Good Inexpensive Phones

[irldave]

Originally Posted by Flyordie

How about the SkullCandy TiTans or SkullCandy Ink'ds?

Really???

[CrowdAds]

[dfkt]

Here's a review about the Skullcandy Titan which I find very good. It's a "reality check" - unbiased, honest, and neither bashing nor fanboyish. Bottom line is, they sound almost ok-ish if you're a basshead, but they're way overpriced for what they are and build quality is questionable. You find better sounding phones for half the price. Skullcandy still is a ripoff company, catering to the trendy and gullible kids.

Review: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/s...-check-455416/

[Flyordie]

Originally Posted by dfkt

Here's a review about the Skullcandy Titan which I find very good. It's a "reality check" - unbiased, honest, and neither bashing nor fanboyish. Bottom line is, they sound almost ok-ish if you're a basshead, but they're way overpriced for what they are and build quality is questionable. You find better sounding phones for half the price. Skullcandy still is a ripoff company, catering to the trendy and gullible kids.

Review: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/s...-check-455416/

Yea, they issued a revision which fixed the mids and some of the issues with the low end. However, they are cheap, ($24 in many stores, such as FYE and Best Buy)... So I figured they would be a candidate for this list.

edit- Yes, confirmed. The review used revision 1, I have revision 2 which had some minor tweaks to the driver, allowing for quicker break-ins and better mids. Now, please note this is coming from a person who used to use the Creative EP-830s.

[JK98]

Huh? The Skullcandy Titan is $24 on the net, but is $40 at Best Buy. For under $20 one can buy the Sennheiser CX300 on the net.

[Flyordie]

Yeah, you must live near or in a bigger city. My local Best Buy has them on sale for $24.99 almost year round. FYE will have them on sale every few months for $19.99.

[samueljesusfreak]

I'm gonna have to throw a negative review in for the 2XL phones. Grabbed a pair because it's all I could grab and I saw them on this page. I wasn't expecting a miracle for $15 but once I saw the "Developed in Park City, Utah by Skullcandy", I wanted to throw up.. but I gave them a chance.. Sound just like my old Skullcandy Ink'd. Seems like a reband/re-build of the same driver. They're.... not bad for $15, but the $20 JVC Marshmallow are leaps and bounds beyond this.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by samueljesusfreak

I'm gonna have to throw a negative review in for the 2XL phones. Grabbed a pair because it's all I could grab and I saw them on this page. I wasn't expecting a miracle for $15 but once I saw the "Developed in Park City, Utah by Skullcandy", I wanted to throw up.. but I gave them a chance.. Sound just like my old Skullcandy Ink'd. Seems like a reband/re-build of the same driver. They're.... not bad for $15, but the $20 JVC Marshmallow are leaps and bounds beyond this.

And the great thing is that you can find the marshmallows around $15.00 and when they go on sale a few dollars cheaper. http://www.amazon.com/JVC-HAFX33B-Ma.../dp/B000IS1ZZI

[Eldub]

Do any of the less-expensive but decent earphones have short cords? I'm looking for something for working out at the gym, using it with my Clip+. Having 3-4 feet of cord dangling around (or threaded through my shirt) doesn't work for me. Something like a 12" cord would be perfect - could fasten the Clip+ to my collar and be done with it.

I know the Shures come with a short cord and extender - but the low end is $80 on sale. Less expensive options?

Thanks!

[dfkt]

Sennheiser CX400 come with a short cord and extension. They should sound more exciting than the overpriced lower end Shure models.

Jays s-Jays are another option with excellent build quality - but unfortunately they're quite muddy and bassy.

[no9]

If you can find them , the Sennheiser CXL 400 is what I use with my clip. It's lanyard style so you don't even have to clip to anything.

[Eldub]

Thank you both! (Off to go check those out...)

[weedalin]

I have a question: How are the CX300's in terms of build quality and how long they'll last?

[dfkt]

They've got very good build quality, tested in real life. My girlfriend destroyed her crappy Sony EX51 within weeks, and her CX300 (genuine store-bought in a Sennheiser outlet) are over two years old, without a flaw.

Those are the first generation CX300, not sure how the newer ones are. But since they're Sennheiser, I would guess they should still live up to their name.

[weedalin]

Ah, thanks Martin.
Do you know the best place to get these for a decent price?
Amazon has 'em listed for 27 bucks, but I've had issues with them in the past.

[dfkt]

That's hard to say. If you buy from Amazon Marketplace or eBay, you can be 99% sure you get some crappy fakes. If you buy from 'real' Amazon, you should be fairly safe. If possible, try buying them from some reputable brick & mortar store.

[weedalin]

This is real Amazon, and I'd like to purchase them in a real, reputable store too (so that way, I can have some instant gratification ) but aren't in-stores typically more expensive than their online counterparts?

[JoshRead]

I want to suggest the Philips SHS3200 (Sure is a well thought out, marketable name). You can get them here: http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHS320...d_bxgy_e_img_b

They have the best sound quality of any sub-50 dollar earbuds I've heard. I initially thought they had nice highs and mids (maybe just a tad too much treble) but lacking in bass. But when I got my Walkman E345 and set the Clear Bass up to 3 (otherwise flat EQ), I found that it has extremely clear and tight bass. I can't believe these things are under $10.

The problem some people seem to have with them (at least on Amazon customer reviews) is that they are uncomfortable, so I guess you'd have to take a chance and hope it's not the case for you. It feels great on me personally.

[triarii117]

Speaking of Philips, the SHE9501/37's aren't too bad. Nice and clear bass and mids. Rather well balanced. They sound really good on the P3 and the Zen. They go for around $40. Very comfortable, the first IEMs that I have found that can actually stay in my ears properly xD
Only gripe I have against them is the cable length.

[weedalin]

Originally Posted by JoshRead

I want to suggest the Philips SHS3200 (Sure is a well thought out, marketable name). You can get them here: http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHS320...d_bxgy_e_img_b

They have the best sound quality of any sub-50 dollar earbuds I've heard. I initially thought they had nice highs and mids (maybe just a tad too much treble) but lacking in bass. But when I got my Walkman E345 and set the Clear Bass up to 3 (otherwise flat EQ), I found that it has extremely clear and tight bass. I can't believe these things are under $10.

The problem some people seem to have with them (at least on Amazon customer reviews) is that they are uncomfortable, so I guess you'd have to take a chance and hope it's not the case for you. It feels great on me personally.

Ehh, I don't like earbuds all that much. They make my ears hurt after a little bit, and the sound quality usually isn't as good as IEM's or Clip-ons. For under 10 bucks, I think the Koss KSC-75's and the JVC Marshmallows are the best bang for the buck. What about anyone else?

[JoshRead]

Originally Posted by weedalin

Ehh, I don't like earbuds all that much. They make my ears hurt after a little bit, and the sound quality usually isn't as good as IEM's or Clip-ons. For under 10 bucks, I think the Koss KSC-75's and the JVC Marshmallows are the best bang for the buck. What about anyone else?

I don't really like earbuds much either, unless they have the earhooks that hold them tight in place. In-ear phones don't stay in place in my ear so those don't work for me.

The problem with earbuds is that the sound quality suffers if they aren't right against the ear canal. With the earhook, it helps it a lot.