heavydog

You’ve got a new iPod eh? Whats the first thing you do? You crack open the box, pull apart all the packaging, exposing the sublime trinkets that you get with your shiny new iPod.

Whats the next thing you do?

THROW AWAY THE GODDAMN HEADPHONES!

They’re shit. Nothing more, nothing less. OK, so maybe you shouldn’t throw them away. You won’t get as much for it on ebay if it’s not complete. But, after the novelty of the iPod has worn off, put the headphones back in the box and buy some new ones.

The standard iPod headphones are RUBBISH, why?

• They sound rubbish. This is probably THE most important point. I’d rather not listen to music than listen to it through the stock headphones.
• They will damage your hearing.
• They look rubbish, c’mon, what does white go with?
• Everyone knows you’ve got an iPod, geek.
• The sound quality is poor.
• They sound rubbish.
• Listening to two testicles being squashed between two bricks travelling at a high velocity is a preferable sound to anything the stock headphones can produce.

So, buy some new headphones for fucks sake. You don’t have to spend a lot. ?30 will get you a nice set of Sony earbuds and once you’ve used these, you’ll never want to put apples rubbish stock ones in your ears again.

Here are some headphones you might like to consider:

• Sony MDR-EX71 - these are a nice pair, I’ve owned two of these, the sound is very good and the bass reproduction is excellent (as long as you have them rammed into your ears far enough)
• Shure EC2 - these are the choice of a lot of professional musicians and are a big favourite amongst personal audio player owners, also, Shure have years of experience of reproducing audio. They are also not a bad price, these will be my next upgrade.
• Sennheiser HD25 - some call these “The Daddy of headphones”, they’re not ear-canal-buds, so offer no isolation, which means they’re best listened to when there is little or no outside noise, but are used by professionals worldwide.
• Band & Olufsen A8’s (Official Page) - many say that these are the best headphones on the planet, they use a “rare earth magnet” not sure what that means!

For a more indepth look at some of the best headphones and earbuds on the market, check this link: Music to Your Ears: 2003.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my ipod, its possibly the most wonderful gadget I have ever and will ever own. It’s just that the stock apple earbuds mar an otherwise excellent product.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to which you prefer with headphones, everyones hearing is different. Having said that, if you prefer the stock apple ones over sticking the danger-end of a lit cigarette in your ear, then you probably shouldn’t own an ipod (and you probably enjoy chart music…).