I love all the great suggestions up to this point, but the only decision I’ve made so far is that I am NOT USING BUD earbuds…
Oh, I have those… the problem is, my head is so big that those headsets put to much pressure around my ears. They hurt a lot after a while. Unfortunately, the distance of the speakers or the tension are not adjustable on them.
I was in high school 30 years ago so do not talk old.
The reason I like the Bose is you have a choice of three earbud sizes. Most earbuds push on the cartilage in my ear that can be very painful.
I had the same pain as Leah when I was using the Apple earbuds. I couldn’t afford to spend $100 on a really nice pair, so I went with something similar to Mr. Lister, Sir’s choice. They are Sony, have the soft rubber cups that adjust to your ear instead of forcing your ear to adjust, have lasted three months so far with zero problems, and cost only $24.00 (I think). Whatever you decide to go with, I strongly recommend the soft rubber cups- so much more comfortable! The only problem I have with them is when I am on the elliptical at the gym and get really sweaty, they sometimes start to slip out, and I have to push them back in.
I miss GR…
oh em gees.
:eek:
I guess it all depends on what you are doing while using them. I work nights in a hardware store and I use ear buds 8 hrs a day. I have accepted the fact that anything I buy will wear out in in 3 to 6 months. The Gummy’s and Marshmallows ($10) are good if you just listen to spoken audio like podcasts and books on tape. If you like better audio quality than I like the Skullcaddy brand ($30). If you are at a desk than I think it is good to go with quality and they should last a long time. The best thing I do to add life to mine is attach a clip to them where the cord separates to each ear bud. I think most problems with buds going bad is due to stress on the cord at the point where it is connected to the buds themselves. I would see how they are connected at that point and use that as you basis for how long they will last. For comparison, if you look at Apple’s you can see that the cord is not connected to the bud itself. It just runs loosely through and connects to the speakers. I think this is why there is a lot of people complaining about the life of these.
Huh. I always thought the problem was at the other end (where the wear is more obvious) but that would explain why the left one always seems to go first.
Do you mean at the 1/8" jack? I haven’t had any problems there with Apple, but other cheap brands I have had it strip at that point which destroys the wire connection. I have found that if you look at the way you wear them and do your best to eliminate any stress on the cord (which for all ear buds is very thin gauge and relatively easy to break) you can make them last much longer. I just rarely recall loosing a pair of ear buds or ear phones due to a physical problem with the speakers. It has got to be like 90% a connection problem.
i like to split the difference; between the really expensive and the cheap. i found JVC model that are the in ear kind, for about 20.00 they lasted about a year with an aproximate use of 3 hours a day.
Ive bought the expensive ones and they fail after about 5 months and at triple the price.
the JVC sounded good not great but good
I’ve had my 2gen iPod nano for a good three years now. I don’t recall how long my original, white iPod earbuds lasted, but it was at least several months before they started peeling apart and generally becoming useless. When I went to go buy a new pair, I found them going for $30 and up, and I was a little stung.
So I tried out a pair of $10 JVC Gumy earbuds (Kiwi Green), and liked them right away. They’re cool-lookin’ and comfy, and they saved me 20 clams. But they only lasted a few months before the sound started coming out of only one side. So I bought another pair and took care to wrap them more carefully than the old ones. They lasted longer, but eventually I was listening to my podcasts in mono again, and I was back at Best Buy for another set.
I’ve gone through about 3 or 4 pairs now…I always go back to them though, because they’re cheap, and I like the way they look compared to the boring old white ones. They don’t generally fall apart like the old white ones either–they just give out in one ear. I’ve searched for product reviews that address this problem, but all I’ve found is a lot of praise for the durability of the Gumys; and maybe one guy who says he replaces his earbuds every couple of months. :eek:
So my latest set just went out, although to be honest I don’t recall how long I’ve had them, which is probably a good sign that they latest longer than usual. I’ve wondered if I should just bite it and buy the more expensive ones. I’m not an audiophile, so I don’t need expensive earbuds, just a set that’ll let me listen to my podcasts in both ears for more than a few months at a time. Anyone else deal with this? How many earbuds do you go through on average, if at all?
I’ve had these for the last year and they haven’t gone out on me. The previous one’s lasted about a year as well. I am pretty rough on them, I usually just wad them up and shove them in my purse. The right ear piece is longer than the left, and the little plug bits that go in your ears take some getting used to but I like them and the sound is good. They are around $15-20 depending on where you find them.
I too go through about one every three months, but use them quite a bit, I’ve tried high end (Bose and Sure), three months i tried stuff i found at shoppers drug mart, for about 5 dollars three months, in the end i gave up and now stick with low end skullcandy about 20 dollars good sound and not killing my budget when they die. i used to buy these great Koss head phones which were about 10 bucks good sound great fit for jogging but sadly these stopped making them.
Three months seems about when mine start to die (usually one channel goes first.) But I’m quite hard on them as well. I just go with JVC iPod-style earbuds now. They’re around eleven bucks at Best Buy.
Although if you pony up for the Apple ones (worth doing if you have an iPhone and like the microphone/remote thingy) keep the receipt and they’ll honor the warranty on them.
My favorites now are the Skullcandy Ink’d. They have great sound at $20 and I would say about 3 months life. I use them at work, which gives them a pounding. Also there is another thread a ways back where we talked about this. Maybe a merger is in order?
i got these:
with my laptop. they’re generally $30+ everywhere else but dell has them for $11for some reason and they’re quite good. a bit heavy on bass until you break them in, but they work great, and as i understand it, they’re supposed to last.
3-6 months. I don’t get attached to 'em, that’s for sure. I had a decent set of Shure earbuds that lasted over a year, but at ~$100, it’s cheaper for me to just get $20 el-cheapos from Target or wherever.
Done. Good call.
Mine tend to last under half a year. I even bought really expensive noise-reduction megaheadphones and in 6 months…poof.
I tend to find that around $40 price point you get good quality without prolonged use actually hurting your ears. I pick mine up from Radio Shack, will post the type when I am back home.
Been using my Sennheiser OMX50 since april of last year for about 40 or so hours at week while Im at work. Great sound, very comfortable, adjustable so they dont fall out. Price is about 40$. They probably should have made these a little crappier so they could milk more money out of me. 