THE BEST HEADPHONES - EARPHONE SOLUTIONS RANKING

The Best Headphones - Earphone Solutions RankingThe Best Headphones - Earphone Solutions Ranking

The Best Headphones for iPods and full size stereos

To most of our customers it will be no surprise that our rank includes nothing but high-end in-ear earphones instead of full size headphones.

If this is your first visit to our site you will soon find out that we do not currently offer full size headphones and you may think our opinion was too biased when compiling our ranking. Well, all personal opinions will be biased one way or the other however, we would like to offer some explanation about our findings and ranking.


Shure SE210 Earphones at EarphoneSolutions.comOur company is an Authorized Dealer for AKG and Sennheiser (two of the most well known full size headphone manufacturers) since 1995 and the reason we don't offer them is because we don't really love them like we do the high-end ear canal earbuds (we sell AKG and Sennheiser microphones on our other website). The big ones heat up my ears up to a headache before I can listen to 4 of my favorite songs. I personally own the AKG K701, Sennheiser HD580 and Sony MDR7506 but they sit inside my drawer. Our team also prefers the high-end in-ear earphones. We have found out along these 12 years that it's much easier and more pleasurable to promote the models that we truly enjoy on our day by day lives. In our eyes (and ears) the in-ear earphones present all kinds of advantages when compared to a full size headphone.

Looks can be deceiving… A big headphone doesn’t equate big sound. Quite the opposite; most full size headphones will require some sort of amplification to sound good. The high-end in-ear earphones we sell are very different in that regard as well. They are extremely efficient and, because of the added benefit of the isolation, you will probably need half the volume setting with an in-ear earphone than with regular headphones for them to output the same volume.

With in-ear earphones (also called canal phones) the sound is inside your head rather than coming from right and left. It’s a very distinguished experience in itself. In-ear earphones will not require any kind of amplification and we recommend caution when trying to get an amp as most will add hissing to the sound. The in-ear earphones are small only in size. Their sound is MUCH bigger than a full size headphone.

We believe that the top of the line headphones are the ones that have the greatest performance without distracting us from what really matters, the sound. In-ear earphones are almost invisible and many times lighter than a full size headphone. Their sound will never be comprehended until you listen to them. These in-ear earphones utilize a different technology. A full size headphone is comprised of dynamic speakers much like your stereo speakers. The high-end in-ear earphones we promote at Earphone Solutions utilize micro drivers called "balanced armature drivers" that work like a tuning fork rather than a moving woofer cone. The micro balanced armature drivers are a very hi-tech piece of hardware that are only made in two countries in Europe and in the USA.

Folks like Justin Timberlake and other high profile artists use these high-end earphones not only for stage monitoring but for their personal listening as well. They all own iPods and they all have two things in common: they can buy anything they want and they all use the in-ear balanced armature drivers earphones -- not to be confused with cheap earphones that come with the iPod -- two completely different technologies; stock iPod earbuds and all of the earbuds sold at big box retail stores are all mini dynamic speakers that can be bought by the tens of thousand for $0.50 each from Chinese distributors!

Going back to our ranking, our first place goes to the New Westone 3 ($399.00). The Westone 3 is the first TRUE 3-WAY Triple-Driver earphones. It has 3 distinct drivers each handling one frequency range: highs, mids and lows. The SE530-PTH in contrast is a triple driver earphone in a 2-way configaration. Shure SE530 Exploded view Earphones at EarphoneSolutions.comThey both have 3 micro balanced armature drivers inside each earpiece. The sound is unbelievably detailed. Comfort and fit are unbeatable, only matched by the UM2. What I really like about them, is that unlike full size headphones, these will isolate up to 44db (compare that to 24db with the Bose Quiet Comfort) allowing you to listen to your music at a much lower volume setting and still providing lots of output volume with extreme detail. You could never get this combination with headphones. When I first used the in-ear earphones it was like breaking free from a prison I was experiencing when using my big and heavy headphones -- I always felt I was wearing a helmet at home and smoke was about to come out from my ears. Forget the outdoors; unless you are like Paris Hilton and like to draw attention to yourself or it's part of a Halloween costume, a full size headphone has no place outdoors.

UM2 Dual Driver Earphones at EarphoneSolutions.comThe UM2 headphone ($299.00) tied with the Shure SE530 headphones ($449) get second place on our ranking. The UM2 outputs a warm, balanced sound with stronger bass presence. It's one of the favorite of joggers and gym nuts :) (myself included). The Shure SCL5 comes in third place followed by the Shure SE420 ($349.99). The bass of the SE420 is more refined and more controlled than the SCL5. You will have more bass with the SCL5.

An awesome entry point is the Westone UM1 ($109) which will give you excellent sound, excellent comfort and fit at an affordable price.

All the above models offer far superior isolation than the Bose noise cancellation headphone. The Shure and the Westone in-ear earphones will isolate up to 44db of external noise while the Bose will cancel only up to 26db.

When it comes to isolation, nothing can touch "ear canal" earbuds. For this reason and the obvious difference in size, the in-ear earphones are also by far the best choice for frequent flyers and frequent subway, train and bus commuters.

In-ear Earphones are far superior to the Bose Quiet Comfort in noise isolation and sound quality


If you are looking for the headphone with the most comfortable fit, the UM1 headphone is your ticket. We also recommend them for children and people with small ear canals.

If you are a bass lover, nothing will beat the IE8.

If you are looking for the most comfortable and that will stay in your ear while running, you can't go wrong with any of the Shure models and any of the Westone earphones. Top sound quality can be found on the Westone 3, SE530 and Westone UM2. If you are looking for less expensive options but that would work perfectly for jogging, the Westone UM1 and Shure SE210 would be on the top of my list.

We hope you enjoy our ranking!