Earphones

[lando_8 0]

I'm late on this one, but I love my e3c's.  The 2s may be sufficient for you, but will still be a bit out of your price range.  If you can afford the extra $20 or $30, it'd be worth the money. 

Like many others, the Etymotics in the same price range are also good and I've heard good things about Ultimate Ears products. 

If you don't mind padded phones, try the Grado SR60.  At about $70 US, they're stellar. 

Good luck, if you haven't already settled on a pair.

Grado phones tend to need to be amped, but maybe the 60's don't. I know that when I was interested in buying a pair, they were more than double that price (not the low end) and needed an amp.

All Grado's have an impedance of 32ohms which an iPod will power without much problem. Unless you bypass an iPod's amp you won't get much benefit or advantage as your amping twice.

iPod earbuds also have an impedance of 32ohms. Anything more than 32ohms then you start to need an amp to power them.

Grado's are sweet though, SR60's will run you about $100 new. If you are looking at these though one should consider Alessandro MS-1's for $99, much better headphones for the $$$. They are similar to the SR125's.

[kovalchuk71 212]

I heard they have "neck"phones now that actually go on the area under your cheeks on your neck and you can hear it through there. is that true?

[Project_2501 0]

I'm late on this one, but I love my e3c's.  The 2s may be sufficient for you, but will still be a bit out of your price range.  If you can afford the extra $20 or $30, it'd be worth the money. 

Like many others, the Etymotics in the same price range are also good and I've heard good things about Ultimate Ears products. 

If you don't mind padded phones, try the Grado SR60.  At about $70 US, they're stellar. 

Good luck, if you haven't already settled on a pair.

Grado phones tend to need to be amped, but maybe the 60's don't. I know that when I was interested in buying a pair, they were more than double that price (not the low end) and needed an amp.

All Grado's have an impedance of 32ohms which an iPod will power without much problem. Unless you bypass an iPod's amp you won't get much benefit or advantage as your amping twice.

iPod earbuds also have an impedance of 32ohms. Anything more than 32ohms then you start to need an amp to power them.

Grado's are sweet though, SR60's will run you about $100 new. If you are looking at these though one should consider Alessandro MS-1's for $99, much better headphones for the $$$. They are similar to the SR125's.

Alessandro is a sister company to Grado, no? They have pretty much the exact same driver and housing specs., but the Alessandros are missing a few comfort things I believe.

[lando_8 0]

Yes, but I wouldn't say they are any less comfortable, the pads and headband are the same. My buddy just upgraded from the MS-1 to the MS-2 and absolutely loves them. He has listened to the new Grado GS1000 ($1000 headphones) and sees no reason to spend the $$$ on them as the sound from the Alessandro's is nearly as good for 1/5 the cost.

The Alessandro's say "Grado Labs" right on the headphones, there are a lot of the same components inside, they look quite similar.

[Chanimal 0]

I have the Ety ER6, and got them for $50 shipped from Ebay. The ER6i is not that much different. It has an extra flange on the tip, guess that is a snugger fit and more insulation from outside noise. I use my Er6 with my nano and works great. Can't hear a thing other than my music or psp game effects even sitting in a 747 during a cross-pacific flight. They are the best pair I have ever had.

[lando_8 0]

I have the Ety ER6, and got them for $50 shipped from Ebay. The ER6i is not that much different. It has an extra flange on the tip, guess that is a snugger fit and more insulation from outside noise. I use my Er6 with my nano and works great. Can't hear a thing other than my music or psp game effects even sitting in a 747 during a cross-pacific flight. They are the best pair I have ever had.

The ER6i was actually designed by Ety for the iPod as it has a much lower impedence (16ohms) and they also added a slight boost in the bass range (~4dB).

The ER6 is 48ohms and will sound dimmer on an iPod as the iPod can't really drive above 32ohms.

Higher impedence should make a headphone sound better but without an amp to drive the sound (iPod built in amp isn't good above 32ohms) ER6i will be a better sounding IEM.

All that being said, both of these IEM's are light years ahead of the stock ibuds and much better than any of the Sony offerings.