Apple called the iPhone "the best iPod we've ever made" when it was launched, and while you'll hear no argument from us, it's nevertheless ironic that the company that has so completely reinvented the music industry ships headphones with its iPods, iPhones and iPads that are mediocre at best.
You're really not letting your music shine if you stick with Apple's standard white earbuds, and their leaky sound is likely to turn fellow passengers on public transport against you.
In this group test, we've selected five 'step up' earphones - models that you should consider if you want to get more from the music, movies and podcasts on your device. Even better: we've selected those that aren't especially expensive.
Whether you've received an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch for Christmas, your notoriously delicate white Apple buds have broken for the umpteenth time, or maybe you just want to upgrade your sound, we'll tell you which of these five sets is right for you.
We've lived with these headphones for weeks, playing a huge range of music at different bitrates - including lossless - and when we came to grade the audio performance, we sat down in a quiet room with a carefully selected playlist of eight tracks, each representing a particular musical genre or demonstrating a specific audio characteristic, such as stereo separation.
In testing their abilities as handsfree kits, we set up a controlled environment with loud ambient white noise - a stereo playback of a stream and some other nature noises - and made several calls over a normal phone line for the most useful real-world testing scenario.
So join us: ditch your buds and step up to one of these sets. Your albums deserve it!
How we selected?
While we set a rough budget, the selection here was more about picking headphones that offered a significant step up in quality.
One note: the Apple headphones in this group test are not the ones that come in the box and are �26 on the Apple Store; they're the fancier, dual-driver models.
Apple In-Ear Headphones - �44
Denon AH-C260R - �37
Etymotic mc3 - �70
Sennheiser MM 70i - �55
Shure SE115m+ - �83
Test one: Playing music
Predictably, the most expensive headphones here gave the best results when judged on audio quality alone.
Shure defaults to fitting its headphones with slightly unusual foam earbuds. They make putting them on a bit of a palaver - you have to roll the foam between your fingers to compress it before holding them in place in your ears to let the foam expand - but it's worth it.
The foam provides excellent sound isolation, blocking out most ambient sound, and letting the gorgeous audio shine. Bass is powerful and dense, but it doesn't overwhelm the mid or treble, and vocals float right on top of the instruments.
Listening to layered, complex tracks is a joy because you can shift your attention easily to listen to each part of the track. Truly, these are stellar earphones, and genuinely not overpriced at �83.
You don't, however, have to spend that kind of cash to get good audio. Even Apple's In-Ear Heaphones, almost half the price of the model from Shure, really impressed us. Different parts of a track - different frequencies in the audio - aren't as crisply defined as with the Shures, but they still deliver rich sound that's a significant step up from the white earbuds that Apple supplies with its devices. The bass is a little muffled and the treble a little tinny, but for �44, they're great value.
The same, however, can't be said for Denon's AH-C260R; despite being initially impressed when we first plugged them in and just used them casually, when we sat down to really concentrate on the audio, it became clear that �37 wasn't buying you an awful lot.
They're not actively bad, and if you were to ditch your bundled buds for these, you'd be blown away (at least initially) by the huge, bombastic bass - but that's pretty much all they're good for. Frequencies are a little muddled and the treble feels unpleasantly sharp; great, then, for dance or R&B, but not for much else.
We were happier with the Sennheisers. Though we were wary of their cables' flimsiness, they actually belted out some terrific sound; very loud, with a lovely warm, saturated tone that made acoustic, vocal-heavy tracks sound wonderful. Note, however, that what Sennheiser has apparently done here is to trade fidelity for impact; our familiar test music sounded great, but not quite as it should. Instead, it was as if someone had applied a fresh coat of varnish to an old master; sure, the colours are more vibrant, but it's not what it's 'supposed' to look like.
Etymotic's mc3s are quite the opposite. While to some ears the sound they produce is a little clinical, they are actually exceptionally good at reproducing music. This kind of dispassionate, efficient playback might not be to everyone's taste, but we love it, and when we came to grab a set from the five draped on the desk, we found ourselves reaching for Etymotic's earphones time and again.
Results
Apple In-Ear Headphones - 4/5
Denon AH-C260R - 3/5
Etymotic mc3 - 4/5
Sennheiser MM 70i - 4/5
Shure SE115m+ - 5/5
Test two: Making calls
All sets have a microphone built into the little in-line remote, so they can be used as handsfree kits to make and receive calls, and, on devices that support it, interact with the phone using Voice Control.
A black mark immediately against the model from Denon, then, since positioning the mic/remote where the left and right earphones meet - below your sternum - means that it can't be used hands-free at all; you have to hold the mic up to your mouth.
The very best results were from Etymotic's mc3s; our voice was picked up clearly - even having a decent stab at isolating it from ambient noise - and, unlike with the Shures' very snug foam earbuds, the nature of the seal didn't mean that your own voice echoes around your head. There were no strong disappointments.
Results
Apple In-Ear Headphones - 4/5
Denon AH-C260R - 3/5
Etymotic mc3 - 5/5
Sennheiser MM 70i - 3/5
Shure SE115m+ - 4/5
Test three: Design and features
Sometimes, it's the simplest things that remind us why we love Apple's industrial design.
Take, for example, the case in which you can store your Apple In-Ear Headphones; it looks simple enough - a two-part plastic triangle with soft, rounded corners - but it's almost irritatingly well designed. Slot the headphones into the middle and begin to wrap the cable around the perimeter, and you'll notice that bumps on the cable - the mic/remote, the bit where the two cables join - always fall along one of the edges of the triangular case, and never try to fold around the corners.
Apple's discreet remote is also the best of the bunch - the huge carbuncle on the Shures' cable is ungainly, and it's actually surprisingly hard to differentiate the buttons by touch alone. Most of the others just include a pouch or case into which you can loosely coil the cables.
Sennheiser at least includes a rubbery thing you're supposed to wrap the cables around, but for the life of us we can't figure out how it's supposed to work; it's like one of those Christmas cracker puzzles. (Sennheiser, by the way, is the only manufacturer here to opt for asymmetrical cables, where you insert the earbud with the shorter cable into your left ear and bring the longer right cable around the back of your neck. Whether or not you like this system is very much a matter of taste.)
Denon gets a smack on the wrists for positioning its remote so low down on the cable. Not only does this mean that you have to bother to bring it up to your mouth if you want to use the mic - it will pick up sound when dangling, but not well enough for your caller - but if you're in the habit of threading the cable neatly under your clothes, the remote buttons will be covered up.
The models from Denon and Sennheiser have worryingly slim cables; treat with care. As well as a range of excellent eartips in the Etymotics' box, you can have custommoulded earbuds made.
Results
Apple In-Ear Headphones - 5/5
Denon AH-C260R - 2/5
Etymotic mc3 - 4/5
Sennheiser MM 70i - 4/5
Shure SE115m+ - 4/5
And the winner is... Etymotic mc3 �70
With this group test, happily, our job is pretty easy. The decision on which set to buy comes mostly down to how much money you have to spend.
If you're feeling flush, then Shure's SE115m+ set is unmatched here if you're judging on straight music playback alone. There's something that happens when you get towards the �100 mark that makes expensive headphones sound not just better than their cheaper brethren, but actively different to them. You begin to listen to old favourite tracks in a new way, and discover subtleties - even entirely new instruments - in albums you thought you knew inside-out.
The problem with the Shures, however, is that they're not especially good at the other stuff; the big remote is ungainly, and the foam earbuds, so great for music, mean your voice echoes distractingly inside your head when using it as a handsfree kit.
If, on the other hand, your budget is stretched, Apple's own In-Ear Headphones are actually a terrific step up from the white earbuds that come bundled with iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. They're great value, sound genuinely accomplished, and are without doubt the best designed earphones in this group test.
It's not just that they look smart - and, for hardcore Apple fans, that they mean you can still have white Apple earbuds discreetly announcing your brand loyalty - but that even such a simple thing as the case shows Apple's astonishing attention to detail. These earphones are so good that they've replaced Sennheiser's MM50 iP earphones in the Tap! Top 10.
Ultimately, though, the best balance of price and overall performance here comes from Etymotic. Again: these are not the headphones for you if you love thumping great gouts of meaty bass, but if your taste is more refined, the mc3s are absolutely superb.
It's not just in playback that they impress, however; they're great for making/taking handsfree calls, and the standard 'mini Christmas tree'-style tips mean that they fit snugly and comfortably in your ears. Even if you wear them when running, you're unlikely to dislodge them.
Plus, if you want to boost the fit even more - and so improve sound by creating an even better seal - you can opt to have custom moulds made for your ears.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/allnews/~3/TtHWZ35S4LM/story01.htm
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