“For the gadget aficionado, Apple’s iPod portable music player is a must have. Simply go to your local Apple store and pick out the color of nano or iPod you like. Done. Enjoy the iPod for what it is — a marketing triumph disguised as a gadget. But headphones for iPods? That’s another story,” Jonathan Blum writes for TheStreet.com. “As much as Steve Jobs has redrawn the digital landscape with his iPod and other Apple products, he has turned a deaf ear to his headphones. iPod headphones, like all things Apple, certainly look cool; those little white earbuds are as ubiquitous as they are iconic. But as headphones, they are a disgrace.”
“The good news is there are excellent aftermarket choices for high-quality headphones for portable music players. These headphones sound better. They fit better,” Blum reports. “[Personal monitors] are not earbuds. They are actually high-quality small speakers that fit inside the outer part of your ear canal and sit flush to your eardrums, providing better sound at lower volumes… The three brands to know for [personal monitors] are Etymotic Research, Shure Electronics and Ultimate Ears. I tested three of the better units from these companies: the Etymotic ER-4 ($330), the Shure E4c ($299) and the UE super.fi 5Pro ($249)… The audio quality in all of these units was solid. Really solid. But even good things are not created equal. For me, audio equipment is like red wine — you can go and on about the stuff, but you know right away what’s best. And the standout in this group was the Ultimate Ears.”
Full article here.
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Review: Etymotic Research ER-6i Isolator black earphones – February 04, 2006
OK, if I am going to be that picky about my personal audio, I’m not going to be listening to an MP3 player. Instead, I’ll be sitting at home with a state of the art sound system around me. Likewise, I’m not going to spend $300 on an iPod, then $330 for headphones. The earbuds do what I need them to do – play my music well and fit into my pocket with my iPod when I’m done.
I have the Etymotic ER4P’s and they are hands-down the best headphones I have ever, ever heard. Mind-blowingly good. Worth every freaking penny too. Really.
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I’m with you Jimbo. I do sometimes use true headphones for the increased bass response, but they didn’t cost me anywhere near $300. If I were out and about I would probably look pretty dorky w/ the big headphones on. I’m not real self conscious, but please!
What’s wrong with WHITE?!? Huh? What is this? Racism? WHY is the WHITE man always shit on lately?? I don’t get it. I don’t unnerstand. What if they were BLACK earbuds, huh? The whaddaya all say? “Get rid of those disgraceful BLACK earbuds!”?? uh-uh. I don’t think so!
That’s right, we’re WHITE and we’re PISSED. Screw you, BLUM! Screw YOU! What are you, anyway? Jewish?
i’m on my third ipod in 4 years and all of my headphones have sucked.
I think they are for people who want to be seen wearing “White earphones” signifying “i’ve got an iPod.
Who gives a damn?
Are you listening to music or putting on a show?
Y’all don’t know what it’s like . . . be’in male, middle class, and white . . .
I just want one of those Verizon phones with Vcast so I can dance around with it. And while shopping for clothes. And other such nonsense.
As a sound engineer, I hate when people are griping about the earbuds with the iPod and want to spend a fortune for headphones to listen to compressed audio. Take the iPod for what it is: an easy way to listen to music. If you want to do critical listening, leave your stuff in wav or aiff format. Then get the good headphones.
“If anything happens to my white earbuds, anything at all, I swear to you I will get very choked up. Honestly. There could be tears.”
Thorin,
The Etymotics are in-ear headphones. They actually create a seal when inserted correctly so the bass response is unreal. They also block noise better than any active noise-cancelling headphones on the market.
I think i paid around $220 for them. They were actually stolen and I purchased them again the next day. (BTW, I’m not loaded, it hurt to make both purchases, I just love them so much I couldn’t be without them.)
The standard iPod headphones aren’t the worst phones out there, but after using the Ety’s you’ll think they are utter crap. Terrible. F.
The iPod’s analog output and electronics is no match for a Mac’s digital optical output to quality 7.1 surround sound system.
$300 is a waste for headphones.
If you want to make your iTunes music sound wonderful as well as control the volume between songs automatically check out Volume Logic iTunes plugin, it’s well worth the mere $15 or so for it.
It engineers your music as it’s played. Sounds a million times better than just regular rip.
Thank God someone wrote about the crappy earphones that comes with all iPods. They suck to the fullest extent of all that does suck!
I’m an Audio, Mixing and Mastering engineer, besides being a bass player and bass luthier (http://www.igorporto.com) and I know what I’m talking about.
If you want great sound without spending much, go for the Sony MDR-EX51LP earphones. They cost less than US$30 from Amazon and they kick!
And yeah, they come in white, black and other colors. The white ones are perfect for iPod fans.
They fit perfectly in your ears, because they’re in-ear designed. There are silicone buds that comes in 3 sizes, and fits securely to your ears, and help isolate external noise. That way you can listen to a lower volume, without being disturbed by external noise, and thus you save your ears from fatigue.
Apple, wake up! At least you can learn something with Sony: make awesome earphones at an unbeatable price!
Coupon code is CPN6282565795 for $5 off.
“Don’t be a hater”
You don’t know the history of white people, I do!
I’ve actually always thought that the iPod headphones sound really good, but they are painful as hell!
“Apple, wake up!”
Apple, please do not wake up! We happy that you’ve lowered the price and do not want it to go up for better earphones.
Since we all enjoy music, surely we have other earphones to rely on.
I currently use the etymotic ER-6i’s and I love them EXCEPT for the FIVE and a HALF FOOT long cord. I’ve asked them about it and they say people like long cords. Ughh. I’ve yanked it out of my ears so many times. I tried that ‘bone’ looking wrap for it and it created a loose connection in the wire where it wrapped around. Give me a cord that is like Apple’s and earphones like the ER-6i’s and I’d be happy.
I’ve also used and enjoyed the $99 Shure headphones although they have a very thick cord and the Future Sonics $160 headphones that I managed to leave on a plane.
My earbuds never got out of the box
The writer is correct. The plain-Jane iPod earbuds are awful. But Apple ships them for the same reason they ship minimum RAM with an otherwise gorgeous G5: they have to keep costs down while still getting your purchase. Plus, they later get all your accessory sales (they’ve been selling all those other earbuds in the Apple Store forever). Just follow the money.
And arguments that say “the expensive ones don’t improve on the white ones considering the quality of downloaded files” don’t hold water if…
a) the third-party models seal out external sound (which the Apple ones don’t), since this would obviously increase the listening experience;
b) the third-party models cause less pain (almost a certainty, I’ll bet), and/or
c) a significant portion of the user’s library has nothing to do with downloaded files
To each his own.
Show me any portable music player on the market that ships with a decent pair of headphones?
All the manufacturers know that headphones are a subjective purchase, so they always ship a basic pair that work well enough until you find a pair you like. Almost like a temporary solution.
The headphones aren’t permanently attached, just like the one button mouse everyone complains about on the Mac (except for the portables).
I purchased a pair of Philips earbuds for my iPod mini when the original ones died (were killed, rather; I dropped one earbud into a cup of coffee). They are white, too, even came with clip-on sleeves in the colours of the iPod mini. They cost 9.90 Euros (that’s around 12 bucks American), and they sound definitely better than the throw-in earbuds. Makes you think the original earbuds must be in the 3 $ price range.
Bottomline: you don’t have to spend 300 bucks on a pair of headphones.
you know it macman,
Of course they are cheap headphones, just like all the other portable players.
What’s funny is these people buy another cheap pair at Wal-Mart and think they will sound better.
They sound just as good as any sub $30 pair.
Quit whinning. who’s gonna walk around outdoors with a $100 pair of headphones that sound great?
Go buy a Sony and shut it if your so unhappy.
By the way these headphones have been criticized since they were introduced, so this article is nothing new. Just the newbie complainers are whats new.
I personally think all those ‘in ear’ options are annoying and sound a little thin… I have the Bang & Olufsen ear buds (160) and they sound and look great! They stay on your ears well due to a wrap around feature and have a much more full sound than the Sure or Seinheisers for hundereds more… and they don’t need any of that annoying maintainece of cleaning the filters and that crap…
News Flash! $330 head phones sound better than the $20 head phones included with every iPod.
Would you pay $500 for a $250 iPod with decent head phones?
No, I didn’t think so.
I rather like the apple earbuds they fit my ears and with the bass boost setting on my iPod they sound fine. Yes there are better headphones out there but comparing them to some earbuds that cost more than an ipod itself is a bit daft.