2ndGearRubber

I woke up this morning, plugged in my very nice Sennheiser ear buds, and guess what? I blew them........ yet another set.

I've been through these, monsters, high end sony's, and countless skullcandys.


Now all I have left is my skullcandy over-ear headphones. Not bad quality for the $40 I paid for them.... actually they sound pretty decent. But alas, my soul yearns for ear-buds.

So, oh great masters of miataturbo.net, could you find it in your hearts to accept the quest to recommend to me a set of ear-bud-style headphones? But beware, for the path to the chosen headphones is fraught with peril.

My Sennheisers lasted 6 months, which nearly beat the record. I don't throw them or use the cord as a ---- ring, they just need to survive 3+ hours a day of 100% Ipod volume. Everything from Daft Punk, to Atmosphere, to Borgore, to Tom Petty, to the illustrious Amy Winehouse. I'm not an audio-phile (whatever that's supposed to mean) but I need good sound. No boomy bass, no sky high treble when it's not called for, high mids that don't overstate themselves, and low mids that don't get buried in the noise.

Budget is....negotiable. Basically, I'll pay for something if it's going to work, and most importantly, challenge the 8 month record.


Thanks

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

Don't turn them up so loud?

Tekel

iTrader: (2)

Wow, impressive. I have yet to blow any ear buds. Maybe turn them down? I have gone through 2 pairs of the Skullcandy inked earbuds, but only because I washed 1 set and dropped the other set under my mower...

2ndGearRubber

There are rules to the game.

blaen99

iTrader: (6)

You play them too goddamn loud. The question is - why?

Get something like the Audio-Technica ATH ANC23 if it's due to external noise. If it's because you are a dumbass, learn to turn the volume down.

2ndGearRubber

I would've risked my hands for a set of headphones. The "inked" aren't actually terrible headphones. It's the cords that killed quite a few pairs. I don't wrap them around my ipod, or anything else abusive like that, but the inked kept on failing where the wire meets the 3.5mm plug, and where it met the buds themselves.

MD323

i cant fnd them on the site anymore but radioshack used to sell titanium coned over the head sets for about $99. I still have the set i bought in 04, and for the first 2 years they saw 100% volume drum and bass 12 hours straight while I was at work.

mgeoffriau

iTrader: (7)

I use these.

http://amzn.com/B0038W0K2K


Link fixed.

2ndGearRubber

FTFY


I like my music loud. At lowest I'll put them at maybe, 80%? But that's when I'm trying to fall asleep. The volume will remain in the high range regardless. Suggestions?

2ndGearRubber

Your link doesn't go anywhere....

At Braineack: You obviously know your ---- when it comes to electronics. Are there any specs I should look for when comparing buds? Frequency response, driver size, etc.?

blaen99

iTrader: (6)

It has nothing to do with being a connoisseur of music. I've spent in the thousands on headphones, amps, etc. personally (..As I think about it, I've got more into headphones then I paid for my Miata) - if you are turning up your music that loud, there's an issue. You are also risking significant hearing damage, which I find it troublesome to believe that someone calling themselves a connoisseur of music would want to do.

But YMMV bro, I've given my

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

In my ear right now is a some bud that I bought at the grocery store checkout for $5. One of the ears stopped working so I cut it off.


Now that I says that, are you sure your ears aren't just failed and the headphones still work?

2ndGearRubber

Fair enough. My hearing is a bit on the weak side. Thus the maximum volume, which hurts my ears more, which requires more volume.

Hopefully by the time I'm deaf they can graft pig ears onto my skull.

2ndGearRubber

How do $5 headphones sound? I used to cut off dead ear buds, but if I want mono, I'll break out the Sinatra LPs.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

you want a real solution? get a more efficient set of earbuds. the more db/volt, the louder they will play at the same volume level.

http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er4.html

maybe those. very loud, 2 year warranty, excellent sound, super isolating.

blaen99

iTrader: (6)

Okay, then this requires a different solution then what you are asking for.

I would recommend looking into something such as the Audio-Technica ATH ANC23 - seriously.

Look for something that's active noise-cancelling. It will make the same sound seem and feel louder to you, which will help your hearing in the long term as well.

2ndGearRubber

Does the sound dampening affect have any negative affect on the sound quality? I ask because the sound canceling I'm familiar with uses reversed frequencies or something like that. Frequencies above/below what people can hear can affect the sound. That's why vinyl sounds so good, but I'm sure there could be a downside.

blaen99

iTrader: (6)

Yes and no. As an example, the active sets I have sound MUCH worse when turned off.

If I were to put them in a position, I would say my best set of unamped sound dampening are worse than my high-end amped Sennheiser HD560's, but are on par with/better than my HD550's. Most of the sets I have use the active dampener to double as an amp, which actually helps a ton with quality.

You may also want to consider y8s' linked passive option, but I get less-than-spectacular results from passive sound dampening.

viperormiata

iTrader: (24)

Monoprice

My 7 dollar 8320's wipe the floor with anything.

Tekel

iTrader: (2)

Was on my riding mower and I didn't have my headphones in. Felt my iPod get tugged out of my pocket. Looked down to see it dragging beside me moving quickly towards the mowing deck.