# Off-Topic Discussion > The Lounge > Tech Talk >  >  skull candy earbuds > ipod earbuds

## docKnubis

yeah so i have gone through my SECOND pair of ipod earbuds  both pair did the exact same thing. the left one volume decreased  and the right one wires came loose and ether A. would shock my ear every now and then or B. make a horrible sound(as if you just hooked up a battery to a speaker and got static and stuff) 

so seeing as ipod earbuds suck i got something different... 
skull candy earbuds.... 

these things rock so far...
they  almost compleatly deaden outside noise 
come with 3 different size ear adapter thingys
the bass from them remind me of the subs i had in my car


and where the ipod earbuds wire when through the earbud like a tube.
the skull candy wire is connected to the earbuds them self(this i hope will keep them from shocking me.)


this may be a bit point less but i was excited to have new earbuds. ::D:

----------


## ExoByte

When I went to buy myself some new earbuds about a week or so ago, I went to The Source and they tried to sell my Skull Candy earbuds. They had displays for them, they were the big thing in there and the guy's every 3rd and 4th words were Skull Candy. I thought about it but then thought that they're probably not as good as they're made out to be, this is clearly a marketing thing.

I ended up buying a $112 pair of Panasonic RP-HC55 Noise canceling earbuds. Also with different sizes of buds. I love them, really worth the money. 88% noise reduction  ::D: 

But yeah, I've heard of the Skull Candy earbuds. Use them for a few weeks and report back how they're still working. Let me know if I should've saved my money instead  :tongue2:

----------


## Sornaensis

I buy Shure Earphones.

They're the best.

End of story.

I use these:

http://store.shure.com/store/shure/e...ctID.105181400

----------


## docKnubis

> But yeah, I've heard of the Skull Candy earbuds. Use them for a few weeks and report back how they're still working. Let me know if I should've saved my money instead



i will do that  ... i was at work today and had them on for a bit... i work at pizza hut and we have the usual noise a restaurant has fans ovens people ... people yelling ect.... i put them on and it was gone... i felt like i was def...it was cool cus my co shift manager was yelling at me and i didnt hear a dam thing haha

----------


## Taosaur

My iPod buds lasted a couple years, but recently the insulation came loose at several points and I picked up a pair of $10 Sony buds--huge improvement in sound quality. They don't achieve full noise cancellation, but I'm generally wearing them on my bike or on the train, and I'd prefer not to be oblivious to my environment in those situations, as long as I can hear my tunes. I definitely couldn't see spending more than $30 on headphones, tho I'm not a bass freak, either. The most fidelity-demanding genres I'm into are IDM and jam/bluegrass, both of which see more action on the high end, and these buds do very well there.

----------


## nitsuJ

skull candy headphones are pretty kick ass

----------


## Replicon

One very important reason never to wear ipod earbuds is that it increases your chances of getting mugged. Even with the skull candy, get the black ones if you can.

----------


## archdreamer

> I buy Shure Earphones.
> 
> They're the best.
> 
> End of story.
> 
> I use these:
> 
> http://store.shure.com/store/shure/e...ctID.105181400




Shure are great. If you have the bankroll, Etymotic is good too. Money no object, though, Ultimate Ears are pretty fantastic. I've only tried thier earbuds once, but wow.

----------


## Adam

> I buy Shure Earphones.
> 
> They're the best.
> 
> End of story.
> 
> I use these:
> 
> http://store.shure.com/store/shure/e...ctID.105181400



Agreed! Last year I bought the E4C (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...ctiveda3054-21) although at £200 at the time they were expensive, but the best quality ear buds I could find at the time  :smiley:

----------


## Lord Toaster

I use simple, £20 Sennheiser earbuds. They're comfortable and I can walk down a busy road without hearing anything but the music.
I love them  ::D:  Only thing is, they aren't good if you need to share them with a friend.

----------


## Man of Steel

Holy crap, I bought a pair of Skullcandy Ink'd ear buds today, and they are _incredible_ for the price! I'm a cheapskate, so I usually just buy the El Cheapo Cobys or whatever is cheapest yet looks decently made at Big Lots (I know, I know...). They usually last about a month, maybe two if I'm lucky, before one side goes out. At $4 a whack, I just go buy more, no worries. The sound quality is pretty terrible though, but I never really even realized that until...

I put the Skullcandy ear buds in.  ::shock::  Wow, the volume, the bass, the near-total lack of outside noise... I can listen at volume 2-5 on my little 1GB RCA MP3 player, depending on the song, instead of 10-15 like usual! And _7 Days To The Wolves_ by Nightwish kicks so much ass with these things in my ears. 

I bought them thanks to your post, docKnubis, so a big, heartfelt *thanks*, man!

----------


## docKnubis

update. they are still the best earbuds i have ever used! and now that im in school i use them alot more walking from class to class. the only problem with them is they have no problems...

and no problem man of steel im just doing my dreamviews civil duty!...  :smiley:

----------


## Identity X

&#163;8 Sony pair from Argos for me, very good sound quality (that is, for the earphone's I've bought in the past), on par with an Olympus pair that was also very good whichcame bundled with a voice recorder.

I'll never pay more than &#163;10 on an earphone, because I always, always, lose the sound in one or both ears usually within months or within 1-2 years in every earphone and headphone I have bought. Every single one (expect my current Sony pair). Any ideas why? Even my wireless headphones I use at home play out of one ear only unless I twiddle the volume slider to exactly the right position (and that seems to change on a week by week basis).

It's appalling, really. Are earhones just not built to last? I feel as if they are a continual investment for me.

/rant

----------


## Man of Steel

I dunno, IDX, I tend to have the same problem though. These Skullcandy 'buds are still awesome, though! I finally broke down and bought a new MP3 player, a Creative Zen 16GB, and the sound quality is way better than my old one. The Skullcandy 'buds really bring that out, too. The highs and mids especially blow my old player out of the water.

----------


## slick07

I'm a fan of Skullcandy. For the price they're awesome.  That's important for broke college kids (like me).

----------


## IZ

People are idiots. I sell the stupid factory ipod earbuds. They cost like less than 5 bucks to make but are sold for 30 dollars. People actually overlook good earbuds for this crap? Just 'cause you want to stick with what your already familiar with? People are idiots BTW. Nuff said!

Hold on, got some more. Everything that a manufacture makes, has accessories (Like earbuds). These accessories are CRAP! The manufactures wants it to be crap because it cost less and they dont have to pay more for it, in return more profit for them. SO........ Anything else is better than factory crap. Replace this CRAP with something GOOD! Got it!

People are idiots!

----------


## Xaqaria

Question;

Why would you buy a second pair of the cheap earbuds that are given to you free with an ipod?

----------


## docKnubis

> Question;
> 
> Why would you buy a second pair of the cheap earbuds that are given to you free with an ipod?




first pair as in i bought an ipod 30 gig then the earbuds died ...
second pair as in i bought an ipod 160 gig same story with the earbuds.

----------


## Adam

Just get some Shure M4C and you will never need another pair again  ::D:

----------


## Bearsy

> £8 Sony pair from Argos for me, very good sound quality (that is, for the earphone's I've bought in the past), on par with an Olympus pair that was also very good whichcame bundled with a voice recorder.
> 
> I'll never pay more than £10 on an earphone, because I always, always, lose the sound in one or both ears usually within months or within 1-2 years in every earphone and headphone I have bought. Every single one (expect my current Sony pair). Any ideas why? Even my wireless headphones I use at home play out of one ear only unless I twiddle the volume slider to exactly the right position (and that seems to change on a week by week basis).
> 
> It's appalling, really. Are earhones just not built to last? I feel as if they are a continual investment for me.
> 
> /rant



I get the same problem... maybe it's because we never splurge for the high quality brands?

I currently have a Radio Shack generic brand of DJ Style headphones and the left ear cuts out constantly. I have to fiddle with the wire and the volume control and keep my head perfectly still if I want full sound. It's pretty lame.

----------


## Grod

I got a pair of these a while back. Even before I lost them, they were overated. Yeah, they're better then the iPod buds, but that's not saying much.

They hurt in your ears, and I tried using the different kinds of sizes it came with. Not to mention they fall out after anything more than a quick walk.

----------


## Adam

> I get the same problem... maybe it's because we never splurge for the high quality brands?
> 
> I currently have a Radio Shack generic brand of DJ Style headphones and the left ear cuts out constantly. I have to fiddle with the wire and the volume control and keep my head perfectly still if I want full sound. It's pretty lame.



Sounds like the wire is fractured. With cheaper headphones with wires are less quality, thus more likely to fracture causing intermittent sound, unless you stay still.

I got me some Senhheiser HD25 headphones, excellent quality, could do with the wire being longer though  ::?:  http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/uk/icm.n...ones_dj_502103

----------


## Neruo

iPod earbuds really really suck : /  And if you wear them, everyone can see you are an iFag. I just got some proper earbuds with a volume-control thingy on the wire, for my iPod.

----------


## Marvo

Creative EP-630, probably the best earbuds I ever tried. What amazed me the most was the bass. It's incredible they can get it to feel so right in such a small device.

----------


## Bearsy

Just picked up a pair of SkullCandy HESH's...


Ohhhhh... it's like my ears are orgasming.


Seriously. I listened to the same song twice. 

Once with the shitty 15 dollar pair I've been using and then with these... so much better.

And they're far more comfortable.

Best $50 I ever spent.

----------


## AirRick101

iPod earphones actually can sound good, but you need to push them against your eardrums and hold them there if you want the full effect.  they suck for the mere fact that they hang so loosely on the edge of the ear skin that most of the sound just leaks out.

I agree, skull candy are the best, the bass resonates amazingly well....definitely worth every penny for a pair.

----------


## Bearsy

I got my pair at Dick's Sporting Goods in a mall. They were 49.99

I went to the Best Buy that was on the other end of the mall to buy my 120gb Zune and the same pair was next to the Zunes and they were 79.99... needless to say I was super glad I saw them at Dick's when I was buying my brother a pair of sunglasses.

----------


## Man of Steel

While I really do hate to bump a six-month old thread like this, I felt compelled to give a follow-up on my Skullcandy earbuds.

The left bud on my pair finally went out early this month. They lasted nearly 10 months, which is a great record. I started to just go buy a new pair for $9 at Staples, but decided to try to get them replaced as according to the lifetime warranty, partly just to see if I could. So I followed the directions on the site, filled out the form, got an RMA number, snipped off the 3.5mm plug and mailed it off to them. About two days later I got an email saying it had been recieved, and they would be shipping me out a new pair soon, but to allow 1-2 weeks for processing. That was on Thursday of last week, on Monday I got another email saying they had been sent out FedEx. I checked FedEx's site and should be here by Friday according to the tracking number I was given. In the meantime, I went ahead and bought another pair to use, and I'll keep the replacements as spares.

All in all, I remain impressed with Skullcandy!  ::D:

----------


## Keresztanya

Skullcandy is a pretty shitty brand, I prefer Sennheiser.

----------


## Taosaur

I just picked up a pair of skull candy in-ear phones, after accidentally decapitating my Sony buds. While the noise canceling is pretty effective, the sound quality is pretty much identical (both brands are waaaaay better than the original iPod buds). I'm thinking I like the earbud design better than in-ear, but maybe I'll get more used to it over time.

----------


## Man of Steel

I thought the same at first, Tao, but you do get used to them, and then going back to regular earbuds just doesn't cut it.

Parasite, I've not tried Sennheiser buds, but regardless, I can't see how you can call Skullcandy a shitty brand.

----------


## Adam

> Skullcandy is a pretty shitty brand, I prefer Sennheiser.



I have the HD25's and they're without doubt the best you could ever hope for, but they come at a premium cost!





> While I really do hate to bump a six-month old thread like this, I felt compelled to give a follow-up on my Skullcandy earbuds.
> 
> The left bud on my pair finally went out early this month. They lasted nearly 10 months, which is a great record. I started to just go buy a new pair for $9 at Staples, but decided to try to get them replaced as according to the lifetime warranty, partly just to see if I could. So I followed the directions on the site, filled out the form, got an RMA number, snipped off the 3.5mm plug and mailed it off to them. About two days later I got an email saying it had been recieved, and they would be shipping me out a new pair soon, but to allow 1-2 weeks for processing. That was on Thursday of last week, on Monday I got another email saying they had been sent out FedEx. I checked FedEx's site and should be here by Friday according to the tracking number I was given. In the meantime, I went ahead and bought another pair to use, and I'll keep the replacements as spares.
> 
> All in all, I remain impressed with Skullcandy!



That's awesome! Funny enough just last week the right one on my Shure M4C went and I was PISSED, for £250 headphones I expect them to last, so I'm going to check the website and see if I can get mine replaced  ::D:

----------


## Keresztanya

> I thought the same at first, Tao, but you do get used to them, and then going back to regular earbuds just doesn't cut it.
> 
> Parasite, I've not tried Sennheiser buds, but regardless, I can't see how you can call Skullcandy a shitty brand.



Skullcandy is extremely overrated. Their earbuds are average, and their headphones are just stupid and I'm tired of people thinking their great because they look cool.

----------


## Man of Steel

I don't think they're great because they look cool. I think they're great because I can get a pair at Staples for less than $10 that sound great and are covered by a lifetime warranty that will replace the things, no matter what, for the cost of shipping. Sure, they have their problems, like no differentiation between left and right, but it's pretty easy to figure that out. 

If I could get a pair of comparable Sennheiser in-ear buds for less than $15, I'd be glad to try them and agree how much they may or may not rock. Until then, I'll stick with my Skullcandy 'buds.

----------


## Adam

> That's awesome! Funny enough just last week the right one on my Shure M4C went and I was PISSED, for £250 headphones I expect them to last, so I'm going to check the website and see if I can get mine replaced



So I've checked and I have a 2 year warranty, I bought them in August 2007 so JUST in the warranty period  ::D:  ::D:  I've called them and they don't 'repair' them, they just replace with the latest model. However, they're allowing me to upgrade if I like taking the cost of mine off the new ones, so I've decided to go for the Shure Se530 Sound Isolating Earphones  ::D:  ::D:  ::D:  ::D:  ::D:  For those who know about headphones, these are the best money can buy!!!  ::bowdown:: 





> The SE530s are the top model in Shure's new line of noise-isolating headphones, the SE series. They're backed and used by such artists as KT Tunstall and Rocco DeLuca and sit alongside their less-expensive siblings, the SE210s, SE310s and the SE420s. 
> 
> 
> The SE530s are built using twin bass woofers and an accurate tweeter, collectively referred to by Shure as 'Triple TruAcoustic Micro-Speakers'. At lower volumes you may not be able to notice the difference in performance between the SE310s and the SE530s, but crank the volume up to its higher levels and prepare to have your brain hammered from the inside.



They even come with this little button which you can push to listen to the outside world, because the noice isolation is that good!!!

----------


## Taosaur

> I just picked up a pair of skull candy in-ear phones, after accidentally decapitating my Sony buds. While the noise canceling is pretty effective, the sound quality is pretty much identical (both brands are waaaaay better than the original iPod buds). I'm thinking I like the earbud design better than in-ear, but maybe I'll get more used to it over time.



I underrated these things on first impression. After I'd pretty much decided they were the same as the Sony buds and quit thinking about it, I found myself having totally transporting music experiences one, two, three times a day. It took me a minute to notice the pattern, but I started paying attention again, and the sound clarity is outstanding, particularly for vocals. I'm thinking my iPod itself is the bottleneck for sound quality at this point.

----------


## stbalaji2u

i am using nokia 7620 and i use the nokia headset the sound is really great.. you guys can better move to mobile music rather than ipod

----------


## Adam

> i am using nokia 7620 and i use the nokia headset the sound is really great.. you guys can better move to mobile music rather than ipod



or iPhone  :wink2:

----------


## Taosaur

> i am using nokia 7620 and i use the nokia headset the sound is really great.. you guys can better move to mobile music rather than ipod



I'm looking at the 120GB Zune when I have the cash--I've heard good things about the sound quality and interface. I like having a dedicated, high capacity player, mainly so I can put everything I own on shuffle  ::D:  

I also plug my iPod into the sound system at work and stereo(s) at home, which wouldn't work with a phone (especially with the boss texting me every ten minutes  :tongue2:  )

----------


## stbalaji2u

hmmm cool... but you can get adapter for connecting your music system with mobile,, I saw my friend using in that way, it was nice

----------


## Taosaur

> hmmm cool... but you can get adapter for connecting your music system with mobile,, I saw my friend using in that way, it was nice



Yeah, cuz if I want my music on a separate device from my phone, then I would love to lash the two together...

----------


## Man of Steel

I have the Creative Zen 16GB, and the sound quality is amazing. From everything I've heard, it beats out the iPod by quite a bit. 

Glad to hear you could get warranty coverage on those Shures, Adam!

----------


## stbalaji2u

very soon i may buy a speaker system. might be 5.1 creative surround system.. do you know any other good choice? but it should not be costly

----------


## Adrenaline Junkie

I had some 5.1 surround speakers, cheap ones, but unfortunately did not cut it, ended up selling them, its fun working in 5.1 though, little more effort required.

----------


## Man of Steel

Well, considering that Adam is a DJ, if menory serves me right... I think he would have some use for them.

----------


## Adrenaline Junkie

> Well, considering that Adam is a DJ, if menory serves me right... I think he would have some use for them.



Of course, not disputing that, all i meant was that professional headphones are not generally needed for the casual listener. Removed my rant, i doubt i got my message across well enough as usual.

----------


## Adam

Que?

----------


## Adam

Okay I didn't think they warranted their own thread, but finally today I got my hands on my SE530 by Shure. Shit the bed they've almost blown my head off! They are without doubt a masterpiece  ::D: 

They're being heralded as the best earphones money can buy, all the info on them is here: http://www.shure.co.uk/PersonalAudio..._se530_content

I thought I would take some pictures of the occasion too LOL

They came in a crazy metal casing, which looked pretty cool:


They were wrapped up kind of funky too:


And these are them, lovely and gold  ::?:  LOL:

----------


## Xox

They better be good, considering how expensive they are.  :tongue2: 

I think skull candy buds are incredible, my only problem is that one earbud always go dead after a couple of months for me. I'm going to try and actually take advantage of the lifetime warranty this time.  ::tongue::

----------


## Odd_Nonposter

I got the cheapest noise-canceling earbuds that Shure offered a few months ago, (~$80-$90) and they are definitely worth it. My iPod's standard ones suck ass. But these things are sweet. I heard stuff on my Beatles tracks that I never knew existed. Not only do they cancel sound coming in, they also _prevent sound from coming out._ That means that I can blare something to myself, (at comparatively low volume) and nobody around me will hear it. They're built heavy too, so when I turn my head a little too fast, I won't break any wires when they get too tight. 

Definitely don't settle for those shitty things that come with an iPod. Put them on eBay if you can.

----------


## Bearsy

> Okay I didn't think they warranted their own thread, but finally today I got my hands on my SE530 by Shure. Shit the bed they've almost blown my head off! They are without doubt a masterpiece 
> 
> They're being heralded as the best earphones money can buy, all the info on them is here: http://www.shure.co.uk/PersonalAudio..._se530_content
> 
> I thought I would take some pictures of the occasion too LOL
> 
> They came in a crazy metal casing, which looked pretty cool:
> 
> 
> ...



You don't have to answer if you don't want... but what do you do for a living that enables you buy 400 pound headphones and take trips all across Europe/Asia all the time?
Cause I want that job.

----------


## Phrisco

I've owned a couple of pairs of skull candy earbuds. They started to hurt my ears, even with the different sizes. So I looked around and found some Razer ear buds. I'm pretty sure I have these http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=2166 
I bought them like October 2008 and I still use them and they work perfectly still.

----------


## Adam

> You don't have to answer if you don't want... but what do you do for a living that enables you buy 400 pound headphones and take trips all across Europe/Asia all the time?
> Cause I want that job.



Sure, don't mind you asking, my Dad owns Google LOL. Nah, I wish, I'm a business analyst (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_analyst)  :smiley:

----------


## Marvo

Last week I bought a £600 earbud set in London. Then I threw it out for a better one when I came back to Denmark.

Now I have swine flu :'(

----------


## hellohihello

I've had my skull candies, ( Can't be tooooo expensive my brother bought them for me.)  I love them. They fit my ear perfectly. I have had them since january.

----------


## Taosaur

I just decapitated my SCs ;_;

I'll probably get a new pair and send in for a replacement as back-ups.

----------


## Man of Steel

If you broke them, you can send the remains in and get 50% off any of their products, Tao. If you want to upgrade. If not, just do the usual warranty return deal.

----------

