You’re kidding, right? “Even in pristine listening conditions, many people can’t tell the difference between Apple’s bog-standard buds and premium headphones.” Where did you get that from? Anyone who can’t tell the difference probably doesn’t have the player switched on.

Even the article you reference to back you up says the complete opposite to what you’re claiming. It says “but it seems that almost everyone can appreciate the difference between bog- standard in-box headphones and decent third-party replacements”.

I had to use them when my earphones died. They sounded horrible, they wouldn’t stay in my ear properly and most of all they hurt after about 2 mins of wearing them. In short, they are crap

“There’s no doubt in my mind” that number 5 is the main reason you don’t think there’s a difference.
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The idea that any set of buds can rival a set of half-decent properly sealed iems is frankly ridiculous.

@Danny Thomas. I take your point, but I do feel that a drama is warranted in this instance. If I send upwards on £200 on an iPod Touch, for example, I don’t want my first action to be to ditch the standard buds and go out and buy something third party. It strikes me that, given the numbers of units Apple sell, it would not be difficult for them to get a decent third party manufacturer to enter into an agreement to manufacture quality OEM in-ears at a super-cheap price to sell as standard with the iPod/iPhone.

@Rob E – I don’t particularly disagree. However, as a counterpoint. I have a really good BOSE set and I will discard the Apple buds however good they are. My real issue is that bundled buds have been rubbish for 30 years, but nobody got on Sony’s case about it to nearly the same degree. Apple seem to really polarise opinion. They are a commercial organisation that makes kit for profit. Some of it is good, some excellent and some not so good, why do so many people feel the need to vent so strongly?

I can’t wear then, they seem to fall out about every second or third step and I am forever pushing them back in, a complete pain!

My gf put my Sennheisers in the washing machine, so I replaced them with a cheap pair of Hama earbuds, the rubber grips on both of those are fine. I still hate earbuds/earphones of all types, but I put up with them, when walking the dog.

To be honest, I can’t tell any difference in quality between the Apple, Sennheiser or Hama earphones, but there again, I only listen to podcasts and audiobooks, so the requirements are probably pretty low anyway.

@Danny Thomas I think you’re wrong. Bundled earphones needn’t be rubbish. Check out the earphones bundled with mp3 players or mobile phones by any other manufacturer, eg. Sony Ericsson Walkman branded mobile phones have been bundled with rubber isolations earphones for a long time now! They are not as good as your £90 BOSE headphones but people who can’t fork out for this expensive earphones needn’t have to either be stuck with low quality ear-damaging earphones have just parted with lots of cash for their iPods. A £15 more on the price of an iPod which would include CX-300 grade hearing experience would go a very long way and would benefit all.

@Danny. You’re right, people do like to vent about Apple. Often with valid reason, more often without. Given that there are about half a dozen iPods of one type or other in my household, I’d like to think I’m in the former camp.
Yup, traditionally the bundled buds provided by any manufacturer have been a bit pony. My point is that, given that decent buds are so very cheap nowadays, there’s no longer an excuse to be shipping a ‘Premium’ product that, in all other respects, oozes quality, with such pony earbuds.
Y’never know, if enough of a fuss is kicked up on a public forum about this issue, we might see a change? Hmmm. I’ll not hold my breath though.

The worst feature of the Apple ear-buds, like so many others of that type, is that the sound quality changes according to how tightly they are fitted into or pressed against the ear. My Sennheiser headphones, although large, do not change the quality of their sound whether pressed against the head or not.

I take offence to this post because they are awful. The bleed is appalling. I used them for about a week because of the controls and the mic attached but after hearing how much other people could hear when I had them on 3 quarter volume I quickly ditched them for Sennheisers. Apple are great but their earphones are no better than a £10 pair

Thanks for all the comments.

In response to some of the comments made:

1. I’m not suggesting the iPod earbuds are better than premium Sennheiser, Sony models – merely that they’re “good enough” for most people.

2. mcviracca makes an excellent point – the in-line controls are another good reason to stick with Apple’s buds.

3. If the quality of the earphones was harming Apple’s brand/reputation for high quality products, the company would have done something to remedy the situation by now. The fact the earbud design has remained largely unchanged since the year dot suggests this isn’t a common source of complaint among Apple customers. Indeed, as our own Real World Quality Test feature showed, the quality of the player has a far greater impact on people’s perception of audio quality than the headphones.

4. If you don’t like them, and I can perfectly understand why some/many people don’t, you can always buy a new pair!

Barry Collins
Online Editor

@Barry Collins:
Yes, the users may love the sound of their earbuds but what about the people around them? Beucase of their big leak levels the users on the tube usually rack them up to volumes which the wholle carriage can hear but should they? It’s very egoistic to say: I love my earbuds cause they sound nice, I don’t care if I’m subjecting everyone around me to my music.

If they were rubber insulated, the music wouldn’t leak and everyone would be happy.

@Fiqqer – “Apple must be having a laugh using the same headphones for a £50 ipod as a £200 device.”

Exactly why must Apple be laughing? Are you under the impression that that extra £150 you’re spending is going towards increased sound quality? You may have noticed that the feature set you get with a £200 iPod is where that money goes…
I can’t back this up, but I’m pretty certain that the maximum quality output is the same between a nano and a touch…

Lets be honest, you get such a rubbish sound from any iPod that the tacky headphones they supply would make such little difference.

Having worked sound desks and in recording studios for 20 years I would not insult my ears with an iPod. It is all summed up in point 5 heading.

They’re good enough for people who’ve never tried anything better – and once they do, they’d realise how absolutely backyard landfill rubbish they are.

I’ve seen friends blare out the music at max volume from those type of earphones just so they can block out the outside noise. Without any kind of seal, ambient noise will just get in – and the sound from the earphones just get wasted on everyone else!

The lack of seal also lends itself to being quite inefficient with transmitting sound into the listener’s ear.

Properly sealed in-earphones allow you to listen at a lower volume whilst still experiencing the full sound without affecting other people. I’ve converted a number of people just by letting them try something better – and the sooner more people do so, the better it is for the rest of us in the public.

you lost me at Dan Brown

I totally agree with the author and do believe that Apple’s earbud’s get a bad rap. I am somewhat in the “earbud” business as my company makes Breppies, which are earbud covers. I like to observe how many people wear different types of earbuds and I would say that over 60% of people still use Apple. I would also tell you that most people that buy “aftermarket” earbuds, unless they are shelling out $80, hate those earbuds even more, because most are made by the same Chinese manufacturers. You can see the Gizmodo article http://brepps.com/secret-scam-cheap-earbuds. Personally, we have a lot of people who hated Apple earbuds start loving them again after they started using our product http://brepps.com. I am not convinced that most people can even differentiate the true low bass and high frequencies enough to truly make a judgement on sound. I believe like someone else said, it all comes down to personal preference.

U must b really kidding me… not that bad?? I ve had an iphone for 6 months and my apple ear-buds have literally fallen appart. For a company like apple to do such appaling quality products is nothing short of shocking. Just because they have a big name do they think people will not notice how bad some of their products are? I know it came for fre with the iphone, but that’s not an excuse!
But it happened to Phillips and it will happen to Apple. This is not hit and miss. This is miss one and wait for the consecuences. Do Apple have a massive fan base? Yes they do. Does brand loyalty exist? I suppose, to some extent. But remember it only took Dan Brown a bad sequel after a blockbuster to loose his “brand loyalty”. Will it happen too Apple? … it is happening already…
And now I’m off, doing headset shopping , but I felt I so had to comment on this article…

I’m fine with the Apple earphones, and have been using them since my first iPod years ago.

I do have a pair of ear canals(Sony EX32LP) but I only ever use them on planes now. I don’t get on with those types as I don’t like hearing my various internal sounds as well as the vibrations from walking(I have big feet), despite the sound quality(esp. bass) and insulation.

I always use the black covers because I need to. They sound awful without them(devoid of bass) and don’t sit in my ear at all. I seem to be the only one, though. I’ve yet to see anyone else using them!

I don’t care about sound leakage because I adjust the volume based on my surroundings so it’s just enough to hear without people noticing.

The main reason I prefer them(although, truthfully, it’s not Apple’s earphones as such, just this particular type of earphone, regardless of manufacturer) is that I don’t need to remove them to listen to the outside world clearly, such as when crossing roads. I prefer practicality over sound quality when out and about.

As for build quality, I have been through a few already but it’s always been my fault. Since treating them carefully, they’ve been fine.

I bought some Sony Groove ED21LP’s as a possible compromise but they hurt my ears and I had to stop using them and am back with my Apple earphones.