hands down:  Klipsch image s4's.

 Sibilance, sibilance, booooom, boooooommmm, mids? bleh, we don't need no stinking mids!

I once found a set of coby ear pad style phones that seem to have come free with a diskman style CD player.  Of course I don't remember if they ever actually worked, but if they did I imagine that they would have been the worst.  

I actually think iBuds sound decent for the price.  

The worst speaker I've ever heard was this one I made out of paper plates, a length of wire, and one of those generic magnets.  

The worst?

Well for me probably the old Apple earbuds, they are quite horrible but since it's about headphones the Skullcandy Lowrider and G.I. that I once had a long time ago was probably the worst, even worse than the ibuds. Absolutely no lows, no detailed mids, no shining highs. Build quality was absolute crap. The pair of lowriders broke just after a few weeks and the g.i. (which looked robust) snapped at the adjustment band.

I once bought a €9,95 full size Panasonic headphone at the local grocery store. Everytime I hear it, I die a little inside. My wife still uses it, she knows better but simply doesn't give a **** about SQ.

The absolute worst headphones I ever heard were the headphones bundled with the panasonic portable CD player I bought over 10 years ago, and the headphones I get with the Sony SRF-59 radio. A pity ,as this radio is great for just $15, and has 100 hour battery life. The radio sounds very good, however the headphones they budle with it are so bad that I throw them right in the trash. They are so inefficient and sound so distorted. I like to give this radio as a gift, however I always give separate headphones with it. I cringe when I think of all those people using that radio with that horrible headphone.

Easily the worst, a pair of Realistic (Radio Shack) Nova 16. Sounds like you're in a cave. The casing was so flimsy that my fingers poked holes in them. Non-existent isolation, especially with various holes punched in them. Hard vinyl earpads. Made in the late 60s.

Some of the phones listed here - Grado 325i, iBuds, HD25-i - sound glorious compared to Realistic phones. 

I don't really think anything here can beat dollar store "Hi-Fi Super Professional Earphones", they don't even have a real brand associated with them. While some people here may be mentioning the worst they've heard at a price point, these things make EVERYTHING else sound good. They've got toilet bass, and mids that probably exist somewhere in another dimension, along with some constant white noise when any sound is played through them.

I also hate my Sony MDR-110s I dug up just now from way back, they have this wierd high pitch sound that refuses to go away even when no music is playing.

Two years ago, the bad experience of purchasing the Beats solo caused me to become a headphone audiophile.

The worst headphones I've heard to date was a fake pair of beats tours (if they can even be considered headphones) It sounded like a Am radio with static. Actually worse... Am radio with static under water with tin wrap covering them is the best way I can describe them. For added pleasure one ear piece played louder than the other. Almost made me want to kill myself. 

Denon D1100 by far

Anyone who thinks these don't have massive bass bleeding into the mids are crazy!

I have my doubts if any Monster Headphone is any worse..

These things make the D2000/D1001 seem very bass light.

The Kicker HP541 is just one big joke to me. Sorry guys..most muffled sounding headphone I ever heard.

I also got a Sony XD200 for it's pads. Pretty awful and I had a Koss $5 headphone that was better.

SRH-750DJ..makes my ears bleed. Maybe I had a lemon?

i dont buy complete **** so my worst headphones were koss UR29. i was young and really like to listen nightwish, but it was so painfull experience that i remember it really vividly even now . especially those hisses that the singer really liked to make, i thought that instead of headphones i have giant serpent wrapped around my neck and hissing directly into my ear

Seconded.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedjswn 

hands down:  Klipsch image s4's.

 Sibilance, sibilance, booooom, boooooommmm, mids? bleh, we don't need no stinking mids!

Blackberry earbuds.. Nuff said.