[Gizmotoy]

Quote:

 
Here are two good earbud threads:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/441400/earbuds-round-up
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/531063/earbud-guide-22-earbuds-compared
 
 
I would recommend Yuin PK3 or PK2. Both are very comfortable and you hardly notice them in your ears. PK3 is sold from around $30 and PK2 from around $55. I prefer the PK2 as it is slightly more neutral sounding than the PK3, but both are good. None of them have microphone or volume control in the cord (if you are looking for that).
Newer Sennheiser earbuds also have a good reputation. You can get the MX580 from around $25. Then there's the MX880 that costs from around $60. The Sennheiser earbuds are bigger than the Yuin ones so they might not be as comfortable for those with smaller ears.

This is great information, thanks for the suggestions.  My preference would have been for at least an in-cord play/pause button if possible, since winters here in Chicago make working with the phone itself pretty cumbersome.  Unfortunately, I know options that include such a thing are limited.  Any suggestions on that front?  I'm wondering how much I'll have to give up to get that feature.
 
I've heard other comments praising the Yuins, so I'll look into them.

 

[justanut]

Has anyone mentioned that the Earpods were first coined in Season 2 Episode 6 of Doctor Who?

 

[-sandro-]

Soooo the $10ish ones on ebay should be fakes right?

 

[semicoln]

In my opinion the EarPods sound as bad or worse than the last Apple ear buds and are just as uncomfortable. They will be staying in the box.

 

[Inks]

These things are amazing.....
 
I feel Cook gave the engineers complete freedom with these, no tinkering by the big man, which would've happened if Jobs were around. 
 
Bio-cellulose drivers with a well engineered venting system through the drivers, heavy calculations must of happened to make these. 

 

[justanut]

Quote:

In my opinion the EarPods sound as bad or worse than the last Apple ear buds and are just as uncomfortable. They will be staying in the box.

Very strange... my 2 year old wears them as easily as both my wife and myself. And my wife detests earphones... but she found the Earpods to fit amazingly well and comfortably, as did I. Sound has definitely improved ALOT over the old earphones too...
 
Anyway, thats your opinion and mine~

 

[justanut]

Quote:

These things are amazing.....
 
I feel Cook gave the engineers complete freedom with these, no tinkering by the big man, which would've happened if Jobs were around. 
 
Bio-cellulose drivers with a well engineered venting system through the drivers, heavy calculations must of happened to make these. 

Well... Cook isn't much of a tech guy... he's a logistician and smart enough to leave the finer details to the very capable team that S.Jobs had left behind. Anyway given the length of time that has gone into development, I'm pretty sure S.Jobs had some part in the "feel" of the thing

 

[Inks]

Doubt Jobs did much with these, it's a very technical design, looks like its complete credit of the engineer.

Jobs would've wanted more control IMO and that would've set it back, my guess

 

[Arkyle]

I have finally tried these. They are good compared to the last ones and to the cheap sony earbuds, but I don't find anything they excel at other than soundstage; I have a few Sennheiser earbuds around that beat these with ease, specially in the bass. I like that they are really really light, but they lack any kind of "rubber" or "padding" and after a while I had some discomfort in my ears and all I did was walk around; these, as with most earbuds are not meant for sports. The actual owner hated them; she says they fall of her ears all the friggin time, something I didn't experience. My conclusion is that they are great for included earbuds, but I'd not buy them from an apple store.

 

[yindesu]

For me, the EarPods are way too bass heavy.  Anyone tried to create an EQ setting to "fix" that?

 

[elvergun]

Quote:

They are good compared to the last ones and to the cheap sony earbuds, but I don't find anything they excel at other than soundstage

 
Wow...it seems that people either like these or they don't.  I think they are quite good...especially if you got them free with an iPhone.  

 

[Elektrospeed]

Quote:

For me, the EarPods are way too bass heavy.  Anyone tried to create an EQ setting to "fix" that?

Try blocking the ports in the stems with tape. Gets rid of the mid-bass hump.
 
For my taste, I preffer just blocking one of the ports, not both.

 

[bhima]

Quote:

Apple has now posted a video on these:
 

 
I'm actually pretty excited to give them a try.
 
If you don't think Apple has the R&D clout and more money than any other manufacturer to develop awesome earbuds, think again.

Its one thing to have money for R&D... its another thing entirely to equate that to years of actual audio engineering experience iterating, tweaking and testing that has ALREADY been done by pure audio companies like Westone, Etymotic, HiFiMan, Shure, etc. If they sound better than the $30 Sony MH1C, color me surprised.

 

[Arkyle]

Quote:

Its one thing to have money for R&D... its another thing entirely to equate that to years of actual audio engineering experience iterating, tweaking and testing that has ALREADY been done by pure audio companies like Westone, Etymotic, HiFiMan, Shure, etc. If they sound better than the $30 Sony MH1C, color me surprised.

 
They don't, I've tried both. But to be fair, the Sony are IEMs, and it is hard to make good sounding buds compared to IEMs. Still, the MH1C are amazing value.

 

[elvergun]

Quote:

 
They don't, I've tried both. But to be fair, the Sony are IEMs, and it is hard to make good sounding buds compared to IEMs. Still, the MH1C are amazing value.

I tried both too, and I don't think the MH1s are much better than the Earpods (but the Sony model is a little better).
 
 
Am I the only one that thinks the Earpods are a great headphone?