[iTerry]

I want some headphones that I can wear for a while without causing me any pain or such. Any suggestion? I like to listen to music to drown out the noise of my 6 other housemates while studying, reading, etc.

[amyjones09]

I got a pair of headphones from UltimateEars and i could not hear a police siren next to me and they have beautiful sound and could wear them for hours on end with zero pain, they are a bit pricy though

[ccrider]

l love etymotics - great great sound and you can choose whether to use rubber earplugs or foam (i prefer foam).
In order to get great sound, you have to get a good seal in your ear - the foam one's are easier to insert (and remove)

Check em out -

Etymotic Research, Inc. - High-fidelity Earphones and Hearing Instrumentation

I have both the ER-4p's (expensive), and the ER-6.
They are a godsend when riding the subway here in nyc - it feels like you're in a fishbowl.
Shure has some well-reviewed phones as well, but I haven't tried them.

They also make earplugs for concerts, etc. that lower the decibel but keep the dynamic range, which I wish I would have remembered to take to see van halen last night cuz me ears are still ringing

Etymotic is a great company with awesome support. I recently broke the tip off my ER-4's out of warranty (1 year, btw), and they fixed them for free. I seriously can't live without them and can't recommend them enough.


-craig

[iTerry]

Originally Posted by ccrider 

l love etymotics - great great sound and you can choose whether to use rubber earplugs or foam (i prefer foam).

I heard that the etymotics sounds very nice but it looks like they will break easily. How is their quality?

[ccrider]

Originally Posted by iTerry 

I heard that the etymotics sounds very nice but it looks like they will break easily. How is their quality?

Well, like I said, my ER-4p's did break, but it was my fault (sat on em), and they fixed them for free. Also, with any earphone that is inserted into the ear canal, there will be some maintenance/cleaning involved. The filters will clog eventually and will need to be replaced, but they provide an extra pair and honestly, I think I've changed them once since the almost 2 years I've had them. The foam pads will wear out as well, but the prices for replacements are reasonable. The rubber ones should last you a long time.

My girlfriend has been using the cheaper ER-6 for a couple years now (constantly) and the rubber around the earphone housing is starting to tear. But things wear out from constant use. And she loves them.

Either way, I love them, and I'm not alone. It really does change the way you listen to music. I bought an iphone and I sometimes use the earphones included with them (cuz they have a mic) and man lemme tell you, when you put the Ety's back in, you'll wonder how you ever lived without them.

my 2¢

[amyjones09]

do they have twin drivers in each earphone?

[iTerry]

ccrider, your information is very helpful, thank you. Anyone use Audio Technica earbuds?? Hi Guys Just Curious If they are Worth The Money?? And Also How They Perform?

[all2ofme]

Great place to read about headphones is HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears.

No affiliation, but I have bought almost every pair I own from them. They're brilliant to deal with, both before and after purchase.

FWIW if you want an iPhone, don't like Apple's earbuds and still want to be able to make calls using decent 'phones you've got a couple of options:

Ultimate Buds
http://www.shure.com/PersonalAudio/P..._phone_adapter

I have the Shure adapter and use it with my Ety 4Ps and some AKGs. Cable length can be a pain with each of them, which might steer me in the direction of some Shure 530s (link below) because they've got a modular cable:

Shure SE530 @ HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears

Hope that's of some help.

[sedlacek]

on a somewhat related note....has company managed to marry 'earphones with great isolation' with the functionality of having an attached microphone for use with the iphone??

[all2ofme]

Sedlacek - two of the links in my post should be of interest to you if you don't mind some different approaches to this.

[~bash $]

I have to recommend the new Jays q-Jays, which I find to be an upgrade from the Etymotics after having owned both. They are the same street price, more or less, and using the q-Jays with the Ety 3-flange earplugs, the noise isolation is as good as the Etys.

I happen to think they're the best value for high end IEMs there is. I didn't really like the less expensive Shures, for instance, but there are quite a number of good companies out there making good headphones. I second HeadRoom -- great service to boot.

Sed, Shure has a (somewhat pricey) solution for that, and some third party companies do too. I wouldn't go with one that's totally hard-wired, personally, so the Shure one is nice.