I'm looking for the cheapest pair of earphones/headphones which produce a good quality sound. My budget is under $100. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Best Value Earphones/Headphones
mrjames on 11/07/2016 - 21:59
Comments
Creative Aurvana Live! gets my vote, very comfortable and in your price range.
The superlux 668B or the 681 are really good as well.
Jabra Move Bluetooth Headphone wireless. (They come in a range of colour black/blue/red) $89 or have officework price beat them for another 5% off.
https://www.mobileciti.com.au/jabra-move-wireless-headphones…
But keep in mind that headphone at the price range don't tend to last a long time. But if you plan to use and abuse your headphone this is probably the way to go.
I found the best sounding cheap earphone is the Apple earpod. $40
Heard a lot of good things for the XioMi Piston. But I never heard or seen them personally so I don't know about the sound or where to buy.
Another good buy is the Sennheiser cx3.00
So to summarize.
If you only have one headphone I pick the Jabra Move as it is up the most versatile and can be paired via Bluetooth and be used with headphone jack should the need arise.
Second pick. The earpod is a really good earphone for the price. But having mismatch branding bother you (I know i am) get the Sennheiser cx3.00 it comes with a nice case also.
i bought some earphones from DHgate 2 years ago which were on super cheap clearance for US$0.90 each (bought the last 7 pairs). they have inbuilt mic and volume control/mute control. and they are awesome. excellent noise cancelling properties. I was using them this morning whilst flying back from Tokyo. watched "Rock the Kasbah" (lots of dialogue and quiet moments) - took off my ear phones to speak to one of my children and was like "wow, I'm in a noisy plane". I had forgotten that soothing rumbling engine noise.
I'm still on the first pair. -used about 100 times.
here's a link to the same model -different seller and higher price
KOSS KSC-75, On Ear Clip-On headphone. They are my favourite that I will return to under $50 AUD (from Amazon). Kinda like it more with a headphone band (that I've gotten from PortaPro), but it's fine as is.
Earphone wise, I like QuadBeat 3 from LG (It's the bundled earphone for LG G4). Kinda bought the earphone because I heard it was great, it, in my opinion, lived up to the hype for me at least. It has the worst earphone tips I've ever tried though, needed to change that horrible piece of junk first (replacement ones cost like few bucks from Aliexpress anywayas). I might go for QuadBeat 3 AKG Edition (which apparently is better) next, that said, if I can't get my hands on those, I will buy QuadBeat 3 again.
Xiaomi Pistons. I was skeptical at first due to the cheap price tag but I found them really good quality.
Ditto mate. I bought a pair and they're actually really good
Don't get yourself anything like the Bose or Sennheisser Noise cancelling over-ear headphones. Totally not worth the money, and you'll get pretty good noise cancelling for just having earbuds stuffed in your ear
I preferred the 2nd gen pistons to the third gen. Waiting patiently for xiaomi to make a BT headset but until then this is it.
As for Bose and seinheisser, they're a different product altogether. Pricey for what they are but can appreciate the differences
try wearing in ears on a 8hr + journey, I know I can't.
@spawnpoint: I am kinda surprised that Xiaomi one is mentioned on noise canceling front. All in-ear ones do some form of passive noise cancelling, but ones with ducts are usually considered to be less effective at that (Xiaomi one is no exception).
yeah, I have the pistons (I & II) and neither of them are any better at noise cancellation than any other IEMs that you can get.
I think biflange or triflange would do better Noise cancellation anyways, but I find those too intrusive and uncomfortable to wear for longer journeys.
@spawnpoint: Eh, it's not just triflange (it does help to some extent, especially since it makes you put it in further and blocking the ear more) but more of sound seeping through the air duct of the headphone or earphone.
Doesn't foam tips help as well?
yeah I know what you mean. Hard to test earphones out without actually buying them.
Headphones are much easier to test and closed back are obviously better at blocking noise compared to open back as well.
No such classification on IEMs
@spawnpoint: There are ones that are known to be good at passive noise cancelling though. A lot of ones that are used for monitoring (i.e. Shure SE series for example) are known to be good because they need to be. Apparently they are good with comfort as well.
Also, well technically we did have open earphones (i.e. Earpods (which I kinda like), a lot of Sennheiser stuff like MX400, Aurvana Air etc).
Piston 2,or hybrid if you prefer a more neutral sound. I'm amazed that these earphones don't sell for 100 plus. If they had sennheiser branding they probably would. They are also very durable. I prefer their sound to Sony xba 2,ue600 and momentum on ear.
ear phones and headphones are completely different products. What do you prefer?
Sound quality is pretty subjective so, I'm going to list the devices I own and give you a short description.
Panasonic RP-HC200 Noise cancelling headphones — $60 from Kogan.
Thoughts: Decent sound performance for the price I paid ($30 via Amazon 5 months ago), but sounds are two-dimensional — bass lacks depth and mids are flat. It has active Noise cancellation which requires you to put in a AAA battery. Noise cancellation is not effective (it seems to remove only 20% of the noise IMO) and it can be thought of as an extra 'bonus' feature. Just read the Amazon reviews online and see how laughable it is.
3.5 / 5 stars
Koss PortaPro - $30~40 from Amazon USA (shipping). I bought mine for $33 AUD about 2.5 years ago.
Thoughts: Best headphones (sound-wise) you can buy for this price. Amazing sound clarity and crystal clear mids, decent bass. But cable is a bit too short and lacks noise isolation (on-ear). 4.5 stars out of 5.
Sennheiser 419 ($69 RRP) and Sennheiser HD201 ($20~29 dollars)
Thoughts: A sad excuse for budget headphones. Sennheiser built these for the gullible market who buys based on brand name. The HD419 isn't half bad but it sounds noticeably worse than it's cheaper competition.
2.5/5 stars for HD419 and 1star for HD201.
Logitech UE4000 (obsolete, $59)
I bought these for $25. They sound alright for the price I paid but now they are going for $59 on eBAY, sold by FUTU_online. Absolutely don't buy them at this price. They are $60 dollar headphones that sound like $30 headphones. Not very comfortable to wear for long periods either. 3/5 stars.
Xiaomi Pistons, 2nd generation $15 when they go on sale
Thoughts: They sound good, better than CX300's IMO and are cheaper by wide margin. They are made with android phones in mind, so the remote control works perfectly. Must-have for any Android user. The 3rd gen is only $17 AUD. Do it.
5/5 stars because they are so cheap.
Bose QuietComfort 20 noise cancelling earphones, $360 dollars
Thoughts — The noise cancellation is second to none and the sound quality is amazing. In exchange for that, you will have raped your wallet and your bank account. 4/5 stars because they are so expensive in Aust.