iPods and generic MP3 players

[tnimble]

For ear phones I recomment looking at Etymotic Research ER4Ps (with small ear canals you can look at the hi5 they come with baby blue inserts for erhm baby small ears

 

[Steve Maskery]

Wel I'm a happy bunny and I'm not.

The machine is excellent and I like the interface, too. Straightforward and fast.

But I've only got 1/4 of my music on it and it's full already. For someone who doesn't listen to a lot of music I appear to have accumulated quite a lot of it over the years! I'm making a bit of space by converting my MP3 stuff to WMA, but it still won't be enough.

The earphones are excellent sound, they make me realize how naff my £5 clip-on ones are, but, as I expected, they won't stay in, I'm forever poking at them to get them to stay there.

So how can I find out what earphones will ft? I can hardly buy half a dozen and send back the ones I don't want, after I've shoved then into my ears, can I? And some of the ones you have suggested are an expensive experiment, aren't they?

I think that the problem is that the whole shape of them is wrong, they are Smartie-shaped and they should be smaller diameter but longer.
S

 

[tnimble]

The earphones are excellent sound, they make me realize how naff my £5 clip-on ones are, but, as I expected, they won't stay in, I'm forever poking at them to get them to stay there.

So how can I find out what earphones will ft? I can hardly buy half a dozen and send back the ones I don't want, after I've shoved then into my ears, can I? And some of the ones you have suggested are an expensive experiment, aren't they?

I think that the problem is that the whole shape of them is wrong, they are Smartie-shaped and they should be smaller diameter but longer.
S

I've got two problems with the stard that came with my Samsung. 1 they don't block any surrounding sound, making you turn up the volume very loud to be able to hear anything about what you're playing with all the rouring of the train, shouting and mobile phones. 2 they won't stay in for long, they drop a bit after a few seconds makeing 1 even worse.

That's why the Etymotic Research are so brilliant. They block sound very well (can give you some funny scares) and they are not supposed to hang about in the earlobes. Instead of the smarty shape they consist of multiple type of inserts which are smaller and longer. The insert plug onto the actual earphone which is tiny. They also sound absolutely marvellous.

 

[wizer]

Steve, do you want In-Ear type headphones? If so the Sony ones listed above are fantastic. Very comfortable and not smartie shaped. Every set I have ever bought has had 3 sizes of buds which will fit most ears. You won't hardly know you're wearing them.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Well they at least are not too much of a risk, I'll grant you. But my point is how do I find out without spending my money first? I guess the answer is "I don't".

It's also difficult to know just how much benefit I'd be getting by buying a pair at, say, £60 c.f. £160 or Tom's tenner. I already recognize the difference between my cheapie Panasonic RP-HS71s and the iRiver ones. I wouldn't want to go back down in quality.

Thanks for all the suggestions, much appreciated.
S

 

[wizer]

in terms of sound quality, you certainly won't be disappointed. I have a few friends with these headphones and no complaints. Whether you like the fit of them is personal and as you say you can only find that out if you try them. Tho, it's funny that you can't return earings but I've never had problems returning in-ear headphones. :roll:

 

[hpl]

I have a set of the Sony ones that came with my phone. The sound quality is good and I often wear them all day, I use my MP3 Player on the phone in the workshop with machines running, as does the guy I work with. The only problem we have is with attracting each others attention :lol:

Johnny B

 

[tnimble]

The sound quality of the ERs is about the best available. Besides the P and Hf version they also have an S and a B version. The last two are meant for the recording industry and musicians. Their response curve matches stereo and binaural microphones respectively.

I've had a Sony set of plugs (not the ones mentioned here) who where terrible although my class mated found them perfect. But hey most people has set their home and car sound system also extremely terrible and seem to like it. (odd peak near the 120hz-150hz, clipping basses causing large distortions in mid range, relatively low treble compared to bass, reverse polarity on one of the speakers, etc)