Best earbuds/earphones/headphones around 10-30 bucks?

**Complain** · 10-28-2009 05:43 PM

Any suggestions? I prefer (noise cancelling) earbuds. I hate reading reviews online because there's always a large group of people who decide to give a product a 1-star rating after their item breaks.

And yes, I know I'm cheap.

I'm thinking about getting these:
Newegg.com - JVC HA-FX34B 3.5mm Gold-Plated Connector Canal Black New Marshmallow Headphone
Newegg.com - SONY MDR-EX36V/BLK 3.5mm Gold-Plated Connector Canal Black Headphone
edit: added another for future reference:
http://www.amazon.com/JVC-HAFX66A-Cu...pr_product_top

Maybe Skullcandies? Or are they way overrated?

Thanks for the help.

**APISTOBORELLI** · 10-28-2009 06:39 PM

I have a pair of the skull candy ones and like them.

**MonkiX7** · 10-28-2009 06:41 PM

If you were definitely getting one of the two you gave links to, I would buy this pair; Newegg.com - SONY MDR-EX36V/BLK 3.5mm Gold-Plated Connector Canal Black Headphone

**FlamingAsterix** · 10-28-2009 07:51 PM

Skullcandy is overrated. I've found their sound is better than average, but their durability it pretty sh*tty (I've had 5 different pairs). 10-30 bucks you won't be getting great sound quality anyway, the sony ones you posted should be fine. Better than any iPod headphone at least.
Personally, I use these:
Newegg.com - SENNHEISER HD555 3.5mm/ 6.3mm Connector Circumaural Stereo Headphone
And these for my mp3 player because they are super portable with great sound quality and durability:
Newegg.com - SENNHEISER PX100 3.5mm Connector Supra-aural Open Dynamic Stereo Mini Headphone

**Complain** · 10-28-2009 09:08 PM

I love headphones as well but I really don't want to be lugging that around. I rather have easy access to a pair of earbuds/earphones I can easily stick in my pocket. Also, I'm not that concerned with sound quality; more concerned about durability. I take the bus to school everyday and I doubt they'll be 100% noise canceling. I just don't want them to be breaking after a month or so but I know I'm really asking for a lot considering I'm only paying so little.

**JeweyK** · 10-28-2009 10:57 PM

The only problem I've had with skull candies are that I always lose the ****ing jelly piece that goes on the end that goes in your ear.

**bat** · 10-29-2009 12:54 AM

rolling stone did a tiny blurb on this, the best earphones under 30 bucks they said were the skullcandy ink'd variety.

they are better than decent, and probably one of the best you can get for that price range.

but like asterix said, dont expect them to last you more than 1.5 - 2 years. mines lasted about that long, but meh i got them for 10 bucks so no complaints i just bought another pair

**CrazyGerbilEater** · 10-29-2009 04:09 AM

i have the sennheiser PMX100 and have to say i love it, was like 40-50$ or something like a year ago, but the fact they still work after the abuse i put headphones through(usually last a couple months) says how good they are.

I'm no audiophile so i cant really say how good they are in sound quality, but i have absolutely no problems with it.

i need supra-aural ones though, cant use anything else because my ears are so sensitive that ear buds just hurt like crazy after 5 minutes.

**MiCrOz** · 10-29-2009 04:14 AM

If you do get them, do the Kramer Mod to them, makes the difference like night and day for cheap earbuds

Reviewing The Kramer Mod – Improve Those Cheap Headphones | Bloqhead.com | The Portfolio of Daryn A. St. Pierre

**Complain** · 10-29-2009 04:18 AM

Originally Posted by MiCrOz

If you do get them, do the Kramer Mod to them, makes the difference like night and day for cheap earbuds

Reviewing The Kramer Mod – Improve Those Cheap Headphones | Bloqhead.com | The Portfolio of Daryn A. St. Pierre

Yeah, I read about that. Would those only work on JVC Marshmallows?

edit: Never mind. I read the little "Update" on the bottom of the post.

**MiCrOz** · 10-29-2009 04:24 AM

Theres a few different tutorials for different models, but pretty much anything with a similar setup will work

**bloqhead** · 10-29-2009 04:49 AM

Hey, guys. I just saw that you found my tutorial on modding the Marshmallows and wanted to say thanks. Like Complain, I was trying to find a pair of decent headphones and a friend suggested the Kramer-modded Marshmallows, but there was no definitive tutorial on the net for doing it. So I followed his rough steps and then wrote my own tutorial. It's nice to see people still using it.

I still use the same JVC headphones I modded to write that tutorial and they sound good. I used to have a pair of Sennheiser around-the-ear headphones and they sounded AWESOME, but I had a real problem with the construction of them. They litterally fell apart after a few months of use. The rubber rings would constantly come off, then the wrapping around the wires where they connect to the bottom of the headphones came off. I had to do a temporary fix with some electrical tape and that didn't last long. Also, they freakin' electrocuted me a couple times. I can't explain it. When I was using them at work one time, I got up to fix my chair or something and they gave me a bit of a shock. I think they were faulty or something.

I think a lot of people have the notion that spending more means you're going to get the best of the best, but from my experience that's not the case. I paid $40 for my Sennheisers and although they sounded good, they were crap. I paid about $20 (at the time) for my JVC Marshmallows and they sounded decent, but modding them made their sound comparible to high-end in-ear headphones. Sometimes it's just trial and error. You really have to be willing to put a little money, time and effort forth when it comes to getting a good balance between quality and sound.