[palane]

No. There is some additional cost integrating the remote control into the headphones so you DON'T have to buy two products. Let me try this again. Of the $100, you're spending $90 for the headphones and $10 for the remote. If you want two products, then spend the extra $20 for the Apple remote. By and large, I think the author's analysis is correct. The new shuffle isn't for someone who isn't satisfied with the iBuds. However, if one wants this shuffle and a better set of cans, Klipsch has an alternative.

As an aside, I spent a lot of time in the 80's and 90's with Klipsch speakers. Started with KG2's, traded to KG4's, and finally a pair of Forte speakers. My dealer had a nice trade-in allowance. Sadly, my Forte's were stolen with the rest of my stereo (Nakamichi) and a grad student's stipend wasn't enough to start over again. Sigh...

[Flagcarrier]

This is hilarious. When the new Shuffle came out everyone was running up walls about how there would be no third-party headphones available. Now when a pair (and probably the first among many) has been announced it's not "good enough".

It never seizes to amaze me how insatiable some people force themselves to be.

[musicplusmac]

First of all. The people who will be buying the new shuffle don't care about sound quality or the fit of the earbuds and will use the stock earbuds that come with the ipod because that's all they know. This shuffle is obviously being marketed to the common person who just listens to music casually. Also runners might enjoy this product but I know a lot of runners who already use a nano or an ipod touch/iphone to workout. Both products have flash memory in them so there's no worries about skipping. The iPhone or Nano crowd don't care for a shuffle because there is no screen which is why they chose the nano or iphone in the first place. Yes I agree that this shuffle is so much worse than the previous generation but I have an iPhone 3g and a 5th generation iPod video and all the guys bagging on this new shuffle aren't in the market for one because they own a superior ipod. And yes I agree that having to buy a brand new pair of good quality headphones just to use the shuffle to its fullest potential sucks but the people in the market for this shuffle most likely don't own a pair of good quality headphones anyway and will be happy with the stock ones because that's what they are used to or will be happy to buy a pair of nice headphones just for the shuffle because they don't already own a pair of good headphones.