Let's get an MP3 player headphone/earbud discussion going

Question

I am shocked to see how little use this little slice of this great forum is. As we all know, the earbuds that typically accompany any stock MP3 player are usually sub-standard, at best. Often they are terrible. Occaisionly they are passable, and once in a blue moon they are great. It always amazes me that MP3 player companies, Creative included, don't realize that they could really push their players over the top by adding a good set of buds. In fact, Sony has just done this. One of their new MP3 players is being shipped with a higher end set of Sony earbuds that typically go for $70 all by themselves. CNET is raving about the player, particulary how it is one of the only players out there that sounds fantastic "out of the box". And now I'm starting to see discussions on the CNET MP3 player forums comparing that particular Sony to the new ZEN with lot's of people leaning to the Sony just because it does not require a new set of buds to really bring out the quality of the music.
Now we all know that a lot of people are clueless when it comes to this aspect. It amazes me the people who will spend $500 on a high-end MP3 player and then not bother to replace the crappy buds that come bundled with it (cough, cough, iPod, cough). If you fall into this category do yourself a favor and go out and try some quality buds or headphones for your MP3 player. You'll be quite astounded how much more you'll enjoy listening to your music. As with any audio device, you'll have to pay for that quality. But quality can be found in everyone's budget. CNET is a great place to start and learn. You'll be happy to know that Creative's Aurvana buds are highly rated in their price category and quite frankly, the next time Creative releases a new higer-end product, say the ZEN 32 GB due out in first quarter 2008 (or so I've read), they would be super smart to include a nice set of these buds with that player even if it means bumping the price a bit and eating some profit.
I recently bought my fifth Creative product, the 16 GB ZEN. It's a great player. Not perfect, but certainly a top contender in the high-cap flash-based MP3 player market. As always, the included buds were passable. So I embarked upon a search for the perfect set of headphones and/or buds in my price range.
I set my price range between $100 and $150. That's a ton of money for some, nothing for others. I was pleasantly surprised with what is out there. Here is what I found, what I tried, what I thought, what I kept, and what went back. I am somewhat limited in my testing by the fact that I pretty much just use Best Buy. While I really don't like the store, the one good thing they have is a 30-day money back return policy. So I can just keep trying headphones and returning them to try others until I find the ones I like.
The first thing I tried was pair of Bose full around ear (AE) TriPort headphones. CNET has called these the poor-man's QuietComfort 2's, a noise-canceling Bose product highly rated by CNET. The TriPorts are great phones, light weight, and great sounding. Best Buy price is$140. Great audio quality and they block out most regular outside noise. The downside, for me at least, is my ears tend to sweat after extended listening. I still have these and will keep them. My daughter liked them so much she's getting a pair for Christmas although she doesn't know it yet. These are better for your ears because they don't pipe music directly into the canal and are less likely to cause any damage to hearing.
The next thing I tried was a set of Bose on ear (OE) TriPorts. These are pretty much the same drivers as the AE's but they sit comfortably on the ear instead of around them. The upside is that they don't sweat as much. Downside is, if you're a woman (or a guy) who wears earrings they can be less comfortable because they press on the earrings. The audio quality is much same, ie: great, as the AE models but not quite as good. The sound isolation is also surprisingly good. I like the design of these phones much better too. They have a single cord design (the AE's have a dual cord) and the cord is modual. I love short cords as I just keep my player in a shirt pocket so a long cord is just a drag, pun intended. The OE models also come with a much nicer, hard case, the AE's just come with a cloth bag. The phones fold up smaller and fit into the case nicely for storage and transport. The real downside to these phones, the price: $180. While the cord design and case are nice touches they really don't (to me anyway) justify the extra $40. That said, I still have these phones too as I like them for work for the short cord. The jury is still out as to whether or not I'll keep them.
Next up I tried the Sure SE210 earbuds, actually ear canal phones. These are pricey at $150 but for Shure products that's actually just a step up from entry level! I thought it would be good to have a nice set of quality buds for those times when I don't want to walk around with headphones on. The Shure's are raved about on CNET. I was not impressed. The sound was just okay and I really don't like things sticking IN my ear canals for long periods of time. It just get's painful for me. The Shure's do come with the 'comfort pack' which has several different styles and sizes of tips to maximize comfort but I just couldn't see them getting enough use to justify the price. They went back.
Next up was the Bose TriPort earbuds. These got a mediocre review over at CNET but I thought since I'd tried the other two in the line I'd give these a go. They are $99 at BB. These are not ear canal phones and are not meant to into the ear and form a tight seal. They sounded very good and were very comfortable. But they just didn't feel stable. I move around at work a lot an they always felt like they were going to fall out and the quality and level of music would change with the movement. They went back.
Last up, the Shure SE110 earbuds. Again, these are ear canal phones meant to go into the ear canal and form a seal for maximum bass and sound. I bought these on a whim. They are $99 at BB. They pretty much sound just like the SE210's to me - I'm not sure what the difference was supposed to be. CNET gives these a decent review and recommends them in their price point range. I tried them at work and was going to take them right back. But I've been unable to get them back for a few days so I tried them again last night. I finally found a set of the 'comfort pack' tips that fit me best, the small rubber ones, and I can wear them for longer periods of time without as much discomfort. And when in the ear with a good seal they sound pretty good, much better than any stock earbud, but not as good as the Bose AE or OE phones.
So the jury is out on these ones. I'm thinking they'll go back. It seems you have to go up to the SE310's to get a really good bud from Shure but that's up around $200 to $250, a bit more than I'll spend for now at least. If I end up taking the SE110's AND the Bose OE TriPort's back than I'd have enough to try out a pair but our BB doesn't sell them so I'd have to find another local or online dealer with a nice return policy. Online sucks because of course you have to send them back and pay shipping. Much easier to just go to a counter!
If you've really got a ton of money, I hear the new Shure SE530's are nothing short of fantasic - or so says CNET. I'd love to try a set but at$450 to $500 a set that's not going happen any time soon. I might just go back to BB and try a bunch of lower end stuff in the $50 to $100 range and see if anything in that price point range blows my mind.
Anyhow, I thought his forum was sadly lacking and thought I'd at least give a good post to get it going. If any of you have done this type of testing, or just have a great set of buds or headphones you use, please share your opinion's here. Let's get this rock rolling down the hill!
M.

Answer 1

Hi methos1979,
This forum has only just been created, all the other forums have been on the board much longer, so we should hopefully see more posts appearing here.
While I appreciate and understand the intention of the thread, this is not a suitable place to discuss non-Creative products. This forum was intended for discussion of Creative headphones, headsets and earphones.
Cat