Sony MDR-EX81 vs stock ipod earphone

[sauron18]

I'm thinking between shure e2c my brother has one, a Etymotic ER-6i and the Sony MDR-EX81.
I know that the sony don't give good quality like the er6i or the e2c but they cost 30 bucks and are very confortable, please tell me i really don't care about the quality really but is good to have quality.

I wanna know if the Sony MDR-EX81 are better than the stock earphones that comes with the ipod or how much better?

And i really don't care about isolation because i'm going to use the ipod everyday and i think is important to hear what is outside if you turn down the volume.

This is my first ipod so i think that the best thing i could do rigth now is to buy a Sony MDR-EX81 and if i don't like it then a will buy a Etymotic ER-6i or shure e2c.

[n2xe]

I wouldn't call it an issue of quality per se... The EX81s just sound like crap, that's all. The ER-6 is quite noticeably better.

I don't know why everyone seems to avoid this fact but even really cheap headphones blow the doors off of any, let me repeat that, any canal phone. (and I've wasted tons of money to back-up that claim) My favorite cheap headphone is the Sony MDR-V150. You can find them for about $14 if you look around. It's hard to do better until you spend about $70 then take your pick of some Sennheisers or the cheap Grado.

[xGabooNx]

Originally posted by n2xe

I don't know why everyone seems to avoid this fact but even really cheap headphones blow the doors off of any, let me repeat that, any canal phone.

they might be 'avoiding' the fact because they don't have the same opinion.

It sounds like he is looking for some buds as opposed to headphones too.

[lukey]

For the money, the sony ex81 are by far the best, Ive had both these and the e2c and found the sony have the much better bass response especially if fitted properly. Some might say the bass is over muddy but they certainly do the job much better than the e2c which admittedly has better sound isoloation properties.

[rldunn]

I just returned the E2c's today and picked up a pair of EX81's. I thought the bass was pretty equivalent between the two of them. The E2c's were a little clearer on everything and I could play the music at a volume about 30-40% lower. However, I found them to be extremely uncomfortable, while the Sony's are VERY comfortable. For my needs, comfort is key, plus I do a lot of taking my phones in and out, and the Sony's are much less of a hassle for this, which is why they won out for me.

To answer the original question, the EX81's are a big improvement over the stock buds. They stay in place much better, provide some isolation, and sound much clearer.