Which Do You Prefer?

[beamjockey]

Ear buds, or headphones?

Comments

[lydy.livejournal.com]

Ear buds. The headphones never seem to fit, always fall down or are otherwise uncomfortable. Sometimes, they get tangled in my hair. The really nice ones that cover the whole ear and give great sound always end up in a fight with the bows of my glasses, and make my glasses uncomfortable to wear.

[seawasp]

Headphones. I've never figured out how people keep those earbuds in.

[controuble.livejournal.com]

Ditto - have tried several and none of them stay in where I can hear anything.

[dragonet2.livejournal.com]

Depends. If I'm at my desk, my headphones are great.

I have learned to sleep with music, Pandora on my iPhone, and I use really comfy padded ear buds for that purpose.

[harvey-rrit.livejournal.com]

Well, headphones don't end up with wax on them....

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Earbuds.

K.

[anton-p-nym.livejournal.com]

Headphones for listening at home; earbuds when on the move. Headphones are more comfortable but I find they tend to fall off when moving around.

-- Steve finds he also tends to kill his earbuds; the last pair was from Sennheiser and It stung to accidentally wreck $99 hardware.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

Headphones. Earbuds don't stay in my ears. Specifically, I prefer Bluetooth headphones because with wired headphones I always manage to snag the wire on something, trashing the headphones.

[cobrabay.livejournal.com]

Earbuds. Just bought some a-Jays Three earphones to replace my usual Sennheisers which I wrecked on the way to Heathrow. Sound quality is so much better I'm considering re-ripping some of my older MP3s at a higher bitrate.

[kevin kenny (from livejournal.com)]

Headphones at home or at my desk. Earbuds when the device has to go in pocket or backpack.

[davidgoldfarb.livejournal.com]

I have a pair of Apple's EarPods and they work well for me.

[bigblued.livejournal.com]

Headphones, specifically these http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-V150-Monitor-Series-Headphones/dp/B000092YPR

Earbuds are always too big for my ears, never stay in, and they leave my ears raw and irritated. If I find the rare pair that actually fits, they invariably fall apart within weeks, no matter how much or little I spend on them. And the sound is tinny.

I have had my current pair of headphones for around 12 years. Despite being only around $20, they have a rich sound. They have big soft earpieces that are so comfortable I don't notice them even if I am wearing them for hours.

The biggest issue I have with them is also one of their good features, the 6'8" cord. I can have them plugged into a computer on the floor (at work) and they won't yank out of the computer or off my head if I move around. But if I have them plugged into my mp3 player in my pocket, I have to knot the cord short or else it will snag on things.

[whl.livejournal.com]

I prefer the 250 variant myself; at one time, I had a pair for all of my computers.

Sometimes a software volume control is just not fast enough.

For entertainment, I preferred the whole ear V6 series. The ear cushions eventually wear out die to age on the coverings.

But for mobile use, I use the standard Apple Earbuds, as it gives me control over playback on my iPhone or iPod, and the microphone needed to deal with calls.

[min8ive.livejournal.com]

Pretty much everything I've tried gives me a head or ear -ache. However, this bluetooth headset (I got free while working at Motorola) seems to last longest before I can't stand it anymore.

I use this headset (also free from Mot) with my iPod while jogging, as I tend to yank the cords on wired headphones every few minutes.

If/when I can't use bluetooth, I have Apple earbuds, which take a few hours to hurt my ears, so I consider that a win.

Most headphones squeeze my head unbearably painfully in a very short amount of time.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Neither: I use in-canal earphones.

Earbuds (in the colloquial sense -- things like those white Apple abominations) sit outside the ear canal, balanced precariously in the concha and sort-of held in place by the antitragus. Except that this doesn't provide a good fit and they always bleed sound into the environment and usually fall out (at least in my experience).

In-canal phones protrude into ear canal itself, and use a plastic or rubber gasket, or a crushable neoprene foam sleeve, to ensure a tight fit. They don't annoy your neighbours (even at high volume), they fit really well (assuming you took the time to figure out what size of sleeve you need), and they block out external noise at least as well as active noise-cancelling phones (and without adding distortion).

My personal choice is to use high end consumer monitors: the commonest model is the Shure SE530, but I prefer my Ultimate Ears ue900s (http://ue.logitech.com/en-gb/earphones/ue900) (four drivers per ear -- two low frequency, one mid-range, one high frequency). They're less insanely expensive than custom-fitted in-ear monitors, while delivering a clarity of sound that you simply don't get unless the drivers are right inside your skull.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Earbuds. Well, what Charlie said, only cheaper; low-end in-canal good plugs. Mine were the bottom end of that classification from Sure when I bought them around 2006, and cost $190. They physically seal the ear canal, and thus let me listen on airplanes and in noisy venues without cranking the volume (and damaging my hearing). And, because they seal pretty well, they work for location recording monitoring, too.

[vnend.livejournal.com]

It depends on the environment.

Listening to music while walking, I want to be able to hear environmental sounds. In that case I prefer the behind-the-head style that sets the speakers almost perpendicular to the ear canal. Some sacrifice of sound quality, but the safety concerns are more important.

If I am in a noisy location but away from home, I don't want to carry a big pair of headphones, so some in-ear phones that double as earplugs are my favorite. I used an old (cheap) pair of Sony's with active noise canceling for years, but disliked the feeling of pressure or fatigue my ears got if I used them too long. These days I use a pair of Klipsch (S1?), which rely on passive noise isolation instead of active, and they are both better sounding and I can wear them longer.

If I'm at home and want isolation, then a pair of Sennheisser PC-350s (which allow me to take a Skype call if one comes in) or I bust out a set of wireless 5.1 gaming headphones for the full surround-sound experience. If I want to use headphones and don't want isolation, then a trusty pair of Koss Portapro's work very well.

I've accumulated quite a set over the last 20 years or so, but those are the high points. I have seen some very highly recommended models of all types, but they also quickly get up above what I am willing to spend on what remains a fairly fragile piece of equipment. I have tried to keep my cost down to under $100 a set, though I might have gone over that slightly with the 5.1 wireless 'phones.

Oh, and for cable management, I love the little "Curvyman Smart Wrap Cable Organizer", though there are lots of similarly working devices on the market. It helps tame the extra when you don't need it.

[kevinnickerson.livejournal.com]

If I was serious about listening: Headphones. Since I'm not: Earbuds.

[carbonel]

What I really prefer are these, which I think count as earphones. Unfortunately, my ones of these were stolen from my car last new year's day, and I haven't been able to persuade myself that it's worth $175 or so to replace them. (The original ones were a gift from my father.)

[judyserenity.livejournal.com]

Well, neither are perfect. I mostly use earbuds, but I'm looking forward to the day when I can plug the audio directly into my brain.