Earbud Recommendation

You guys recommended a Sony earbud years ago and I have been pretty happy with it unfortunately the wire broke in the ear piece. I got a little carried away on the new lawn mower.

Anyone have a recommendation?

Under $50 would be nice.

I have this Philips earbug I like a lot:

Linky

It sound good and doesn't fall apart like so many others do.

Monoprice has well-received and very inexpensive sets.

Thanks guys. Those are very inexpensive. If I happen to "lawn mower" them I wouldn't feel as bad.

I do like the idea that Philips don't fall apart easily. I don't know. The older I get the more I hate decisions.

Most people like freedom from choice.

I guess so, at least on similar items/issues. Then if what they get turns out bad they aren't to blame and can really bitch.

I tried a pair of monoprice super-cheap earbuds recently because a web site said they were good, and it turns out they were terrible-sounding compared to those Sony Fontopias. I think best results are obtained when one spends more than ten bucks on one's earbuds.

I was wondering. There are exceptions but most of the time you get what you pay for. I don't think a lot of people anymore know what sounds good.

I guess I could get another pair of Sony Fontopias if nothing better has come along. They weren't the best in the world but they were nice for the price.

One thing I just remembered I liked about the Sony was it fit in my helmet when I occasionally used it on the motorcycle. I don't know when my next bike trip will be but that is a consideration.

I actually like my Apple EarPods. They don't seal out noise as much as the little rubber ones ear buds, but they stay in my ears better and are very comfortable. Only $14.40 on Amazon right now.

Eh, I guess this one got a good pair, because they sounded good to me.

This one also listens to more podcasts than music these days, and there aren't many headphones that can't handle those.

One of the classes I took had discussion on decision paralysis, where the more choices you have the harder it is to pick one and more likely you are going to regret making one and second guessing the one you made, which leads you to not enjoying the choice you made as much. You see it a lot when people can't pick what they want to order at a restaurant.

That was a fun class.

Well I guess I'm happy since I didn't have to make a decision. The wife got me a pair of these AUVIO . I guess with the lawn mower running they will sound OK. At least she is helping the less fortunate - Radioshack

Euuu... RatShack...

I know, seems like they intentionally pick the crap to sell that no one wants. Well once they go I'll have no chance of finding an LED within 50 miles of my house. Although finding an LED at Radioshack was hit or miss anyway.

Thanks for pointing those out. I hadn't realized that these existed. Endgadget seemed to think they were pretty good in their review. I'm going to pick up a set of these. Not because I expect them to be better than sealed-gasket ones. Rather, I'd like to have a pair on-hand to preview my mixes on. Despite the terrible quality of the original apple earbuds, they are one of the platforms I preview/test upon because they're common. If those new EarPods become common, then I'll need to have some on hand.

I was shocked when a RadioShack actually opened up near me (I figured they were in no shape to expand). But sadly, most of their stores look more like cell phone shops than electronics stores now. A couple months ago I ran out of ethernet ends (plugs? caps? clips?) and couldn't find a local source. The employee at "The Shack" didn't even know what I was talking about.

Obligatory reminder of PCA's hilarious story about Radio Shack

Looks like The Verge just did a story about
Looks like The Verge must have seen your question. They posted this story the very next day!

Wow. They repeatedly talk about how terrible the EarPods are. I guess they aren't as good as I thought. Sound good enough to me, but perhaps my expectations are low.

It could also be that they happen to fit your ears well.

I bought a pair directly from Apple instead of from Amazon, because some of the amazon reviews said the cheap ones might be faux knockoffs.

I'm pretty impressed. Orders of magnitude better than the regular apple earbuds. Bass is impressive for something that doesn't seal-in. I still prefer the fontopias and their ilk, but only just barely.

May I steer this topic a bit, towards high-end earbud instead? What would you recommend?

Try a site like Head-Fi, you will find plenty of recommendations there.

I have a set of HiFiMan RE0 IEMs which have excellent SQ (the attack on drums/string plucks is amazing, bass is more subdued than most other IEMs but still accurate) which were very reasonably priced although they seem to be no longer available. The current model is the RE-400 which rates well over there and is also reasonably priced.

Just be warned - there is the usual amount of audiophile foo...

Over the past decade, I've owned a succession of Etymotic earbuds. They got started on the research side of the house (i.e., trying to measure things inside the ear) and they still do a serious business in professional earbuds for stage musicians.

For mowing lawns, that's overkill, of course. My primary use is when sitting on airplanes, so comfort matters just as much as sound quality. My current pair, the "hf2" also has a convenient microphone that works with my laptop and smartphone. Etymotic offers products at a variety of price points, and with many different sizes and styles of things that squish into your ears. I switched out the default ones for the black foam eartips.

Highly recommended.

I recently purchased a set of these LG bluetooth headphones. They work quite well, and I can actually hide them under the collar of my work shirts. I've been using them for all sorts of house work, from emptying the dishwasher to lawn mowing to putting furniture together.