[Mackenzie]

Hey all,

So I had an old iPod with no charger or ear buds laying around for a few years and during the big cleaning recently I decided to get it working again with a new charger and pair of ear buds. Anyway the ear buds showed up today. This is them:

https://www.amazon.ca/Earphones-Microphone-1-Button-Isolating-Headphones/dp/B07M9Y4DJH

Very, very high ratings and reviews. Seems likes exactly what I was looking for. Superb price point too. I don't remember the last time I wore ear buds but these ones are extremely uncomfortable with god awful atrocious sound quality compared to my AKG Q701s with DAC/Amp. They easily fall out all the time too, which is extremely annoying to have to constantly think about when you're trying to be immersed and lost in music. Just using them for 5 minutes and taking them out resulted in my ears burning for a few minutes from the rubber inserts. :S Quite disappointed with the purchase overall.

That said, I've come to the very source of experts regarding all things audio - for recommended alternatives or solutions to this. I was hoping to get your experiences with ear buds if you wouldn't mind lending a bit of advice about what constitutes a good pair of ear buds. Which brands should I be looking for? I guess it doesn't specifically have to be ear buds, I just need something lightweight I can easily move around with and lay down with it, lean my head back against things - that sort of thing.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Spareribs]

I haven’t heard those ear buds but from my experience, many budget ear buds sound shockingly good,

I remember back in the old days, all budget ear buds sucked. Not anymore! These days, it’s possible to get a nice set of good sounding ear buds for the same price of a restaurant dinner.

 

[fonkepala]

Just FYI, the link you provided in the first post is for an IEM (in ear monitor), not an earbud. There is a distinction between the two. For earbuds recommendations, you can visit this humongous thread: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/earbuds-round-up.441400/

and also https://www.head-fi.org/threads/absolute-best-budget-earbuds.812853/

For cheap but good IEM's, see: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chinese-asian-brand-iem-info-thread.820747/