Earbuds v Over-Ear ANC Headphones -- What's your preference?

[VashHT]

I prefer over ear for the most part, I have a pair of Audiotechnica ATH-MSR7s that I've had for a while and they're great, also have a pair of Sony's over ear cancelling headphones (2nd revision I believe) that sound pretty good as well but I use those more for sleeping or on planes. I usually hate earbuds because they never seem to want to stay in my ears, but I got a free pair of pixel buds with my Pixel 6 and those actually stay in really well and sound pretty good too, I use those more for working out nowadays.

 

[Oyeve]

Of literally the dozens of headphones, earbuds and wireless ANC cans I aways prefer over the ear. My main uses are,

1. walking to and from work in warm weather, I use my Sony WH-1000XM4 because they sound decent, ANC works well and the wireless connection is great and I can have 2 devices connected/paired.

2. On vaca, staying in hotel/someone else's house. I always bring my tablets or android devices so I can watch movies while I fall asleep. In this instance any cheap WIRED bitch-buds will work but they must be flat in the ear and not wedged silicon in my canal as I will fall asleep with them on. In this case the crappy ipod style buds work great as I am not into sound quality at that point.

3. Critical/at home music listening. Here is where my multiple over the ear NON-ANC cans come into play. I have been using my original purchased in 1985 Sony MDR-V6 headphones a lot of the time for general loud listening and vinyl. For power (read super loud) I use my 2001 Sony MDR-700DJ cans because these things are a BEAST! Take lots of power and will make your head roll!

4. Super critical/symphony type music I use the Sony MDR-V900 HD. Now, Sony made a few MDR-900 models but the HD version is NOT for bassheads or loud music listeners. These cans will bring out sounds in music that you have never heard before. Example, we all love the song "Comfortably Numb" and it sounds pretty good on normal cans but the MDR-900 HD version will bring sounds out of that song so much clearer. The strings are really emphasized and it like listening to a different recording.

5. Gaming, I don't use wireless for gaming and I am in one place and don't need it. For gaming I use my Audio Technica ATH-M50x. They sounds great and kind muffles external sounds anyway. I also use them for above 1. when I walk to and from work in cold weather where I have a coat or a jacket and I can use my FiiO Q3 DAC with all the damn wires tucked into my coat/jacket!

 

[nakedfrog]

I can guarantee that you don't sweat like I do lol. It's like a family thing where we just sweat so damn much. I don't even wear hats if I am doing something active because it'll make me hotter.

Fair enough, my BFF is like that too, any time we helped each other move in/out of a place, his shirt would be just drenched in sweat.

 

[Muse]

Buds, baby. Etymotic Research, FTW. Comfort, fidelity, isolation.

 

[Pohemi]

I quoted this the other day but forgot to actually reply to it, but...

A few hundred feet at 40MPH is no where near enough time.

Are you imagining a fully-loaded semi tractor-trailer? Because in an average passenger vehicle, braking from 40mph takes just over 100ft to come to a dead stop. 60mph is about 250ft. So no, it's nowhere near as far as you claimed. Do you drive?

 

[dank69]

You might not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like:

 

[JM Aggie08]

This was my shit back in the day.

 

[waffleironhead]

I spend most of the day with wireless(IE connected to each other by a cable) earbuds in while working, tractor work, mowing etc. Prefer the connected ones as I dont fancy having to fine one if it drops out while tractoring and can just hang around my neck when not in use.

I used to go thru a pair of cheap ~$20 jlab wireless earbuds every year. Sound was mediocre, range was excellent, but one side or the other would die in under one year of daily use.
Bought a pair of sony wic310, sound was better, have lasted 3 years now, but range is terrible, will drop out in a shorter distance, and ill get lost contact and static with my phone in my pocket.
Got gifted a pair of beats earbuds, sound was the best of the three, but connectivity was not as great jlabs. One of my cats had some strange obsession with them and chewed thru the cables, so they are dead now.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Custom IEMs >

I don't understand why Apple hasn't made this push for Airpods. They make laser scanners that can do it (so don't have to do the moulds) and they could absolutely make a machine that could turn that into custom fit plastic housing in like an hour (with an option for medical grade silicon if you want to wait). It would feel super high tech, it wouldn't actually cost that much, it would provide massive quality and comfort benefits, and the custom aspect will make it feel even more premium. They could also probably charge $200-700 extra for it (depending on how high end they went with it), and it would seem like a bargain compared to the current custom IEM market (there aren't really any custom IEMs that match most of the tech in Airpods but they do tend to feature higher quality speakers). And consumers would go bananas for it. It also would be important for the move to AR.

If apple also further develops some of the stuff (there was an article about some transistor speakers on Anandtech a few years back for instance that could be really interesting for IEMs), they could have game over headphones.

Heck, Apple could do it as part of their Health stuff, adding biometric sensors as well. As part of the creation part they could put in hearing testers that also create custom hearing profiles. And with haptic stuff they could also do bone conducting things.

 

[MrSquished]

Custom IEMs >

I don't understand why Apple hasn't made this push for Airpods. They make laser scanners that can do it (so don't have to do the moulds) and they could absolutely make a machine that could turn that into custom fit plastic housing in like an hour (with an option for medical grade silicon if you want to wait). It would feel super high tech, it wouldn't actually cost that much, it would provide massive quality and comfort benefits, and the custom aspect will make it feel even more premium. They could also probably charge $200-700 extra for it (depending on how high end they went with it), and it would seem like a bargain compared to the current custom IEM market (there aren't really any custom IEMs that match most of the tech in Airpods but they do tend to feature higher quality speakers). And consumers would go bananas for it. It also would be important for the move to AR.

If apple also further develops some of the stuff (there was an article about some transistor speakers on Anandtech a few years back for instance that could be really interesting for IEMs), they could have game over headphones.

Heck, Apple could do it as part of their Health stuff, adding biometric sensors as well. As part of the creation part they could put in hearing testers that also create custom hearing profiles. And with haptic stuff they could also do bone conducting things.

Yeah I think it's a little harder than that. A lot of high-end IEM manufacturers to offer custom fitting IEMs but those don't look like anything you can make in an hour. Some do have where they create a custom tip to your ear, but those look really awkward. I mean custom tip like a tip you can put on any IEM.

They all require you taking a mold of your ear and then sending it back. I'm sure with Apple's money they could afford to make machines that do this but you never know if it's even close to being profitable.

Ultimate ears made a tip that you can kind of fit and slightly mold to your air with the application of heat and then sticking it in your ear. Definitely not like a full custom fit but it's definitely a little customized for you.

Also just because something is custom fit to your ear doesn't make it the best option. Sound quality matters and features matter.

Customs also have much less resale value

 

[HomerJS]

Buds with ear loops for the gym (Beats3)

Over the ear for travel and casual listening (Bose QC 35s)

 

[sdifox]

Custom IEMs >

I don't understand why Apple hasn't made this push for Airpods. They make laser scanners that can do it (so don't have to do the moulds) and they could absolutely make a machine that could turn that into custom fit plastic housing in like an hour (with an option for medical grade silicon if you want to wait). It would feel super high tech, it wouldn't actually cost that much, it would provide massive quality and comfort benefits, and the custom aspect will make it feel even more premium. They could also probably charge $200-700 extra for it (depending on how high end they went with it), and it would seem like a bargain compared to the current custom IEM market (there aren't really any custom IEMs that match most of the tech in Airpods but they do tend to feature higher quality speakers). And consumers would go bananas for it. It also would be important for the move to AR.

If apple also further develops some of the stuff (there was an article about some transistor speakers on Anandtech a few years back for instance that could be really interesting for IEMs), they could have game over headphones.

Heck, Apple could do it as part of their Health stuff, adding biometric sensors as well. As part of the creation part they could put in hearing testers that also create custom hearing profiles. And with haptic stuff they could also do bone conducting things.

Err Apple is about profit, not performance.

 

[Muse]

I wear mine (with noise cancelling off) while I'm out walking, I can hear vehicles approaching from a few hundred feet away.

I will not wear any kind of headphones while walking, skating or biking. Rarely in the car, where I think it's illegal anyway, at least using both ears.

 

[Muse]

Buds, baby. Etymotic Research, FTW. Comfort, fidelity, isolation.

When I wear over the ear headphones my ears hurt after a while. Can't wear them for hours like I can with buds. Buds aren't perfectly comfortable but much better than over the ears cans, at least that's the experience I've had. I have some highly rated Sony cans but never use them because they hurt my ears, just my Etymotics buds, in the house, in the gym, on planes or trains. I have a set of Bose NC buds (which don't stick inside the ear but kind of rest on the channel) but rarely use them for anything but taking a nap, at which time I use no source, just turn on NC, which reduces neighborhood whatever. I also have Sony WF-1000XM3 wireless bluetooth NC buds but the exigencies of bluetooth have me rarely using them for anything. The Etymotics sound every bit as good, likely better, and their isolation is certainly as effective as the Sonys' NC for blocking out extraneous noise, probably much better. I've used the Bose NCs on a plane just to block the engine noise which worked out well.

 

[Zor Prime]

Over ear by far. I have buds but I don't really like them for long duration listening.

While my old school Sony MDR7506 with upgraded foam are still terrific I bought some Bose QC35s for flying around and while not as good as the 7506s the battery lasts forever and are super comfy plus they sound good enough for most things and working out.

I did a test one day with some FLAC recordings of my music between the 7506s and the QC35s. Yeah the 7506s are better but most people if they didn't compare side by side would probably find the QC35s just fine.

I used to walk around with the 7506 cord stuffed into a pocket.

 

[mikeymikec]

With regard to going running, I tried quite a few pairs of earphones but found that they constantly needed readjusting (or at worst falling out), I settled on this set: JVC HA-EB75. Pretty cheap, and in terms of sound quality compared to other earphones I tried, they were reasonable.

 

[MrSquished]

There are lots of different tips to try with in ears that can change the comfort, and sound, dramatically. From comply to spin fits to crystal tips and many more.

 

[Muse]

Since the preponderance of postings in this thread very much favor over the ear to buds I figure I should comb for OTE recommendations and see if I can get a pair I actually prefer to my Etymotic Research buds (I have many sets of those of several kinds, been using Ety's for over 20 years).

 

[nakedfrog]

When I wear over the ear headphones my ears hurt after a while. Can't wear them for hours like I can with buds. Buds aren't perfectly comfortable but much better than over the ears cans, at least that's the experience I've had. I have some highly rated Sony cans but never use them because they hurt my ears, just my Etymotics buds, in the house, in the gym, on planes or trains. I have a set of Bose NC buds (which don't stick inside the ear but kind of rest on the channel) but rarely use them for anything but taking a nap, at which time I use no source, just turn on NC, which reduces neighborhood whatever. I also have Sony WF-1000XM3 wireless bluetooth NC buds but the exigencies of bluetooth have me rarely using them for anything. The Etymotics sound every bit as good, likely better, and their isolation is certainly as effective as the Sonys' NC for blocking out extraneous noise, probably much better. I've used the Bose NCs on a plane just to block the engine noise which worked out well.

Have you ever looked into replacing the ear cups on your over ear ones? It can make a world of difference. The stock ones that came with my Sennheiser bluetooth set weren't great for more than an hour or two, but the memory foam ones I put in are comfortable over a very long period.

 

[Captante]

Have you ever looked into replacing the ear cups on your over ear ones? It can make a world of difference. The stock ones that came with my Sennheiser bluetooth set weren't great for more than an hour or two, but the memory foam ones I put in are comfortable over a very long period.

That was a huge factor in my choosing the over-ear wired Astro gaming headset I ultimately went with.... they offer a few different fabric types and thicknesses plus they attach/detach with magnets not cheap metal/plastic clips.

Perhaps most importantly they can be readily ordered on the website for $10-$20 shipped and are also available on Amazon. (Best Buy carries them online too)

 

[RicardoCarver]

I've been using my earbuds for everything too, and I think it's time to level up. The Sony WH-1000XM5 looks dope, and I've heard good things about it, but I have yet to try it. I'm considering the Lucidsound LS31 wireless headphones. I read a sick lucidsound ls31 wireless review, and it sounds like they're comfortable, stylish, and have excellent sound quality. Plus, they're wireless, which is always a plus. But hey, it's all about personal preference, right? Let me know what you end up getting and how you like it!

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Speaking of dopes.