After our most recent trip, nearly all of our earbuds have simply died. Usually, the little cable breaks, so what to do if you need a lot of these and they take abuse. Headphones.com has some of the best reviews I've seen. It is how I originally got the Etymotic ER-6i and ER-4p and ER-4s. Sadly, I've lost one ER-6i and two have broken, so what are the best headphones now:
Ten Best Headphones
Most of these aren't practical for travel but the real winner seems to be the Shure SE310. It got 5 out of 5 (The Etymotics ER-4Ps are 4.5 out of 5, so close) and it comes in white. Amazon has them for $200 and the list is $299. While headphones.com has them for $250.
Entry Level
If you can't stand paying more for your headphones than your iPod or you've got kids who will likely rip and destroy them, then try the Sennheiser MX300 which lists for $10 and Amazon has for $9. They don't say it but I'd expect the white MX500 probably works just as well although it is $17 because of the color :_) and because there is a volume control on it. Macworld also likes the MX 500 and it is nice it comes in a little case too. iLounge also liked the MX 500 giving it an A- saying that while they are uncomfortable for long usage, they sound as good as the Apple ones. BTW, if you don't mind, you can get blue MX 500 for $10 from TigerDirect.com
If you want in the ear, so called in-canal headphones, these are a great step up and much less bulky that on the ear headphones, so a budget set would be then try the Jays j-JAYS which are just $50 and do have that snug fit and noise reduction. or the d-JAYS which sound better at $100 and got a 4 out of 5 rating.
