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I've been using a set of Sony MDR EX70LPs for about 5 years. Great product, once you get used to having a speaker jammed in your ear. I usually wound up fiddling with them a bit after 30 minutes of so, they seem to slightly irritate my ear.But the bass is so much better than conventional buds or phones (I've tried countless Sony, Yamaha, every brand under the sun). A few months ago, I wondered if Sony had improved the product any and bought a set of MDR-EX81LPs. Slightly better phones, but more awkward to wear.

So when I heard I was getting an iPod touch for Christmas, I figured I would order a set of these and give them a shot. Got the phones two days before Christmas, decided to try them out on my 5g iPod. Plugged them in and turned on iTunes, awaiting sonic nirvana.

But...no bass. None, zip, zilch, nada.
OK, so, something isn't right. The medium rubber pieces seem a little loose, maybe I need to try the other ones. I open the capsule with the others...but they look smaller. Then I notice the label on the capsule, and pull open the other side, marked L, swap in the bigger rubber pieces, pop the phones back in, and...

Oooooooooooh yeeeeeeaaaaaaah. That's what I was looking for. Some hip hop. Yep, plenty of bass. Norah Jones - perfect female vocals. Guns'n'Roses - guitar works.

As is the case with all in-ears I've tried, they telegraph a lot of noise from wire movement, but that's controllable somewhat depending on how you wear them. And as another review pointed out, wearing them while eating will sound horrible.

These are the best-sounding headphones I have ever owned. I haven't compared them to the Etymotic Research, but they are much more comfortable than either of the Sonys - I've had them in for an hour and haven't touched them.

If you try these and can't stand in-ears, or if you have odd-sized or shaped ears, that's a shame. If you try them and think they don't have any bass, you need to try the larger pads - when they seal to your ear, these things go as low as any speaker I have ever heard, and I can't even begin to turn my iPod up all the way (though admittedly I don't have any hearing damage, as some other 35-year-olds do).

(1167 of 1397 people found this review useful)

These are best earphones I've ever had. I've had sonys, the stock iPod buds, the previous generation of apple in-ear buds, and some others and by far these are purely AWESOME.

On the first listen, I thought they were just OK, but after a while I truly got to experience all the different sounds and how well these earphones produced them. Bass is amazing (although, it seemed to need just a bit more boom - but that might just be me :) Treble is great too. These do seriously sound like several-hundred-dollar earbuds. Also, these are the MOST COMFORTABLE earphones ever. I almost don't even notice them in my ears - they are that amazing - while they still provide a firm fit so movement doesn't dislodge them.

Packaging is beautiful, the additional silicone tips are a huge plus, and the added mesh caps are a nice touch.

My only issue is the lack of volume control for iPhone. Hopefully that'll come at some point?

(984 of 1193 people found this review useful)

Just picked these up from the applestore in Brum today.

To clear things up, ALL features EXCEPT VOLUME CONTROL work fine with the original Iphone, pause, skip tracks, answer calls, microphone etc all work great, but you can;t control mic or headphone volume.

Fantastic clarity for receiving and talking during calls, a lot better than most bluetooth sets.

Real comfortable and secure fit, much more comfortable than any other phones I've used, and I've used about 10 different sets of phones over the last two years trying to find something that is comfortable and sounds great... and we have a winner!

The sound is fantastic, given that I usually listen on in-ear single driver phones that cost me £120, I really do love the sound from these. Great soundstaging, and the clarity of the top end mixed with the warm and rolling bottom end is great, the 5hz claim I think is pushing it! THESE ARE NOT BASS HEAVY!

I listen mostly to electronic and DNB, and although the bottom end is not that low and thumping, it is still very rich and warm, and very punchy with no distortion, but the level of clarity and detail you hear is amazing, you really can hear so much more detail in tracks than I was used too. Each element is very well defined, unlike the sharpness of some phones, or the mushiness of bass heavy sets, all elements are crystal clear here. I guess the dual drivers really work, hopefully the bottom end will pick up a bit once they're broken in.

Basically for the money, you simply can't beat these phones. Amazing sound quality, loving the extra hands free use, the controls are as simple as you can get and they are very well made. You'll be paying at LEAST double if not treble for the next cheapest dual driver phones on the market. So you really can't go wrong... just a shame they're still white, silver or black would have looked much nicer, especially considering the lack of any white in the current apple product range!!

Looks like Apple finally made a good set of earphones... shocking ;)

(431 of 494 people found this review useful)

Superb headphones. High Quality, separation, clarity, taut bass, detailed treble. Excellent and well worth the money. Mic works well on iPhone 2G and 3G models.

Innovative case and ear plug holder.

5 Stars because they beat all the earphones at this price level and some above.

(270 of 329 people found this review useful)

Took a bit of getting used too, my ears had been conditioned to the Sennheiser CX300 in-ears, the Apple by comparison are noticeably flatter but more natural and very detailed. CX300s are bottom heavy, the Apple unit feels smooth up to the vocal presence range where it comes to life and towards the top end remains pretty sharp. I noticed overall good detail and separation, this should happen with two individual drivers handling different frequency ranges.
Earphones will always be subjective, people have different music tastes but Im really starting to appreciate these earphones and getting away from the artificial sound I had become accustomed too. The fact you have playback control and a mic built in and its barely visible is another winner.

(254 of 312 people found this review useful)

Just received mine in the mail today and these are the most comfortable and best-sounding in-ear headphones! For those wondering, the remote/mic work with the iphone 3G except the volume control

(270 of 347 people found this review useful)

So I picked these up a couple days ago with fairly high expectations due to all the good comments. I really could go on and on about how much I love the design and comfort (most beautiful and comfortable in-ear's ever..), but I want to focus on one thing that many people have been disagreeing with. Bass.

I honestly believe some of these headphones HAVE to be different. After reading reviews after I had listened to my headphones, I couldn't possibly understand how some people say these have sufficient bass. Now I know there are a lot of bass junky's out there, but I want to state that I am NOT one of them. I hate overloaded bass. I just like a good, powerful, equal sound. I am not joking here when I say my Apple in-ears sound like they have no bass. I know many of you will say my review was "unhelpful", but I am laying it straight out. I have owned probably 15 pair of headphones over the last 5 years, all between ($70 and $350)(I'm a freak for good sounding headphones), and my pair of Apple's sound very brittle.

Part of me wants to exchange my pair for a new pair at the Apple Store because I don't understand how some people say these things even have a small but reasonable amount of bass. Mine has BARELY any. But, I would sound crazy telling someone at the store I thought that.

All in all, i'm just disappointed.

I will add this thought in though:
The headphones sound fabulous with acoustic guitar and vocals. But once you get in to some drums or some rock guitar, it just sounds straight up weak.

(196 of 251 people found this review useful)

The title says it all. I've owned the Ultimate Ears Triple-fi canalphones for about two years now and they are the BEST! I needed a pair of less expensive ones to take to the gym, so I ordered these new ones from Apple. Wow! I'm blown away. The Apple In-Ear monitors are almost as good as my Triple-fi's which cost 5 times as much. And, the Apple ones are much more comfortable. Buy these. You'll be glad you did.

(152 of 176 people found this review useful)