Good earbuds for Droid

[cjsteigerwald]

Just curious why anyone would spend much time or money researching headphones/ earbuds for the droid. Most of us are putting compressed music into a device that probably has an inferior DAC.

I would say find what is cheap and most comfortable to wear.

 

[fr4c]

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned this brand........

Sennheiser

Just the leader in earphones for about the last 30 or so years.

Their $20 buds make the iPod ones sound like hammered dog****.

Yes, there are a lot of good earphones out there, but for the money, the Sennheiser MX line is very hard to beat.

Sennheiser USA - best Earphones, MX 660, Basswind system - Private Audio

They have a built in line volume line control which can be handy. One caveat about Sennheisers though, they have good bass and high end, but they tend to be very "accurate", if there are defects in the input music (common enough), you will hear them. These are very good earphones.

X2. I have a pair of MX550's that are dying on me that I have used for 5+ years, and they are probably the best sub $30 earbuds that you can buy. The new MX660 are about $30 shipped from Amazon, and I just purchased one for backup.

The Yuin PK3's are also very good, although a bit more expensive. But they are probably the best ear buds out there for the money.

None of these will give you the headroom and sound of a set of full-sized cans like the Senn HD's, or the bass of Grados, Alessandro, Beyers, etc. But for portable use they will be fine.

 

[longboat]

Thanks fr4c I am going to try em. Price sounds right too

 

[TheOldFart]

Just curious why anyone would spend much time or money researching headphones/ earbuds for the droid. Most of us are putting compressed music into a device that probably has an inferior DAC.

I would say find what is cheap and most comfortable to wear.

Good point. I use my Etys with my iAudio 7, which is an excellent little player. I haven't actually haven't tried them with the Droid

 

[tah]

bigger speakers = bigger better sound.

Uh..........not quite that simple.

Better frequency responce, drivers, enclosure, voice coils, internal wiring, external wiring, resonance tuning, standing wave elimination, lower total harmonic distortion, and on and on = better sound.

I've heard some mammoth speakers that sounded like crap. When compared to my B&W CDM 1NT's rolled of at 80 Hz to my Hsu Sub......well there really is no comparison.

Also a VERY good point being made here. Your final sound is only as good as the weakest link. The Droid's DAC (Digital Audio Converter) circuit is certainly NOT going to be anywhere near audiophile quality. A reasonable set of Sennheiser buds (about $20 ~ $25) reveal it's shortcomings when compared to an iPod Nano. You can hear the difference.

To tell someone here to invest in $100 to $300 earphones for their Droid is not doing them a favor. If on the other hand they want to listen in a controlled environment to a $5000 CD Transport with a $5000 ouboard standalone DAC those $300 earbuds would be a reasonable choice. But who in their right mind would be listening to earbuds with the good equipment? They'd either be using great speakers, or if they HAD to keep the noise down some Grado's or equivalent NICE full-size headphones.

 

[jasonb]

bigger speakers = bigger better sound.

Uh..........not quite that simple.

trust me. i know there is more to it than that, but you can only do so much with so little.

 

[volando]

To tell someone here to invest in $100 to $300 earphones for their Droid is not doing them a favor.

who says your earphones will be just for the Droid? They're quite compatible with any other tech you may use whether existing or future. The higher quality product the more likely you are to be using them for a long time (foams are replaceable!), the more enjoyable experience you will get (how about ambient noise reduction? decent bass? not making your metro-neighbors give you dirty looks?), even with not-so-good amps like the Droid's... Perhaps closer to $100 than to $300 if you're on a tight budget, but I firmly stand behind the idea that ****ty iPod-like buds are a complete waste of your money and cochleas... /rant

 

[Sex Cells]

i can't stand ear buds. i just bought a cheap pair of noise canceling Sony headphones. they aren't the best but they are good for $45. if you don't need to have ear buds i would recommend a pair of bigger headphones. bigger speakers = bigger better sound.

You could not be any more wrong or naive.

bigger speakers = bigger better sound.

Uh..........not quite that simple.

Better frequency responce, drivers, enclosure, voice coils, internal wiring, external wiring, resonance tuning, standing wave elimination, lower total harmonic distortion, and on and on = better sound.

I've heard some mammoth speakers that sounded like crap. When compared to my B&W CDM 1NT's rolled of at 80 Hz to my Hsu Sub......well there really is no comparison.

Also a VERY good point being made here. Your final sound is only as good as the weakest link. The Droid's DAC (Digital Audio Converter) circuit is certainly NOT going to be anywhere near audiophile quality. A reasonable set of Sennheiser buds (about $20 ~ $25) reveal it's shortcomings when compared to an iPod Nano. You can hear the difference.

To tell someone here to invest in $100 to $300 earphones for their Droid is not doing them a favor. If on the other hand they want to listen in a controlled environment to a $5000 CD Transport with a $5000 ouboard standalone DAC those $300 earbuds would be a reasonable choice. But who in their right mind would be listening to earbuds with the good equipment? They'd either be using great speakers, or if they HAD to keep the noise down some Grado's or equivalent NICE full-size headphones.

Maybe they're not buying them just for their droid? And incredibly ignorant opinions like, -- a set of 300 dollar headphones only being validated by 10k worth of equipment -- is a gross disservice too. You evidently don't know anything about the subject at hand. :icon_ devil:

 

[Sex Cells]

bigger speakers = bigger better sound.

Uh..........not quite that simple.

trust me. i know there is more to it than that, but you can only do so much with so little.

a 200 dollar set of headphones hooked upto a good source can easily sound better than more than a few 20k dollar amp/tower setups. even though they're BIGGER.

 

[jasonb]

whatever.......

 

[Guchi]

I liked the Bose but they are not made well and both pairs I have had broken wires within a year of purchase.

i have had my Bose for 2 years. they sound great

 

[Guchi]

for the price you cant beat skullcandy my wife has some they dont quite sound like the bose but pretty good

 

[takeshi]

bigger speakers = bigger better sound.

Fail. Sound is affected by so much more than just speaker size. Comparing sound quality on a single spec is completely pointless.

Just curious why anyone would spend much time or money researching headphones/ earbuds for the droid. Most of us are putting compressed music into a device that probably has an inferior DAC.

I would say find what is cheap and most comfortable to wear.

Because I notice the difference. If cheap and comfort matter more to you then go for it. I don't understand why people think there's only one valid option.

 

[jasonb]

this is the last time i will say it. YES, there are exceptions to the rule, but you can only do so much with so little. small speakers cannot produce as much bass, or be as efficient as a bigger speaker. YES, there can be more to it than that, but generally speaking bigger speakers means bigger sound. in the end there is no replacement for displacement. just like cars, sure in some cases a smaller engine can make more power, but usually this is not the case. if this wasn't the case then there would not be big speakers. end of discussion.

 

[jsh1120]

I use the Shure SE310: Amazon.com: Shure SE310 Sound Isolating Earphone - Black: Electronics

Great sounding headphones, but for a bit more money, I wish I had gone with the Shure SE420's: Amazon.com: Shure SE420-K Sound Isolating Earphones (Black): Electronics
Either way, for ~$200 or less you can get yourself one of the best sounding pair of headphones on the market... at least for in-ear headphones.

The other great thing is that they are really lenient about replacing damaged headphones. I've owned 4 pair of Shure headphones over the years (originally when I had an iPod like 5 years ago) and have had loose wires in two (I know... not the best thing to be admitting, but keep reading!) and both of those pair I sent back to Shure within the 1-year manufacturer warranty. Within two weeks I had a BRAND NEW pair of the same headphones, at no cost or charge to me except for the shipping it cost to send the damaged pair back. Their customer service is outstanding and I am a big fan of theirs.

If you want a great pair of headphones that you can trust to last you a while and sound amazing, look up Shure's products.

Second the praise for Shure products. I replaced my much more expensive noise cancelling headphones on flights with my pair of their E310 in ear phones. I use the same pair when riding my motorcycle. Unlike ear buds, they actually stay in place while wearing a helmet. The only problem is they work so well that it's difficult to hear ANYTHING other than music, including that 18 wheeler bearing down on me.

I only wish I'd known how liberal Shure was in replacing their products. My beloved dog ate the first THREE pairs I bought before I stopped placing them where she could get at them. (Yeah, I'm a little slow.)