COMPARISON OF THE BEST EARPHONES FOR THE IPOD

Comparison of The Best Earphones for the iPod In-Ear Earphones (Canalphones) Roundup

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BEST Earphones for the iPod



In-Ear Earphones (Canalphones) Roundup




Introduction

I hate, hate, hate typical "earbud" earphones. Even the headphones that came with my iPod, sporting "Neodymium magnets" and other such marketing gobbeldy-gook sound predictably tinny and small.

I typically use Grado SR-60 headphones at work, which cost me $99 and are sort of the industry "reference" headphones that sound incredible for the money. The problem is, they are huge and make me look like a ham radio operator and I certainly can't wear them in public.

...which is really a problem because "in public" is exactly when I want to do most of my earphone listening. Why else did I drop over a grand on a Harmon/Kardon stereo system? Or hundreds on Altec Lansing computer speakers? Walking around the city, taking public transit, and especially sitting on an airplane, are where I need headphones. So recently I read about "canalphones" that you insert *inside* your ear, and I was intrigued. Could they be exactly what I wanted? Here's what I wanted:
  • Something pocketable that wouldn't take up space in my carry-on bag
  • Something that blocked outside noise without using Active Noise Cancellation (even the Bose noise cancellation headphones hurt my ears)
  • Something that sounded good enough to use daily

And so began my quest. In this roundup I’ll be reviewing six top canalphones made by Etymotic and Shure. Read on for some opening thoughts or click the images below to jump directly to a particular model review.

Next Page: Review Criteria and Setup


Shure E2c
Etymotic 6i

Shure E3c
Etymotic ER-4
Shure E5c