How to make your music sound better

Like most good things in life, the more you invest in improving your music-listening experience, the more satisfaction you'll get from it. True, some people can go overboard on this stuff, but for most of us, a modest investment can reap huge payoffs in the sound quality and the emotional impact derived from your music collection. Whether it's listening to an iPod during your commute, or enjoying streaming Internet radio from your computer, there are some worthwhile purchases you can make to take your music experience to the next level.

Living With Technology

In-ear headphones

The most worthwhile investment you can make in improving the sound quality of your MP3 player is to upgrade the stock earbuds that came with it to a decent set of in-ear headphones. For testing the audio quality of MP3 players, we use a pair of Shure SE310 earphones shown here, which are a little pricey but sound fantastic. For around $100, you can score a set of Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 or Shure SE110 earphones. There's also some great choices for under $50 that will blow those iPod earbuds out of the water.

A good set of in-ear headphones will also provide a nice, sound-isolating seal in the ear, reducing hearing damage caused by external noise and allowing you to listen to music at a lower volume.

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