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Need new headphones suggestions??

S

Steffz07

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 18, 2009
34
0
My iPhone stock earphones suck. The bass part of it broke on the right one and when i shake it i hear rattling inside.

SO time for new headphones.

Looking for really good audio quality.
I listen to mainly Alternative Rock (Mayday Parade, All Time Low, The Cab), Owl City, RnB

I really like hearing the drums in the songs and but dont want overpowering bass.

Budget is $50-80.

Suggestions???
 
If that's your budget, I'd go with the good Apple earphones.

High end Shures will be a lot better, but also a lot more expensive.

Still, I've never regretted buying mine, and they have moved from iPod to iPod over the three years that I've had them. They do have excellent audio quality for little buds.

That said, the current Apple offering (not the ones that come with the devices) makes for pretty decent sound.
 
Sennheiser PX100's. They are small, cheap (£30 for me... I'm guessing that's around your budget) and surprisingly very good sound quality, especially the bass frequencies.
 
Hmm the Sony ones look pretty good. Prolly gonna look into those.
How much are the Shure ones?? Cos i mean, im a sucker for audio quality, i can literally get lost in my music so i dont mind paying but i DO mind having to fork out $70++ every 6 months or something....

I just remembered that the remote is really important for me, cos i dont wanna be taking out my phone every time i wanna change song...so its gotta have the track switching remote and mic for calls.

ermm the Sennheisers are a bit too big, hehe. Im looking for earphones (sorry about the title).
 
Steffz07 said:
Hmm the Sony ones look pretty good. Prolly gonna look into those.
How much are the Shure ones?? Cos i mean, im a sucker for audio quality, i can literally get lost in my music so i dont mind paying but i DO mind having to fork out $70++ every 6 months or something....

I just remembered that the remote is really important for me, cos i dont wanna be taking out my phone every time i wanna change song...so its gotta have the track switching remote and mic for calls.

ermm the Sennheisers are a bit too big, hehe. Im looking for earphones (sorry about the title).
Click to expand...

How about Sennheiser MM50?? It has a mic, and the sound quality is excellent. Good bass. There's the one button on the back for receiving calls, but I have the CX-300II, basically the none mic version of these, so I don't know what the button can do. It might be able to change/pause songs so you can look into that if you're interested. Price shouldn't be anything above $99USD and I'm sure you can find cheaper. Have fun headphone shopping!
 
Ok, I've come down to two IEMs that im considering.

The NuForce NE-7M and the Sony MDR-EX38ip

Both these have the mic that i need. However, the Sony one has full functions with the remote, but the NuForce one only has song control and not volume. I like to be able to change the volume somtimes when im walking to school or to meet people and i have my iPhone in my pocket. But sound quality trumps volume control. However if the difference in sound quality is hardly discernible, ill take the full remote control the Sony ones have to offer.
 
Without trying to sound like a complete Nuforce pusher I'm not sure the Sony's volume control will work with the iPhone due to the way the headphone port is wired. Same with the official Apple buds.

The iPod Touch's port is wired differently so the volume control works fine. Might be worth doing some further investigation. I'm sure the Sony's will sound decent though. I've owned Sony headphones in the past and always been very happy with them but the Nuforce are hands down the best sounding headphones I've ever owned.

Admittedly my first set failed after 6 months however their support is first class and they sent a replacement set out before I even returned the faulty set.
 
csheath said:
Without trying to sound like a complete Nuforce pusher I'm not sure the Sony's volume control will work with the iPhone due to the way the headphone port is wired. Same with the official Apple buds.

The iPod Touch's port is wired differently so the volume control works fine. Might be worth doing some further investigation.
Click to expand...

This may have been a problem with the first gen touch, but the 2nd and 3rd gens work fine with all iPhone headset controls. On the 3rd gen, you can even trigger voice over controls with an iPhone headset control button, but it doesn't do any good unless you have a mike. :rolleyes:
 
Eh, now im leaning heavily towards the NuForce ones.....
If any1 can tell me that the Sony one has similar sound to the NuForce's with full remote control. Im bought.
 
Night Spring said:
This may have been a problem with the first gen touch, but the 2nd and 3rd gens work fine with all iPhone headset controls. On the 3rd gen, you can even trigger voice over controls with an iPhone headset control button, but it doesn't do any good unless you have a mike. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I was only talking about the volume, of course the 'clicker' works, I'm near certain however that the volume controls will not work with the iPhone
 
csheath said:
I was only talking about the volume, of course the 'clicker' works, I'm near certain however that the volume controls will not work with the iPhone
Click to expand...

Huh. Why wouldn't the volume controls work if the clicker works? I thought they used the same connector to send the signals?
 
If you want to preserve having a mic integrated into the earbuds and actually have it WORK (i.e., the person on the other end isn't always saying "what?"), you have to stick with a wired solution, and for $30, it's tough to beat what Apple has already designed, plus they fit nearly flush in your ears so that you can rest your head against a pillow (this is great for listening to soft music to drown the world out when you have a headache, for example).

If you don't care about the mic (you only want to listen to music), your options widen, and for me, I've been pretty happy with catching sales on BT headphones on buy.com, newegg, or the like. I have an over-the-ear set from Kensington that work well for when I'm stuck cycling indoors (the iPhone gets double-ziploc'd and then put in a bicycle jersey pocket), and a DJ-style set (Motorola S805) for when I really care about how the music sounds.

This is not "audiophile"[1] gear, but it serves me well enough for what I paid for it (I caught both the Kensington and Motorola BT headsets on sale for $30 each--you just have to watch and be patient, as they come up again and again).

--Chris

[1] "audiophile" (n.) - A rube who actually believes that he can hear the difference between cheap lamp cord and $100 Monster Pro cables. See also "a fool and his money."
 
netdog said:
If that's your budget, I'd go with the good Apple earphones.

High end Shures will be a lot better, but also a lot more expensive.

Still, I've never regretted buying mine, and they have moved from iPod to iPod over the three years that I've had them. They do have excellent audio quality for little buds.

That said, the current Apple offering (not the ones that come with the devices) makes for pretty decent sound.
Click to expand...

those headphones were great until the drivers burned out on me in 9 months (less than that actually, I had them replaced once about 3 months into getting them, so I guess they burned out in 6 months)
 
Night Spring said:
Huh. Why wouldn't the volume controls work if the clicker works? I thought they used the same connector to send the signals?
Click to expand...

they use the same connector, but only certain headphone jacks are capable of receiving the volume up/down signals. iPhone 3GS is compatible, other iPhones are not
 
Buskape said:
The new Sony MDR-EX38ip in-ear with a perfect remote/mic that works exactly the same way as the original iphone ones.

Really great sound quality, i love them, 10x better as the original apple earphones and just 40 $!
Available in black and white they look really good too!

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TX432LL/A
Click to expand...


x2!!! .....or maybe x3 now?

I recently picked these up for $43 at my local Best Buy. I'm a pretty big fan of Sony's in-ear headphones for the sound at the cost. The mic works perfectly with my 3gs, as does the sound control. Absolutely no complaints with these headphones.
 
Buskape said:
The new Sony MDR-EX38ip in-ear with a perfect remote/mic that works exactly the same way as the original iphone ones.

Really great sound quality, i love them, 10x better as the original apple earphones and just 40 $!
Available in black and white they look really good too!

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TX432LL/A
Click to expand...
Can you tell me if these work with the newest ipod touch? On the box it says compatible with the 2 generation, so they should work, because I didn't think the new touch was that much different.I looked at them at the store. I bought another pair that said they would work (different brand) and they would not work for the remote to control the music by skipping to the next song, or going back. I am taking those back, but I need to know if these will work before I waste my time again. Thanks for any help you can give me.
 
From the time i had with them (8 days before they BROKE), the Nuforces are really good. So far the headphones that have lasted the longest for me are the Sony ones though. I don't care how good it sounds, if i have to buy them again every month or so, they're useless to me.
 
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