Best I've found, though a bit pricey

I've been looking for decent in-ear headphones for quite a while. I've tried Sonys, and eventually bought the Bose offering, which was disappointing given Bose's reputation and price. Still, they were better than the ones that came with the iPod, so I had just about resigned myself to the fact that I was never going to get from earbuds the kind of sound over-the-ears headphones provide. Then I tried these, and the difference was night and day.

The first thing a good pair of headphones has to do of course is isolate the sound from the ambient noise, especially in a car. The Monster turbines do this better than any I've ever heard, even nearly obliterating the sound of a competing car radio. (I worry about hearing sirens while driving, they're so good).

Once the background is taken care of, the sound is superb -- clear, balanced, and finely detailed. I'm a fairly eclectic listener, and everyone from Puccini to Sigur Ros sounds good through these. It remains undistorted even at high volumes, but high volumes are less necessary with these. Finally, these are comfortable to wear. The soft rubber tips (a variety of sizes and shapes provided) fit comfortably in my small ear canal, and hardly ever fall out.

The only reason I give these 4 stars instead of 5 is the price, which I find to be a bit excessive for ANY earbuds. But it may be a case of getting what you pay for.

Monster Turbine High Performance In-Ear Headphone

Excellent, listenable in-ear phones

I received these in-ear phones from RoadDogOnline through Amazon about a week ago. I have been using Shure E-4's for about 2 years, and Koss over the ear headphones for about 5 years. This is my first review. The Atrio's are so good I thought I would share my thoughts.

Unlike the Shures, these do not loop behind the ears. Using the foam tips, the Atrios stay in place fairly well, though the Shures felt more solidly in place. Construction is sturdy. They don't feel like they'll break apart in your hand. Out of the box, the Atrios provide a variety of silicone and foam ear tips (I'd be very surprised if you could not find a comfortable fit)and a case that's large enough to carry a small DAP along with the phones. The Atrios are considerably more comfortable than the Shures and the over ear headphones.

I drove all three sets of phones from my iAudio X5. I listen to 60's and 70's rock, folk, and classical ripped with a high sampling rate. The Shures are very solid performers, and I don't regret owning them in the least. However, they are a bit light on the bass and almost too crisp in the treble range. The Koss over ears sound very good as well, but are not portable. The Atrios are an absolute pleasure. The bass in comparison to the Shures is excellent, and the higher frequencies are gentler, more mellow. You can just leave these things in your ears forever and listen and listen without tiring. The brightness of the Shures is excellent for critical listening but for just sheer pleasure the Atrios win hands down.

The one significant negative for the Atrios is that they do not block noise nearly as well as the the Shures. My E-4's will go on the plane with me, and the Atrios will be at my desk at work.

Future Sonics Atrio Series M8 Earbuds

Superb sound and great value.

Being a Juilliard graduate, I have a need for pure music reproduction. Living in New York City, I also have an absolute need for sound isolation in earphones, which can only mean sound-isolating earbuds.

Being a bit of a connoiseur of earbuds, I own the Shure E5C and SE530, Westone UM2, ER4 and 6. Because of the Klipsch legend in speaker design, I took a flyer on their Custom 3. They are superb.

I chose the Custom 3 over the Image because I prefer the buds that fit the ear like a hearing aid, sitting in the ear canal, rather than the type that stick out of the ear. I never seem to feel comfortable with the latter type, get a good fit, or feel they sit securely. For that reason, I find that I never use either of the ER's. Without all of these re requirements, good sound reproduction is not possible in a bud.

The Custom 3's are warm, bright, and offer resonant bass -- not to mention a spacious sonic field and beautiful instrument placement. For me, as one experienced in earbud fitting, they required no special attention to fit except to substitute the large eargels for the medium which come attached in the box. I don't generally care for the double-flange type as they seem to make for an artificially dampened sonic field and collect earwax inordinately.

The Custom 3's are very lightweight, are no more prone to microphonics than any other bud, and seem very sturdy. I love the hardwire around the ear which makes finding the right ears a breeze. Love the E5C's for the same reason: no fumbling!

I would say the sound of the Custom 3's equals or surpasses both the Shure and Westone models, for significantly less money. I have already ordered a second pair (also have two of the E5C's). Like to have backup!

Bravo to Klipsch for giving us such another beautifully engineered product. Love the demo video, too. Very droll!

Klipsch Custom-3 In-Ear Noise Isolating Earphone

Panasonic RP-HC500 vs. Audio-Tehnica ATH-ANC7

I originally purchased the Audio-Tehnica quiet point ATH-ANC7 headphones most because of it's overall positive rating vs. Bose Quiet comforts. However, once I received them I viewed some ratings for the Panasonic RP-HC500 and decided to purchase one of those as well in order to compare the two.

My observations:
Cost: Panasonic was ~$7 cheaper.

Appearance: Both are pretty much the same form factor. The slight nod goes to Audio-Technica for it's looks. Both carrying cases are similar in shape and appearance.

Comfort: Both headphones were equally comfortable on my large ears.

Noise cancellation: Panasonic wins by a substantial margin. My wife verified this in our noisy car.

Sound: Both sound the same to me. However, my main focus was on noise cancellation.

Battery: Panasonic indicated that some models come with rechargeable battery (mine came with standard battery). However, using rechargeable batteries is important to me. Audio Technica explicitly stated to NOT USE rechargeable batteries. Panasonic wins.

Accessories: Both brands came with identical accessories except that the cord that came with Audio Technica was about 2" longer. No advantage either way.

I ended up returning the Audio Technica headphones and am very happy with the Panasonics.

Panasonic RP-HC500 Noise-Canceling Headphones

Excellent, Even Surreal, Once EQ is adjusted

These are excellent headphones, with unbelievable bass(read-accurate).

As equalized they are not particularly accurate though-no doubt to the intention of having them used in noisy environments. Though lacking a documented frequency curve, I would guess it has a pronounced dip in the upper midrange to lower high frequency region, combined with a slightly heavy midbass band. No doubt many people will find this exciting, I am sure this was done again to compensate for an expected noisy external environment.

I am a sound engineer, and I have been looking for very high quality noise reduction headphones for mastering purposes. I suspected when I first auditioned these, that with a little tweaking, I could get them "perfect".

In mastering, one of the biggest problems is dealing with any extraneous noises that may "mask" details in the recording you are working on. traditional headphones simply cannot block all of this noise out. You would be amazed at the noise that creeps into your audtioning that you aren't aware of. The headphones do the finest job of removing this noise that I have ever heard. It is simply amazing. I never realized, even in a controlled listening room, just how much noise was present. In silence with the headphones powered off, then on, I realized I could hear my breathing! Yes, even the smallest amount of noise can effect the quality of music, and how wonderful to have almost everything eliminated.

As stated earlier I had to adjust my eq when using these for mastering, involving listening to hours of reference recordings to get it right, but I got there.

Now I have to say I almost listen exclusively to these headphones for all my audtioning. I have B&W speakers for my reference-anyone who knows anything about speakers, know these are the best, and I still prefer my headphones. NOW this is primarily because of the noise elimination, you simply will not believe the details in music that are buried beneath a noise floor that you don't even perceive.

I can even plainly hear differences between 16bit and 24bit when I am mastering! Its almost frightening.

One last thing. they are VERY comfortable. mastering can often take hours, and its wonderful to have a pair of cans that you can leave on without any ear pain.

Highly recommended. I will be happy to write another review with the supplied eq settings in the future if anyone is interested.

Able Planet Clear Harmony Noise-Canceling Headphones