Good Headphones = Good Sound

Getting that perfect sound on any MP3 player can be as easy as doing one simple thing and no, I don’t mean buying a new MP3 player!

One of the simplest things you can do is replace the headphones that came with your player, no matter how much you paid for the player, be it £30 or £300 I can assure you the headphones in that shiny box probably cost less than the paper used to print the instructions on.

So, do yourself and your ears a favour and ditch those tinny headphones and buy something new.  For little more than £10 you will be amazed what deals you can find. I’ve just replaced an old set of headphones that I bought 18 months ago with a pair of Sennheiser CX300 Stereo Earphones that I picked up from Amazon.co.uk for only £12.49 inc postage.

Now, this is what Sennheiser said about them, “The CX 300 are high-quality stereo ear-canal headphones with powerful, bass-driven stereo sound for listening ‘on the move.’ Ear adapters in three different sizes ensure a perfect fit, high wearing comfort and an excellent attenuation of ambient noise. The CX 300 are ideal for use with MP3, CD, MD, or DVD players and many other portable devices.”

Sounds pretty impressive doesn’t it? Well of course it would! It was written by the guys that make them. SO, what’s a guy (or gal) to do when they want to find out what something is really like? Simple, Google reviews and before you know it you have zillions of things to read…some good and some downright terrible, so be prepared for when that dream item, that you spent 5 weeks researching and decided gave the best bang for buck, suddenly gets ripped to shreds by the actual users; sure you expect the few gripes but if you start seeing a stream of negative comments…ditch it and look again and perhaps the reviews are the ones to trust but perhaps not?!

I’m sure by saying that there will be a flurry of activity in the conspiracy camp who will be writing messages to let me know that manufacturers agents (marketing) pay people to post nice reviews, it’s OK guys I’m aware of that fact and so is everyone reading this now.

I did a bit of reading and the first two paragraphs I read of the following review sold me on my new Sennheisers (but the 3rd put me off when he waffled about his mate in the music industry, using that logic the 15 years I’ve spent drinking in Soho, London qualify me as having, quite possibly, the biggest collection of muso mates out there!)

“I have been struggling with the iPod supplied earbuds for quite some time, they truly are awful. I switched to a Phillips set which sounded good but broke within 3 weeks. After searching Amazon and various places for reviews on the net Sennheiser came out as the best again and again, so I went for it. Glad I did, they are great. Brilliant sound, very comfortable with a great seal – in fact, so good that when I’m doing my housework I can’t hear the vacuum at all and have to keep checking it’s actually on and unfortunately missed numerous phone calls. I’ve also had it confirmed that no one else can hear the music at all while I’m listening to it either so it would be great for trains/buses etc.

I also really like the way they have designed the actual connection plug where it sits in the iPod – it’s solid, sturdy and it’s angled so the wire is running to the side rather than straight down. I’m positive this will limit the likelihood of the wires becoming broken or unstable as happened with the Phillips set.”

Once you’ve found your perfect headphones be sure to shop around for prices, I used Kelkoo to find great value online, fast! and don’t  forget the MP3 Soopa Store