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Why do the iPhone's earphones suck so much?

D

dextertangocci

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 2, 2006
1,766
1
I have very few complaints about the many Apple products I own and have owned. The seriously bad quality of the iPhone earphones is however hard to ignore.

I've had 3 pairs already, and all of them have either stopped working altogether (no sound is produced at all), or that annoying crackling sound appears whenever you listen to music. I have friends whose iPhone earphones' microphone/clicker stopped working and have experienced similar problems as me.

It doesn't help that Apple replaces the earphones, and they break after a few weeks again.

Maybe it's time for Apple to do a recall?
 
Bundling quality earphones with the iphone/ipod would add significantly to the cost--especially considering that probably 70% of people never bother replacing the cheap Apple headphones during the entire life of their device. It's amazing to me that people will spend hundreds on a fancy iphone/ipod and listen to their music on what are essentially the lowest quality headphones out there. I got a pair of Sennhesier headphones for my iphone and the sound quality is so much better. Even $40 Sony headphones are a huge improvement.
 
i have the $40 sony headphones and they r better than the apple ones, but i just purchased the super.fi 5's by ultimate ears and i must say, they're awesome. depending on how much you're willing to spend you might wanna look at reviews for the v-modas, shures, or super.fi 4.
 
barkomatic said:
It's amazing to me that people will spend hundreds on a fancy iphone/ipod and listen to their music on what are essentially the lowest quality headphones out there. I got a pair of Sennhesier headphones for my iphone and the sound quality is so much better. Even $40 Sony headphones are a huge improvement.
Click to expand...

I've never found the headphones to be all that bad. Sure, they're not the best, but they're pretty good for headphones that come free. I like that I can skip songs with them and stuff. Besides, the reason I don't have $40 to spend on headphones is BECAUSE I spent hundreds on the fancy phone! :)

Then again, I mostly use the iPod function in my car, so having nice headphones isn't a priority for me when I rarely use them.
 
Honestly trying to not be rude, but since I haven't seen widespread reports of this in the forums, is there something you are doing to create the failures?
 
I agree that the headphones is crap both build quality and audio quality is really bad.
I just hope that the new Apple in-ear headphones are better and that everything works with the iPhone 3G.
Apple need to step it up when it comes to there headphones!
 
My Apple headphones have just broken as well.

Can anyone recommend a good replacement set, ones with the little remote button for answering calls and good quality sound? Available in the UK too.

Thanks!
 
I love the headphones... dont really see the problem with them.

If you want better headphones you buy them... if apple put better headphones in the box it will drive the price up. Then you would just complain about that!
 
2 iphones, 1 ipod video, and I used to own an older ipod video.....all of which the headphones have always worked fine.

Not sure what you're talking about.....
 
nimda0 said:
2 iphones, 1 ipod video, and I used to own an older ipod video.....all of which the headphones have always worked fine.

Not sure what you're talking about.....
Click to expand...

Same.

2 iPhones, 2 iPod videos, 1 old iPod and 1 shuffle and never had a problem with them...

If you rap your headphones around the iPods/iPhones the wires are going to break etc and make the quality crap.
 
Why ship good headphones when 90% of all iPhone/iPod users couldn't care less?

The headphone jack is flush now, you can use whatever phones you like, get a decent pair of CX300's or something.
 
my main complaint about apple's buds is that they are designed for people with giant ear holes. They simply do not fit in my ears.

I had been using sony street style (outer pads that hook behind the ears), but had to switch because of the iPhone jack. I ended up with Griffin tune buds ($14.99) and they are very good. They have 3 different sizes and they stay in your ears. My problem with these is that they die after a few months - they start to cut out on one side. I have found this to be the case with ALL headphones. Why does this happen? Does it happen even with expensive high end headphones? I'd be wary of spending more than $20 on headphones knowing that they won't last.
 
gowanis said:
my main complaint about apple's buds is that they are designed for people with giant ear holes. They simply do not fit in my ears.

I had been using sony street style (outer pads that hook behind the ears), but had to switch because of the iPhone jack. I ended up with Griffin tune buds ($14.99) and they are very good. They have 3 different sizes and they stay in your ears. My problem with these is that they die after a few months - they start to cut out on one side. I have found this to be the case with ALL headphones. Why does this happen? Does it happen even with expensive high end headphones? I'd be wary of spending more than $20 on headphones knowing that they won't last.
Click to expand...

I replaced a pair of Sony headphones recently ($40) that I had for two years with no problems at all(lost them). If you don't spend at least that amount I wouldn't bother replacing the Apple headphones which came with your iphone.

The sound quality on the Sony's was a big improvement and the Sennheiser's I replaced them with (includes a mic for calls, $99) are a significant improvement over the Sony's -- so I would definately say there *is* a quality difference at certain price points.

You *have* to do your research though. There are plenty of unscrupulous companies that sell cheesy headphones at $100 that others sell for $15 in Chinatown. The difference being fancy packaging.
 
I never found the quality of stock Apple earbuds to be lacking. Actually, I think they sound quite good - but ONLY when the black felt covers are used. They help the bass quite a bit.

Their reliability on the other hand, is horrible. All 4 pairs i've had have broken.
 
dextertangocci said:
I have very few complaints about the many Apple products I own and have owned. The seriously bad quality of the iPhone earphones is however hard to ignore.

I've had 3 pairs already, and all of them have either stopped working altogether (no sound is produced at all), or that annoying crackling sound appears whenever you listen to music. I have friends whose iPhone earphones' microphone/clicker stopped working and have experienced similar problems as me.

It doesn't help that Apple replaces the earphones, and they break after a few weeks again.

Maybe it's time for Apple to do a recall?
Click to expand...

Because they're free. They're like bank pens, they suck, we all have a million of them already but we constantly take them from the drive-thru containers even though our console in our cars are filled to the brim with them. Why? Because they're free.
 
A question, does the iPhone 3G need specific headphones, or would any stock headphones work (not including the calling features).
 
lindsaykaye04 said:
I've never found the headphones to be all that bad. Sure, they're not the best, but they're pretty good for headphones that come free. I like that I can skip songs with them and stuff. Besides, the reason I don't have $40 to spend on headphones is BECAUSE I spent hundreds on the fancy phone! :)

Then again, I mostly use the iPod function in my car, so having nice headphones isn't a priority for me when I rarely use them.
Click to expand...

Agreed! I've never felt the need to use any other headphones and I've also never had the headphones go bad on me. I also use the headphones that came with my iPod to listen to music on it. Sometimes, I'm amazed at how good they do sound.
 
barkomatic said:
It's amazing to me that people will spend hundreds on a fancy iphone/ipod and listen to their music on what are essentially the lowest quality headphones out there. I got a pair of Sennhesier headphones for my iphone and the sound quality is so much better. Even $40 Sony headphones are a huge improvement.
Click to expand...

These are the same people listening to 128k MP3s and not noticing the difference.

What are ya gonna do
 
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Reactions: Jim165
You shouldn't expect much from thirty dollar headphones. I refuse to use them. Here is the pile I found sitting in my desk drawer. :)
 

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barkomatic said:
It's amazing to me that people will spend hundreds on a fancy iphone/ipod and listen to their music on what are essentially the lowest quality headphones out there. I got a pair of Sennhesier headphones for my iphone and the sound quality is so much better. Even $40 Sony headphones are a huge improvement.
Click to expand...

It's also amazing to me how many people who claim to care so much about audio quality yet they purchased a portable MP3 player.
 
dextertangocci said:
Listening to music? If that counts?
Click to expand...

well maybe you shouldn't listen to music! matter a fact if you don't use the iPod feature it will help with the battery life! and then also you can turn off every other feature that makes this phone an "iphone".

Just playin my headphones broke to, from sweating.

you have put tape around the microphone if you use them to work out and then they work fine.
 
oftheheavens said:
Just playin my headphones broke to, from sweating.

you have put tape around the microphone if you use them to work out and then they work fine.
Click to expand...

On that note: I had a "Holy fu...dge!" at the gym the other day when I dropped my phone. Think I'm gonna get a nano or a shuffle soon.
 
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