Like the title states, I didn't realize there were so many options. Nor did I realize companies like B&W and B&O make ear buds as well.
Any suggestions from personal experience?
Like the title states, I didn't realize there were so many options. Nor did I realize companies like B&W and B&O make ear buds as well.
Any suggestions from personal experience?
In reply to z31maniac :
I've been an apple fanboy since before Dell said they should shut it down and give the money back to shareholders.
No surprise, the airpod pros I have work really well. The transfer calls between my mac and iphone and almost never give me grief on pairing. If you're already in the apple ecosystem I can definitely reccomend them.
I have a free set of Skullcandy earbuds that I found in an unopened package. For the price I paid they work great.
CrustyRedXpress said:In reply to z31maniac :
I've been an apple fanboy since before Dell said they should shut it down and give the money back to shareholders.
No surprise, the airpod pros I have work really well. The transfer calls between my mac and iphone and almost never give me grief on pairing. If you're already in the apple ecosystem I can definitely reccomend them.
I probably should have mentioned in the OP that I'm not in the Apple ecosystem. I have Dell Win 11 laptops for both work and personal and use Pixel phones.
I'm not an audiophile by any stretch. I'd been satisfied with my old wired Apple earbuds for the most part. I was gifted a pair of Jabra Elite 8 earbuds 6-8 months ago and have been thrilled with them. At around $150 I don't know that I would call them higher end, but I'd assume they are a step above $20 cheapies.
This is one of those how much do you want to spend questions.
I used IEMs on stage for a while and had a pair cast to my ears. Amazing quality for the 350$ or so I spent. If you want noise blocking and good quality that's the way o would go. If your driving off a 1/8th jack your limited by the power that puts out so expensive does not mean better.
In reply to wearymicrobe :
Do you remember what brand the IEMs were? The B&O, B&W, Denon, and Divalet's, etc, are all in the $300-500 range.
I use the Beats Flex product. They have a wire between the two "buds", but I am less worried about them falling out when I am working on the car, etc. I've had off-brand black ones fall, and they can be tremendously difficult to find them when that happens.
I paid around $50 CDN for the Beats product. They are good enough that I can do calls in my old C1500, which isn't a quiet vehicle at all.
Raycon fitness earbuds here.
The Apple pros I had sucked as they didn't fit for E36 M3.
ZOO (Forum Supporter) said:I use the Beats Flex product. They have a wire between the two "buds", but I am less worried about them falling out when I am working on the car, etc.
I strongly second the Beats Flex that wrap around your neck. I wear earbuds for a lot of things and have tried a bunch of brands. The wrap-around Beats Flex have become my all-around favorite that is widely available now.
I really like the neck wrap style because I constantly put them on, take them off, or walk around with an earbud in only one ear so that I can listen to a podcast or video while doing chores.
Sound quality is solid for earbuds. Only thing better for <$100 is Bose. Same with comfort of the buds. Battery life is very solid too, especially for how light they are.
Unfortunately, Bose stopped making around-the-neck earbuds.
I also like that they are just passive noise attenuation instead of noise cancelling. I only really like noise cancelling for when I'm in an environment with constant, loud, droning noises (e.g. mowing the lawn, race track, industrial environment with lots of motors running. If the environment is quiet, the noise cancelling wave just feels like constant low pressure.
To add to that, the ANC and the pass-thru modes on earbuds can be overwhelmed by truly loud sounds. We have a waterjet at work and when it pierces metal, my Anker Soundcore earbuds attempt to pierce my eardrums at the same time if I have Active Noise Cancelling on. Instead of dampening the sound it delivers a burst of static at the same time. I turn off all electronic outside noise modification whenever I am at work so they are just "dumb" earbuds.
How do calls work with earbuds? Where is the mic?
For music (ok, audio books & podcasts really), I've had a pair of garbage amazon buds for ~5 years that cost me around $25. I'm happy with them.
I actually like the interface better than Apple or any capacitive touch which is incredibly dumb for an earbud IMO.
z31maniac said:I probably should have mentioned in the OP that I'm not in the Apple ecosystem. I have Dell Win 11 laptops for both work and personal and use Pixel phones.
This is where bluetooth is such a pain in the dick. Moving it between devices sucks. And then making sure your device is using the input/output.
z31maniac said:In reply to wearymicrobe :
Do you remember what brand the IEMs were? The B&O, B&W, Denon, and Divalet's, etc, are all in the $300-500 range.
You want ie200 they run about 120$. They are extremely comfortable and dollar for dollar the best you will fine. IMO.
I love my Gen 2 Amazon Echo Buds. They have all the features you want, like noise cancelation and touch controls, the sound quality is great (but I am no audiophile) and the price is reasonable. The thing that really sold me is that they come with wings that really help hold them in your ears. My ears are different sizes (long story) so being able to customize them is great for me. You can get them on Ebay for under $50 new, which is incredible for how good they are.
TravisTheHuman said:How do calls work with earbuds? Where is the mic?
Noise canceling ones have microphones anyway for the noise canceling feature, and they use the same microphones for making calls.
Ranger50 said:Raycon fitness earbuds here.
The Apple pros I had sucked as they didn't fit for E36 M3.
THE most important thing is if they stay there, as far as I am concerned. No point of getting ones that sound awesome and have great canceling ability if they constantly come out or are painful to fit.
I've had Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless for a few years. Sound quality is great, the different modes (normal, noise canceling, transparent) and battery life are great.
not cheap, but they don't let me down.
BoxheadTim said:TravisTheHuman said:How do calls work with earbuds? Where is the mic?
Noise canceling ones have microphones anyway for the noise canceling feature, and they use the same microphones for making calls.
On the earbud itself? It picks up sound from speaking correctly?
In reply to TravisTheHuman :
I think most mics are in the ear part, even for wired ear buds. People like to talk into the volume button, but I really don't think there is one there.
In reply to alfadriver :
The microphone on my Beats Flex is on the bulb that has the volume controls. It sits next to my collar bone.
alfadriver said:In reply to TravisTheHuman :
I think most mics are in the ear part, even for wired ear buds. People like to talk into the volume button, but I really don't think there is one there.
Yeah, wireless buds all have a microphone on one of the ear buds. Honestly, the modern ones work really well.
I'm Android/Samsung, and have had 3 different generations of Galaxy Buds. They are all comfortable, ergonomic, and stay in place well for me. One thing that's helped me is putting foam tips on to replace the rubber ones. They seem to seal and stay in place better.
For OP, since you have a Pixel, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 would probably work really well with your phone. Not cheap, though.
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) said:alfadriver said:In reply to TravisTheHuman :
I think most mics are in the ear part, even for wired ear buds. People like to talk into the volume button, but I really don't think there is one there.
Yeah, wireless buds all have a microphone on one of the ear buds. Honestly, the modern ones work really well.
I'm Android/Samsung, and have had 3 different generations of Galaxy Buds. They are all comfortable, ergonomic, and stay in place well for me. One thing that's helped me is putting foam tips on to replace the rubber ones. They seem to seal and stay in place better.
For OP, since you have a Pixel, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 would probably work really well with your phone. Not cheap, though.
$229 isn't bad. I guess you missed my post higher up where I've been looking at ones in the $300-500 range.
I have been using Jabra Elite ear buds for a while. I am on my 2nd set, and am thinking about upgrading these to the latest ones (EDIT: They are the Elite 7 Pros) because they are getting a bit worn out. My favorite feature is that you can connect two devices to them at the same time. When I am at work, that means I can listen to music and take calls on my phone AND hop into a meeting/video chat seamlessly. They also sound pretty great, the ANC works well, and the smartphone app lets you customize the sound pretty well. Highly recommended.
z31maniac said:$229 isn't bad. I guess you missed my post higher up where I've been looking at ones in the $300-500 range.
In that case, check out the Sennheiser. They're way within your price range, and the brand has always been top quality
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