In-ear phones

[Tobiah]

Is there any wisdom out there, to aid in choosing a decent
set of outdoor-use phones? I'm leaning toward the ones with
soft plugs that stop the ear canal. I don't want to spend over
$100, and likely closer to $30 if the quality of sound is there.

To kill two birds, I should probably have the phone mic and remote button,
but sound quality is king. Part of me thinks that after $20 these
things are likely are very similar, but everything I know about regular
phones and speakers tells me otherwise.

Thanks for any advice.


Tobiah

[Scott Dorsey]

In article >, Tobiah > wrote:
>Is there any wisdom out there, to aid in choosing a decent
>set of outdoor-use phones? I'm leaning toward the ones with
>soft plugs that stop the ear canal. I don't want to spend over
>$100, and likely closer to $30 if the quality of sound is there.

I don't think you'll find much of good quality in that price range. If
Etymotic still makes the MC5, it's worth trying out.

>To kill two birds, I should probably have the phone mic and remote button,
>but sound quality is king. Part of me thinks that after $20 these
>things are likely are very similar, but everything I know about regular
>phones and speakers tells me otherwise.

There are basically three categories of in-ear phones. There are "ear buds"
which sit outside the ear canal and pretty much all have the same mechanical
design. There are cheap ones and more expensive ones, and you pay for
construction quality and reliability but the actual performance is limited
by the design.

The second category consists of earplugs that use balanced armature drivers.
These are considerably more expensive, but they are also considerably lower
distortion. The vast majority of manufacturers out there are using drivers
from a handful of companies, most of whom started out in the hearing aid
industry. Many of these are available with custom earmolds as an option.

The third category consists of earplugs that use multiple balanced armature
drivers with a crossover. These can get down to still lower distortion points.
Again usually available with custom earmolds.

I don't think you'll find anything but the cheapest of earbud designs
available with a microphone for use with cellphones, in part because the
better quality ones are going to be a little difficult to drive from a
headphone.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[JackA]

On Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 11:23:51 AM UTC-4, Tobiah wrote:
> Is there any wisdom out there, to aid in choosing a decent
> set of outdoor-use phones? I'm leaning toward the ones with
> soft plugs that stop the ear canal. I don't want to spend over
> $100, and likely closer to $30 if the quality of sound is there.
>
> To kill two birds, I should probably have the phone mic and remote button,
> but sound quality is king. Part of me thinks that after $20 these
> things are likely are very similar, but everything I know about regular
> phones and speakers tells me otherwise.
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
>
> Tobiah

Personally, I seek the ones with the greatest sensitivity [dB/mW].
So, that rules out Bose and Beats, since they do not publish any specifications!
I love my Phillips headphones $30 or less.

Jack