iPod in-ear earphones. Mine Must be defective, right?

[PimpyMicPimp]

Hi, for Christmas I got the Apple In-ear Earphones and was excited since I've read that the sound better than the stock earphones, and they must for $70, right? I was wrong. The things have no bass at all, the treble sounds almost sharp, and the actually sound worse, to me, than the stock earphones. I'm pretty sure that these are defective, but everytime I read about earphones on this site I hear Jeremy mention about the perfect "flat" sound. I'm just wondering if these have this so called flat sound and are working how they should, and I just get my money back, or if they are defective, in which case I'll just replace them. Thanks.

[n2xe]

Nope, they're not defective, that's just the "glorious" sound that everybody's been telling you about!

Apple in-ear buds suck so hard, the trade wind has reversed direction here on the east coast and is now blowing toward California.

I think the glowing reviews are from people too embarrassed to admit they blew $40 on pieces of pure feces.

Did I mention that they really really truly suck? If I were Apple, I'd be ashamed to put my logo on these things. Since I can afford it, I'm laughing about how sincerely terrible these things are and how I totally wasted forty portraits of a nice dead president. If I were a kid to whom $40 means an awful lot, I'd be rippin' mad. If Apple had any kind of corporate conscience, they would pull these off the market--they are that bad.

[Quillz]

Yeah, the Apple in-ear earbuds are horrible. You might be better off with the stock earbuds. If you want a good pair of in-ears, you have to invest a lot more than $40. I recommend the $179 Shure E3c.

[PimpyMicPimp]

Thanks guys, you confirmed my fears. I would love some high quality earphones but I simply can't afford it. I think it's absolutly ridiculus (yes, I can't spell either) that the stock earphones that come with the iPod are actually better than the in-ear ones! Oh well, that's corprate America for you.

[n2xe]

Originally posted by Quillz
Yeah, the Apple in-ear earbuds are horrible. You might be better off with the stock earbuds. If you want a good pair of in-ears, you have to invest a lot more than $40. I recommend the $179 Shure E3c.

Normally, I'd stick up for corporate America; there's a lot to admire about Apple and what they've done with the iPod. I think they got caught up in the "in-ear" thing and never actually listened to what they sold.

You're right, the stock buds blow the Apple in-ear ones away. I'm at a loss as to why Apple would throw their reputation away on such junk. Even the most casual pedestrian listener can tell it's junk. It is almost impossible to believe that something can sound that bad. I don't think even China could design something that sounds that horrible without really trying hard to make them sound as bad as possible.

I would really like to know the name of the engineer at Apple who is responsible. Has he been fired yet? Helen Keller could have done a better job.

[n2xe]

Originally posted by PimpyMicPimp
Thanks guys, you confirmed my fears. I would love some high quality earphones but I simply can't afford it.

If it's good cheap sound you're after, I recommend the Radio Shack Pro 35A headphones if you can still find them. Granted they are not ear buds but they sound surprisingly good for only $20. Unfortunately, I think they've been discontinued.

[G4Bruno]

Originally posted by PimpyMicPimp
Thanks guys, you confirmed my fears. I would love some high quality earphones but I simply can't afford it. I think it's absolutly ridiculus (yes, I can't spell either) that the stock earphones that come with the iPod are actually better than the in-ear ones! Oh well, that's corprate America for you.
And the Sony Ex-81lp are just $34.99 on amazon. They sound nice, but I was afraid to not get a special warranty program, cause my 71s cord shredded to pieces. So I got mine at Circuit City for $49.99 with a $9.99 2 year warranty plan. They're a great upgrade over stock buds and not that expensive.

[PimpyMicPimp]

Originally posted by G4Bruno
And the Sony Ex-81lp are just $34.99 on amazon. They sound nice, but I was afraid to not get a special warranty program, cause my 71s cord shredded to pieces. So I got mine at Circuit City for $49.99 with a $9.99 2 year warranty plan. They're a great upgrade over stock buds and not that expensive.

Hmm, I think I'll look into that. There is a Circuit City near my house so I'll have to go check it out, I'm just worried that they might not have it since they get few things I want. They didn't have the 5G iPod's when I asked, early December, and were still selling 4G's.

[szsiddiq]

i got the ex81's for 23.49 from amazon a few weeks back (few months ago i wrote an email to them and asked them y the whites were cheaper than the blacks, and after 2 emails, they gave me a $5 coupon to use on anything, then, the headphone price came down to $29.99 for the holidays i guess, and then they also had a 5% off coupon when i ordered (which i didnt see at first, but wrote to them later and they happily applied it).
Now i think they're outta stock (aside from the amazon merchants). Its sales rank went thru the roof.

All i gotta say is: amazon customer service is awesome

[johnb554]

I use and reccomend the JVC Lightweight In Ear Headphones (HA-FX55V-W), They have great sound quality and they are very comfortable to wear. they cost $49.99 CDN at Future Shop

[PimpyMicPimp]

Originally posted by johnb554
I use and reccomend the JVC Lightweight In Ear Headphones (HA-FX55V-W), They have great sound quality and they are very comfortable to wear. they cost $49.99 CDN at Future Shop

Thanks for the tip, those are very nice looking.

[truckson]

My experience with the ipod in-ear phones is bad! I will recommend you using other phones instead! The Audio-Technica ATH-CK5 (http://www.warehouse123.com/ProductInfo.php?pid=AUTATHCK5-BLK) are another nice looking in-ear phone at low price! The Audio-Technica ATH-CK5 is one of the best earphones in their price range. I also recommend the Sharp MD33 (http://www.warehouse123.com/ProductInfo.php?pid=SHAHPMD33-SLV)! Awesome canal phones! Incredible all around sound, nice bass, clean mids and nice highs. These phones are a lot better than the Shure e2c.

[Vitz]

truckson have you tried the e2c?

[leFrenzy]

Let me tell you right now, if you don't plan on getting great earphones/headphones, buying the iPod is insane all together. When it comes down to it, if you're an audiophile like me, I'd have to be insane to spend the $400 on the iPod if I wasn't going to get great sound out of it. Since I use the device everyday for hours, it was only smarter to get earphones, as they block outside noise, letting me have the volume low and still hear clearly even in noisy places, without damaging my ears. Sure it sounds extremely expensive, but think about opportunity cost.
Let's say you go to wendy's and spend $5, 3 times a week. That's $15 per week, $60/month, or more than $600+ per year ($720). Instead, get ramen noodles for a few cents, and your cost per year drops from $720, down to like less than $100.

My super.fi 5EB costs $168 brand-new with free shipping. I use them everyday, and I will probably use this pair for 2-3 years before I get a new pair of earphones, maybe longer. $168 for 1000 days of awesome amazing clear sound quality? Sounds like a good deal to me.

[bigDee]

http://www.provantage.com/buy-7etym008-6i-isolator-earphones-black-clamshell-etymotic-research-er6i-blk-shopping.htm

Get the ER-6i. Although the e3c has better bass, the ER-6i has a bit better overall sound.

Which ever you get will be a win-win situation though.

[PimpyMicPimp]

Originally posted by leFrenzy
Let me tell you right now, if you don't plan on getting great earphones/headphones, buying the iPod is insane all together. When it comes down to it, if you're an audiophile like me, I'd have to be insane to spend the $400 on the iPod if I wasn't going to get great sound out of it. Since I use the device everyday for hours, it was only smarter to get earphones, as they block outside noise, letting me have the volume low and still hear clearly even in noisy places, without damaging my ears. Sure it sounds extremely expensive, but think about opportunity cost.
Let's say you go to wendy's and spend $5, 3 times a week. That's $15 per week, $60/month, or more than $600+ per year ($720). Instead, get ramen noodles for a few cents, and your cost per year drops from $720, down to like less than $100.

My super.fi 5EB costs $168 brand-new with free shipping. I use them everyday, and I will probably use this pair for 2-3 years before I get a new pair of earphones, maybe longer. $168 for 1000 days of awesome amazing clear sound quality? Sounds like a good deal to me.

I don't even have a job! :P