Comfortable Ear Buds?

S

Scott Free

Joined
Sep 15, 1999
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Just got an iTouch. I'm a photographer, and I mainly got it to use as portable mini-portfolio. I will of course use it for music, too. The ear buds that came with it, though, hurt my ears. Can anyone recommend anything less annoying?
 
I've had the same problem with just about every pair of ear-buds I've tried; they all really hurt my ears (I think I have freakishly small ear canals).

I found these Bose earbuds on sale last year and absolutely love them, no more hurt and the sound quality is fantastic. The soft rubber piece sits inside the ear and is extremely comfortable (and replaceable).Even on sale they are a bit pricey (I paid around $100 including tax) but worth every penny.

bose_earbuds.jpg
 
Unfortunately, "comfort" when it comes to bud headphones depends on the ears they're going into. Your best bet is to get a pair that have swappable fitting pieces.
 
I second the Bose. Best earbuds I've used. Comfortable and the sound is amazing. I picked mine up for about $80 on sale. Well worth the money.
 
I suppose I should mention which buds I use: the cheap Sony ones that are like $13 at Best Buy. They sound fine, and I don't cry when I mess them up and have to buy new ones (once every 4-6 months - I'm hard on them). I use them while riding my bike, and the sound quality is perfectly OK for that, and I have pretty discerning ears (I can tell the difference between a 256 and 320 bitrate .mp3). They might not be Bose or the $50 Sony ones, but they're far beyond the stock iPod buds (which are amongst the worst I've ever heard), and for the price, they're great. I've had Samsung, Koss, Radio Shack, and others that cost the same or up to $30, and these cheap Sony ones sound better than all those.
 
Shure E4s here. Comes with lots of swappable ear tips, so you get just the fit you need.


Pricey, though. I got mine for about $180 and considered it a good deal. How much did you want to spend? Decent earbuds run from 100-$1000 and far, far beyond for customs.

(you know how people gasp and say, "You spent how much on a knife?!" It gets worse with audio equipment. . .)
 
The Bose are to expensive for my needs. My iTouch is a small photo portfolio first. I work from home. I don't ride the bus. When I'm outside, I generally prefer outside sounds to music. I rarely need ear buds at all. It's just when I do need them, I want to be able to wear them for more than a few minutes because of pain. Keep the ideas coming!
 
Do you really need in-the-ear phones at all? You can get double-folding headphones that aren't much bigger to carry.
 
sennheiser makes a great ear bud offering. I have the CX300's. I also have their HD-280 Pro that are ROCKIN'!

You can't go wrong with either.

Brett
 
Cougar Allen said:
Do you really need in-the-ear phones at all? You can get double-folding headphones that aren't much bigger to carry.
Click to expand...

Good idea. I'll look into them. My first thought is: I carry so much stuff as it is, I'm really running out of nooks and crannies. But, "double-folding" sound's pretty small.
 
Not quite sure if you will count them as earbuds, but I use the Sony MDR-J10. They are as light as earbuds, and almost as compact, but since they have the tab that goes over the ear, they don't need pressure inside the ear canal to stay on your head. I must admit I have never tried expensive earbuds, but I have never been able to comfortably wear any of the earbuds I've ever tried. These are comfortable for me though, and very stable.

Amazon seems to have them from a number of different dealers at different prices. The link above lists them for only $1.49 but notice that the shipping is $7.85. Still a very cheap option, but just figured I'd note it. If you get them in a retail store I think they're around $20.
 
I would also just note that I rarely use headphones at all and therefore have little opinion on relative sound quality of the above Sony I mentioned to anything else out there. I only got them as a cheap, lightweight headphone that I could use on the few occasions I need them (generally traveling).
 
I use a pair of Shure E2c's when I get down. But at work or when I'm active and don't want to frag an expensive set of Shures, I use a pair of Koss Plugs. Not "Sparkplugs" (earbud name) just "Plugs". They have a metallic blue/gray backshell. Those suckers are under 15.00 (under 10 on sale) and they are awesome sounding! Try them out. At that price, you can't lose.
 
I picked up a pair of Skull Candy smokin Buds from Circuit city for $10 on sale. They come with 3 different size removable "bushings" that are soft and fill up the ear canal to block out outside noise. The are comfortable since the bushings are a really soft rubber material and come in varying sizes for different ears. The do a pretty good job of blocking out surrounding noises, so well that I would almost consider using them as ear plugs as well. The sound they provide is good too, I was actually surprised at how much bass they were able to produce from such a small package. You can also get them in various colors to match your phone, mp3 player, etc.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Skul...94984/catOid/-12938/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
Those are the ones I picked up.
 
I bought two pair of buds at Circuit City that are super comfortable!! They're Koss brand, yeah, I never heard of em either but they sound great and have some soft formable tips that you roll up and then put em in your ears, then the tips swell up and form fit to your ear canal so they'll stay put.
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Etymotic! They are also ones that fit snugly inside the ear canals (regular earbuds literally just fall out of my ears) with your choice of silicone or foam "buds". Outstanding sound quality, but are very "isolating" - ie. they block almost all exterior sounds.
 
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