Earphones: Count the number lost … count the number stepped on and broken … count the number caught in doors and ripped apart … count the number sliced through with a letter opener …
Hm … No way I’m spending $400 on those.
Too late for you, I understand, but this had been corrected in the new iPhones.
They actually corrected that for the iPhone 3G. Yet, they eliminated their firewire interface.
I have the iPhone, and I like it, but I wish there was a competing earphone that had the phone thingy on it too. I am okay to switch up when I’m listening to music, but there’s no mic so I can’t answer calls.
Anyone know of an alternative?
I saw some $40 headphones yesterday that had in-ear rubber inserts so they would actually be comfortable and provide better sound quality, and the package was marked “compatible with iPhone.” Now I know why.
I have an iPod. Well, actually, a Nano – that’s plenty space for me, I don’t use it that much, mostly when on airplanes. I spent $99 on some Shure earphones that have in-ear inserts with a variety of sizes and types of plugs so I can find what works best for me (hard rubber, soft rubber, or foam, each in 3 sizes), and they also block noise quite effectively, which makes them ideal for traveling. Yes, I probably spent too much for them. But they’re black (plus I have my Nano in a black metal case so it’s not obviously an iPod), they’re comfortable, and they’ll work for not only my Nano but for anything else I want to use earphones on.
Plus, even though I’m not an audiophile, the difference in the sound quality between my Shure phones and the crap that comes with the iPod? Unbelievably better. The Apple earbuds cut out about 50% of the bottom tones, I kid you not. Just try some decent phones with your iPod and you’ll never use the Apple-provided ones again.
The ones that came with my 3G 40GB iPod are ok with the foam covers. Without they hurt my ear-holes. Of course I lost one of the foam covers.
How the hell could you tell the difference?
Well, if they don’t dance then they’re no friends of yours!
The foam thingees scare me. More than once, I have removed the ear buds, leaving the foam thingee in my ears. I never use them now.
Jamie’s Cryin’. Heh.
And since I don’t want to be accused of a drive-by post, I’ll insert more Apple bashing…
WTF is with the Macbook Pro I want costing somewhere north of four grand? At that price point, you’d be ahead of the game by buying a new top-of-the-line Windows notebook, throwing it out in 18 months when it blows up, and buying a new one.
I have a pair of Koss behind the neck headphones that I got for something like 15 bucks at Radio Shack 10 years ago. They have the small buds that insert into the ears but fit perfectly b/c they’re attached to the frame. I love the behind the neck style b/c when I’m cutting grass / running / whatever I can take my hat off and wipe sweat from my head w/o disturbing them.
They also have a separate volume control on the wire itself, so I can crank the volume on my iTouch and control individual songs’ volume on the wire w/o having to reach into my pocket and manipulate the annoying volume spinner. And they can actually go louder than the iTouch volume, so a softer recording can be turned up over the lawn mower.
I’d be scared of damaging my hearing that way, the lawn mower is loud enough already. I wear iPod earbuds with industrial hearing muffs over top of them, that way I only have to turn up the iPod volume to about 66%. These are what I use: Amazon.com
Even $99 is more than you need to spend for improvement*. I’ve got a $20 pair of Sony earbuds that are an order of magnitude better than the lousy iPod headphones that I refuse to bother with. I live in a low-crime area where I’m never worried about being mugged, but I’m happy just to avoid being a billboard for Apple.
*I’m not claiming my $20 earbuds are better than your $99 ones, just making the point that one does not need to spend much at all to get a significant improvement on those crappy white ones. Just as with anything else, the law of diminishing returns applies to earphones.
It’s probably too late for me on that score (youthful walkman / loud car stereos and general volume irresponsibility for both) but thanks for that link. Do they get too hot? Working in the yard I’d be worried that I’d sweat way too much. (Not that the unit itself heats up, but that wearing them in hot weather would make my ears hot and I’d sweat more than with the other pair).
They get a little hot where they contact your head, but nothing too uncomfortable. I wouldn’t mow in direct sunlight in 95 degree weather. My dad does the same thing, he used to have a yard mowing side business.
Get a pair of Koss Porta-Pros. They’re gorgeously practical, look alright, cost next to nothing and they’ve got a lifetime warranty. (I should know - I’ve sent mine back twice over two years and got a new pair inside three days, both times)
You’ve seen them around - http://www.hardware.no/tester/lyd/hodesett_roundup_2005/koss-portapro-aapen.jpg
Here’s an article on why Apple charges for certain software updates. In brief, they’re covering their asses because of the hassles they had back in 2006 about their financial reports. They treat some of their products as “subscription devices” because doing otherwise would open them up to charges of fraud, illegal accounting, or class-action lawsuits. Thank the SEC and sue-happy American assholes for this one.
It is annoying that Apple provides relatively crappy earphones for the iPods (I’ve got three unused sets at home from my and my wife’s iPods) but like any business they’ll cut costs where they can, and the earphones are the best place for that to happen. Certainly much better than cutting costs on the iPod internals or the power/interface cabling. Probably the only reason they include any earphones at all is because then people would bitch about not having any. If I were in charge, I would have eliminated the earphones from the package a couple of generations back because it’s not worth including them for people who don’t want them, and it’s relatively easy to sell either Apple-designed or third-party stuff at the store or website at the time of sale.
I personally recommend Sennheiser CX300 ear buds. You can get them for about $50 or less, and they sound pretty darn good, if a little bass-heavy for my taste. They’re not true audiophile level, but they’re usually cited as being acceptably good even by discriminating listeners. They kick the crap out of anything by Sony at that price that I’ve heard.
I keep a similar set of muffs around, hooked on the lawn mower handle in the summer and hanging on a hook over the table saw in the winter. My hearing may not be great, but I want to retain whatever I have left. And my ear buds fit nicely within the muffs.
My tip I always give when discussing ear buds: if you are doing yard work, run the cord down the inside of your shirt. That way you don’t clip it with the hedge trimmer. This technique keeps the cord out of my way when I am running as well.
The biggest problem I have buying high-end ear buds is that I have hujamungous ear canals and I figure I would just be disappointed when they came and even their jumbo adapter didn’t snugly fit my ears. I have to use the ear hooks (“training wheels”) so that they don’t fall out during exercise.