[Superbaldguy]

A lot of earbud people own/use the Sony MDR-E888's and/or the EX71's. I have both and each has its virtues and shortcomings. The Etys mentioned by commando are in a class all by themselves, but are well worth it if you're serious about your in-ear phones.

 

[dj_mocok]

another vote for MX500. if you dont like incord volume control and that stupid blue color, get MX400 instead...

but in terms of sound, MX500 satisfies most people for portable use....

 

[Damage]

$150 for headphones are crazy? And here I thought that was the low end of things here... After all, there are the UE10s and E5s and Ety4s, all of them well above the $150, let alone the $20 mark.

I would concur that Senn MX4/500s are probably the best, fairly easily obtained earbuds, and very easy on the pockets. At the similar pricemark, you can go for the Koss the PLUGs-recommended for MegaBassHeads and no one else (unless you're willing to work with them a little). If you shop around enough, you will find Cressyn (Rebadged to AudioTechnica's?) for around the same price, but I don't have enough experience with them.

At around the $35-$50 mark, you have the EX line of buds. Unless you let them burn in/gracefully degredate, you won't like these sets. Actually, chances are you won't like the sound of these out of the box, but let them burn in.

You could probably, for the similar price, go with the Apple Buds, but it seems as though it really doesn't want to stay put in the canals. Or, at the least, that I'm aware of.

Little more and you have the flagship of Sony's Fontopia Earbuds, the E888. One of few Sony Products that doesn't get the disdain like most others.

At $100 mark, you have the Shure E2 and the Ety ER6 (slightly more than $100, IIRC). At these levels, you've entered the Head-Fi wallet killing zone. IF you want your wallets to stay somewhat managable and sane. Even higher, you have the E3, ER4, UE5 and UE10 ($1000 bugger), etc. etc.

But that's out of most of our price range...