Just bought an iPod video....

[wazzledoozle]

I have a absolute $50 limit (got a prepaid $50 visa for xmas)

I would prefer earbuds, something small I can hide easily. Two things I had in mind were the Koss spark plug, and Sony Fontopias. My only concerns being that the Sony's cord breaks down after a few months of use (ive seen this first hand on a friend's pair), and the Koss looks a bit uncomfortable.

For reference, the stock iPod headphones fit my ears pretty well with the pads on. But the sound they struggle to make is offensive to my ear drums 🙁

 

[wellswarrior73]

I have the sony fontopias that you get at bestbuy for like 40bux. They are really nice for the price and have good sound quality and are comfortable. Before this pair I had a pair of philips earbuds and the cord on those was very flimsy and felt as if it would get ripped apart or something.
These are the sonys i have here. Dont get the white ones, theyre the same exact thing but cost more becuase they are white and look ipodish

 

[w00t]

well what exactly don't you like about them

one thing is your not going to get real base from some in-ear headphones they just can't produce it like some full headphones or some speakers.

 

[themisfit610]

[edit]

Just saw your budget.. sorry 🙂

[/edit]

 

[wazzledoozle]

Originally posted by: w00t
well what exactly don't you like about them

one thing is your not going to get real base from some in-ear headphones they just can't produce it like some full headphones or some speakers.

I used to have some Sony earbuds that did alright bass, you could actually tell it was bass although not very powerful. The iPod headphone's bass sound like someone rattling some tin foil.

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: wazzledoozle

Originally posted by: w00t
well what exactly don't you like about them

one thing is your not going to get real base from some in-ear headphones they just can't produce it like some full headphones or some speakers.

I used to have some Sony earbuds that did alright bass, you could actually tell it was bass although not very powerful. The iPod headphone's bass sound like someone rattling some tin foil.

IMO you just can't get the same base "feeling" as headphones or a speaker setup. They try to produce base but it fails pretty horribly.

 

[Roguestar]

I've had an iPod video for about a year now, and I've never used the earphones once. I went straight to some generic $30 Sony earphones for two reasons; 1: no-one will know I'm listening to an iPod so less likely to get mugged at night 😉 and 2: they're utter crap. Any time I'm sitting on the bus and having to put up with some idiot's crap music blaring out the side of his poorly insulated bassless earphones it's someone with iPod whites.

 

[SickBeast]

Koss KSC-35s if you can find them. Should be around $20, and they beat anything else under $100 IMO. They sound better than my $150 Bose Tripods! 😱

 

[Ricemarine]

Creative EP-630's... Oh so good...

 

[acegazda]

Originally posted by: Ricemarine
Creative EP-630's... Oh so good...

I have these 'phones and love them, but they struggle on highs and extreme lows. the etymotic research er6i's straddle the $50 mark, if you're willing to throw in $10 extra, but also look into the Seinheiser px100's. They aren't earbuds, but they sound better than any earbud <$100 and maybe even better than the triports. (lets use these as a reference point).

To address the bass issue, buds are generally weaker in the bass department because of the size of their drivers. You cannot fit the same driver in a pair of HD650's as the ep630's. You can however add more drivers, and this is what some of the more expensive models do (see shure e500 and westone um2) triple and dual drivers respectively. The reason you get the feeling of a punchy bass is because the IEMs (in ear monitors) isolate the ear canal from most outside noise so most of the noise spectrum resonating from the headpones have a direct path to your eardrum.

I guess to sum it all up, buds are good for portability and style, but better values can be found elsewhere if you look hard and do your research. I highly recommend the seinheiser px100's BTW, for $30, they are a killer deal.