I have a couple of pairs - a Radio Shack pair, open-design with the foam pads that I paid about 15 bucks for, I think, several years ago that sound pretty good, then I also have a closed-ear pair (regular-sized headphones for a conventional stereo) that sound real good, but I’ve had both these headsets for quite a long time. Just wondering if there’s a recommended brand or model that compliments the Clip’s great sound, that’s a step up from the run-of-the-mill cheapie earbud variety.
You’ve stepped into an area of extreme subjectivity. Headphones are like wine: if it tastes good to you, it’s good wine. If the headphones you have sound good to you, why look elsewhere?
With that in mind, I’ll give you my highly subjective, biased opinion 
First, I thought the buds that came with the clip sounded pretty good. Much better sounding and more comfortable than the ones that came with my iPod shuffle. However, my ears don’t like any buds for an extended time period, so…
My main headphones are a pair of Sony MDR-V6’s. I bought these back in the 80’s so they are around 25 yrs old. I tried them at a stereo shop based on a recommendation in Consumer Reports Magazine and they were right. They still sound fantastic. They could use new pads, though. Sony still makes them and they are around $100. I highly recommend them and if you google for them you will find many reviewers claiming they are some of the best headphones ever made. They are certainly the best I have ever owned. They are also very comfortable and I can wear them for many many hours at a time without any discomfort. I even nap in them sometimes. If these get damaged, I will replace them immediately.
For out and about, I have a pair of Koss KSC-75’s that clip to my ear. I bought them after reading a review ( it was a technical review that used a dummy head to measure the sound being produced as if into a human ear) and the reviewer claimed that these were an outstanding value with few headphones outperforming them at any price. They were only $20 and so I figured I’d give 'em a try and I am glad I did. They have excellent sound. My son bought a pair after listening to mine (although he usually uses buds). I like the open design; I can turn the volume off and still hear quite well so I just wear them all the time in the office. I also wear them skiing and they have a side benefit of being little ear muffs. It’s cold on the mountain: it was 7 degF when we got to Breckenridge last Saturday morning, so to me the little bit of extra insulation on my ears is a big plus.
Both work quite well with the clip.
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665089914
^^^----- you can beat the Sony webstore price, for sure.
http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/p?openform&pc^sc^KSC75
I also have a pile (literally, behind me on the floor, it needs to be cleaned up and the phones put away, given away, or something) of headphones I DON’T like.
I have no financial interest in either Sony or Koss.
Robert
Message Edited by rwuest on 01-15-2008 11:17 PM
I’m happy w/ my good old Sennheiser MX400, and for running I use Sennheiser MXL70 (15 euros in France, probably less than < 15 USD).
Message Edited by kukrapok on 01-16-2008 01:10 PM
BE VERY CAREFUL…This thing has damaged atleast 6 pairs of my headphones. Everytime I changed them in a day or two there would be a shortage in one ear and eventually stopped working altogether. I thought it was the player and exchanged them for new ones 3 different times in the last month, from 2 different retailers. Perhaps I have had bad luck…but with 6 pairs of headphones that are no longer any good after 2 weeks, be very careful! I’m going to contact them to find out if this player should only be used with certain headphones.
I’ve been thinking about how that could happen. Of course, as already stated, the power could do it. If you’re blowing out super cheapy phones, that might be the case. However, the clip doesn’t put out _that_ much power. It’s not anywhere near as loud as an IAudio U3, which is 30 mW/channel. Or my iPod shuffle (I have no idea what it’s Pout is).
The only other thing I can think of is if there is DC coming out of the unit as might happen with a shorted coupling cap (I’ve never seen the schematic for this thing so I don’t know for sure what the audio output stage looks like). But the odds of that happening to one person several times are pretty darned low (edit: oops, certainly not high). It would also reduce your battery life significantly.
Most strange.
Did it blow out the orginal ear buds that came with the clip?
I have a lot of run hours with both of the headphones I listed above and haven’t encountered any problems.
Robert
Message Edited by rwuest on 01-16-2008 07:09 PM
I’m using a pair of Sony headphones, & one side has been going in & out every so often for the last few days. It appears to happen mostly when I turn the jack or move the wire around, so I’m inclined to think the headphones are starting to fail. They are kinda old… I don’t have another pair to try right now, but if anyone has any words of wisdom on this, I’d appreciate it! I just want to verify if my headphones are in fact dying on me…
I have a similar problem in my car Aux In adapter. After using it for several months the tiny wires inside the Aux cable get intermittant on one channel. I cut the cable and installed a new headphone plug from Radio Shack.
It worked fine another 4 months and now its doing it again.
You can likley get a nice set of phones for < $19. I dont think the jack is the problem. The wires are really prone to damage in headphones unfortunately.
Also, I dont think the Clip will put out enough power to break your headphones, because your ears would break first :).
You can set the Volume to normal instead of high to limit the max output power if you like.
Funny thing is I never tried the headphones that came with it. I just found them yesterday after opening the 3rd clip. I tried 2 pairs of Philiips noise reduction earbuds (not cheap but not Boise), one pair was only a month old. Didnt need to crank the volume too high beause of thenoise reduction button. The otheres were 2 pair of ipod earphones and lastly some cheap of brand (fear of ruining good earphones). I only use the clip to listen to the radio and I used them to work out once…come to think of it I rarely use the clip more than an hour or two a day…generally carry ipod video…but after plugging headphones up to the clip, they have never worked the same…
Odd bcause I love how flexible th clip is as opposed to the bulky ipod video and screenless shuffle!
Sansafix, do you think it’s time for new headphones, then? I think I do have the volume set to normal… But I agree the Clip didn’t break the headphones. As I said, they are kinda old… I’d say they’ll last a while longer, but who knows. If worse comes to worst, I suppose I could use the earbuds temporarily until I get new headphones.
I would replace them.
If anyone else is also shopping for great headphones on-the-cheap (real headphones, not earbuds), I found a great pair from Radio Shack for only $22 - they sound great, man - I hear things in songs on my Clip that I’ve never heard before, not even on the CD!
Link: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103657&cp
(I must have caught them on sale because now they’re showing the price as $29.99)
Message Edited by RickH on 01-20-2008 09:26 PM
My JVC “Air Cushion” (HA FX66) in-ear phones arrived the other day. The sound INCREDIBLE with the Clip- the best headphones you can get for $20. and in my opinion, the best of the under $50 class. And I hate “buds”, but these are so comfortable you don’t even realize you’re wearing them, and they stay in effortlessly, and are easy to put in.
