They're not damaged, they're DIRTY. pull off the tip and make sure the hole in the middle isn't clogged with ear wax, if it is clean it with the tool they provided or a toothpick.

I think the difference between these is personal preference in sound signature.

I fly a lot an have the westone EM1. I flown from Dallas to Bangalore with them in. They do a great job of sound isolation and you can play music much lower than with headphones.

Check out the link for reviews of different earphones.

http://www.earphonesolutions.com/beeaforip.html

QFT! I got these for traveling etc a couple of months back:


The sound is great imo and the noiseguard works really well on planes and other noisy environments..

Tried my first set of IEMs this weekend. (Shure E2Cs). Hated them. They sounded good. But they were uncomfortable and I could not get them to stay in my ear.

Any tips for making them stay? I found the foam tips the most comfortable, but that's only relatively speaking. And the only way I could get them to stay was to physically press down on them. When I let them go, it would come out.

Update: Just got the Koss KSC-75's in the mail today.

Had a $10 amazon gift certificate to blow, so managed to get them for a total of about $6 out of pocket after shipping.

Overall, a great cheap headphone. Good bass considering what they are. Highs however all sound a little metallic and unnatural to me.

I've listened to the PX100's ($40 or so), and I think these are just as good by all means.

The Grado SR60's still sound much more natural to me, but I guess you can't compare a $60 headphone to a $16 one.

Pros:
- super cheap
- great sound

Cons:
- open-air, can be noisy if you're out in public, on a plane, metro, etc
- no head band = you have to use the ear clips all the time and it's easy to get the cords tangled up
- highs a bit metallic

Buy em!

Did you try all the tips? Mine came with:
Grey tips, S, M, L
Clear tip, S, M, L
Foam tips
Flanged tips

Shure supposedly just came out with new foam tips that are better than the standard ones. You might try checking on amazon. Are you putting them in far enough? You can tell they're in the right place when you start getting a rich bass sound.

Canal phones take a while to get used to but some people just hate them. If you still can't stand them in another week or two, just go with regular headphones.

does it make a big difference? I use my ipod everyday for probably 2 hours and probably 1 hour on my computer listening. should i inviest in a quality earmuff style headphones for at home? will i notice a big difference?

If you're using the earbuds that came with the iPod, yes, there's a huge difference, especially with the bass.

I had a pair of Sennheiser HD-497 headphones. The difference is night and day. When you listen to the earbuds, you kind of get used to the sound. So when you listen with a proper set of headphones, you'll be amazed.

And the HD497's aren't that expensive either. Unfortanately, it looks like they've been discontinued. Bummer for me because I lost my set. (No, I have no idea how I could lose a pair of non-foldable, bulky headphones).

That was exactly my problem. I would stick them in far enough to get a rich bass sound. But as soon as I let go of the headphones, I'd lose the bass. I tried the medium tips, but they were too big. The small tips were too small, as were the foam tips.

I think I'll just return them.

PITTM (and other experts)

Just ordered the Sennheiser HD595 for use with a Onkyo reciever and at times a Creative XFi gamer card - do I need an amp, and if so what do you recommend? (Low price point and mid I guess)

Thanks

the HD595's dont need to be amplified. especially when you use the ONKYO as it presumably has a decent headphone jack. However, you will def hear improvement out of having it amplified. A new amp that everyone seems to like and is actually quite cheap is the Practical Devices XM4 . I could make a few other recommendations though, other good competitors are:

Porta Corda

Portaphile X3(out of stock )

i hope this helps.

Fwiw, I thought the medium tips were too big also. Then I lost one of the small tips and decided to try switching to see how they felt. They initially felt weird because they were bigger but now I like them much more.

My old 5.1 system is breathing it's last month. The rear speakers don't work half the time and there's a lot of static. So I'm thinking about getting a good pair of headphones. I already have cheapo koss plugs for my ipod. I found a cheapo Sound Blaster X-FI gamer card on discount at my local shop
http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Sound-Bla...8401&sr=8-1


My old sennheiser HD 212 pro's are very uncomfortable and hurt my ears after wearing them for half an hour.

I'm looking for a solid headset purely for gaming. I want a bigass walrus headphones that cover my whole ears, but I want them to be extremely comfortable on my ears for hours of playing.

I'm not looking for any ground shattering experiences, I just want them sword clashes and explosions to sound better while I'm taking my time off poker. Preferably under $100 budget. Please recommend me something, I know you've done your homework on this one

Any recommendations for a comfortable, non-IEM model that can be used in a semi-noisy work environment? I will be listening to music on a PC with basic sound capabilities and would like some manner of noise blocking.

At home I have a little better setup, but nothing high end. I'd like to spend no more than $300 or so preferably.

Right now I have a cheap pair of Sony noise canceling headphones and they are both low quality and uncomfortable.