# Any recs for new headphones/earbuds for my iPhone/iPad?



## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

Our stash of headphones in the house is quickly dwindling. I need a new set of earbuds to work with my iPhone, and we could use 1-2 pair of additional headphones to use with iPads/iPod Touches. Because I want to buy three sets, I don't want to spend any more than I have to. The kids are mainly using (and likely abusing) the headsets with their iTouches and iPads. There are a ton of seller options on eBay, all for decent prices, but I'd prefer to have a recommendation.

I bought a pair of Zagg earbuds for me last year that work well, but they're a bit bulky. I prefer the slim white cord of the Apple-style ones. Thanks!


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## ayuryogini (Jan 3, 2010)

Since it's for your iPhone, I'm assuming you want one with a mic? Cnet Editors give the Klipsch Image S4i with mic a rating of Outstanding. Amazon has them for $99, so they're a little steep, but they look really nice, and I think they're in my near future. Amazon has the ones without the mic for $79.

Amazon also carries a Sony earbud with mic for about $27, and for the price they are a decent earphone. My go-to earbuds for my iPod are these without the mic. I think this would be a really great choice for your kids. I've had a pair of comparable Sony earbuds (without mic) for about 5 years, and they are still working well. I use them on an almost daily basis with my iPod nano when I take my dog for a walk.

But my very favorite device for just my iPhone is my Plantronics Voyager PRO+, that Amazon has right now for $69; I got them when they first came out for $99, so this is a great deal; they have A2DP technology and you get a free year of Vocalyst with them; they also stream music and a whole bunch of other stuff that other earbuds don't do. I highly recommend this one, if you're in the market for a new bluetooth for your iPhone; it can also connect to your iPad, but usually you want better sound for your iPad, though this would be fine for Skyping, etc.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Sennheiser makes great headphones and has reasonable prices compared to the other top brands.

I have the PX-100 headphones and the CX-200 earbuds and love both.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

I should mention that I am by no means an audiophile and am looking to spend less than $35 ideally on the iPhone earbuds, less on pairs for the iTouches. I just can't justify spending more as they break too quickly, get lost, or are taken over by my husband (this would especially happen if I got a nice pair). I just require that both ears produce sound with as little buzz as possible.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Deals can be had on good headphones.  For instance, I got the Sennheiser CX-200 earbuds for $10 shipped from New Egg a few months back.  The PX-100 headphones I got for $30 from Amazon a few years back (I think they may have stopped making them).

I'm not an audiophile either, but there's a definite sound quality improvement over the cheap Sony headphones I use in the gym (don't like using good ones there as I'm always snagging the wires on things or mashing them with weights etc.).


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

You're right about being able to find good deals. I just ordered two pair of over ear Sennheisers and two pair of Apple's 3GS iPhone headsets. The Apple ones were $7.50 each, with free shipping, hopefully they'll be worth at least that. The Sennheisers will be ideal for our upcoming Memorial Day road trip with three kids for sixteen hours. Thanks for the help!


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## ayuryogini (Jan 3, 2010)

hsuthard said:


> You're right about being able to find good deals. I just ordered two pair of over ear Sennheisers and two pair of Apple's 3GS iPhone headsets. The Apple ones were $7.50 each, with free shipping, hopefully they'll be worth at least that. The Sennheisers will be ideal for our upcoming Memorial Day road trip with three kids for sixteen hours. Thanks for the help!


That's great! Where did you get them?


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

I got them from Amazon and they're already here! I bought the HD 201 and the HD 202 models (didn't even realize that until  I saw the boxes side by side!). The ebay earbuds are on their way, but not here yet. I'm going to go give them a quick listen and see what I think.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

OK, I highly recommend these! I'm thrilled with them, they both sound great. The HD 202 MK II pair has a super long cord (10 feet) which can come in handy (or be a nuisance), and a plug adapter.

HD 201 $19:


HD 202 MK II $22:


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## NightReader (Apr 25, 2010)

I like Sony or JVC in-ear buds for my laptop and iPad.  They are inexpensive and pretty good.  I think the Sony ones have softer tips, so if you have sensitive ears, they might be better.  Otherwise, the JVC's seem to last longer for me.

I don't have a pair with a mic.


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## KindleGirl (Nov 11, 2008)

hsuthard said:


> OK, I highly recommend these! I'm thrilled with them, they both sound great. The HD 202 MK II pair has a super long cord (10 feet) which can come in handy (or be a nuisance), and a plug adapter.
> 
> HD 201 $19:
> 
> ...


hsuthard: are these comfy to wear for a while? I'm thinking about trying the HD 202's but want to make sure they don't pinch. I've had some that pinch and become uncomfortable after a short while.


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## lmk2045 (Jun 21, 2009)

I like Ultimate Ears and/or Etymotic Research noise reducing ear buds for my notebook computer, iPad and iPod.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

KindleGirl said:


> hsuthard: are these comfy to wear for a while? I'm thinking about trying the HD 202's but want to make sure they don't pinch. I've had some that pinch and become uncomfortable after a short while.


The ear cups on the 201's are a bit larger, but both feel very comfortable. I wore the 202's for about 30 minutes and they were very comfy. I think they'll be perfect for our upcoming road trip Memorial Day weekend.

I received the Apple earbuds today, they look identical to the ones I received with my iPhone 3G. They work fine, so they should fit our needs. They even threw in an extra pair for free, so I ended up with three for $15 and free shipping.

So for $55, I got five new sets of earbuds/headphones. Now I just need to download some movies for the road!


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

Great deal! I think I'll try the Sennheisers. I'm finding that I prefer over-the-ear headphones.


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## KindleGirl (Nov 11, 2008)

hsuthard said:


> The ear cups on the 201's are a bit larger, but both feel very comfortable. I wore the 202's for about 30 minutes and they were very comfy. I think they'll be perfect for our upcoming road trip Memorial Day weekend.
> 
> I received the Apple earbuds today, they look identical to the ones I received with my iPhone 3G. They work fine, so they should fit our needs. They even threw in an extra pair for free, so I ended up with three for $15 and free shipping.
> 
> So for $55, I got five new sets of earbuds/headphones. Now I just need to download some movies for the road!


Glad to hear they are comfortable. I've already ordered mine and they should be here tomorrow or Tuesday. Looking forward to trying them out. Thanks for posting what you found!

Have a great trip this weekend!


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## KindleGirl (Nov 11, 2008)

My 202's arrived today and I really like them so far. I have had a little bit of pinching, but I think it's just a matter of getting them adjusted better. The sound is great and even though they say they are for the iPods, they sound even better with the music on my new Droid phone. The only thing I don't like about them is the really long cord. It can be wrapped but it's just another thing to carry around. Since they were made for the portable devices it would have been nice to have a shorter cord. All in all, great headphones for a great price.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

KindleGirl said:


> My 202's arrived today and I really like them so far. I have had a little bit of pinching, but I think it's just a matter of getting them adjusted better. The sound is great and even though they say they are for the iPods, they sound even better with the music on my new Droid phone. The only thing I don't like about them is the really long cord. It can be wrapped but it's just another thing to carry around. Since they were made for the portable devices it would have been nice to have a shorter cord. All in all, great headphones for a great price.


Yeah, I'm not sure what's up with that 10-ft cord. But maybe it'll come in handy while vacuuming? LOL.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Well anything saying it's "made for iPods" or whatever is just marketing hype.  Any good head phones will sound good with anything be it iPod, a disc man, or plugging into your home theater receiver.   If anything, quality headphones are not as good for iPods as you'll hear more of the inferiority of compressed MP3s vs. uncompressed cds if you're an audiophile type!

Over the ear headphones tend to have longer cords as they're more for use around the house etc.  People use ear buds and other smaller headphones for jogging, working out etc. so those tend to have shorter cords.  Where as the over the ear ones people want to be able to reach from the stereo under the TV to the couch and that type of thing.


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## KindleGirl (Nov 11, 2008)

mooshie78 said:


> Well anything saying it's "made for iPods" or whatever is just marketing hype. Any good head phones will sound good with anything be it iPod, a disc man, or plugging into your home theater receiver.  If anything, quality headphones are not as good for iPods as you'll hear more of the inferiority of compressed MP3s vs. uncompressed cds if you're an audiophile type!
> 
> Over the ear headphones tend to have longer cords as they're more for use around the house etc. People use ear buds and other smaller headphones for jogging, working out etc. so those tend to have shorter cords. Where as the over the ear ones people want to be able to reach from the stereo under the TV to the couch and that type of thing.


Yeah, I understand all that. I just thought it was funny that somewhere in their write-up or on the package it mentions being optimized for the portable devices, like that was the best use of them or something, yet they include the 10 ft. cord.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

Agreed.  It's always seemed silly to me to advertise any over the ear headphones as optimized for iPods/mp3 players in general.

1.  Most people are using those things on the go and want ear buds or smaller outside the ear headphones they can easily carry around.

2.  The over the ear headphones--especially from top brands like Sennheiser--are marketed more toward people who care about sound quality.  And a lot of those people don't like listening to MP3s due to the compression anyway! 

I guess they just try to market it that way since a majority of headphone use is with mp3 players these days, but I can't imagine it does much good on these over the ear models vs. their ear bud models and other more portable models.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I use over the ear headphones with my ipod.  Earbuds are no good when walking in the city.  I'd have to turn up the volume too much an would damage my ears to hear it over the hum of NYC traffic and people out there using cell phones.  Cord isn't so long.  I had to replace the cord eventually and the newer cord is quite short.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

They have noise canceling earbuds now.  Both ones with actual noise cancelling, and ones that just have rubber ends with adjustable sizes that fit tightly in your ear and block out a lot of outside noise.

I have a set of the latter (Sennheiser CX-200).  I've not tried them walking around the city (and Atlanta isn't near as noisy as NYC anyway!) as I'm not one to listen to music when out and about, but I've used them on Airplanes and they work well their in terms of being able to hear without having the volume up much louder than usual.


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## Rita (Apr 30, 2009)

I know they are much more expensive than other earbuds, but the quality of the Bose (I don't think) can't be beat. I've tried several different buds and headphones and finally just gritted my teeth and bought them. I haven't regretted that purchase for one second. The quality and depth of these earbuds are phenomenal. I use them for the laptop, Zune and Blackberry.


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

mooshie78 said:


> They have noise canceling earbuds now. Both ones with actual noise cancelling, and ones that just have rubber ends with adjustable sizes that fit tightly in your ear and block out a lot of outside noise.


I have Voda in-the-ear "noise-cancelling" earbuds that came with several sizes of rubber ends. Still have to turn up the volume to use these outside. They don't cancel the noise one bit, so I use over-the-ear headphones. The set I have had a noise-cancelling feature, but it doesn't work any more (changed the battery and still doesn't work), but the physical barrier makes a big difference to me. I'm so used to them that if I go without them and a firetruck comes whizzing by, it hurts.

The Voda earbuds have excellent sound quality, but I can't use them outside.


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