Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Post your headphone recommendations here

The headphones that came with my ipod are dying, so I'm in the market for new ones.

I want something with hardly any bulk (because it has to be carried around in a pocket or purse and I dress girly) and that can be comfortably worn for up to 10 hours if necessary. Because I already know that clip-ons hurt my ears if worn for long periods of time, I think this points to earbuds, although I'm not married to the idea.

I plan to treat my headphones with no care whatsoever. They will be worn outdoors in all sorts of weather, stuffed into wherever I happen to be putting my ipod, and exposed to disgusting amounts of sweat and earwax. I don't expect them to last forever, but at the same time I don't want something that has to be babied.

I spend most of my time in areas with a lot of white noise so I'd appreciate headphones that can address this, but I still want to be able to jaywalk across Yonge with impunity so I don't want so much noise cancelling that I can't walk around safely. I can hear the technical flaws of the white ipod headphones and I don't want anything worse, but I'm not a huge technical quality geek and top-of-the-line anything is generally wasted on me.

Price point is flexible. I don't want to spend $200 for something that's going to die in six months, I don't want to spend $10 on something that's inconvenient to use.

I'd appreciate any thoughts anyone might have.

3 comments:

laura k said...

Wow. If you ever find the perfect headphones, please let us know.

All I want is for my headphones not to hurt my ears, so I like the foamy, outside-ear kind. I got nice ones by Sony at Canadian Tire.

But I only use them at work, to block out idiotic, chattering co-workers (and listen to music). Never while walking or travelling. So I'm useless for you.

Paul Matheson said...

I like Griffin's Ear Thumps - I think they changed the name to Tune Buds for some stupid reason. They are relatively inexpensive, sound decent, have 3 sizes of ear-cuppie things so they fit well, and block out ambient noise fairly well. I commute by rail and need them to block cell-yellers; they also worked well blocking airplane noise. They are not good for audiophiles but are better than the iPod earbuds. I also had a pair of the ridiculously expensive Shure ear buds and HATED them. The Tune Buds, nee Ear Thumps, sounded better at about 1/10 tthe price.

impudent strumpet said...

Thanks Paul! Can I ask why, specifically, you hated the Shure earbuds?