I have them and love them. Noise-canceling are fine if you listen to them in noisy areas a lot (e.g. live poker or w/e), but I generally use mine at home, so it's unnecessary for me.

I ended up buying the UE super.fi 4 and don't like them. They don't fit right and hurt my ears after 45 mins of wearing them. I used to wear those crappy sony IEM's for hours and hours with very little pain... On top of the uncomfortable fit, they are realllllly weak when it comes to bass. I have the Sennheiser 580's and thought their bass was pretty neutral... but the UE's make the Sennheiser's feel like you have the bass setting on max. The worst part is, if I increase my bass setting on the Ipod, it makes hiphop songs have that crappy bass rumble and the rapper's voice will be all scratchy, however rock songs then have a much better sounding bass. Anyone know what the burn-in time are for these UE's? I've had them for only a couple of days and put them through about 60 or so hours of playtime.

You can send the super.fi 4's over my way

I just bought the Zagg's for 50 including shipping and tax. I am not really much of an Audiophile though.

I almost got the Zagg's, but I ended up buying a pair of NuForce NE-7M's. I'll let ya'll know how they are when I get them.

Update:

UE superfi.vi 4 are starting to sound a little better... the bass is starting to form somewhat, although its still relatively weak, its passable at least unlike when they first come out of the package. The highs and mids are starting to sound even more crisp than they used to. I'd have to say I've put about 90 or so hours of playtime through them now so... they do require some burn-in time.

The comfort level still is bothering me, the buds are softer now and dont hurt as much but they still feel strange. I feel like they need to be pushed too deep to sound their best. Anyone dealt with this problem and have some sort of solution? Am i just putting them in wrong?

is there a special way to put them in? i have the super.fi 5 pros and the instruction manual showed me that i'm supposed to loop them over the top of my ear and then down the canal. created an awesome seal.

I got my Zagg's in today. Will post a review in a few days.

I got my NE-7M's today too. I'll post a review in a couple of days. I tried them last night, and the reviews were right: they're nothing special without burn-in + better tips. The reviews say they'll be better after I fix those things, though, so here's hoping ..

I listened to the Z.Buds some last night, and this morning. I think that they sound very good, but I am not an audiophile by any means. I will say that the Nylon cord is cool because it doesn't get tangled, and the 3 beads (Hangin' Tight) setup actually works out really well. Basically they go around your neck, and then up into your ears, which leaves very little weight on your ears, which is nice. On the con side, 1 pair of the tips simply does not fit the headphone, there are numerous complaints about this on the web. It's stupid for a tip to ship with the item that either does not fit, or takes an excessively long time to get on.

Personally, I think they are very comfortable in my left ear, but not as much in my right ear. I guess my ear canals are different and the right one is shallower just enough to not allow the headphone fully in. I worked the foam tip some though, and it fits reasonable enough.

Now I want a set of Non-In Ear Canal headphones for the iPhone, any recommendations? less that 100 dollars please.

Around a month or two ago I decided to treat myself with UE's Triple.fi 10vi and I have been pretty blown away so far. I listen to a good deal of music as I commute three hours on the train each day. I was using the crappy Apple headphones and ralized how stupid I was for doing so.

I feel like high-end earbuds right now are an example of an electronic that may get soooo much cheaper in the next few years. They are shipping a pretty awesome profit margin and i feel like the game for this market may really change and they will get much cheaper. Clearly the audio equipment is expensive and they do cost something to make, but they are pretty small electronics, and like most of them, they get way cheaper. Hasn't really happened yet, but obviously they can't charge $500 for a pair of earbuds forever, for some reason it feels like one of those.

as for my opinions on headphones and anything relevant to this thread, I don't see whats wrong with bose, they are pretty perfect to me

great headphones, but not that great at the computer desk or w/e my ear gets like really hot after wearing them for a while and i cant hear what my roommate is saying when he trys talking to me.. They are great other than that annd I think that Im to get ear buds also.

for less than 100, I really liked the Grado Sr-60 (or 90, although I hear theres not much a difference between the 2)... a lot of people disagree and say that Grado is a POS company who makes shoddy looking products... but I had them for a while and I have to say that they sounded great. However, they broke after maybe 3 years of extensive use (2 hour commutes to work). Im no grado fanboy either, when they broke, I decided to upgrade to Sennheiser.

I somewhat agree with this.

I own a pair of Grado SR-60's ($65), and bought a pair of Sennheiser HD-555's for my brother for Christmas ($100).

I like the sound of the Grados much better. It's a more aggressive sound, sharper highs and more bass. The Sennheisers feel way too laid back for me an aren't worth the money at all IMO. (this probably changes once you get up to the 595+ models though)

However, the build quality of the Sennheisers is way better than the Grados.

did you listen to the 555's after they were broken in?

Ya, I actually bought them a year ago, and heard them again this year at Christmas time. They were improved, but still definitely not as good as the SR-60's IMO.

A lot of this is obviously personal preference though, so you should always audition them yourself.

I've been using these beasts for the past year.

What do you guys think of these? Supposedly Dr. Dre makes em/endorses them or something.

http://www.esend.com/Beats/Products....EATSPIOE(Esend)

[ ] Link works.

I think this will work...

http://www.beatsbydre.com/default.asp#beats

Just thought I'd add this review:

JVC Marshmallow Headphones

(there are a few versions of these.. the HAFX33 is the older version, I got the newer HAFX34)



I picked these up because I needed an inexpensive, good isolating earbud for my commute to work each day. The main goal was to block out background noise (train), and get a decent sound. Also, they needed to be cheap because carrying them around everyday will definitely put some wear & tear on them and introduce the risk of losing them.

Total cost: $12 shipped

Impressions:

PROS:
An incredible upgrade from the stock earbuds I already had. Good isolation. A reasonable amount of bass for an earbud. Mids and highs seem quite clear and warm.

CONS:
- no loop to put around your neck - makes it difficult to temporarily take them out and introduces some 'vibration noise' (the popping sound you'll hear when rubbing against the wires)
- took a while to get them to fit properly, they use an expanding foam
- limited bass
- slippery and hard to get a grip on - would not recommend for jogging/exercise at all

I'd rate these around 3.5/5 for overall sound quality, but 6/5 for bang-for-the-buck. If you need cheap earbuds, I doubt you can do much better than these without spending 2x as much.

[QUOTE} I'd really like to hear opinions on normal headsets in the 150-300 range though. I'll be looking for a pair soon.[/QUOTE]

if you are looking for good headphones 150.00 check out http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...ategoryId=3729
They are manly DJ and studio headphones but there great for the value
Esp. MDR-V700DJ
I used to use them when I dj'd and they are baisically the standard if the DJ world. Great clean sound..but a little large for nomal use. I guess

So what would you recommend in the $25 range?

Honestly, I'm not too familiar with earbuds. Regular headphones almost always sound better and are considerably more comfortable. The only reason I ever use earbuds is for noise isolation / commuting, so it makes sense to keep them small and cheap.

Here's a link to head-fi though with their recommendations. I think there have been a lot of new earbuds coming out, so you may want to read through the forums:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/hea...-guide-271258/

Under $70

IEM/Earbud
1-JVC Marshmallow (FX33, 34) ($15) Bassy, recessed mids and highs. I love them with rock. Great value. Kramer mod helps these a lot.
1-Creative ep630 ($23)
1-JVC Air Cushion ($30) These sound similar to the marshmallows, but with better detail and no recessed mids/highs.
1-Sennheiser cx300 ($30) Lovely midrange, and very strong bass (although uncontrolled) Highs are the weakness of this phone.

1-Yuin pk3 ($39)
1-Jays j-jays ($50)
1-Shure e2c ($60)
1-Crossroads Mylarone x3i/xbi ($57 and $65)
1-Yuin pk2 ($69)
1-Etymotic er6 ($70) Very detailed. Good mids/highs. Slightly lacking the bass department
1-Ultimate Ears Super.Fi.3 ($70)
1-V-moda Vibe($70) Very muddy, not a lot of detail. no highs to speak off.
2-Altec Lansing im716 ($100) Currently on sale @buy.com for $49

What about those beats by Dre?

Just bought a Bose Quiet Comfort 3 and I like em a lot

Hi all btw