[scompton]

The 2 worst I paid for are both vintage headphones I got off of eBay.

The first is the Pioneer SE-4. The head band and cup are very nicely designed but they glued the driver to the back of the cup. Bass rolls off at 150Hz.

The worst are a pair of vintage electrostatic headphones called Playback 70. They produce no sound below 400Hz.

 

[Gbjerke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maporter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Without a shadow of doubt those Bose In Ear things were the worst pair I've actually been dumb enough pay for. The fracking rubbers fall off for a past time, in the end I glued them on. Even then they still fell off. Last time I saw of them they were sinking beneath The Thames, near to the Tower of London.....

Atleast put the drivers inside your cellphone when its internal speakers break. It will be a downgrade, but still work

 

[Abstraction]

Yesterday I was cleaning out the basement and found a box of phones--a collection from the 80s and 90s--there must be a dozen of them, most of them never used, from an endless succession of Walkmen, portable radios, portable CD players (from a family, all of whom were and are big users of portable sound). I am sure I could find some contenders for the worst sound.

 

[midget]

jvc marshmallows. really do hate those things.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

What don't you like about the marshmallows? I have a pair and so far it has been much better for the money than the Phonak Audeo PFEs I had before them. They sound just about as good, and so far have lasted almost twice as long. They are the best that I have had under $20.
As for the worst ones I've ever used, I'd have to nominate a freebie pair I got on an airline flight several years ago for that one.

 

[chicagojammer]

Same here with the JVC marshmallows, i got em for 9 bucks and they sound as good as the entry level shures

 

[RASeymour]

Obvious choices aside: NuForce NE-8. Thought it was just my memory but went back and listened to them again, felt like a spike through my head. And the fit is just weird.

 

[Steely Dan]

The worst headphones I never bought were probably the jwin earbud ones I bought for probably around $5 in a local discount store when I was a kid. Up until then I'd only used earpad headphones and almost everyone else around me would be using earbuds, so I figured I'd give them a try. Not only was the sound tinny and horrible, but they were extremely uncomfortable and I don't think I ever put them back in after trying them once.
Honestly though, I wouldn't really consider any of the headphones I had to be "good" until I finally bought a pair of PX100s. Unfortunately that experience turned me off to buying any kind of in-ear headphones for long time, now that I have ER-4Ps I wish I had bought them years ago.

 

[Q-Tip-81]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xkRoWx /img/forum/go_quote.gif True, compared to our higher end gears, Apple earbuds are bad, but they're free. I don't consider them "low-fi" since I didn't have to pay a penny for them. But they were "tolerable". If you know how to fiddle with the EQ, it gets a tad bit better. But not anywhere as good as my MS-1. Also, having a good fit with the iBuds with your ears are quite important as well, since the buds aren't quite designed for loud volume playbacks without distortion. Worst headphones I've heard (and paid for) were these.. I took apart of the headphones, and guess what? The transducers are placed backwards!! The "filter" is stuffed with cheap porous foams. "Virtual surround sound"? All you hear are backwaves and reflected soundwave from a poorly damped, thin piece of plastic with a breathing hole. Talk about muddiness and non-existence in higher frequencies. These are by far the worse piece of sh!t I've heard, much, much, much worse than iBuds. Don't believe me? They're only $10, and you're in for a treat for garbage sound quality. Try it out for yourself, and you'll appreciate your iBuds. I'm serious.

LOL!!! I found a pair on the sidewalk last year, cleaned them off and tried them out. There's no way to describe the type of horrid sound that came out of these things. They're deserving of their fate.

 

[slntdth93]

skull candy smokin buds
cant believe my friend said they were the best for 40 bucks and even bought damn warranty on them.
they sounded worse than my cheapo 10 dollar sony earphones (any of them - standard sports one, MDR-818LP or MDR-E10LP)
have been working on an EQ to make them have any form of highs or lose half the base - still unsuccessful

 

[rawrster]

if u dont count stock buds that come bundled up..then i would say cx300 is the worst ive ever bought

 

[Armaegis]

I bought some dollar store earbuds to toss in my dj bag since I always forget my cans at home. Surprisingly, they sounded better than a lot of the stock earbuds I've accumulated over the years.

 

[zentenk]

Hitachi, costed me $7
only half of the sound actually got through to the earphones with heavy sibilance, sound cuts from time to time as well

 

[parkchansu]

HAHAHAHH this thread has to be the funniest in all of head-fi. I went through every single page while laughing uncontrollably during the whole process. For my experience, it has to be the time when my friend decided to expose me to J-pop with her cell phone as the source, combined with the hands-free/earphone combo. Needless to say, I was scarred for life.

 

[Laokid18]

skull candy skull crushers.