[Macworld]

Post your comments for Headphone Buyer's Guide here

[vfx2k4]

Nice stuff. Any chance we can get a look at headsets? I use Skype for business all day long and cannot find a decent high end headset with active noise canceling. All of them seem to be made for gamers.

[mangochutney]

Nice article, but for one thing:
You missed out a company.
In your In-Ear-Canalphone section you should have included the Westone UM2. Here in Germany nearly no one knows Westone, but I thought, that in the US it would be a bit different.
The reason why I'm saying this is because I've tested every single one of those IEMs you mentioned (and more), with the UM2s being my favourites.
As they were originally intended as drummer-IEMs they have a nice but not overly powerful bass. Just enough to compensate the rolled off lower frequency output of most media-players, iPods included (except the iPod classic).
They sound very warm and are far from neutral, but yet very harmonious.
They are far more durable than any of the above mentioned IEMs, canalphones or earbuds. Also they are even more comfortable than the SE530 [except for those people who can wear Ultimate Ears better].
Don't get me wrong, your recommendations are good, with the Triple.fi 10pro being the best IEM that I have ever heard [but for the fact that I needed earmolds for them to fit comfortably for long peroids of time], but the Westones shouldn't be missing.
BR

[Dan Frakes]

Thanks for the note. I've seen the Westone UM2 at trade shows and have wanted to test them formally. Unfortunately, we've had little luck obtaining evaluation/review units. (Also, keep in mind that this isn't an exhaustive list; there are many other good headphones out there. I was just trying to recommend a few of each type at various price points.)

[mangochutney]

You're right, I didn't mean to say that what you wrote was incomplete in general, just that in my opinion those IEMs are worth a mention. Interesting that you couldn't get Westone to give you a review unit, rather uncommon for them. If I lived in the US I'd send you mine for one or two weeks, but over the pond this would take quite some time, and money.

Keep up the good work, I really enjoy your podcasts!

Alex

[zgatt]

I get a lot of enjoyment from my Sony 'canalphones'. With your cheapest models in the review at $130, I think it's reasonable to mention the MDR-EX71SL, which are sub-$50 and definitely far better than your (charitably) "pretty good" rated Apple buds. Perhaps not 'wow', but they also block noise like expensive noise-canceling outfits on planes and public transport.

[MaddogMadden]

I would suggest looking at Aliph's new Jawbone. I have the old one, and it is fantastic, and from the reviews i've read the new one is even better.

[Dan Frakes]

I understood your original comment, no worries :)
(To clarify the Westone comment, it's not that they've actively refused to give us a review unit. Rather, we've never heard back from them when we've contacted them. We're still trying, though.)

[Dan Frakes]

zgatt:

The MDR-EX71SL aren't true canalphones; they fall under the "canalbuds" category. In the article, I recommended several canalbud models between $40 and $130. The EX71SL are popular, but I personally prefer the V-Moda BassFreq, which have a bass-heavy sound like the EX71SL, but for a lower price.

[tmedia1]

Good info here. I'd like to see a review of cell phone headsets, both wired and bluetooth. With the new hands free law in CA, it would be most pertinent.

[Dan Frakes]

vfx2k4:
By headset, I'm assuming you mean stereo headphones with a microphone? Peter Cohen reviewed the Beyerdynamic MMX2 as a gaming headset, but I've been using it for Skype and podcasts and I like it a lot:
http://www.macworld....namic_mmx2.html

MaddogMadden:
We'll be doing a roundup of several popular Bluetooth headsets for the iPhone soon. The new Jawbone is definitely better than the original -- mainly in terms of fit and comfort, in my testing -- but there are other models out there that offer very good performance for much less money. But that's a different topic than this article ;)

[ibeetle]

Nice guide. I have been sort of kind of thinking about buying a new pair of headphones.
I have a 3 year old pair of Shure E2c's.
So, like how long do headphones like In-Ear-Canal last? The Shure SE210's keep talking to me.

[Dan Frakes]

tmedia1: You can see our roundup of iPhone headsets here:
http://www.macworld....neheadsets.html
We're working on a roundup of several Bluetooth headsets.

[mangochutney]

@ibeetle

The good one should last you as long as the E2c's and longer. It depends how you treat them.
In any case you'll notice a huge difference in sound quality coming from a dynamic driver (as it is in your E2c or any other canalbud) going to a "balanced armature driver" design in 'true' IEMs like those SE210 and everything above.