What I have: a pair of standard-issue iPod earbuds, the kind that come in the box with every iPod.
What I prefer: I like earbuds that have the little rubber projections that go into your ear canal, like this or this.
What I’m looking for: I’m envisioning a small bit of rubber that slips over the standard iPod earbud speaker and supplies the missing ear canal project, so it converts what I have into what I prefer.
Why I can’t seem to find it: any search containing any combination of the words “iPod”, “earbud”, and “accessory” brings back approximately eleventy gazillion results, and no search optimization algorithm is going to put something as cheap as what I’m picturing anywhere near the top.
So, does such a thing exist?
Futile attempt to head off inevitable arguments:
-Why not just buy a pair of the kind that you like?
I have. Several times. Like all earphones, they end up breaking sooner or later, regardless of how expensive they are. My latest pair just died yesterday, and I have a perfectly good pair of these iPod earbuds that are fine for what I need, except that they are constantly shifting around in my ears, so I’m constantly fiddling with them. This is why I like the in-ear type of headphones. Also, I’m poor. If all else fails, I will end up buying a new pair, but I’d like to avoid that if I can.
-iPod earbuds are crap! You should buy these incredibly expensive ones instead, which will faithfully reproduce the bass notes of the train going by twenty miles from the recording studio where the band made the album!
I can’t tell you how much I don’t care. I am in no way anything remotely resembling an audiophile, and 99.9% of what I listen to is spoken word anyway.
-What about those cheap-o versions in grocery stores and the like?
I actually bought a $10 pair of those yesterday, and was amazed to discover that it is indeed possible to make earphones that fail to live up even to my incredibly low standards. It sounded like I was listening to someone mumbling in a sewer pipe under my house.
Apology: This has gone on far longer than I intended when I started. Focus on the part in bold, if you’re not bored enough to read the whole thing.
Try these guys. If you use the selector, you can select Apple as the manufacturer then original iPod/iPhone headphones as the model. They are foam, not silicon rubber, but in my opinion they work better and provide much better isolation than silicon rubber.
Jabra used to sell contoured ear-like silicone things that would slip over your headphones and make them fit in your ear firmly, with a tube through the rubber for the sound to reach your eardrum. Haven’t seen them in a while, though…
I swear I saw these in the Apple accessories section at Best Buy, but it was a couple years ago, and online search of the website isn’t turning anything up. Might be worth a phone call.
Smeghead, I read your pre-conditions but I have to recommend AKG earbuds. I also break them easily (my record was 8 days with a pair of Sennheiser 'phones) but I bought a pair of AKG buds, lost them and immediately bought a new pair. The ones I have retailed on ebay for about 15 quid and they’ve never been anything short of excellent. I also need them to fit well so I tried a few pairs in the shop before I decided on the correct model.
I have these. They’re OK, but they fall off. Plus, the earbud still touches my ear and is uncomfortable. My iPod Touch (the first generation model - it’s pretty old) has a wonky earphone jack and the only headphones that work with it are the Apple earbuds.
A related question, if I can slightly hijack–Is there a good enough single earbud, like you used to get with transistor radios, that works with an iPod? I don’t like to walk around all oblivious to the world of cars, bikes, muggers, and applauding crowds.
If you’re prepared to replace your earphones completely, these Philips/O’Neill buds with (unintrusive) in-canal projections are the best I’ve ever owned. They’re fully iPod/iPhone compatible, with volume and pause switches, integrated mic, and are supremely comfortable.
That’s crazy to spend 10 bucks on a couple pieces of foam. They actually make some decent canalphones in the 15 dollar range, and they will probably sound better, too.
Sennheiser makes some amazing earbuds that range from very reasonable (the linked pair is $28) to seriously pricey.
I use several pair in the studio for in ear monitoring, and also on stage. The only real issue with them is they block out everything else (which can be good or bad)
That’s exactly what I’m looking for. I tried simply cutting off one of the earphones, but I ended up missing parts of the stereo music. I remember what Old Eel is describing – The plug would be the same size and shape as today’s stereo plugs, but it had only two conductive portions instead of three, and so when you’d plug it into a stereo jack, the left and right tracks would be merged into a single sound for the one earplug.
That’s what I need, but haven’t found anywhere.
WOW! I just did a quick Google on “mono earbud”, and there’s lots of them! For a good picture of the plug that I’m describing, scroll to the bottom of this page.