Headphone manufacturers are the lowest IQ demographic on Earth

Stop buying crappy headphones and audio equipment you'll stop having this problem... Your post is like someone complaining that their iPhone broke when they dropped it.
I've been using Audio Technica ATH-M50x for years with no problems. I can tell you from experience that they're very durable.

Lol, I feel ya on the rant, but seriously, stop buying el cheapos. If I can do it, so can you. Yeah, I can get decent ear buds for a buck at the dollar store that sound fine, but they never last. Cheap crap isn't meant to.

My Skullcandy earbuds cost way more than a buck, but they last a hell of a lot longer and are pretty durable. I finally wore one pair out after 5 years of abuse, including but not limited to slamming wires in drawers and sucking them up in vacuums. Made an effort to track down the same line of earbuds, and replaced quite happily. I look forward to another spread of years of ditz abuse before repeating.

I sympathize with your dilemma, as I've dealt with the same BS from headphone manufacturers - inconsistency, fragility, cost-cutting destroying standard of quality, stuff like that.

Until recently, I worked in a glass bottle factory. It was loud and dirty, and much of the time it was very boring. On a lot of double shifts, the only thing that kept me from losing it completely was my podcasts and music. But the job was rough on equipment, no way around that. I burned through dozens of sets of different headphones before finding a few that held up (not indefinitely, but long enough to justify paying for them).

These HERE are the best all-around wired headphones I've owned. Tough as hell they are. And I was actually blown away by the sound quality! As they're imitation safety earplugs, I wasn't expecting much. What I got was above and beyond.

For something in those lighter-duty times (sitting around the house, laying in bed, etc), and a set with an eye/ear more towards aesthetics and audio quality, try THESE.

For the wireless Bluetooth route, I recommend THESE.

And finally, my ear-holes have what must be an unusual/slightly odd shape, and most of the little rubber pads or whatever they're called don't do the job; they seal very poorly or not at all, resulting in a complete lack of bass response and overall sound quality. So I use THESE, and I put them on every pair of earbuds I use... be they wired, wireless, whatever, these seal the ambient noise out, and the good stuff in.

Good luck friend! I hope some of the above info/links help you out.


-MWNN
11/28/18

I have airpods, so no cable.
Yes, they are expensive as hell, but it’s the only good thing apple has made in the last 10 years.

Stop buying junk and then complaining that you bought junk.
You’re basically complaining about your own stupidity.

a reply to: Archivalist

It was an apt rant. "give him a job at Uniball" "da vinci heart surgery robot" lol. Hit me up with a pm if you do one on phone chargers would ya?


Also, I'm sure you have a good reason why you do not use bluetooth...but, use blootueth lol.

a reply to: Archivalist

Hoo Haa!
You noticed the junk.

But, you did mention Bose.
I have Bose Quiet Comforts.
They last for years, they are the best,
and you can replace the foam pads.
Put these on your Christmas List.
At the top.
www.bose.com...

a reply to: Archivalist

I bought a pair of earbuds for £1 the other week because the good ones had been left behind.

It was like listening to a tin can on the end of a 100 yards of string attached to an old AM radio next to a cement mixer.

I second the ATH M50s, very well built and sound goodish..!

You could also go for "Shure SE215" IEMs with detachable cables and they would be in the same price range as the ATHs
215s

But.... Be careful where you buy from because of counterfeits, in Europe anyway.

Don't buy AKG K702s, the solder breaks every time you drop them ffs, sound great tho..

I love a good set of headphones, and as much as I love finding a bargain and not overpaying on stuff, I never ever cheap out on headphones, and so far the only ones I have had break on me are some Sony MDR 100aap phones, and it was the detachable cable, easily replaced for around £10.

I have had a massive collection over the years, though trimmed it down nowadays, I love my music and create it when i'm in the mood so I always have a few good sets.

Sennheiser are a great brand that have never broken on me, i dunno what type of plastic they use on the plastic sets but damn is that stuff strong. Currently have some Urbanite XL, HD598, Bt 450, and used to have the HD 600. Never been failed by a set of Sennheiser.

My current set of Headphones which are never off my head and I use above anything are the Phillips Fidelio X2 (I know Phillips ..who would have thought?) .... these are my baby's ...just gorgeous, and I even prefer them to the HD 600, pads are a hair magnet though, but damn comfy, and easily replaceable with non memory foam pads, like leather etc these phones are very well made, nothing cheap about them and they last, but more importantly, sound amazing!

a reply to: Klassified

Headphones are very simple devices, all you need is the jack, some flexible wiring, some high quality speakers of the right impedance for the amplifier feeding the head phone socket, you can add a variable resistor to control the amount of power that get's to those speakers and of course a housing to mount them on either side of your head and make them as comfortable as you can.

In essence it is possible to build a set of headphone's that would put to shame those high priced (but very stylishly designed) branded headphone's or to re-purpose the speakers out of an existing set it is really easy.

a reply to: threeeyesopen

LOL they look similar to my Sony $26.00 model. Just standard PC phones- not extra bass like yours. I've had them about 4 years. Still going good.

I dont understand why the OP doesn't try before buying - somethings not adding up.

a reply to: LABTECH767
Generally speaking, you are correct.

However, some manufacturers still design their speakers and enclosures for proper acoustic resonance, as well as crossover and other circuitry where applicable. The AKG 240's for example, are well designed open headphones for the price range.

a reply to: valiant

Yeah, the difference between cheap and expensive cans is a lot.. My baby is a pair of Beyerdynamics T90s.
I got one of the last pairs on the net for half the price, thye don't make them anymore but the music out of them is amazing. I also have a Little Dot MK3 amp. Fully recommended with good cans.

a reply to: trollz

I have a pair Grado cans and they are still going after 15 years. Grado. Even my in-ear headphones for day-to-day use at work (music and talking on the phone) are decent, and have not failed the abuse I give them.

I buy things that last. Musical Fidelity Hi Fi kit and Sonus Faber loudspeakers. Never need to upgrade, and they don't mysteriously breakdown after warranty has expired.

Buying quality equates to long life, and that saves in the long run.

a reply to: Klassified

Crossover can be prevented using shielded wiring, bit more expensive but well worth it if you are trying to avoid inductive crossover from one side to the other.
They usually have very few or no circuitry except for noise cancelling or in line amplified headphone's which are not what the OP is talking about, his are by the sound of it In ear so as simple as they come unless of course he is using wireless headphones.
As for the acoustic enclosure - full over the ear ear cup type's which I prefer myself - comfort is far more important and with a decent set of neodynium speakers or even if you know your impedance valued correctly and can pick out the correct resistor's for each - or add individual variable resistors - (this is were a few tiny bandpass filters would also come in handy) you can actually branch each of the wires to feed multiple speakers for each ear, use a high quality piezo speaker (you could even strip out a pair of old telephone handsets for these) for the high frequency sound's as a kind of modern equivalent of those older crystal set's (with a lot less charcoal) and a larger standard diaphragm and magnet speaker for the meaty bass you may crave, with that since the enclosure is so small anyway harmonic echo distortion in such an enclosed space really has little chance of occurring and you could even forgo the open space in favor of a soft sponge with a small space around each speaker so that the only place the sound goes is toward your lug holes and it would also help with passive external noise cancellation.
Most of the time claim's about the voracity of the enclosure over the ear's and how it affect's the sound is pure bunk advertising crap to sell a branded set of headphone's that cost penny to make for hundreds dollars (or pound's over here).
Some company's did spend a lot in the past on this research however such as Sony, Phillips and Blaupunkt so it's not ALL blather but mostly so and remember by the time they have compromise to comfort, weight and look's how much of that research actually end's up in there finished product anyway.

a reply to: Archivalist

100 000 people die of starvation each day.

Lots of innocent human beings have been killed and seriously injured by drone attacks over the years - at least drones are equal, they don't see color, height, gender, race or age.

Paraplegic people have to wake up from a dream where they were running to the reality where they can't even turn their heads. They somehow must muster the willpower to go on living another day this way.

Young, homeless children fall asleep in the noisy, pollution-filled traffic in Asia, after sniffing some glue.

Someone is right now in prison, being stabbed, and someone else is being raped.

A feminist woman is screaming at the top of her lungs right now to some innocent man that's too afraid to do anything, while getting ear injury from that.

Ah, sorry, your 'slight earbud inconvenience' is CERTAINLY worth a long rant in this kind of world! Dang those earphone manufacturers, how DARE they!!