Love this article and the one about airplane headphones. Given that we so often look at how good headphones measure so we can dissect the minutiae of how they fall short, it's fascinating to hear how bad (or "good for what they are") headphones measure.

Also very interesting that these may be the best earbuds you can get—I guess in retrospect, it's not too surprising that Apple would try to make these as good as possible, given that they make several orders of magnitude more earbuds than their competitors, so the R&D costs are probably still pretty low per-unit.

First, it's important to know there are fake Apple earbuds out there. If you see a price that's too good to be true, it probably is.

Many of us no longer carry a separate iPod and cell phone. I'd like you to take a look at some of the models that come with a mic, because our "iPods" now make phone calls ... you know, in your copious amounts of spare time!

Apple's is $79 and isn't earbuds, but in-ear headphones. I'd like to know what to compare them to, because my wife hates the ear-buds+mic that came with her iPhone. Don't block enough sound out.

Shure sells a $50 replacement cable that adds a mic to their models but it widely reviled online as being cheaply made for what you pay. I don't know if the various $10 no-name mic adapters are of much help, and some aren't compatible with current iPhones yada yada, otherwise my wife would be fine using my old PX100s with one. And so on.

Tyll, the Apple in-ear headphones sound to me like they use the same or very similar driver as the rest of the in-ear headphone companies do. Would love to hear your take on those. They seem like a pretty good value.

"The Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Solo at $199. Available friggen everywhere. In my mind a shameful sham foisted upon gullible consumers. People paying good money for high-fidelity and, in my opinion, getting worse sound than the Apple ear-bud."

I have actually said that to people in conversations and nobody has ever believed me. Their opinion is that I am just a "hater".

Nice to FINALLY have someone on the same page.

Also, I thought the plastic version of the Comradz NW-STUDIO PRO earbuds sounded quite good when I tried them out. Did you get the metal version?

Hey Tyll,

Nice to hear a bit of perspective for once. I thought this was a great article. I actually got to hear the Beats once. They actually made me feel nauseous for no reason I could think of. Weird I know. Perhaps it was the price this kid had paid for them for the kind of sound he got (I live in Australia so I think he paid about 450 if I recall correctly). Psychological persuasion is a powerful thing. To be truly honest I hated them.
Now, I have been listening to my newly acquired Beyerdynamic T1 for a week now, so I thought it would be interesting to go back and get my old ipod out and crank the ear buds. They were terrible! but they weren't that terrible just muffled and drab sounding. Certainly listenable.
Anyways I commend you, sir, on a cool article and have been enjoying watching the videos you make and reading all the articles you write.
Cheers mate.

As you mentioned, Tyll, a good fit can make or break the sound quality of any earbud. Fortunately, there's an inexpensive product out there that will help any earbud to fit better and (usually) sound better -- the Radio Shack foamy. They do a great job (at least with my ears) of helping to create a good seal and extending the bass response. Most earbuds are on the bright side; the foamies help tame that at the same time.

I've heard all the buds you've mentioned here except the Comradz, and I think your descriptions are right on the money, even if the measurements seem odd. The PK2 is one of my most disappointing purchases ever. The PK1 is much better, as stated in the article, but there's one out there for half the price that I like better -- the Sennheiser MX880. It can be a tricky fit, although the Radio Shack foamies help quite a bit. With a good fit, though, these are just gorgeous-sounding.

=) my eyes have been soiled. (thd+n graphs )

... for writing this. It's nice to read an Apple-related article with perspective and without hyperbole, written by an audiophile journalist. I hope this doesn't earn you the label of 'fanboy' or cloth ears.

Yuin PK1 is a much more then twice as amazing earbud. You should really try it once, it isn't shy of sound quality of decent full sized headphones.

Apple doesn't really try hard enough, their earbuds are just waste of material.

Sennheiser's MX-880's are fantastic for an earbud - detail and musicality. I also have their now-discontinued MX-660's which have a pretty wide soundstage but not quite the detail of its older brother. I also have the Yuin PK2's which sound pretty good despite the critique but admittedly, they don't have the best detail and sound a little "heavy" to my ears. When my Grado SR-325i's (not to be confused with the newer 325is's) are not warranted or when I don't feel like shoving my Ultimate Ears 700 into my canals, the MX-880's is a perfect compromise.

Tyll,

Technically, the Apple earphones are still available separately - but the current version now has a remote and a microphone built in. Apple's asking price is $30.

With that said, most earbuds sound pretty crappy. Some of them have more bass, but then the mids begin to sound incoherent.

I wonder how many of us here actually tried the Sony open earbuds?

The crappy reputation was somewhat deserving due to the really crappy lowend buds of the past. But I'd wager good money that the upper end of the earbuds, say the E888s, would give other earbuds like the Yuins a run for their money.

Too bad they are no longer available in the states.

Hey Mr. Hertsens!

U just heard about Jobs death? Wow - I'm not the crazed type who cried when he died, because I didn't know him personally - but his death had a profound impact on me, (as my Apple IIE did when I was in elementary school - I saw a future that just boggled my mind - and we're here - LOL). Anyway - KILLER article, and I'm a fan of Steve's, so I know what he was getting at (though he doesn't have the masterful technical insight here that you've honed after years of birthing the higher end headphone market) - You continue to educated while you have fun listening!! Keep it up - and I just got back into the Hifi fold full-time (had taken a little break) so we're gonna be in touch sir!!

As always - Splendid job.

Yours in Sound,

Michael Mercer

Apple Ear bud headphones have been around for awhile now but still represent a huge portion of the headphone market today. There is of course a good reason for this and that is because ear buds are simply the best compromise between function and fashion. Ear buds offer great sound, good price and simple comfort.
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In apple ear headphones are headphones that directly placed in the ears. They are designed so that they can be held at the opening of the ear canal, but not all versions of these headphones enter the ear canal. They lead to the opening of the canal, without actually enveloping the ears.
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hi Tyll

check out there's a new apple earbud comming with the iphone5

as I can see from the pictures onlie this thing forms a controlled acoustic chamber without disturbing the ear canal

it's going to be interesting if you made a review

what do you think about mx880?

These ear buds also have the good sound and are very good to play music.

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