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Best In-Ear (Wired) Headphones?

What's the best in-ear headphones with a mic and a button to answer/end and go to next/prev track? $50 max
Thanks

I was about to mention Shure, but with that budget you better stick to the stock headphones. They are not that bad...

I'm looking for the buds that block out sound... Like on the Apple in-ear headphones.

Legaleye3000 said:
I'm looking for the buds that block out sound... Like on the Apple in-ear headphones.
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Apologies for the cost, but $50 is seriously pushing it for quality headphones.
If you can spare the extra cash... Check out the Klipsch Image S4's. They're ~$80, but get HUGE props for the cost:quality ratio. I bought em, and amd SO glad I did.
You will not find better at,or near, that range... and you'll find absolutely nothing close under it. The added benefit is quite good noise cancellation capability.
http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/klipsch-image-s4-earphones/4505-7877_7-33577358.html
These don't have anything for handling media built-in unfortunately. There's a $100 version, but do note they won't work with anything except Apple products. (I almost wasted the extra $20 before doing my research)
Honestly... I don't think ANYTHING exists with everything you're looking for.. (Not at any price near what you're expecting...) Do you do any research before setting a price limit?
Seriously, just stick with the stock headphones and deal w/ no phone interaction. To get headphones w/ the capabilities you're looking for would be well out of your range.

Those Shure headphones are fantastic and do a great job blocking out the sound.
I do have to disagree with the post above regarding not being able to find something for under $50 with good sound quality and noise cancellation qualities.
As I post this I'm listening to music on my Altec Lansing Backbeats in ear earbuds.
http://www.alteclansing.com/uhp206-backbeat-plus-earphones-for-iphone-ipod-MP3-players.html
They are comfortable, have good noise cancellation (by my standards), and have excellent sound quality.
I think they have a great range and the bass doesn't muddy the audio. Best of all (in my opinion) they have cloth cables and don't gave that goofy "one side is 3 times longer than the other so you can wear em behind your head" feature.
They do everything you asked about EXCEPT they cannot hang up a call. :-(
Not a problem as this doesn't really matter to me since I can hang up on the phone or wait for the other party to disconnect.
Bought mine at my local Apple store. They have a 14 day return policy and are $49.95.

I love my Apple In Ear Headphones.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA850G/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY
The mic works great, comes with three sizes of rubber pads, and they are a super comfortable fit.
The buttons work with MixZing but not Music Player. Maybe someone has a plugin or drivers to support native features like volume control.
But the quality of the headphones themselves are way up there. Fantastic audio.

^ I have these now and the buttons DO work for me with the stock music player.. Just not the volume buttons. I'm too crazy about the sound quality and I"m looking for "one step up" from these...

These get great reviews over at head-fi.org
And some of you might think we are obsessed about our phones. The people over there are a notch higher on the totem poll... LOL!

Pioneer over ear headset

Hi, I'm lookin for cheaper Pioneer over ear headphones. If someone has good experience with any, please care to share. Thanks in advance!
Sent from: Sensation XE

Pioneer... i had one but once i bought a sennheiser i totally forgot i had a pioneer... seriously pioneer probably will be okay for car audio but for earphones or headphones go for sennheiser or beats audio...

annukman said:
Pioneer... i had one but once i bought a sennheiser i totally remembered i had a pioneer... seriously pioneer probably will be okay for car audio but for earphones or headphones go for sennheiser or beats audio...
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Yes, today tested many sennheisers, they are not expensive and the sound is great. Just have to decide which one I will buy.
Sent from: Sensation XE

nowdays there are a lot of option of sennheiser.... i have one sennheiser earphone and one sennheiser headphone.... the earphone is cx300 and the headphone is hd215... i personally dont recommend you the hd215 because the treble is louder than the bass and it is actually ideal for dj's or for watching movies with lots of conversation when you really want to listen to the treble sound... My cx300 on the other hand is superbly ideal for mp3 and any form of music... unfortunately it is not an over ear headphone,it is an in ear headphone.... just make sure when u r buying your headphone u know what u r using it for and ask the sellers what is ideal for... If you want to listen music on your sensation then just go with any sennheiser headphone that has super bass, power bass or bass on its packaging...

Thank you for helping me. After reading this review:
As a semi-pro acid-trance/techno and drum & bass DJ and promotor for 20 years, and a total Audiophile, I wasn't expecting too much from these, coz as a rule you do get what you pay for. But sometimes rules are meant to be broken, and these babies SMASH the rule book to bits! They have the same tech specs as Dr Dre's Beats and the shape, size and comfort of the seminal HD 25's by Sennheiser. Having owned a pair of the latter, at £130, I wasn't expecting the HAS4X's to lay at the HD25's feet, let alone stand up to their shoulders! So, in laymans terms, what does all this mean in terms of sound? Alow me to help:
Low-end/Bass: The bass is strong, powerfull and amazingly tight, controlled and damn LOW, with a fast, punchey attack you just would never expect under £100! Add this to the fact that the bass NEVER becomes overpowering or gets in the way of the other frequencies, and the low, and even sub-bass low-end is catered for dynamicaly. Very impressive.
Low-Mid/Mid Range: This is the area that is the hardest for any headphones and speakers to reproduce without making it too weak, which makes it sound hollow, or too strong, which sounds too harsh, bright and down right awefull. These HAS4X's reproduce Mid frequencies with aplomb! Acid sounds are notoriously unforgiving, as they use all frequencies, from bass to treble, but mainly hang in the mid range, so if the mid is off in any way, you just won't get the spikey texture right, and I have to say that my Neurofunk d'n'b collection sounds fantastic through these babies! Guitars are handled with the same fidelity and controll, and again , my metal collection sounds awesome. I'm hearing instruments I never knew were in the song! There's Plenty of body to the sound, while incredibly managing to retain a good amount of transparency! Again, unheard of for under £100!
Treble/High end: The biggest mistake people make when reviewing ear/headphones, is not alowing them to 'run-in' for 24 hours. An engine won't run to it's best ability untill it's warmed up, and the same rule aplies to ALL music equipment! When you first listen to these, you may feel cheated, as although there is treble, it's not the over-bright, 'splashy' treble most people are used too with sub £100 'phones. WAIT!! Keep using them and you will start to realise that actualy, these have fantastic treble controll! They manage to reproduce the exact high end frequencies without adding any artifitial hiss, or splash. What I was Most impressed by was how capable these are at handling 'transients', like cymbal crashes, snare rim-shots and hi-hats etc. transients are the short, sharp, sudden and crisp treble sounds that normally get completely lost in the mix and even when they are present, they tend to sound splashy and loose. The HAS4x's handle transients astoundingly well! cymbals, rim-shots, snare drums and even triangles and tamborines can be heard CLEARLY in busy tracks, without being overpowering, and are sharp, controlled and have good attack.
What else can I add? The stereo soundstage is nigh-on perfect with an almost seamless blend throughout the frequencies, and even though these are not 'bright' sounding, don't mistake that for sounding muffled, as they are very open and airy. I really can't fault these headphones, as they sound as good as most in the £100-£150 bracket. they are also SOLIDLY built, with a rugid feel and thick, shielded OFC cable that has nice thick rubber protection at all joints and terminals, as well as a gold jack plug for a quality connection to your Mp3 player, stereo amp etc. And they are really comfortable (and I've got a large size head!). I was even able to jump about and dance without them even moving, let alone falling off. I love these, and am SOOOoo glad I got them. I hope you are too, as they are destined to be a much talked about contender, and in my opinion, VICTOR, to Dr Dre's Beats! They look kick ass too, which is always a bonus. 10/10 from me :-D Hope this has helped. Going back to listen to my zen now through my lovely new HAS4X's to enjoy more quality sounds again ;-) 'Thagoatboy' B. Waters
I bought :JVC HAS4X Xtreme Xplosives On Ear Headphone. I have Sony BT reciever with 3,5 mm output and my plan is to use them together. I will write feedback, maybe next week.

S8+ Sound!

Bought s8+ on the 6th, no problems till I played music while playing a game. No game in particular, they all do it. I'm a spotify user, enter an app and my volume decreases not by volume by button but physically, I have to maximize my volume to get back the sound I had before entering the application. Otherwise it's far too quiet. Not sure if a bug but there's no option to turn this off. Irritating. Anyone else know how to turn off?

I use spotify and other music apps but my sound it low with any headphones have volume full to max aswell
Sent from my SM-G955F using XDA-Developers Legacy app

rowbaggie22 said:
I use spotify and other music apps but my sound it low with any headphones have volume full to max aswell
Sent from my SM-G955F using XDA-Developers Legacy app
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I have the same problem. Don't think there's anything to be done about it, the DAC inside the phone is just not that good. Pretty disappointing to be honest.

ynrozturk said:
I have the same problem. Don't think there's anything to be done about it, the DAC inside the phone is just not that good. Pretty disappointing to be honest.
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Sound stage is highly subjective. No two individuals will enjoy the same music genre nor the way its reproduced. Some listeners prefer heavy 'boom boom' base while others enjoy a 'bright higher pitched' overall tone, then there's the billions in between those extremes.
One has to be realistic with a mobile phone that performs so many tasks. We read an awful lot about the camera, got to the point where many look at the camera before they even consider signal strength etc? No mobile can, nor should, match a DSLR. Same with the sound reproduction. One cannot compare the quality of sound against a dedicated high res player like the Astel&Kern costing 3k or similar stand alone mobile players. It has to be a question of compromise.
I never use the camera. I do listen to music an awful lot that is why I have spent many thousands of € buying various dedicated high res players. Problem is obvious. Summer day in shorts who wants to carry an DSLR, Dedicated Digital audio player and a mobile phone?
The S8+ sounds fine when paired with decent head phones either on ear or over ear plus ear buds. Many are enjoying the AKG developed ear buds that came with the mobile. I DON'T like the AKG ear buds, that is personal taste though.
Non the less considering the S8+ does so many things so well I cannot fault its sound reproduction considering its a mobile phone
If you desire a true hifidelity portable sound then you are going to have to dig very deep into your pockets. Putting that proposition to one side the S8+ can produce a very acceptable sound for the masses including myself who is a hifi junkie.
Suggestion. Try a number of different head gear ranging from ear buds to on ear head phones. OBVIOUSLY when using the on ear or around ear head phones volume will be affected as the S8+ is not designed to power such head sets even though it does a bloomin good job! When using ear buds you can achieve a high volume. Bluetooth are another option though sound quality does degrade accordingly.
So, all in all its compromise but Samsung has balanced the equation rather well. Again personal taste will always be a major factor eg, I don't enjoy the sound stage LG mobiles produce even though many people do. If you are looking for an exceptional sound stage from a mobile phone try out the Sony range, they should be good being the masters of portable hifi from the off. I enjoy both the Sony and Samsung sound reproduction but give the edge to Sony on most occasions.
Ryland:good:

ynrozturk said:
I have the same problem. Don't think there's anything to be done about it, the DAC inside the phone is just not that good. Pretty disappointing to be honest.
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Are you on the Exynos version as well? Maybe it's an Exynos problem, my Snapdragon S8+ has no problem running my Sennheiser HD700's, plenty loud at half volume. (Sounds pretty good too I might add)

Cautions said:
Bought s8+ on the 6th, no problems till I played music while playing a game. No game in particular, they all do it. I'm a spotify user, enter an app and my volume decreases not by volume by button but physically, I have to maximize my volume to get back the sound I had before entering the application. Otherwise it's far too quiet. Not sure if a bug but there's no option to turn this off. Irritating. Anyone else know how to turn off?
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Click to collapse
I had the same problem on my Oneplus 3T so I do not think it is hardware related. (I was playing pokemon GO while listening to music)

PoLoMoTo said:
Are you on the Exynos version as well? Maybe it's an Exynos problem, my Snapdragon S8+ has no problem running my Sennheiser HD700's, plenty loud at half volume. (Sounds pretty good too I might add)
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Yep, Exynos version.
---------- Post added at 09:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 AM ----------
Ryland Johnson said:
Sound stage is highly subjective. No two individuals will enjoy the same music genre nor the way its reproduced. Some listeners prefer heavy 'boom boom' base while others enjoy a 'bright higher pitched' overall tone, then there's the billions in between those extremes.
One has to be realistic with a mobile phone that performs so many tasks. We read an awful lot about the camera, got to the point where many look at the camera before they even consider signal strength etc? No mobile can, nor should, match a DSLR. Same with the sound reproduction. One cannot compare the quality of sound against a dedicated high res player like the Astel&Kern costing 3k or similar stand alone mobile players. It has to be a question of compromise.
I never use the camera. I do listen to music an awful lot that is why I have spent many thousands of € buying various dedicated high res players. Problem is obvious. Summer day in shorts who wants to carry an DSLR, Dedicated Digital audio player and a mobile phone?
The S8+ sounds fine when paired with decent head phones either on ear or over ear plus ear buds. Many are enjoying the AKG developed ear buds that came with the mobile. I DON'T like the AKG ear buds, that is personal taste though.
Non the less considering the S8+ does so many things so well I cannot fault its sound reproduction considering its a mobile phone
If you desire a true hifidelity portable sound then you are going to have to dig very deep into your pockets. Putting that proposition to one side the S8+ can produce a very acceptable sound for the masses including myself who is a hifi junkie.
Suggestion. Try a number of different head gear ranging from ear buds to on ear head phones. OBVIOUSLY when using the on ear or around ear head phones volume will be affected as the S8+ is not designed to power such head sets even though it does a bloomin good job! When using ear buds you can achieve a high volume. Bluetooth are another option though sound quality does degrade accordingly.
So, all in all its compromise but Samsung has balanced the equation rather well. Again personal taste will always be a major factor eg, I don't enjoy the sound stage LG mobiles produce even though many people do. If you are looking for an exceptional sound stage from a mobile phone try out the Sony range, they should be good being the masters of portable hifi from the off. I enjoy both the Sony and Samsung sound reproduction but give the edge to Sony on most occasions.
Ryland:good:
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Thanks for your input. I know where you're coming from because I think the same. I'm a musician so audio is kind of a big part of my life. I don't buy a phone expecting it to have the power of my DAC's or amps at home - but I want it to be decent at least. The S8's isn't decent - far from it. I've thrown a number of headphones and IEM's at it and it still performs poorly - because the DAC inside is poor. It really is that quite simple. I don't expect it to run my Beyerdynamic T1's or anything, lol. But I do expect it to run my IEM Shure or Sennheisers at least decently, which it doesn't.
I also agree about the camera part. While I do appreciate a good camera in my phone, when I go out to take pictures I would much rather have my Sony A7RII with me, along with some Zeiss glass.

Ironic that once it was the Exynos versions (Note 3) that had premium audio (Wolfson DAC) while the Snapdragon phones languished. Now it seems it's the exact opposite, lots of complaints from the Exynos crowd and nothing but praise from the Snapdragon set. I personally have the US ATT version (SD835 + Aqstic DAC) and the sound quality is superb, both with full custom Shure SE-535Vs and Sennheiser HD-700s (directly driven from the phone). Definitely a step up from my S7E.
For reference I'm also a musician with a pretty good idea of what real instruments sound like (9ft Concert Grand in my living room).

Bundled in ear headphones - am I doing it wrong?

Hi,
Firstly my perception might be warped as I've got a pair of RHA 600i, but I'm just finding the bundled headphones lack clarity - the mids and bass just muffles the sound.
I'm not testing it with ghetto boom tracks either, e.g. flac format UB40 album, Damien Marley - Stony Hill, Michael Jackson best of...
I guess the question is am I expecting far too much from them? And are my RHA 600i really that good?
Is a Fiio a worthwhile investment for RHA600i? I'm finding the volume is lacking a bit and I'm using +3db in gain to compensate via Nuetron...
Edit: I guess I was expecting more as HTC said the earphones have sonar style wizardry from the ancient dolphins from the 70s that can only be found crossing through the stained lake Cresva.

The U-Sonic headphones are known to be a bit bassy, especially if compared to some made by a company more focused on headphones or ear buds specifically. I personally like the bundled U-Sonics, but the more muddy bass you describe is filtered out and the highs brought forward with the use of V4A in my case.

They are overly bass-y, that's widely accepted.

Ty men, I'll try V4A, but I'm guessing the RHA will still win, just the idea of using HTCs solution is nice, I still miss the HK mod from One M8 days.

You can use a simple EQ to remove some of the muddy bass from the USonics. They are good for bundled headphones but nothing more. I use them for casual walks where I know I won't be paying too much attention to sound quality. If I'm sitting down for a long time like bus journeys etc then I have to pull out my P7 Wireless.
The RHA is simply more controlled than the USonic, as to be expected. I have the RHA 750i and volume is also lacking. Bare in the mind the U11 adaptor doesn't have a very powerful amp so that is the problem. Since you're using Neutron I'd suggest maybe using UAPP instead (since you have your own music). The U11 adaptor sounds a decent touch louder when using UAPP since it is accessing the DAC directly and skipping Android's mixer.

Jesus...UAPP has changed my whole listening experience. Much louder, seems like there's more clarity my 600i just came alive...
Didn't expect that.
Thanks for the recommendation.

Lg V20 B&O headphones, why so bad?

Hey guys
Just upgraded from s7 edge to this phone. I've buy lg v20 Verizon version, so after purchase I start to search b&o earphones which comes with box, so yesterday I get that one, so after 1 day using, I can say for sure this is not top level headphones. It sounds like 10€ headphones. Its not loud but have some good quality. So if someone know how to improve and upgrade sound please send some instructions

I agree with you to the fullest they were absolute terrible sounding to my ears too. Might sound cliche but my gf's apple earpods from same pricerange are much better
You could install a app with a equalizer like poweramp to color and adjust the sound you want. But soundquality wise they are not decent imo

I think V20's QDAC is better suited with high-impedance headphones and good quality audio files. at least, it needs 50 ohms and 300kbps mp3 files. FLAC format is the best. I bought a Marshall Major II (non-bluetooth) headphone and buy few FLAC files. The quality is superb.

spiderx_mm said:
I think V20's QDAC is better suited with high-impedance headphones and good quality audio files. at least, it needs 50 ohms and 300kbps mp3 files. FLAC format is the best. I bought a Marshall Major II (non-bluetooth) headphone and buy few FLAC files. The quality is superb.
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I know about this, but i was thinking that native eaphones will sounds good. Niw I'm thinking to buy some audio technical headphones

spiderx_mm said:
I think V20's QDAC is better suited with high-impedance headphones and good quality audio files. at least, it needs 50 ohms and 300kbps mp3 files. FLAC format is the best. I bought a Marshall Major II (non-bluetooth) headphone and buy few FLAC files. The quality is superb.
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High impedance has no effect on audio quality. 3k earphones that are 16ohms are the best out there.
I swear some people just don't understand what ohms law is.....
Sent from my LG V20 using XDA Labs

Well the "impedance" is a choice of the company when they designed the headset. in the past most classic high fedility headphones were high impedance (300 - 600 ohm) because they were driven by dedicated big amps.
"Impedance" itself whether it's high or not should not be a parameter it would sound good or bad.
The best modern headphones have lower impedance now and this is also choice of market because most need to be driven by a small dac or smartphone
Low impedance doesn't mean easy to drive either, some headphones really need a proper dac as fuel

BROKEN1981 said:
High impedance has no effect on audio quality. 3k earphones that are 16ohms are the best out there.
I swear some people just don't understand what ohms law is.....
Sent from my LG V20 using XDA Labs
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Oh yes. High impedance has no effect on MP3 audio quality. I fully agreed. Just buy (or download) an FLAC audio and compare listening to it. You'll know the truth. Otherwise, those people who bought high impedance HPs for very expensive price are just fools.

spiderx_mm said:
I think V20's QDAC is better suited with high-impedance headphones and good quality audio files. at least, it needs 50 ohms and 300kbps mp3 files. FLAC format is the best. I bought a Marshall Major II (non-bluetooth) headphone and buy few FLAC files. The quality is superb.
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DSD format is the best, not FLAC

Yes they are not normal B&O quality.
blackzero97 said:
Hey guys
Just upgraded from s7 edge to this phone. I've buy lg v20 Verizon version, so after purchase I start to search b&o earphones which comes with box, so yesterday I get that one, so after 1 day using, I can say for sure this is not top level headphones. It sounds like 10€ headphones. Its not loud but have some good quality. So if someone know how to improve and upgrade sound please send some instructions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems that LG have just used the B&O brand on some of their own rubbish earphones. You can buy them in HK for less than $10. When I turn on the Hifi DAC sound quality in these barely changes but when I use my standard earphones (LH Labs) the sound comes alive with the HiFi DAC - with loads more detail. Fantastic experience but bin the so-called pretend B&O earphones.

blackzero97 said:
I know about this, but i was thinking that native eaphones will sounds good. Niw I'm thinking to buy some audio technical headphones
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I went through the same thing when I bought my V20 last year. The B&O earbuds totally suck.
You might want to buy a pair of the Marshalls as well as the Audio Technicas. The Marshall Major Bluetooth II are a couple of generations old now and quite cheap on Amazon. They're small and flexible. You can stretch them to fit your head perfectly. I can wear mine for hours without pain. The Audio Technicas are huge and better for listening at home.
Also, the Marshalls are more than 50 ohms. I agree with the other posters - high impedance has nothing to do with sound quality. However, with the V20 you need more than 50 ohms to kick in the quad dac. I believe that I took a pass on the Audio Technicas because they aren't 50 ohms. The Marshalls will probably survive out in the world a lot better too. I just toss mine in a bag without a case a lot of the time and they're fine.
I really didn't think that I would like those headphones as much as I do. I don't use the bluetooth connection very often but it's nice to have it anyways.
Hope you enjoy your V20. This phone is going to be my daily driver until it won't turn on anymore. I just love it.

I got the H3's for free and used them as a spare pair. Never abused them but they just fell apart. Quality on them is atrocious for a supposedly $150 retail pair of headphones. I checked out their rating with "fakespot" on amazon which analyzes for likely fake reviews and they got a rating of an F with only 23.7% reliable reviews. ha.
Fakespot

Two righties???
I got mine with my lg v20 and they were defective. Literally 2 right earbuds. Both printed "R".... Is it possible that the real B&O could make such a crazy mistake??

be glad you even got headphones. Some of us didn't get them.