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Best affordable earbuds that last

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salilsundresh

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 11, 2005
267
0
About 6 months ago I purchased the JVC marshmallow earbuds and soldered them on to the iPhone earbuds cord in order to have the remote+mic. After about 3-4 months of use the cushions on the earbuds started to harden and crack and crumble. I also lost the extra cushions on the earbuds, so by now as you could probably guess they are pretty awful. I'm lokking for some earbuds under $75 that won't crack/harden/crumble from daily use and isolates outside noises like the JVC marshmallow buds (quite often outside in cold weather). The sound quality of the JVC Marshmallows is good enough for my use. Any suggestions?
PS: I of course still want the iphone remote + mic. ( either by soldering wht i have or having it included.
 
Philberttheduck

Philberttheduck

macrumors 6502a
Mar 15, 2006
526
6
HB, CA
sony just released the sony mdr-ex 85 and 75 that work with the recessed jack on the iphone. 60 dollars for the 85 and 50 dollars for the 75. ilounge reviews it and gave it a pretty good rating. sonys are considered bass-rich, which is usually a plus for many
 
D

dingamahoo

macrumors member
Feb 25, 2007
69
1
What I like most about Apple's phones is the squeeze mechanism on the controller/microphone. I had the V-Moda phones for a while, but constantly found myself fumbling around to find the button when a call was coming in. That was never a problem with the apple headphones.

I've been holding off buying a new set until someone came up with a similar design to Apple's but with sound-reducing earbuds. Frankly, I'm surprised, so few alternatives have come out.
 
thegoldenmackid

thegoldenmackid

macrumors 604
Dec 29, 2006
7,770
6
dallas, texas
dingamahoo said:
What I like most about Apple's phones is the squeeze mechanism on the controller/microphone. I had the V-Moda phones for a while, but constantly found myself fumbling around to find the button when a call was coming in. That was never a problem with the apple headphones.

I've been holding off buying a new set until someone came up with a similar design to Apple's but with sound-reducing earbuds. Frankly, I'm surprised, so few alternatives have come out.
Click to expand...

The Button on the Shure's is huge...
 
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salilsundresh

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 11, 2005
267
0
I ended up going the with the generic version of the CX300's for iPhone. The sound quality is pretty good, better than my JVC marshmallow earphones (I guess that's not much...) and much, much more bass. They isolate noise quite well, sound quality on the mic doesn't seem much different from Apple's. My only gripe is that the button is a little harder to double tape than the Apple one where the whole piece of plastic is the button where as the CX300 generic has a button on the piece of plastic so skipping tracks takes some getting used to. Well worth the $31 I paid including shipping. I ordered it off eBay last Friday and it arrived yesterday! 4 business days!
 
SFC Archer

SFC Archer

macrumors 68000
Nov 9, 2007
1,742
0
Troy, MT
Update and Warning

Everywhere that I recommended the Rivets, I am now updating due to new information and also let me apologize upfront for the bad referral.

I accidently pinched the cord in my jacket zipper of my 10 month old set and the left side stopped working...no problem, my fault and I ordered another set, 2 day Air and guess what....Never arrived!!!

Have now sent 4 emails to customer service in regards to my order...NO REPLY! Looked on every single page or the web site and NO PHONE number, nothing to contact anyone other then that email. I warned them that I would post this to let all know and still no reply.

I finally ordered a set through Amazon and they arrived in 3 days with no problems.

WARNING: Order from this website and company at your own risk, There is NO CUSTOMER SERVICE at all and I still have not recieved my order or a refund!!! http://www.rivetnow.com/

Sorry if I recommended a bad company, however, I still love these headphones for what its worth.
 
H

heyp

macrumors 6502
Jan 29, 2008
312
0
salilsundresh said:
Has anyone tried the eBay generic version of the CX300's?
http://cgi.ebay.com/iPhone-earphone...yZ111693QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I read a post a while back that someone said the microphone was complete crap. Is this true? How are they?
Click to expand...

I've had the non-iphone (doesn't have the mic) headphones for a couple weeks now and they are holding up well... i think the sound quality is pretty good for the price... i used to have some vmoda vibe which i liked, but the left earbud stopped working (apparently, others here have had the same problem)... however, the vibes had more bass, whereas these seem a bit more clear in the mid and higher levels
 
AJsAWiz

AJsAWiz

macrumors 68040
Jun 28, 2007
3,262
347
Ohio
SFC Archer said:
Everywhere that I recommended the Rivets, I am now updating due to new information and also let me apologize upfront for the bad referral.

I accidently pinched the cord in my jacket zipper of my 10 month old set and the left side stopped working...no problem, my fault and I ordered another set, 2 day Air and guess what....Never arrived!!!

Have now sent 4 emails to customer service in regards to my order...NO REPLY! Looked on every single page or the web site and NO PHONE number, nothing to contact anyone other then that email. I warned them that I would post this to let all know and still no reply.

I finally ordered a set through Amazon and they arrived in 3 days with no problems.

WARNING: Order from this website and company at your own risk, There is NO CUSTOMER SERVICE at all and I still have not recieved my order or a refund!!! http://www.rivetnow.com/

Sorry if I recommended a bad company, however, I still love these headphones for what its worth.
Click to expand...

Well, I got my second pair of Rivets (from Amazon of course). And noticed that the package, like the ones I just returned, stated that the connector was 2.5mm. Didn't make sense to me so I tried it and discovered that the connector is 3.5mm despite the package labeling it as 2.5mm. The one I sent back was probably 3.5mm as well :rolleyes: Anyway I really like the lanyard and the earphones (with the smallest gel) fit my ears perfectly. The sound is good (music and videos) but I had trouble hearing someone I called on the phone. I was outside so there may have been too much outside noise interference and wind. Overall I'm pleased with my purchase :D
 
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DarkFlame

macrumors regular
Dec 21, 2007
205
0
Forget cx 300's, sennheiser cx 500's!

http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/product-features.asp?id=964763171

Great headphones, they are 120 shipped at amazon and about 70 shipped here (east coast) you can not return them, only replace them.. but its well worth it. There is even a 15 dollar mail in rebate form you can do now if u send in an old pair (working or not, any brand, any condition) headphones making them only 55 dollars shipped.

I just got my in the mail and couldn't be happier, great headphones for the money.
 
dccorona

dccorona

macrumors 68020
Jun 12, 2008
2,033
1
skullcandy

lifetime replacement plan

never buy new headphones again

break them on purpose if they get old and they send you a new pair free

they dont know that its not a hardware malfunction because you just send them the headphone jack cut off the end. then they give you a new pair
 
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salilsundresh

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 11, 2005
267
0
dccorona said:
skullcandy

lifetime replacement plan

never buy new headphones again

break them on purpose if they get old and they send you a new pair free

they dont know that its not a hardware malfunction because you just send them the headphone jack cut off the end. then they give you a new pair
Click to expand...

Based on the warranty info on their website they will only give you 50% off if you break the product yourself.
Does anyone know any earbuds I can get that are warranted for ever or a couple years atleast against wear and tear like I'm experiencing? I've gone through 3 pairs this passed year! I usually keep them folded up in a little zipper case in my pocket attached to my keys so I have earbuds wherever I go. I don't want to spend $130 on earbuds, I just need some simple rugged earbuds with that block out external noise, are comfortable, and have a decent mic/button. I'd like to keep things under $50.
Sure some might argue I'm wasting my money when I could get much better sounding earbuds for $130, but this isn't meant to be my primary headset for listening to audio with, just every now and then if I don't have my Sony MDR-7506s with me.
 
S

salilsundresh

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 11, 2005
267
0
clumsy83 said:
Those look very tempting. I'm waiting for reviews before getting one.
Click to expand...

The cord is not protected at the connector end.(unlike the apple ones) The cable quickly lost connection with the connector after keeping them in my pocket for a 2-3 months.
 
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ptsube

macrumors 6502
Oct 12, 2008
277
24
The Sennheiser eBay rip-offs are not good. The cable is a grippy rubber that tangles easily and catches on your clothing. They also don't last very long. Mine only lasted a few weeks.

I wear earphones, connected to my iPhone 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. So, for me, three weeks is a pretty decent length of time for a set of earphones. However the Sennheiser's weren't very good at all. I'm an Ice Cream sales rep and I'm in and out of freezers, and stores, and my car all day long. So I put my earphones through a lot. The original Apple earbuds lasted a little over a month.

I didn't really like the first set of V-Moda Vibe Duo's I had. I'm not really sure why. I ended up returning them. I just got a bad vibe(no pun intended) using them.

Now for my latest and greatest. Skullcandy FMJ iPhone earphones. Excellent! I bought two pairs in May. I have rotated them so one didn't get worn out too much quicker than the other. My silver set just had the right earpiece go out and the button stopped working. The left still works though. I just sent for a warranty replacement. So, after six months, one pair has failed and the other seems to be fine. As far as the answer/play button on these, all you have to do is roll the Mic device in you fingers and you usually press the button.

I'm going to give the Ultimate buds UB5's a shot. I like the Mic/button design on those.

I've noticed when a set is about to go, you get static/crackling sounds when the cable is bent at the base. That's when I know I need to stock up.
 
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