[Territhemayor]

Apple Earbud Battlemodo: Proof the iPod's White Earbuds Don't Suck...That Much

Gizmondo reviews low end earbuds and decides that the ibuds are the best. I wonder what you guys think of this?

Forgive me if this has been submitted already or if this is the wrong forum. It's semi-relevant...

EDIT: My thoughts: They're right-- for 99% of the population (The other 1% being us on Head-fi) . For these people, the iBuds are good enough. However, I guess they cant be just "good enough" because there is a relatively strong aftermarket earbud market. If everyone was satisfied, there wouldn't be any earbuds selling.

 

[edstrelow]

My oldest daughter just got an Ipod with these phones and quite likes them. I bought her a set of Sennheiser CX300 which she doesn't like at all even though I think they are much better with her Ipod.

 

[QQQ]

You gotta recable them. Tightens things on the low ends, adds sparkle to the highs and clears up the whole spectrum. Also it makes them slightly more comfortable too!

 

[IPodPJ]

Recabling iBuds? Seems like a horrible waste if you ask me.

 

[stevenkelby]

Lol

 

[TheBends]

there's a comment that makes a very good point, they're $30!!!! and gizmodo didn't test anything above $20. That being said, at that pricepoint you have the JVC offerings (gumy and marshmallow) or even the sony mdr ex51 canalbuds, the ep360s...

The point really is that they don't suck that much considering they come for free with the mp3 player, but the people who'd only spend $20 on earbud replacements usually won't be caring enough to research into what they can get that's good or care about the poor quality of sound coming from those replacements, so this is a bit of a moot point.

 

[003]

Assuming you get them free with an ipod, they are half decent. Way better than 95% of other stock earphones and $20 headphones (bar the ksc75/35). They are not worth $30 though.

I don't know why they get such a bad rap around here, they are decent earbuds.

 

[Assorted]

I seriously do not think CX300 sounds so great, so I would understand edstrelow's daughter's reaction to them... just my opinion

Maybe some people's ears are tuned to the iBuds.

The only "stock earbuds" I found to crush the iBuds are the iRiver and Sony non-isolating "stock" that came with my H10 and NW-HD1, respectively.

Exactly what Bends said, it's a moot point on Gizmodo.

 

[espire]

You can easily get the JVC Gumy for under $10.

 

[umcloud]

My opinion has always been that they're not bad, per se, but they really don't do the music justice, especially if you're listening in a noisy area. I see people listening to iBuds on the bus all the time, and they just sound screechingly bright with all that low-frequency background noise. It also strikes me as odd that people will spend $200+ ($400+ back in the day) on a music player, but then settle for pack-in earbuds. I guess most people just don't realize what they're missing. Ah, if only Apple stores carried Grados...

 

[espire]

I think a large problem is that audio is subjective; There's no perfect way to judge headphones. With a computer, you know that more RAM is better, a faster CPU is better, and so on. However, you can't say anything about headphones except how much you like them, meaning that people without exposure have no reason to make a jump.

If a large committee started reviewing headphones well (sort of like headphonereviews.org but with the same panel of 20 judges every time) and giving a numbered score, and people used these numbers to compare headphones, things would be different. However, most people would trust these numbers, and they shouldn't, because like I said, audio is subjective.

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Assorted /img/forum/go_quote.gif I seriously do not think CX300 sounds so great, so I would understand edstrelow's daughter's reaction to them... just my opinion Maybe some people's ears are tuned to the iBuds. The only "stock earbuds" I found to crush the iBuds are the iRiver and Sony non-isolating "stock" that came with my H10 and NW-HD1, respectively. Exactly what Bends said, it's a moot point on Gizmodo.

Actually with the 2 GB Ipod the Senns sounded very good by comparison with my reference electrostatic systems.

Sometimes you get lucky with an equipment match and these Senns are a good mate to that particular Ipod. I had been travelling with them and didn't like them much with a portable cd player, where I only used them in noisy settings that my portable Stax SRM1 Mk2 couldn't be heard in.

So I was surprised just how good they were with that Ipod. Much better than the Ipod phones. Of course no guarantee that they will mate well with other equipment, as my experience with the cd player showed.

So I thought I was doing her a favor by getting a pair of Senns, but now they just sit in my drawer, unused.

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

You should have bought your daugther some vibes(more fashionable).

 

[TMM]

the first comment pretty much sums up the article
Quote:

Don't they [ibuds] sell for $40? Plus it's not so fair that you only tested earphones less than $20.

In this pricerange they get exponentially better as you increase the budget

Quote:

Originally Posted by espire /img/forum/go_quote.gif If a large committee started reviewing headphones well (sort of like headphonereviews.org but with the same panel of 20 judges every time) and giving a numbered score, and people used these numbers to compare headphones, things would be different. However, most people would trust these numbers, and they shouldn't, because like I said, audio is subjective.

That would be a pretty awesome idea imo

You'd be able to work out which judge has similar tastes to you and go by their reviews

 

[OverlordXenu]

Gizmodo loves anything Apple and hates anything that competes with Apple.

I wouldn't trust them for anything, in my eyes, they are far from reputable.