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General discussion

Earbuds or Headphones for noise cancelling?

Mar 1, 2009 11:57AM PST

I'm currently living off a $10 pair of Philips headphones which, despite being cheap, have actually performed way better than the stock Apple 'phones that came with my 4G Nano. Problem is, they fall out of my ears a lot when I'm walking to my bus and am looking at some in ear head phones to help remeby that. I'm also in need at some noise cancelling headphones for long journeys (for full size models, pretty much my only options are the Sony MDR-NC7s cause of price). Would it be better to just get one pair of Sound isolating In ear 'buds (the V-Moda Vibes come to mind), or get the Sony's and another $20-$30 in ear pair. Keep in mind im on a $70-$80 budget.

Discussion is locked

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Isolating Ear Buds
Mar 2, 2009 11:47AM PST
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Thanks but no thanks
Mar 3, 2009 7:06AM PST

Thanks, those Shure are selling for about that price at Best Buy and I'll look into those. I also found 3 others that suit my needs and need some help deciding. I'm choosing between the V-Moda Vibes (regular Vibes, not Vibe II or Vibe Duos), the Denon AH-C351Ks, and the Apple In Ear headphones, along with those Shure SE110s. Which one out of these 4 is durable and won't give out after a month or two, has the best noise isolation, and is good for a little active stuff but not too heavy (that's what I really hate about my $10 Philips, other than that they're perfectly fine).

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you might as well start trying them out
Mar 3, 2009 11:06AM PST

Everyone's ears are different. If you're going with noise isolation, fit is going to be key. And you'll never know how well anything fits unless you start trying them out. If ou don't like them, return them.

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Get earplug types.
Mar 4, 2009 5:16AM PST

Apple's new ones don't seem to be bad value for a dual-driver phone, and they feature a mic for ad hoc voice notes to boot. I haven't tried them yet but they seem like a very plausible option for most.

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Shure Earbuds
Mar 9, 2009 2:17PM PDT

I've used Shure for years. I use the custom molds for performing on stage and E2's for working out at the gym.

My wife has been using her E2 earbuds (replaced by the SE110) for a couple of years now.

Let us know what you go with, and what you think.