[RamGuy]

I'm no fan of earbuds, I'm all about in-ear solutions and love my Westone 4R to death.. So when I got my girlfriend and myself two iPhone 5's I was never going to use these new Apple Earpods in the first place, but I was very curious to how my girlfriend would react as she hates everything about in-ears solutions as she hates to stick thing into her ears..

She is currently using a pair of Sennheiser MX 470, and when she tried out the new Apple Earpods she stated to hate them, said they sound horrible compared to the MX 470... Might it be that they need some burnin time or something, or do you simply think that the Earpods are inferior compared to MX 470?


Her MX 470 have started to break apart , so we need to get her something new and we had hoped the Earpods would do the trick, but it doesn't seem like it... I guess we'll order some Sennheiser MX 880 which seems to pretty much be the number one earbuds on the market these days as the MX 980 are simply too large to be comfortable.

 

[RamGuy]

Now that I've tested myself I can't really agree with her statements. But it seems like they are very source dependent, they don't sound nearly as good on my girlfriends iPod Nano (2011) as they do with our iPhone 5's.

I'm rather impressed with these, to be fair I don't find the MX 470 to be superior in anyway really and they are the best earbuds I've heard thus far, it's not in the same league as my Westone 4R, UM3X or any other high-end IEM's but as far as earbuds go (those you don't have to insert into your ear-canal) they have to be some of the best I've ever heard and they are surprisingly comfortable to use. I' am one of those who can't use the original Apple earbuds as they make my ears feel sore after a while.


The soundstage feels nice and vivid, some details are muddy so they are not as crisp and clear as high-end IEM's tend to be but there are some real punch to them and my overall impressions of the the soundstage is quite pleasing especially considering the price point of these. I'm really impressed.

 

[Mediahound]

So these are certainly better than prior included Apple earbuds, they are comfy and sound pretty good but don't provide enough isolation for serious listening while on the plane, train or bus or in any other noisy environment, IMO.

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

So these are certainly better than prior included Apple earbuds, they are comfy and sound pretty good but don't provide enough isolation for serious listening while on the plane, train or bus or in any other noisy environment, IMO.

 
They are earbuds, they aren't expected to.  

 

[hsubox]

Yeah but owning a CrApple product, let alone going out in public visibly advertising the fact, well that's an insurmountable handicap right there.
In all seriousness though, out of curiosity how well do these things isolate you from outside world noise and vice-versa? Nothing more enraging than some bloke or girl on the train or bus blasting out the latest duff duff rubbish at top volume for all to share....

I might have funny shaped ears, but I notice sound leaks in a bit (more than traditional iems, anyway), but doesn't leak out very much at all. You won't be bothering people around you.

 

[Rnich34]

These things suck. They kill my ears. I liked the way the old earbuds fit.

 

[AstroTurf]

Hey... Kewl

Shoot me a PM and I'll trade you a Brand New Set.

Jim

These things suck. They kill my ears. I liked the way the old earbuds fit.

 

[Danneq]

Quote:

Her MX 470 have started to break apart , so we need to get her something new and we had hoped the Earpods would do the trick, but it doesn't seem like it... I guess we'll order some Sennheiser MX 880 which seems to pretty much be the number one earbuds on the market these days as the MX 980 are simply too large to be comfortable.

 
If you are looking for good earbuds to your girlfriend, I would recommend Yuin PK2 for around $50. If you feel like spending $150, Blox TM7 are a definite recommendation.
Both the PK2 and TM7 have good detail and a wide soundstage and are a definite improvement compared to the MX470. The TM7 sound like full sized headphones in that respect. The Yuin PK series have small housing and work well with smaller ears. The TM7 are a bit bigger but still not as big as the Sennheiser MX980. I've got both the MX980 and the TM7 and they are about equal in performance, but the TM7 are more comfortable.
 
Review of Yuin PK2:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/219386/yuin-pk2-a-review
 
Yuin PK1 & PK2 appreciation thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/227027/yuin-pk1-pk2-appreciation-thread
 
Review of Blox TM7:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/621504/review-blox-tm7-king-of-buds

 

[Inks]

News guys, it looks like the Earpods use a bio-cellulose driver from Fostex. Why? Here is why my friend Rin think it is, and he has very good reasons.
 
Same grain texture as the drivers inside of Denon headphones, paper-like, just as iFixit described them. 
Bio-cellulose drivers only use urethane damping and that's exactly what you see when these are opened up. 

 

[xx0xx]

Just got mine today and very pleasantly surprised. Huge improvement over v1 and much more comfortable (original ones are painful, not to mention sound horrible). Very surprising sound improvement. I like them far better than JVC marshmallows and low-end Senn and Sony earbuds. 
 
Heavy music sounds like the weakest point so far. Good sound but the speed causes them to fall behind a bit and get slightly muddy. Piano/acoustic guitars sound lovely. Huge improvement in bass. I'd say overall, they're pretty good budget earbuds (my ears hate IEMs) and they nearly rival the Bose IE and IE2 in sound quality (depending on who you are that might not be saying a lot). High price/performance ratio, IMHO. These are my new workout/portable earbuds.
 
Also, almost no sound leakage, even at medium-high volume settings. These definitely won't bother anyone around you.

 

[Nochaunceinell]

Very interesting. So many mixed reviews on these things... have you tried wearing them for long periods of time?
 

 

[mochill]

Bio-cellulose :0 on earpod...who would have guessed......so far im loving this thing but i still hate apple

 

[CantScareMe]

Quote:

News guys, it looks like the Earpods use a bio-cellulose driver from Fostex. Why? Here is why my friend Rin think it is, and he has very good reasons.
 
Same grain texture as the drivers inside of Denon headphones, paper-like, just as iFixit described them. 
Bio-cellulose drivers only use urethane damping and that's exactly what you see when these are opened up. 

 
I doubt Fostex are providing the drivers. Are they that big. I mean apple are going to need a couple of 100 millions of them.

 

[kjk1281]

Foster Electric, the parent company of the Fostex brand, did supply Apple with the last generation iPod earbuds, so they definitely have the capability. However, I thought many believed that Apple switched to Foxconn for the new EarPods. If these are indeed Foster bio-cellulose drivers, I'll grab a pair as soon as I can.

 

[CantScareMe]

Oh right, then it may well be.