isn't even in the same league.
 
thegoldenmackid said:
Just want to note,

The Shure SE110 and the headphone adapter would be perfect, because the Shure headphones come apart in the middle so it doesn't add any extra length. I'll try to post pics, but I can tell you those earphones sound great, I haven't compared them to the UE's but the v-moda isn't even in the same league.
Click to expand...
Yeah not sure why people who have the Shure solution always try to make it sound like there is no cord length problem to lure in unsuspecting people who specifically stated they don't want a crazy cord setup. The headphones have an 18" cord. This is fact. So the adapter (and thus mic) are over 18" away. Thus it has the clip so you clip the mic on your shirt near your mouth. Thus you have an 18" cord loop hanging in front of you. Not cool.

Another thing that is not cool is the sub-standard sound of the v-modas. Considering the sound quality you get from $40 Sony's, these things aren't worth half their actual price. And yet I have them and use them since they have the button. Ultimate Buds or whatever they are called is probably the best option.
 
I have some Futuresonics Atrio M5 in-canals, which were about £80 (I think they're less than $150 in the US), and they're incredibly good. Comfortable, and very good sound quality - deep, but tight/controlled bass, accurate and not harsh mids, and good quality highs. Also look good and unobtrusive.

I took them, along with my iPhone earbuds, to my friend who runs an audio repair shop, and he fixed them to the iPhone cable/button for me. It took him less than 10 minutes to do a very good job, and everything works perfectly (inc. button/mic).

All you need to do is chop the wires on both, and re-solder/cover with (white) heatshrink to protect the join. If you want something totally stealth without the heatshrink visible, and arguably more secure, you could either fix a tiny jack plug onto the bottom of each earbud and the cable ends, or take apart each casing and resolder directly inside the bud itself (taking a lot more time, effort, and more potential to muck things up).

Ultimate Buds also do a similar thing with a couple of models of earphones.

If you don't want to be bothered with all this, then you could always just get the Shure adaptor and some normal earbuds that you like, some of the Ultimate Buds, or V-modas etc.
 
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