Fun Stuff > BAND

Best earbud/small headphones?

<< < (5/9) > >>

Sox:
Skullcandy headphones have two things going for them. They're insanely pretty and have a nice dynamic range. Both features, except maybe for the bright colours, are matched and even exceeded by competitor brands that last a LOT longer.
A guy on my course at college had his first skullcandy headphones snapped in two, the morning he bought them because his tutor lifted one ear off his head at a slightly awkward angle. He got a replacement at the store, they died at the jack a just a few months later. He bought the same pair again. This was 3 months ago, I'm waiting for the third pair to break so I might finally convince him that he'd be better off buying a better brand.

I use a pair of Sony MDR-V4 headphones. I don't know how old they are, but my dad says "older than you". They work perfectly. The modern equivalent is about £55. These are not expensive headphones. But they last. When a guys goes through 3 pairs of £130 skullcandies in less than 6 months (two down, one to go) you know you're looking at shitty headphones. I don't hold out much hope for their cheaper earbuds, which from what I have seen are far more likely to get destoyed very quickly.

Headphones and earbuds are supposed to last for years. Even decades. They're often not that expensive. If you accept earbuds or headphones with a high rate of failure that break easily, and continue to purchase them for any sum of money each time they do, then you are not sensible. That is all I have to say on that matter.

pwhodges:
That said, the cables of any phones can rather easily get heavily strained at the ends, and even good ones may get a break in the wire after a lot of flexing.  Decent phones (Beyer, the more upmarket Sennheisers, Etymotic EM4, and presumably some other makes) can have the cable replaced at a fraction of the price of a new unit.

IronOxide:
Yeah, I don't think I've ever lost a pair of headphones to anything other than wire damage. The thing that was most disappointing was that my cheap Sennheisers despite having a length of cable that could hardly be described as much other than 'copious', leaving me to believe I could cut out a couple inches from the wire and resoldering it in, the wires are glued in and secured inside of the can, making them all but immovable.

Which phones would you recommend with removable cables for that kind of wear? (if you have any experience with them)

pwhodges:
There are so many models now, that I have no idea which have replaceable cables.  Even the Sennheiser site doesn't say*, as far as I can looking at phones I know have them.  But I guess none of the cheap ones, as having a plug and socket is a perceptible manufacturing expense  :-(

* Not consistently; but some have "weight without cable" in the technical data, or "detachable cable" in the features - e.g. the HD-485 for ~$70

Catacombs:
At certain times, I don't mind using the iPod buds.  They provide music and at the same time I am able to hear what's going around me, so they work for walking to class or hanging with friends.  If I'm going to be at a loud place but want to concentrate on my music, like a train or walking thru the city, I'll wear my in-ear buds.  It's amazing how much I have to turn up the volume on my iPod Touch when I have the iPod buds in (and the iPod buds always like to fall out of my left ear for reasons unknown).

I like to think I take excellent care of my things, but I have had the same thing happen to three different pairs of the iPod earbuds.  After several months of use (or in the case of the last pair, four) one of the buds just come apart.  I doubt it's something I'm doing but the buds seem to detach in pieces, with the part with the wire connected to it in one hand and the part with the silver on it in the other hand, and the insides of the little speaker in between.  It kind of pisses me off (now that I think of it, I should have brought them back to the Apple Store to see if they would replace them, since every instance has been under a year, but oh well).

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page