Best SMALL headphones/ear buds?

C

CypressTree

2[H]4U
Joined
Feb 26, 2003
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I am looking for a set of compact headphones or earbuds that I can take with me on business trips to plug into my laptop or MP3 players while I am travelling. I am currently using some earbuds from Diamond Multimedia, but I've been underwhelmed with its performance, especially when it comes to bass reproduction. Here are my criteria:

- Compact size

- Durable - can't break easily if it's stowed away in my laptop bag

- Very good audio performance, especially strong bass

- Needs to be big enough to prevent audio "leakage" - my current earbuds let in a lot of outside noise, and it makes hard to listen to movies when I'm on a plane

- Primary uses are music and movies, with occasional gaming

- Under $50 preferable. :)

I currently own a pair of Grado SR-60's, which I love to death, but I do not take them with me on trips because they're rather bulky and would get damaged during my travels.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Etymotic ER4P, ER4S

Shure E3C, E5C

Audiotechnica ATH-CM7ti, ATH-EM9d, ATH-EW9
 
Thanks for the suggestions, Harkamus. I've never heard of any of these, so I'm going to do some digging around and see what I can find. :)
 
Jumpin' Jehosophat! These things are expensive - I did a quick online price search, and all of the products you mentioned are in the $150 - $250 range.

Sorry, I should have been specific about my price range. I probably would like to get something in the $50 or less price range. :)
 
If you're handy and/or like to tinker, get these and do this.

I haven't yet, as I'm still trying out these. I think I'll want something a little more compact/discreet on occasion, though, so I plan to try the aforementioned mod.
 
You can't go wrong with either the Koss KSC 50, KSC 55 (it's the same as the 50 but with a band instead of ear clips), or KSC 35. I personally have the KSC 50 and they sound pretty damn nice for $19.99 headphones. They don't sound weak, have pretty nice treble and are probobly 100 times better than the crappy headphones that come with cd players
 
If you want a fairly decent set of earbuds I'd go with the sony MDR-EX70 or EX71's.
They are an ear-plug type style so they will block out a great deal of external noise, and they are well known for bass response. They may not have the supreme definition of the shure's, but they are a ton cheaper and should suit your needs...plus if you break them at any point you wont have to shell out mass amounts of cash to replace them.

Oh, if you arent keen on the ear-plug style, try the mdr-e888lp which are the classic ear-bud style that rests in the ear instead of fitting in like an ear-plug. A good place to check for other user opinions that I found was iPodLounge Forums - Gear, I found other people's comments very helpful...
 
Thanks for all of the suggestions, guys. I'm going to do a little research and I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm leaving on a trip for NY next week, and it will be handy to get some headphones for the trip.
 
Originally posted by Hal|9k
I haven't yet, as I'm still trying out these. I think I'll want something a little more compact/discreet on occasion, though, so I plan to try the aforementioned mod.
Click to expand...

I tried the link to this, but it seems to be broken... Can you repost? Thanks, Hal.
 
Originally posted by CypressTree
I tried the link to this, but it seems to be broken... Can you repost? Thanks, Hal.
Click to expand...

For some reason, Sennheiser's site won't let me link back directly to the PMX-60. It's listed under the 'portable' section, though.

Try here for info.
 
You're going to have leakage with earbuds, that's just the way they're made.
Canal phones are a different story, they go into the ear canal and seal it. Isolation doesn't get any better than that. They're more expensive and sound better too.

For your use I'd say either the Sennheiser mx400(15$) if you want buds and Shure E2's(100$) if you want canal phones.
 
Well, thanks for all of the suggestions. After looking around the reviews and also browsing the iPOD forums, I decided on the Sony MDR-EX71. Picked them up for $35 from Amazon.

From the reviews, they're supposed to be phenomenal, especially after they're broken in. :)
 
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