Yamaha EPH-50BL In-Ear Headphones (Black)

OK. I planned on spending maybe $20-$30 on some headphones for my ipod and started reading reviews. I got up to the $100 plus i.e. Bose and reviews were still conflicting. I came across a review from cnet on the yamaha earbuds. I checked what amazon had to say and they only had a small amount of reviews and most whined about thin cord and plug holder that didn't quite work to reduce winding together. The cords are no thinner than any other earbuds. What a shame. I almost didn't get these earbuds but I decided to take a chance since the price was half what others were selling them for.These earbuds are amazing. I hate things in my ears but the silicone earpiece is very comfortable. The sound is incredible. It sounds like a $100 pair of buds. I listen to rock, jazz, blues and country. The bass and highs all have great sound. I'm not an expert, but under $40, I don't think another brand can touch these

These have nearly the same sound and build quality as the candy brand that my boys use that cost half as much. These were okay at best when used around the house, but when used at bedtime they were horrible. I am a side sleeper and could not leave these in my ears for more than 5 minutes or so before my ears started hurting. Last week I purchased another pair of the V-Moda phones that these replaced (that pair lasted 18 months) and am so much happier with my V-Modas. And with the price on those dropping to $10-$25 they are a much better value.

After breaking these in, the bass, mid and highs are well balanced. It sounds like sitting at a dance club. 2 friends purchased 2 pairs each after hearing mine.I use CyanogenMOD CM7 DSP on my Nexus One. They sound good without DSP but really good with it turned on. Had the HTC Sensation 4G for a couple of weeks. The sound was far better than those things they call headphones that come with the phone. The built in EQ was Meh.... Install the free DSP from the Android market and adjust the sound to suite your taste.No reason to get technical here, they are well worth $40 bucks.I might mention I tried on these:Bose IE2, MIE2, MIE2i (all 3 models) - Very good sound but prefer the Yamaha for 1/2 the price (IE2). I would still take the Yamaha over the Bose even if they cost the same.Plantronics BT BackBeat 903+ (sounds amazing but low volume and hard to adjust for comfort) - Prefer the YamahaMotorola w/mic - Different category all togetherUpdate 5/2/2012 After having these for about a year, I'm going to give these a 5 star. I got the HTC Rezound w/Beats Audio (Verizon) bundled with the Beats headphones and have to say that these Yamaha's sound better than Beats hands down. The build quality is great. See if they last another year (I'm pretty conscious about how I handle what I own).Update 2/25/2014 - These headphones are still going. I have 2 pairs, one for work and one for home. They still sound unbelievably good.I use them all the time at home.I did read some bad reviews and don't understand how on earth anyone can give these less than a 5 star rating. All my music is ripped at 320kbps or from Amazon MP3's autorip or Google Music purchase.The only con is walking with these cables brushing across clothing (typical for in ear headphones).Update June 2015 - The right side has gone soft and unbalanced. I must say I got my monies worth out of these. I used them a lot. I'm still using the second pair, but haven't used the second pair near as much as the ones these. The more I used these, the better they sounded, until the end. Would buy again!

Let me start by saying that sound is very subjective to the listener. Each ear hears differently (yes, even on the same person) and some like their sound colored to fit their likes. I've worked as a recording/live engineer and designer and I know this first hand. Your experience with these might differ than mine.That said, these are excellent ear buds, especially at this price point. I needed something that sounds good but wouldn't cause me to weep if I damage them while working. I wouldn't use these for recording or mastering but they are great for anything else. I've had several different in-ears before, Bose are currently my favorites but pricy if you damage them. Yamaha is a great pro-audio company (many national tours use their mixers) and these in-ears follows that heritage.They are pretty accurate, even with compressed audio (MP3s, etc). I like how these will "smooth out" the higher freqs in compressed recordings (MP3 compression sounds metallic to me). Bass is accurate and not overpowering. I especially like in a song I listened to recently the headphones reproduced the sound of a symphonic bass drum being lightly tapped with a dampened mallet. I could hear the tick of the mallet striking the drum head and the roll of bass afterwards. Very hard to reproduce with any in-ear.One note, make sure these ear buds are properly fitted. I've put them in, started listening to something, and had to readjust to make them sound right. This will also affect the amount of ambient sound getting in. Once they are in snugly, they will sound their best. I don't usually have a problem wearing them for extended periods. They also seem to take a beating pretty well - I've had them ripped out of my ear when the wire catches something and they have worked every time after that.I have been using these headsets for about 6 months now and I would recommend them to anyone who wants a quality in-ears without spending a fortune.