[kj] [Totally OT] earbuds

[T.B.]

I’ve gone through a few earbuds, I honestly generally don’t like them due to irritating the inside of my ears and often sounding thin and tinny.  I like a lot of bass.  Also, wireless earbuds normally use Blutooth connectivity which compresses the audio signal and of course, is vulnerable to signal clipping or disruption.  Any earbuds I've ever even considered have been wired despite the hassle of a cord.  I'm also *not* a fan of any noise-cancelling technology, it always winds up negatively affecting the sound of what you're listening to.

Probably the best in-ear earbud style earphones I've ever heard are the Audeze LCD-i3 which go for almost $900.  The Sennheiser IE800S earbuds sound great and run about $900 as well.  But imo, if you are willing to spend that kind of money and are listening in a controlled environment like home, and not walking and working out, you'll get much better sound from full sized over-ear headphones.  For the more reasonable budget, I've listened to Bowers and Wilkins C5 earbuds which sound pretty good, they run about $150 although they may be discontinued now.  

I do use full sized, closed back over-ear headphones for night time music and home theater listening so as not to wake up the family.  I tend to go way expensive, high-end in that dept.  I even use a dedicated headphone amp, either a Oppo HA-1 or Marantz HD-DAC1 paired with Denon D7200 or Audeze LCD-XC headphones.  We have a big audio equipment show in SoCal once or twice a year here and unfortunately, once you start hearing how amazing some of the high end expensive shit sounds, it's hard to go back to whatever you're listening to at home.

Honestly, you need to go to a big box store that carries a decent range of electronics and try some stuff out yourself to see what best suits your listening tastes and budget.

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From: Gathering [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net] On Behalf Of Paul

Off topic, but I know there are a couple of audiophiles on the list, so quick question or 2 if you don't mind : )

Any of you use totally wireless earbuds or headphones? 

Anyone have a high end set, Bose, Sennheiser or Sony? Are they worth the price for the sound you get? Or is it just buying a name? 

Any of you use Airpods or Samsung Buds? How do you find them?

Any other recommendations for things to stick in ones ears?