When Kraig Becker posted on Gadling about Tourists that were rescued from the Swiss Mountains thanks to an iPod, my first reaction was the thought that an iPod is always a lifesaver on a trip, but I was curious to see that in literal form. The tourists were lost in the mountains and when their phones died after trying to call for help, the light of the iPod screen caught the eye of a helicopter rescue team. It is an amazing story.
Switching gears to my silly mishap - on my trip, I carelessly threw Mike’s headphones, that he purchased when he lived in Rome, into the backpack (that he also lent me) and they broke. I feel pretty bad about it and am now in the market for new ones – when I should have just purchased my own new pair in the first place. And let’s face it, your iPod is nothing without them.
I have done some searching.
Apparently, Ultimate Ears has announced what may be the ultimate set of earphones for the iPhone or BlackBerry smartphone. Except they are $419.99!!
I’ve thought about getting the traditional iPod pair again, which are $29.99 on the Apple site. These are more reasonably priced, I never felt that they were really that comfortable, but I do have small ears.
Nate Lanxon at CNET UK seems to agree that the headphones that come with the music device are not up to par and that I should be willing to spend some money because quality sound is invaluable. Comparing the listening experience to a visual experience with a HDTV, he states that a good pair of headphones will double, triple, even quadruple the sound quality of your new music player.
These, Sennheiser 300’s are about £29.66 or about $43.28. And to me, they look to be the most comfortable.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Unfortunately, I’m no help as I have yet to find a pair I find extremely comfortable, so I just use the ones that come with the iPod, which suffice!
In ear headphones are never going to rank up to the sound that you’ll get out of over the ear head phones. I wouldn’t spend more than $30 on a set. The Sony MDR-EX51LP are good enough when you’re on the go.
For a great listening experience I’d recommend open air Grado SR-80s. Best bang for the buck. They outrank headphones six times their price tag. Bose and Sennheiser are overrated. On the scale of dollars, Grado headphones are way down towards the bottom and sound quality is way up. Break them in properly and you’ll love the sound.
Not nearly as portable as earbuds though.
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