In-ear IPod Earphones any good?

[Thorin]

As the title says, are the IPod In-ear earphones any good? I'm using the one's which come standard with the IPods but find them impractical at the gym coz of all the background noise. Looking for something that will blockout most / all external noise and gives me good sound without breaking the bank!

 

[bdt]

YMMV (maybe your ears are a more in-ear friendly shape than mine) but I can't stand those things: I end up with damn sore ears PDQ, which is no fun at all. Maybe consider something from Logitech's iPod/MP3 range. I've got the Sports Headphones in "Graphite" and find they fit rather nicely, thank you: the only thing I did was take off the silly/annoying over-ear loops as they also hurt. I'm also quite happy with the sound/isolation (and the lower end of the spectrum is well supported) but this entirely subjective ..all I can say is that I'M happy!

If you're keen maybe I can hook you up.

 

[pope24]

Stax have a range of in ear headphone which are dirt cheap compared to all the other ones. That leans less that R100 when all the others are between R150 and R500. It is probably worth buying a pair and seeing if they are suitable before squandering your money on more expensive kit.

 

[TheYak]

I love my iPod earphones. They have great sound quality, in my opinion.

 

[bdt]

Stax have a range of in ear headphone which are dirt cheap compared to all the other ones. That leans less that R100 when all the others are between R150 and R500. It is probably worth buying a pair and seeing if they are suitable before squandering your money on more expensive kit.

That's a not a bad idea, and considering that Thorin says he's mainly looking to use 'em at gym, is probably a damn fine idea; I mean anything can happen in that kind of environment and it would hurt a lot less to crunch/drown/"lose" (as in end up being stolen) an el-cheapo set than a fancypants name-brand..!

 

[Andre]

I use Sennheiser HD 600's with mine.

 

[MadAtter]

erk!!!! i got the ipod in-ear headphones for R450 from the store in sandton, only to find a month later they stopped selling them because Apple said they cause hearing problems after too much use. they worked really well... but left your ears feeling a little odd. they now sell "in ear adapters" for normal ipod headphones and i've heard they work nicely.

 

[4cer]

I have the in ear Logitechs that are used with my PSP... and after extensive listening at full... they hurt your ears, but thats just because of too much loud music. I recommend them though. If you want to block out external noises, when i put them in im deaf to the world.

 

[Inertia]

As the title says, are the IPod In-ear earphones any good? I'm using the one's which come standard with the IPods but find them impractical at the gym coz of all the background noise. Looking for something that will blockout most / all external noise and gives me good sound without breaking the bank!

WARNING! DO NOT get the Apple in-ear headphones. I am already on my fourth pair, the other three all having the same defect. I bought my first pair in SA, the left ear piece stopped working. Took it back, fought like a bitch for a refund, they made some excuse that they didn't have replacement stock. So i left it. I then was in London, and bought the same pair there, thinking that buying from one of Apples worldwide flagship stores would hold some guarantee. Yea right. Left ear piece stopped working a month later. Took it to the Apple shop in Sandton, they refused to change it. Livid, I bought a new pair, Apple promising me these were perfect and defective free. Surprise surprise, a month later, the left ear piece stopped working. Absolutely furious, took it back to the store, after an hour and much fighting, got a replacement pair. That was about a month ago...

Apple is quick to take your money, but not so quick to help you out when there is a problem. I advise you stay away from them, and get a different brand of headphone

 

[thewanted_]

I bought some Sony MDR-EX71SL's over at I-Shopping4u.com

Only $50 (shipping included). They fit really snugly in your ears so you pretty much cannot hear anything around you which is awesome for gym and that annoying **** (*cough*94.7fm*cough*) they play over the PA system.

They're quite bassy without being overpowering. Loving mine

 

[NeBo]

IMHO, Griffin EarThumps work really well. R140 from DigiCape.

 

[incubate]

Sennheiser's are the best headphones out there. Apple is just a rip off. Make rubbish and make it look good

 

[Afrikane]

The iPod phones sound like little fart cannons to me, I use this: http://store.earphonesolutions.com/um2dudrineaw.html
It's pricey but the sound is brilliant.

 

[hotmojo]

The Apple in ears also get so so reviews, most time the SennHeisers or others ($500) ones are recommended. Cannot afford that but I've tried the SennHeiser and the Creative ones. Creative ones are cheaper, not too bad, but I'm saving for the SennHeisers, they're in a world of their own.

Anyone know who stocks them in Gauteng other than NuWorld

 

[bwana]

WARNING! DO NOT get the Apple in-ear headphones. I am already on my fourth pair, the other three all having the same defect. I bought my first pair in SA, the left ear piece stopped working. Took it back, fought like a bitch for a refund, they made some excuse that they didn't have replacement stock. So i left it. I then was in London, and bought the same pair there, thinking that buying from one of Apples worldwide flagship stores would hold some guarantee. Yea right. Left ear piece stopped working a month later. Took it to the Apple shop in Sandton, they refused to change it. Livid, I bought a new pair, Apple promising me these were perfect and defective free. Surprise surprise, a month later, the left ear piece stopped working. Absolutely furious, took it back to the store, after an hour and much fighting, got a replacement pair. That was about a month ago...

Apple is quick to take your money, but not so quick to help you out when there is a problem. I advise you stay away from them, and get a different brand of headphone

Screw the headsets - get your iPod looked at if you've managed to blow three pairs all on the left ear.

I bought Griffin's EarJams which made the apple ones far more comfortable and improved the sound quality considerably.

 

[incubate]

I've imported Sennheiser headphones priced at R1600 but got them from music123.com at about R1000 or so. It's the hd sp1's closed back. These are brilliant for DJ, monitoring, gaming etc. But i'm sure you can get the small ear ones from international sites as well if you can't find local suppliers here.

 

[bb_matt]

Don't use in-ear headsets !

They are TERRIBLE for your ears, big time.
Over here in the UK, serious research has shown that they are incredibly bad for your hearing.

Any earphone device that needs to be pumped to volumes which drown out background noise are going to do permanent damage to your hearing - the facts are out there.

Use earphones which cover the ear, rather than invading it - seriously, sticking mini-plastic speakers into your ears isn't a good idea.

I'm slowly seeing the in-ear phones dying out over here in the UK, in favour of more modern headphones, some of which are way cooler than looking like your hard of hearing.

Clip overs are pretty cool - the ultimate would be wireless ones, but I'm not sure whether they exist yet?

Heck, I've seen seriously retro teens here with huge f@ck-off headphones right out of the 70's - better quality sound, I'm told.

So yeah, screw the horrible "ear buds" and get yerself some more retro portable ear gear ...

 

[incubate]

Sorry to my previous post about the hd sp1's. They're actually these ones. The hd25sp. These are the ones I use and 2 of my other band memebers. They're serious pro ones and block out loads of sound and they're low impedemance so it's not heavy on your ears. Don't be fooled by their looks, beacause they're designed to bloack out sound. They don't look like they can but they actually do. I've seen them on movie sets, recording studios etc. I highly recommend these to anyone who can afford them. I promise you that you won't be disappointed by them.


http://www.music123.com/Sennheiser-HD25SP-i85413.music

 

[Afrikane]

Don't use in-ear headsets !

They are TERRIBLE for your ears, big time.
Over here in the UK, serious research has shown that they are incredibly bad for your hearing.

Any earphone device that needs to be pumped to volumes which drown out background noise are going to do permanent damage to your hearing - the facts are out there.

Use earphones which cover the ear, rather than invading it - seriously, sticking mini-plastic speakers into your ears isn't a good idea.

I'm slowly seeing the in-ear phones dying out over here in the UK, in favour of more modern headphones, some of which are way cooler than looking like your hard of hearing.

Clip overs are pretty cool - the ultimate would be wireless ones, but I'm not sure whether they exist yet?

Heck, I've seen seriously retro teens here with huge f@ck-off headphones right out of the 70's - better quality sound, I'm told.

So yeah, screw the horrible "ear buds" and get yerself some more retro portable ear gear ...

Matt, it's the ear buds that are the problem, they do not isolate enviromental sounds at all and thus you tend to turn the volume up too much. A proper IEM (In Ear Monitor) will attenuate around 15 to 25db (depending on the make and model) of noise and so you do not have to have set the volume up to listen properly. The draw back with an IEM is that you almost totally cut off from the outside world so it's not a good idea to be doing things like driving or walking in busy roads with them in your ears.

 

[bb_matt]

Poop, I want big f@ck off headphones and an afro, and an ipod the size of a suitcase, perched on my shoulder - Yeah Yeah Yeah !

I'll attenuate the db's while boogying on the street in my Adidas sneakers and leopard skin speedo - yeah baby, yeah.