Travel Technology - Suggestions: Best Budget Earbuds

While on a recent flight, the set of earbuds included with my MP3 player (pretty darn good ones too) lost one of the buds, so now I am headphoneless :(

I went to BestBuy and bought a pair of not-quite-in-the-ear-buds from Sony for about $25, and they sounded horrible - nothing like the free generic ones that came with my player. I returned them for a credit, but now I am not sure which ones to replace them with. Reviews on Amazon and Buy.com are mixed.

The player, although great sounding with 5band equalizer and various effects, was only $50, so I am not going to spend $100 on the earbuds - my budget is about $40 or so for a decent set of earbuds that fit snuggly inside the ear canal (not the round-disk buds) and deliver crisp, clear unmuffled sound with good bass and crisp treble and midtones. I can use the equalizer and sound effects to add bass, and i dont need loud bass thumping, but i hate tinny or muffled sounds too.

I know not to expect Shure quality for around $40, but there has to be something out there that is fairly comparable. Any ideas?

Some I have researched so far include...

Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia Headphones
Sony MDR-EX71SL Fontopia In-the-Ear Headphones
Sony MDR-EX81LP Bud-Style Stereo Earphones
Sennheiser CX300-B Earbuds

All of the above got mixed reviews, so it's hard to decide.

Ive been eye......g a pair that Sharper Image sells for around $50 (with claims of noise reduction capabilities) ...

Currently Im using the iPod issued ear buds which have been the best that I have found for the price ... LOL

Ive been eye......g a pair that Sharper Image sells for around $50 (with claims of noise reduction capabilities) ...

Currently Im using the iPod issued ear buds which have been the best that I have found for the price ... LOL

I never considered Sharper Image - but I have not read good feedback about many of their products...remember the air cleaner fiasco. I had a look at their website, but the headphones they advertised are all around the air/headband style.

I never considered Sharper Image - but I have not read good feedback about many of their products...remember the air cleaner fiasco. I had a look at their website, but the headphones they advertised are all around the air/headband style.

http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/product/sku__AN107

Are the ones I've eyeballed before. Not sure the quality but I've had minimal issues with products from Sharper Image before (NC headphones comfort being the main issue).

I would look for a deal on the epytomic er-6i. I got another pair a month or so ago for 50$.

Thanks for the link...but I saw this buried in the fine print :)

Your purchase includes two pairs (small and large) of Comply Canal Tips; each lasts about a month. Replacements are available at www.complyintheear.com

A visit to that website yields the following...a 10pack supply is $20. They are no longer selling the headphone product, so I am not sure how long they might sell the canal tips.

I got another pair a month or so ago for 50$.
If new/retail packaging, where?

I love my Shure E3Cs with the flange adapters for noise quieting, but at $50 I might be willing to try the competition.

Some I have researched so far include...

Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia Headphones
I used to have a pair of these. I loved them for being budget (paid around $30 online) and they provided very good sound and decent noise quieting. I hated, however, how the two earphones were linked together. One earphone's cable was shorter than the other, leaving a "loop" hanging from my face. Perhaps these are designed to be worn with the cable behind the head, but I found that to be annoying and instead wanted to have the cable in the front. All in all, good fit, good sound, and very decent choice for the price.

If new/retail packaging, where?

I love my Shure E3Cs with the flange adapters for noise quieting, but at $50 I might be willing to try the competition.

I'm in for these too :) Where were they to be found? On Ebay? Going from Sonys to Etymotics for an extra $10 is worthwhile.

The Amazon reviews were great on these...but the price quoted was quite high. If I can find them for $50, I will yell "sold!"

Thanks for the link...but I saw this buried in the fine print :)

Your purchase includes two pairs (small and large) of Comply Canal Tips; each lasts about a month. Replacements are available at www.complyintheear.com

A visit to that website yields the following...a 10pack supply is $20. They are no longer selling the headphone product, so I am not sure how long they might sell the canal tips.

Glad you did the research on this one since I was seriously temped to drop the $$$ on this set ...

Phew

After stumbling across these at fatwallet.com, I checked Amazon and the price is still pretty fair. Including both links here. The reviews are good, although claims these are the same as Er4Ps might be a stretch...

Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000BKE8QQ/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/104-9885391-9980754?ie=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=172282)

Fatwallet Link (http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/620655)

If new/retail packaging, where?

I love my Shure E3Cs with the flange adapters for noise quieting, but at $50 I might be willing to try the competition.

it was on overstock.com. They were on sale after a coupon and 15$ of coupon they were 52$, 55$ shipped. No tax in CA.

It was a perfektstorm, but I've seen there for 65$ regularly. Amazon should always have them for 70$ or so.

I think the white went on sale, about when the black ones came out. I actually wanted a black pair, but could only get white on this deal.

Put in an alert on a deal site, and wait a few days.

The Sony MDR-EX71SL Fontopia In-the-Ear Headphones work great. Good fit and block out most external noise. The "L" denotes long cord with a connection, the "S" is the short cord no connection break.

I just ordered a pair of the Altec Lansing inMotion iM716 Headphones you linked to. The price at Amazon has dropped to $63 shipped. I'll post my thoughts on Friday. If they're half as good as advertised they're a steal.

I just ordered a pair of the Altec Lansing inMotion iM716 Headphones you linked to. The price at Amazon has dropped to $63 shipped. I'll post my thoughts on Friday. If they're half as good as advertised they're a steal.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
They changed the price after I ordered?? I better logon and redo my order :)

I agree from the reviews these headphones sound close to perfect for the price. If you read the reviews on the previous generation, the 616, those are pretty negative.

I just ordered a pair of the Altec Lansing inMotion iM716 Headphones you linked to. The price at Amazon has dropped to $63 shipped. I'll post my thoughts on Friday. If they're half as good as advertised they're a steal.


If those are the over-ear phones - you should have done a search on the forum. They later the sound too much and the NC ability is not that good at all. I sold mine on ebay after one flight.

/E

I should take my own advice and do a search myself. Just checked amazon and as it turns out it is not the over-ear but an inear.

I'm a doofbag

OP, is your MP3 player by chance a Sandisk Sansa? I ask because mine has a 5 band eq and also came with suprisingly good ear buds that unfortunately didn't last long, and when mine stopped working, I had the same trouble finding a suitable replacement.

Sounds like you have found a pair, but if you do have a Sandisk, they might send you a new pair of earbuds free as a one time courtesy, they did in my case.

OP, is your MP3 player by chance a Sandisk Sansa? I ask because mine has a 5 band eq and also came with suprisingly good ear buds that unfortunately didn't last long, and when mine stopped working, I had the same trouble finding a suitable replacement.

Sounds like you have found a pair, but if you do have a Sandisk, they might send you a new pair of earbuds free as a one time courtesy, they did in my case.

Yes, you are exactly right! The best MP3 player $50 could buy and the sound is head and tails over the $200+ units sold by Apple and other vendors. My friend let me listen to his Apple player and it sounded horrible compared to my el cheapo Sansa. Being able to add up to 2GB of SD storage is an excellent bonus too.

How did you go about getting the new earbuds? How long did it take?

Yes, you are exactly right! The best MP3 player $50 could buy and the sound is head and tails over the $200+ units sold by Apple and other vendors. My friend let me listen to his Apple player and it sounded horrible compared to my el cheapo Sansa.

How did you go about getting the new earbuds? How long did it take?

http://www.customernation.com/pls/ps/ps.ps_main?p_host=304&p_supplier=5096&p_parm=PSHFAQ&p_subcategory=&p_product=

Give them a call and explain how much you loved the OEM ear buds but they stopped working. I even offered to pay, but the CSR advised he could send as a courtesy the one time. Got them about a week and a half later.

By the way, we are letting the secret out that the Sansa is hands down the best value/sound in an MP3 player. I have owned the 2GB model now for about 8 months, and it goes everywhere with me. If it had removable SD cards, it would be the holy grail for me.

By the way, before I thought to get another OEM pair, I purchased a $12.00 pair of Phillips ear buds from Target which are almost as good as the OEM's, though less treble response.

http://www.customernation.com/pls/ps/ps.ps_main?p_host=304&p_supplier=5096&p_parm=PSHFAQ&p_subcategory=&p_product=

Give them a call and explain how much you loved the OEM ear buds but they stopped working. I even offered to pay, but the CSR advised he could send as a courtesy the one time. Got them about a week and a half later...

Thank you! I called and they put in an order to send me a new pair. It's too late to cancel my Amazon order, so I will receive them both and compare. If the Altec Lansing works great, I will have two sets for just-in-case next time.

...If it had removable SD cards, it would be the holy grail for me....

That was the beauty of the E130 - I could add storage as I needed it without overspending at the beginning. I have a couple 256MB cards I got from buy.com for $10 in case I start to go over the 512 limit...and if I become storage crazy later on, I can add as much storage as I can find on an SD card.

Thank you! I called and they put in an order to send me a new pair. It's too late to cancel my Amazon order, so I will receive them both and compare. If the Altec Lansing works great, I will have two sets for just-in-case next time.

Let me know how they compare, I'm not ready to spend $$ on a nicer pair until I know they will really be as good or better!

I got these ones: http://contents.fifthunit.com/html/products.5th/sku.33.html
sound quality is so so.. but they keep the noise out on the flights.

its under $10 including shipping.. but takes a couple of weeks to deliver

Let me know how they compare, I'm not ready to spend $$ on a nicer pair until I know they will really be as good or better!

It's a deal. I will have both sets to compare against the same music with the same audio settings and if I don't get blown away by the Creatives, back to the 'jungle' they go.

I received my im716s today. They sound really great. I mean, really great. I'm using them with the foam tips, because I couldn't get a good seal with the flanged tips. I don;t much like the inline volume control, and I wish they were a little louder, but I'm really happy. For $62 shipped, I feel like I got quite a deal.

I'll use them on a plane next week, but I think they'll do a good job in blocking sound. I have a clicky buckling spring keyboard, and I can't hear myself typing right now.

Thanks for the link...but I saw this buried in the fine print :)

Your purchase includes two pairs (small and large) of Comply Canal Tips; each lasts about a month. Replacements are available at www.complyintheear.com

A visit to that website yields the following...a 10pack supply is $20. They are no longer selling the headphone product, so I am not sure how long they might sell the canal tips.

I saw these in the US Airways inflight mag on Monday, ordered when I got to my destination, and they arrived today (Friday). They're about $65 all-in when ordering directly from the company (www.complyintheear.com) and they threw in 4 pairs of replacements.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with these ... sound quality is same as the ipod earphones, and the bass seems a little better ... probably from the fact that they really do stick IN your ear and the 'memory foam' that makes up the tip 'expands to fit your ear' at body temperature.

I've yet to test them on a plane yet, will do so and will report back on Monday, so far I've been able to notice the following 'noise reduction' qualities:

1) I was able to turn down my iPod volume to about half of what I normally use

2) I'm not able to hear keystrokes while typing (can with standard iPod headphones) but I can hear things like breath sounds, etc.

Let me know how they compare, I'm not ready to spend $$ on a nicer pair until I know they will really be as good or better!

Sorry for the delay...I just got my Sansa player back (with a new set of headphones) thanks to the idiotic UPS driver giving my original replacement player to some random person who walked out of my building :rolleyes:

I tried the Altec Lansing headphones and have a couple comments. With the rubber eartips, their performance was very lackluster, almost poor. However, when I used the foam tip ear plugs, it was a whole 'nother world. No outside sound at all (no typing, tv, air conditioner, etc) coupled with crisp, clear sound with good depth.

With it's 5 band graphic equalizer, SRS-WOW and bass boost, the Sansa blows most other players (including the iPods) away - so your results my vary with other players, but all in all, I am happy with my purchase.

I will update my post next week, as this weekend will be their first trial onboard an aircraft.

Replacement foam tips are available from altec-lansing.com for $14/per 3.

I would look for a deal on the epytomic er-6i. I got another pair a month or so ago for 50$.

I have those and am VERY happy with them. They are a clear level above the standard units that come with MP3 players. And I paid way more than that a year or so ago. At that price those are a steal. I you see the for that please post, I might get a spare set.

If you want some REALLY cheap 'phones, I've seen the Sony MDR-NC11As on clearance at CompUSA for $29.99. Definitely best bang for the buck I've seen. They sound decent although bass heavy. If you prefer earbuds, the Sennheiser MX-450 is a good bet at $18.

Murphy, you bought the iM716 for $62?!?!?!? That's the deal of the century! It's back to $164 at Amazon!

Just back from my first test of these headphones. The foam earplugs blocked about 90% of the ambient noise - even with the player turned off

Sound was clear and crisp, although some flutter was noticed at the treble extremes and I wish there was abit more bass - but that might have been the setting of my Sansa equalizer. Speaking of which, do any Sansa users have a recommended equalizer profile to maximize bass response as well as keep the treble range crisp?

All in all, I think these were very good earphones for less than $60 - but not in the same league as units priced in the $100s

Glad you didn't bother with Sony. A perennial disappointment for me, yet I keep going back because of the brand name. Sigh.