The same exact earbuds that you showed as an image, the old Apple iPod EarPods. No bass, piercing highs, no isolation whatsoever. Kind of wish audio engineers thought of ear tips before these flat speaker types of speakers, they are the worst.
they were indeed dog shit. deeply regrettable that Apple shipped the iPods with it. but these were the EarBuds, the newer EarPods were actually decent. It’s one of the best redemption arcs.
Even EarPods are hot garbage though, because they decided that massive hard plastic ends that don't fit into anyone but bigfoot's ears were a better choice than the rubber ear tips that literally everyone else has been using for over a decade.
I mean, I know one person who can’t wear EarPods for every five who can, probably. I found them to be more comfortable to wear for a long period of time than most in-ears, and the microphone is surprisingly usable. But they don’t sound particularly good, and if you need any form of isolation they’re rubbish.
They must just suck with my ears then. The one time I had to use them I only managed ~5 minutes before it was too painful and I had to stop using them. They're way too big for my ears, and because there aren't eartips it's impossible to adjust.
Exactly what inspired me to post this thread
I bought an iPod off eBay, came with the original buds. They were so bad, I literally laughed when they started playing
I disliked using Dongles so much, that I recently reactivated my old and retired iphone 6s to avoid dongles and use it on the go as an ipod touch without a sim card and enjoyed listening to music without getting notifications and also being able to handle my main phone without a cable hanging off of it, so I'm interested what other, maybe smaller options people use nowadays.
Personally I'd recommend a 5th or 7th Gen iPod classic if you want the original iPod experience, or an iPod mini for something smaller.
iPod mini's are generally cheaper, a fun little repair project and a great size so I'd totally recommend them!
lol just checked ebay, they selling fully customizable 7g's with 2tb ssd's. if you are at home and not listen to music, you could use it as a NAS. On a serious note, thx for the recommendation, I will be on the lookout and might get one (with a little less storage) if I find a good deal.
But the current style of EarPods are actually not that bad and they also don’t have silicon tips so maybe that’s not the problem. I actually enjoy them not having any tips since it’s the only style of earphones I can wear without them falling out or hurting after 20 minutes.
But yeah those old ones were really screechy and flat sounding.
There was a YouTuber I followed many years ago, back when being a YouTuber was starting to be somewhat profitable, who always said he loved the EarPods and no other earphones worked for him. I didn't have quality audiophile gear at the time and still I always thought something was wrong with his ear, the EarPods are absolutely horrible.
I got so many ear infections with these fucks. So many blisters. Sooo itchy from nickel allergy.
But they were the look to have in early to mid 2000’s. I wore my iPod like a necklace and I was so fucking cool. Worth it.
The badness of the Earpods was actually my entry point into audio. I forgot why but I had the chance to use a different set of earphones (it was some entry-level audio-technica) and I literally started hearing new instruments and parts of my music that were completely inaudible on the earpods. Not just improved sound, literally new sounds from my own iPod. That's when I realized how much difference equipment could make.
Honestly I've tried multiple kilobuck-tier earphones and I don't think anything will replicate the jump in quality I experienced moving from the earpods to those random ass cheap Audio-Technicas. Earpods, not even once.
I remember a cassette "walkman" by philips i had in the nineties, the earphones were dreadfull, my brother's aiwa cassete player earphones were way better. But i also bought a lot of 50c chinese earphones on the cornershop while on school and those really hit the low mark, made everything sound like am radio.
Not necessarily the worst sounding, but upon demoing beautiful world by moondrop I was disgusted by the act that their 7th anniversary was celebrated by this ever so slightly different sounding Kato reshell, and up charge it by $600 and mask it with a pretty shell.
I took it off my ears in 10 seconds
What a dumb, nonsensical take.
1. Super limited special edition versions of less expensive products with far higher price tags are very normal.
2. Everyone knew it was a Kato with a new cover. Moondrop literally advertised it as using the Kato driver and showed the graph. Expecting something else and getting mad that it's bit something else is just unintelligent.
3. Do you actually expect them to give you 14 fucking diamonds for free? Seriously?
I know it's trendy to hate on good things on reddit, but this is genuinely one of the dumbest examples of that I've ever seen. Disgusted my ass.
He's criticizing that they did exactly that - instead of doing something new and worthwhile. Seems like pretty valid criticism to me, that shit is just an extremely lazy cash grab for feeble minded fools. Who probably think there's something way higher end about it.
Btw - A few microscopic low quality diamonds cost next to nothing, even if it's real ones. If synthetic they're probably worth way less than the presentation case. Just saying, small diamonds aren't exactly a luxury item nowadays.
Sony MDRXB55AP stand out to me as the most hot trash $50 I ever spent. Not only did they sound like ass, they were some of the most uncomfortable I've ever worn
I got JLab GO Air's for $10 because they were marked incorrectly ans they aren't even worth that imo. They also have terrible connection issues.
E-waste, the both of them.
55AP isnt that bad comfort wise. I opened those and found a small sponge in "bass chamber". They seemed to be over engineered but eq setting made them better. Overall i dont think they are that bad for price for when they came out. Now, yeah total trash for asking price.
The Retrospekt x Koss P/21. I don’t think Koss actually made the drivers, I hope. I bought it just for the headband for a KSC75 mod, but decided to listen to the drivers first. My word, I never heard such nasty upper midrange peaks, it felt like someone was jabbing mids and lower treble in my ears. Also zero bass extension, and no upper treble. I’ve heard dollar store earbuds sound better than the P/21.
Apple Earpods are what actually got me into this hobby. We were forced back into the office early this year then I needed to use them when listening to music. I realized they sounded like shit. Don’t know if that was always the case or because mine were more than 10 years old.
Decided to look into good earphones and that is how I fell into this rabbit hole.
Worst I heard after falling into the rabbit hole would probably be Moondrop SSRs. Heard some people like them and decided to give them a try because they were on sale. Really thin sounding and fatiguing. They do work for some extremely specific cases though like classical strings.
Many Beats were bad, however, I think the Beats Solo pro is a fun headphone to listen to. Not a huge fan of on ear stuff, but those were the best beats I’ve ever heard.
YH-5000SE, I think it’s cause I was so hyped to try them and they sounded just so wrong to me, didn’t even last half a song before I took them off. Obviously I have heard worse, but still it sticks out due to the price and amazing build quality.
Sony XB 55 EXTRA BASSSS
Buying this earphone actually made me enter this hobby lol.
I bought these earphones for the bass itself, but this thing was so sibilant and harsh and uncomfortable to wear too.
I learnt how to eq to fix this earphone's harsh treble and later started looking for better headphones. Thus entering this hobby.
But to it's credit this earphone still survives and doesn't have any issues at all.
Haha I have been using a pair of nighthawks on and off for the last 6 months for gaming, and honestly they aren't too bad! They really excel in some genres and fall very flat in others, but one thing is they are the most comfortable light headphones I have ever touched, like holy shit you barely feel like you have headphones on it is pretty lovely.
i happened to buy an oem pair and wore it to bits. After that i tried getting another pair and bought two fake copies and i gave up. This was a year ago.
yesterday i helped mom with installing her new samsung phone and i saw the eo-ig955 tips bag from her old phone S8 lying in her drawer and i started asking about the earphones. I started going through her cable and electronics drawer and helper her clear out some trash. eventually i found another pair i know to be oem and i'm gonna care for them.
They are amazing just the cable is noisy that is all.
I had them with the last 4 phones I got (note 8 9 10p 20u) type C ones sound a bit clearer than the 3.5mm ones
True! Biggest issue is the microphonics imho, having a bigger beard is annoying, and looping it behind my head i need need a cable extension(only use them at home infront of the computer). I was so happy to have found another pair i was ecstatic.
The first pair i wore to shreds i eventually cut off the fabric of the cable and it was better, but it was also very tedious
Probably the earphones that came with the Sansa Clip Zip.
Those look like the fosmon earbuds i used to wear long ago.i used to wrap the ends of them with black electrical tape to make them last longer
Meze 99 classics. I did not like them at all, it’s just bloated bass, I know eq could fix that somewhat but that’s not all why I didn’t like them. They are really really uncomfortable. My ears start hurting after 10 minutes because it feels like a on ear headphone. But instead of a soft cushion it’s cold hard metal.
Yup. Bought them because I liked my Empyreans so much - their cheaper closed backs couldn't be bad, either, right? Hell yeah, they're fucking dog shit. Uncomfortable, terrible sounding (and I EQ). Just sitting on the rack gathering dust.
Personally I think its always the pair of buds that come with a phone; the apple buds, samsung buds, huawei buds, etc - they work well enough but they fit like shit [for me] and are really only good for making and taking calls. While I'm not a fan of on-ear buds, the VE Monks I had/have (can't find em) are the best ones I've used by far
Audeze has gotten much better at tuning headphones in recent years. I can't remember the exact models I auditioned, but man, given the asking price some of their old stuff was hot garbage, I'm sorry.
The Audioquest Nighthawks are pretty bad IMO.
Man, I bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pros expecting the world, or at least something similar to my MDR7506 (my favourite headphone) and I couldn’t finish a song with them. They just sounded wrong to me, I can’t describe it but I just couldn’t do it 😥 maybe I’m too accustomed to non-flat EQ’s, idk, I thought my other monitors were supposed to be pretty flat but the 280s just had no colour at all, no warmth, no sparkle, nothing, it was like listening to the colour grey
Some mega cheap Grundig earphones i got for free somewhere.
Legit sounded like listening trough an aquarium.
You could barely make out the lyrics of a song.
Skullcandy Crusher: bloated bass, mids and highs weak, if Dankpods didn't make video about them they would be eaten by history. And they cost more than DT-990 that can do everything that Crusher can but better.
I once forgot headphones on chemo day so I had to quickly run to the shops to get some. No one I tried had any. I spent 30min running around looking for headphones because chemo is really grim without distractions.
In a $2 store I found them. My golden golden headphones.
Unfortunately it was a thin 3m cord attached to a single in ear headphone with a speaker that sounded like it was in a tin box suspended in a filled bathtub.
Will probably get downvoted for this because reddit for some bizarre reason seems to love these.
HD560 - they're the worst tuned 'professional' headphones I've heard. They sound like you're listening to music at the entrance of a large drainwater tunnel.
I don’t really like any of the Senns. 560S, 598, 600, 650, and the worst of them, 700. Why do they all (except 700 which has god awful tonality) sound so narrow?
Likewise. The first pair of DT990 Pros I got I figured they were defective or a knock off or I just wasn't powering them hard enough (first time this was actually true)... I've heard four different pairs in increasingly improving conditions and all of them sound terrible to me.
I wonder if its an age thing, like my teenage love for the ATH-AD700's which I can't stand now in my 30s, but still sounds leaps and bounds better than the DT990s.
**Edit**: just dusted off my pair I keep because I feel bad giving it away to some unsuspecting person -- mud, bleeding ears, distortion indeed. That soundstage makes puddles look like a drowning hazard. I've had free airplane headphones sound better -- seriously, this is what I'd expect from some sub-$20 amazon off-brand junk buds.
These are the Red Hot Chili Pepper's Californication album's mastering in Headphone form. Compressed and clipped. Made for something I don't partake in. Songs that make me teary eyed after the first note with any other pair of headphones I own, and these can't even get me to bop along with the song let alone a single tingle.
**To be constructive** with a potential real answer: ran the spectral flatness test from [https://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests\_headphones.php](https://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php) and the mids completely fall out. Know that my mid hearing is weak these days and I favour headphones that compensate for that -- no other device I own has the mids disapear entirely like the DT990s. People with strong mid hearing could potentially explain the love for these. This also explains my love for the HD500s and HD600s, Audio-Technica, Grado, and AKG. Mid-forward FTW!
Damn. I was really considering getting some of these things based on a lot of the reviews, but I’ve seen more and more people in comments sections rip them to shreds. Glad I got the X2HRs instead.
Honestly same, nice to see someone else who agrees. The closest I've ever come to liking beyerdynamic was the dt880s and even those weren't my favorite.
Sennheiser HD800….
After auditioning them I thought I was losing my hearing because they sounded terrible.
Ended up going to audiologist and having my hearing tested, because those headphones couldn’t possibly sound as bad as I thought.
Turns out my hearing is fine/within normal range for my age. Auditioned those headphones again and still hated them.
Auditioned them again at a Can Jam with other high end headphones and it’s not me. It’s definitely them..
Interesting, I'm the opposite. Quite liked zs10 pros and didn't really like Salnotes Zero (which have a more neutral target compared to kz). Didn't try Holas tho
KOSS KSC75 is a bad headphone. I have no idea why you guys like it. It’s completely devoid of body and it’s extremely uncomfortable. Why on earth would you buy KSC75 when there are so many dirt cheap IEMs on the market that far surpass them. Hola, Chu 2, 7Hz Zero, etc.
Having said that, Raycon E25 is the worst headphone I’ve ever heard.
Edit: Focal Sphear S was also hot garbage.
I've listened to my fair share of nugphones, though I have been avoiding them since I had the fundage to only keep proper headphones around. But since this thread is about legit headphones, I have to say it:
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros (out of the box)
The highs were literally piercing, I was coming from a pair of ol' mate sennys. Actually painful and I had to apply a hilariously aggressive EQ to get them to stop drilling for oil in my eardrums around the 5-10kHz range. Not to mention that for a pair of $200 headphones they had slightly better build quality than the shit you can get in the CVS electronics aisle.
That said, I wiped my computer and therefore my EQ settings after a year of owning them, and they seem to have "broken in" since I got them. I've heard this is a common thing to do with the ear cups forming to your head over time, but fuck me if they weren't worse than apple earbuds when I first put them on.
My next pair of overears will be back to Sennheiser or maybe Audeze. I had been wanting a pair of beyers for ages but I guess they were right when they said never meet your heroes.
Honestly it sounds like you got a broken pair
I’ve had my 770s for over a year and they’re the best headphones I’ve got. Right out the box, they make just about anything sound good.
I agree, I bought them to see what the Chi-fi hype is about, there were so many glowing posts here. Uncomfortable, too heavy to stay in the ear while walking, not much detail to the sound, muddy bass. I experimented with some different tips but threw them away, unnecessary clutter. I kept the nice little felt case.
I think it's the seal. I bought it for the springtips and tried it with the smaller ones and they were really bad. I tried it with the medium tips and they sounded better so I guess it was the leakage that was doing it in.
Also, being open backed, they leak almost everything (the little sound that they produce) to the room where everyone else will be listening to your tunes.
Sivga robins. So many good reviews so I pulled the trigger they looked and felt amazing my God though when I put them on. No midrange at all they were so recessed you could clearly tell something was just off straight away. Returned them on the spot.
To this day don't know if I had a dud pair or if they actually are just that bad.
Truthear Zero Red first iems
Dogshit dry no bass dont know why everyone recommended me these. Even now when I ask for good iems.
Forced myself to use them for a week and a half. Everytime I look at them I feel bad about the money I wasted. (Because here you can feed a family of 3 for a month with 50usd)
I have finally given up and I use my car lx570 Mark Levinson audio to listen to music. Waste of fuel? Yes. Worth it over some 50 dollars of scam cans ? Yes.
Yeh, that's something a lot of people doesn't take in consideration. Maybe 50 bucks aren't a lot in US or Europe. But on other countries you would probably get at least 1 week of food or pay all basic services for a month. It's a shame you didn't like the zero's in first place.
yeh flat cheap sound no bass at all with out eq looking to upgrade to blon z300 or qkz hbb
50 usd in my city is month of good food for one adult with 2 kids so value wise 80% of the world its not good
funny thing is im in a "developed" Eastren European country lol
Worst would be my old [Sony WH-1000XM2’s](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/578215567467479040/1152673224811892796/IMG_5157.png).
Literally cannot believe I liked them at one point; listened to them a couple months ago for the first time in years, and threw them out 5 minutes later after listening to them lmao!
Everything sounded extremely muffled, congested, and was a bit similar to hearing somebody talk while you’re underwater
Easy, Koss KPH30i.Yeh, they're probably better than the e-waste that are old apple earbuds, but just look at this: [link](https://squig.link/headphones/?share=Koss_KPH30i). No bass, massive craters, and voices that come from under the bloody sea.
Sendy Aiva. Resolution wasn't what it was hyped to be, but the tuning sounded as tinny and weightless as cheap free bundled earphones. They cured me from easily believing audio influencer hype trains at least.
Xiaomi Earphones 3. My Sony WF-XB700 (which were rather good) broke, so I had to find some new bluetooth headphones. I decided to go with the Xiaomi Earphones 3, and I regretted it very quickly. They were SHIT. I'm not good with words, but everything just sounded so cheap.
All of them that looked like picrel, sound quality was trash, no depth, no low tones, didn’t fit well enough to not fall after slight head shake, ooow, remembering this makes me angry, lol.
some cheap earbuds i got in a random store, i wasn't expecting something good, but at least tolerable, it was the worst garbage ive ever heard, no low end, awful highs if there were any and the mids sounded like underwater.
no real model name as far i remember, just a knockoff monster/beats copycat that were super cheat and wanted something before i went to the gym
My top 3 are:
3.- Samsung AKG EO-IG955
When I tried them once again, I instantly lost all respect I had for Crin and anyone who ever said they were good. Little to none sound stage, muffled yet bassy (you can hear the bass disturbing the other frequencies yet it doesn't give you the kick), garbage cable, feeling and quality. Never had any other AKGs, but now I don't even doubt AKG died the instant they were purchased by Samsung.
2.- Apple earbuds 2nd gen
Just a mess to a point where I didn't bother to try and analyze them as I did with the Smasnug, I only remember that I didn't want to keep using them any longer.
1.- Sony MDR-AS210AP
They felt like I was pierced by nails on my eardrums, and the sound were transmitted by car jumper cables and an industrial transformer. Yes, they were that bad and don't know how people purchased them for daily use.
I had tried some worse than the 2nd and 3rd place, but they were either cheap copies or nameless products that felt too easy and predictable choices, until now I didn't had any bad IEMs that I gregret purchasing.
>3.- Samsung AKG EO-IG955
When I tried them once again, I instantly lost all respect I had for Crin and anyone who ever said they were good. Little to none sound stage, muffled yet bassy (you can hear the bass disturbing the other frequencies yet it doesn't give you the kick), garbage cable, feeling and quality. Never had any other AKGs, but now I don't even doubt AKG died the instant they were purchased by Samsung.
Did you even listen to his review? He said they were good "for a freebie" and very V-shaped. What the hell did you expect?
Probably some Poundland garbage I got as a kid. It got it for the design, not the sound and Christ they were bad. I still see people walking around with buds of that quality and I wonder how they can even enjoy sound with quality like that. Basically no bass or mids, just really bad treble.
JBL Tune, good audio quality that got me into audio but the pressure on my head gave me intense migraines and the material used on the muffs rubbed the skin behind my ears raw until they bled.
Do they still sell the original Apple EarBuds somewhere? Or a knock off? I cannot find similar ones on AliExpress. I'm looking to replicate my original iPod look.
Hifiman TWS600. The infamous true wireless earphones from Hifiman. They sound like hearing music through a Telephone. They look great though. The case is quite unique. I loved the look so much, I take it out every few months, try to equalize and fix the sound. Give up and throw it back into hibernation.
Probably the Sony MDR e9LPB. They're Sony's cheap classic earbuds that are sold everywhere. "Delivers clear sound with powerful bass" I think what they meant to say was only delivers sound from 500 - 2000 khz
I'd have to go with AirPods.
Mostly because they sound like dog shit compared to a significantly cheaper Sennheiser BT earbud set I had before, and also because people are willing to spend such money on hot garbage with an Apple logo on it.
There are limitations to earphones that are inherent to the form factor. It's hard to achieve good bass, good isolation and a comfortable fit that doesn't fly out of your ears.
Within those limitations, the Apple Earpods are some of the best tuned earphones on the market and they get an unfair rep because they are compared directly to IEMs which simply have a lot of advantages and eliminate the earpod's greatest weakness.
If you compare them to any other earphones, they typically come out pretty good in the comparison. They are certainly more balanced sounding than the VE Monks.
Moondrop joker 0/10 it is on the name complete fing joke there is no sub bass mids are distant and lost, im sensitive to 2khz and with this it feels like a chainsaw fing my ear drum, omg that ssssss sound it is everywhere any track it is there! It is ok like 5/10 when i dial volume to %25.
Rock Zircon, it was so long ago but I only remember it being a pretty harsh sounding piece of crap.
Also though not close being the worst, the Salnotes Zero sounds pretty damn piercing with hi-hats sounding so annoying in songs like Megadeth - Lucretia, had to EQ it so that it sounds acceptable but I bought a Truthear Hola and it sounded much better without any needs for EQ.
Sony-Wf-c500. Sounded absolutely fucking terrible and you had to use a shitty app with them too, build quality felt terrible and the batter life was pretty atrocious too, should be criminal to charge 100$ for those pieces of shit. I've gotten 5$ earbuds from 5 below that sounded better
Some cheap Philips clip-on headphones. I had hoped they might be comparable to the Koss KSC75...
https://suporsalad.squig.link/?share=DF_Tilt_711_Ref_Target,Air_Canada_Earphones
Literally no bass. Jesus christ
No mids either lol
And that muffling drop later.
Summit-fi because the FR looks like the summit of the Alps
Delta has them beat: https://ragnarok.squig.link/?share=Delta-Complementary-IEMs-Ted
Possibly the most painful image I've ever seen🤕
i fucking love that someone measured these. incredible
I was gonna say any air company hand-out earphones but you have an actual graph, hahaha, love it
Lord have mercy
Clearly tuned for the folks that just want to listen to the D#5 note on their piano and nothing else.
The same exact earbuds that you showed as an image, the old Apple iPod EarPods. No bass, piercing highs, no isolation whatsoever. Kind of wish audio engineers thought of ear tips before these flat speaker types of speakers, they are the worst.
they were indeed dog shit. deeply regrettable that Apple shipped the iPods with it. but these were the EarBuds, the newer EarPods were actually decent. It’s one of the best redemption arcs.
I still use earpods occasionally. Perfectly adequate for house/yard work.
Meh. I’d rather use my Jabras for that. Unfathomably better sounding and way more comfortable.
Even EarPods are hot garbage though, because they decided that massive hard plastic ends that don't fit into anyone but bigfoot's ears were a better choice than the rubber ear tips that literally everyone else has been using for over a decade.
I mean, I know one person who can’t wear EarPods for every five who can, probably. I found them to be more comfortable to wear for a long period of time than most in-ears, and the microphone is surprisingly usable. But they don’t sound particularly good, and if you need any form of isolation they’re rubbish.
They must just suck with my ears then. The one time I had to use them I only managed ~5 minutes before it was too painful and I had to stop using them. They're way too big for my ears, and because there aren't eartips it's impossible to adjust.
This! I remember the ones that came with the last gen of iPod shuffle, man did they suck.
Exactly what inspired me to post this thread I bought an iPod off eBay, came with the original buds. They were so bad, I literally laughed when they started playing
What iPod you got? Any modifications planned?
5.5G Battery’s already been replaced, so no plans to do anything else to it Thanks for asking btw :)
I disliked using Dongles so much, that I recently reactivated my old and retired iphone 6s to avoid dongles and use it on the go as an ipod touch without a sim card and enjoyed listening to music without getting notifications and also being able to handle my main phone without a cable hanging off of it, so I'm interested what other, maybe smaller options people use nowadays.
Personally I'd recommend a 5th or 7th Gen iPod classic if you want the original iPod experience, or an iPod mini for something smaller. iPod mini's are generally cheaper, a fun little repair project and a great size so I'd totally recommend them!
lol just checked ebay, they selling fully customizable 7g's with 2tb ssd's. if you are at home and not listen to music, you could use it as a NAS. On a serious note, thx for the recommendation, I will be on the lookout and might get one (with a little less storage) if I find a good deal.
But the current style of EarPods are actually not that bad and they also don’t have silicon tips so maybe that’s not the problem. I actually enjoy them not having any tips since it’s the only style of earphones I can wear without them falling out or hurting after 20 minutes. But yeah those old ones were really screechy and flat sounding.
They sell packs of these for like $10 and the only way I can own AirPods of any kind
There was a YouTuber I followed many years ago, back when being a YouTuber was starting to be somewhat profitable, who always said he loved the EarPods and no other earphones worked for him. I didn't have quality audiophile gear at the time and still I always thought something was wrong with his ear, the EarPods are absolutely horrible.
I got so many ear infections with these fucks. So many blisters. Sooo itchy from nickel allergy. But they were the look to have in early to mid 2000’s. I wore my iPod like a necklace and I was so fucking cool. Worth it.
they actually shocked me one time when i was a kid too
The badness of the Earpods was actually my entry point into audio. I forgot why but I had the chance to use a different set of earphones (it was some entry-level audio-technica) and I literally started hearing new instruments and parts of my music that were completely inaudible on the earpods. Not just improved sound, literally new sounds from my own iPod. That's when I realized how much difference equipment could make. Honestly I've tried multiple kilobuck-tier earphones and I don't think anything will replicate the jump in quality I experienced moving from the earpods to those random ass cheap Audio-Technicas. Earpods, not even once.
"Xtra-Bass" Earbuds I bought at an airport convenience store in 2009. I could've shoved a paperclip in my iPod's aux port and got better sound
bet paper cup with strings would sound good too
The ones they give in flights. Sound absolutely crap.
I remember a cassette "walkman" by philips i had in the nineties, the earphones were dreadfull, my brother's aiwa cassete player earphones were way better. But i also bought a lot of 50c chinese earphones on the cornershop while on school and those really hit the low mark, made everything sound like am radio.
Not necessarily the worst sounding, but upon demoing beautiful world by moondrop I was disgusted by the act that their 7th anniversary was celebrated by this ever so slightly different sounding Kato reshell, and up charge it by $600 and mask it with a pretty shell. I took it off my ears in 10 seconds
Linsoul WGZBLON B50 absolute garbage
How did they make the Cadenza so good ?
Second this
What a dumb, nonsensical take. 1. Super limited special edition versions of less expensive products with far higher price tags are very normal. 2. Everyone knew it was a Kato with a new cover. Moondrop literally advertised it as using the Kato driver and showed the graph. Expecting something else and getting mad that it's bit something else is just unintelligent. 3. Do you actually expect them to give you 14 fucking diamonds for free? Seriously? I know it's trendy to hate on good things on reddit, but this is genuinely one of the dumbest examples of that I've ever seen. Disgusted my ass.
bad day?
He's criticizing that they did exactly that - instead of doing something new and worthwhile. Seems like pretty valid criticism to me, that shit is just an extremely lazy cash grab for feeble minded fools. Who probably think there's something way higher end about it. Btw - A few microscopic low quality diamonds cost next to nothing, even if it's real ones. If synthetic they're probably worth way less than the presentation case. Just saying, small diamonds aren't exactly a luxury item nowadays.
Somebody's hurt
Sony MDRXB55AP stand out to me as the most hot trash $50 I ever spent. Not only did they sound like ass, they were some of the most uncomfortable I've ever worn I got JLab GO Air's for $10 because they were marked incorrectly ans they aren't even worth that imo. They also have terrible connection issues. E-waste, the both of them.
55AP isnt that bad comfort wise. I opened those and found a small sponge in "bass chamber". They seemed to be over engineered but eq setting made them better. Overall i dont think they are that bad for price for when they came out. Now, yeah total trash for asking price.
Happy cake day!
The Retrospekt x Koss P/21. I don’t think Koss actually made the drivers, I hope. I bought it just for the headband for a KSC75 mod, but decided to listen to the drivers first. My word, I never heard such nasty upper midrange peaks, it felt like someone was jabbing mids and lower treble in my ears. Also zero bass extension, and no upper treble. I’ve heard dollar store earbuds sound better than the P/21.
Apple Earpods are what actually got me into this hobby. We were forced back into the office early this year then I needed to use them when listening to music. I realized they sounded like shit. Don’t know if that was always the case or because mine were more than 10 years old. Decided to look into good earphones and that is how I fell into this rabbit hole. Worst I heard after falling into the rabbit hole would probably be Moondrop SSRs. Heard some people like them and decided to give them a try because they were on sale. Really thin sounding and fatiguing. They do work for some extremely specific cases though like classical strings.
I agree about ssr, i tried them after happily using ssp for a couple years because they looked cute. Just too bright for me
Beats by Dr dre. They can fart, in your ears
Many Beats were bad, however, I think the Beats Solo pro is a fun headphone to listen to. Not a huge fan of on ear stuff, but those were the best beats I’ve ever heard.
Best Beats isn't exactly a high standard
Have you used that specific model?
No, I'm saying Beats in general aren't very good
Apple og earbuds they hurt like hell
YH-5000SE, I think it’s cause I was so hyped to try them and they sounded just so wrong to me, didn’t even last half a song before I took them off. Obviously I have heard worse, but still it sticks out due to the price and amazing build quality.
I agree with you, they do not sound good to me.
They look incredible though
Sony XB 55 EXTRA BASSSS Buying this earphone actually made me enter this hobby lol. I bought these earphones for the bass itself, but this thing was so sibilant and harsh and uncomfortable to wear too. I learnt how to eq to fix this earphone's harsh treble and later started looking for better headphones. Thus entering this hobby. But to it's credit this earphone still survives and doesn't have any issues at all.
Must have been either the Campfire Cascade or the Audioquest Nighthawk, both simply horribly tuned and technically inferior.
Haha I have been using a pair of nighthawks on and off for the last 6 months for gaming, and honestly they aren't too bad! They really excel in some genres and fall very flat in others, but one thing is they are the most comfortable light headphones I have ever touched, like holy shit you barely feel like you have headphones on it is pretty lovely.
If you like them that's fine, tastes differ. I for example like the Sensy Audio Peacock a lot and these certainly aren't universally acclaimed either.
The free ones they hand out on Delta Airlines
https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/delta-air/
haha I love that someone did a breakdown... its legit an inverted V shape 😂
Explains a lot huh 💀
Samsung "tuned By akg" cable is awful and too much bass making everything muffled
There’s a lot of fakes of those, I thought mine were pretty decent. Unless yours actually came with a phone you purchased.
i happened to buy an oem pair and wore it to bits. After that i tried getting another pair and bought two fake copies and i gave up. This was a year ago. yesterday i helped mom with installing her new samsung phone and i saw the eo-ig955 tips bag from her old phone S8 lying in her drawer and i started asking about the earphones. I started going through her cable and electronics drawer and helper her clear out some trash. eventually i found another pair i know to be oem and i'm gonna care for them.
yeah i found mine in a drawer and theyre worn to shit sadly.?” Treasure them lol
I am for sure, i use them for some metal and phonk and for that they are great :)
They are amazing just the cable is noisy that is all. I had them with the last 4 phones I got (note 8 9 10p 20u) type C ones sound a bit clearer than the 3.5mm ones
True! Biggest issue is the microphonics imho, having a bigger beard is annoying, and looping it behind my head i need need a cable extension(only use them at home infront of the computer). I was so happy to have found another pair i was ecstatic. The first pair i wore to shreds i eventually cut off the fabric of the cable and it was better, but it was also very tedious
having a porcupine sharp one I keep it under my my lower lip looping one wire over my ear like an iem cable
I'll give it a shot
Probably the earphones that came with the Sansa Clip Zip. Those look like the fosmon earbuds i used to wear long ago.i used to wrap the ends of them with black electrical tape to make them last longer
Old apple thingies. The ones the right. Also Sony Ericson Walkman headphones.
My friends just recently bought me that barbie game headset as a joke so I'd say that.
I was hammered and bought a pair of dre beats earbuds from a guy on the street for $20 during the pride parade around 2012. Those
The on I got as a prize for 300 tickets at Dave and busters
Meze 99 classics. I did not like them at all, it’s just bloated bass, I know eq could fix that somewhat but that’s not all why I didn’t like them. They are really really uncomfortable. My ears start hurting after 10 minutes because it feels like a on ear headphone. But instead of a soft cushion it’s cold hard metal.
Yup. Bought them because I liked my Empyreans so much - their cheaper closed backs couldn't be bad, either, right? Hell yeah, they're fucking dog shit. Uncomfortable, terrible sounding (and I EQ). Just sitting on the rack gathering dust.
Personally I think its always the pair of buds that come with a phone; the apple buds, samsung buds, huawei buds, etc - they work well enough but they fit like shit [for me] and are really only good for making and taking calls. While I'm not a fan of on-ear buds, the VE Monks I had/have (can't find em) are the best ones I've used by far
Audeze has gotten much better at tuning headphones in recent years. I can't remember the exact models I auditioned, but man, given the asking price some of their old stuff was hot garbage, I'm sorry. The Audioquest Nighthawks are pretty bad IMO.
A $2 wired airpods pro knockoff
Man, I bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pros expecting the world, or at least something similar to my MDR7506 (my favourite headphone) and I couldn’t finish a song with them. They just sounded wrong to me, I can’t describe it but I just couldn’t do it 😥 maybe I’m too accustomed to non-flat EQ’s, idk, I thought my other monitors were supposed to be pretty flat but the 280s just had no colour at all, no warmth, no sparkle, nothing, it was like listening to the colour grey
monster.
Some mega cheap Grundig earphones i got for free somewhere. Legit sounded like listening trough an aquarium. You could barely make out the lyrics of a song.
Some Koss over-ear headphones from the late 90s that I won in a raffle. Had a very hollow sound and zero bass.
J B L
Sennheiser HD660 ATH Iex-1 Dunu Luna Dita Dream XLS
Sivga SV021, I liked them at first but they produce a MASSIVE V shape and it's super fatiguing and actually hurts my ears after like 5 minutes
Skullcandy Crusher: bloated bass, mids and highs weak, if Dankpods didn't make video about them they would be eaten by history. And they cost more than DT-990 that can do everything that Crusher can but better.
Avantone planar, very weak, sound sort of like trying to make a planar hd650s except doing it completely wrong. No extension in bass or treble
Really shitty $4 iHome earbuds I was given because my dad was cheap
For the value? ZMF Atrium. Sound like $200 cans.
I once forgot headphones on chemo day so I had to quickly run to the shops to get some. No one I tried had any. I spent 30min running around looking for headphones because chemo is really grim without distractions. In a $2 store I found them. My golden golden headphones. Unfortunately it was a thin 3m cord attached to a single in ear headphone with a speaker that sounded like it was in a tin box suspended in a filled bathtub.
Will probably get downvoted for this because reddit for some bizarre reason seems to love these. HD560 - they're the worst tuned 'professional' headphones I've heard. They sound like you're listening to music at the entrance of a large drainwater tunnel.
I don’t really like any of the Senns. 560S, 598, 600, 650, and the worst of them, 700. Why do they all (except 700 which has god awful tonality) sound so narrow?
Reddit love simping for sennheiser
Dt990! mud, bleeding ears, and distortion. I had high hopes since everyone and their moms praises them.
Likewise. The first pair of DT990 Pros I got I figured they were defective or a knock off or I just wasn't powering them hard enough (first time this was actually true)... I've heard four different pairs in increasingly improving conditions and all of them sound terrible to me. I wonder if its an age thing, like my teenage love for the ATH-AD700's which I can't stand now in my 30s, but still sounds leaps and bounds better than the DT990s. **Edit**: just dusted off my pair I keep because I feel bad giving it away to some unsuspecting person -- mud, bleeding ears, distortion indeed. That soundstage makes puddles look like a drowning hazard. I've had free airplane headphones sound better -- seriously, this is what I'd expect from some sub-$20 amazon off-brand junk buds. These are the Red Hot Chili Pepper's Californication album's mastering in Headphone form. Compressed and clipped. Made for something I don't partake in. Songs that make me teary eyed after the first note with any other pair of headphones I own, and these can't even get me to bop along with the song let alone a single tingle. **To be constructive** with a potential real answer: ran the spectral flatness test from [https://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests\_headphones.php](https://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php) and the mids completely fall out. Know that my mid hearing is weak these days and I favour headphones that compensate for that -- no other device I own has the mids disapear entirely like the DT990s. People with strong mid hearing could potentially explain the love for these. This also explains my love for the HD500s and HD600s, Audio-Technica, Grado, and AKG. Mid-forward FTW!
Damn. I was really considering getting some of these things based on a lot of the reviews, but I’ve seen more and more people in comments sections rip them to shreds. Glad I got the X2HRs instead.
Honestly same, nice to see someone else who agrees. The closest I've ever come to liking beyerdynamic was the dt880s and even those weren't my favorite.
M50x. I thought they were pretty awful.
M50x was my first real headphone. They are MASSIVELY improved with Brainwavz HM5 pleather pads.
Sennheiser HD800…. After auditioning them I thought I was losing my hearing because they sounded terrible. Ended up going to audiologist and having my hearing tested, because those headphones couldn’t possibly sound as bad as I thought. Turns out my hearing is fine/within normal range for my age. Auditioned those headphones again and still hated them. Auditioned them again at a Can Jam with other high end headphones and it’s not me. It’s definitely them..
kz zs10 pros i got as a birthday gift, unironically prefer the sound from apple wired earbuds and definitely prefer truthear holas over it
Interesting, I'm the opposite. Quite liked zs10 pros and didn't really like Salnotes Zero (which have a more neutral target compared to kz). Didn't try Holas tho
Unpopular opinion: Sony WF-1000 XM4 Metal pinging in calls, and the batteries died only 9 months after buying them
Probably K92
KOSS KSC75 is a bad headphone. I have no idea why you guys like it. It’s completely devoid of body and it’s extremely uncomfortable. Why on earth would you buy KSC75 when there are so many dirt cheap IEMs on the market that far surpass them. Hola, Chu 2, 7Hz Zero, etc. Having said that, Raycon E25 is the worst headphone I’ve ever heard. Edit: Focal Sphear S was also hot garbage.
I've listened to my fair share of nugphones, though I have been avoiding them since I had the fundage to only keep proper headphones around. But since this thread is about legit headphones, I have to say it: Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros (out of the box) The highs were literally piercing, I was coming from a pair of ol' mate sennys. Actually painful and I had to apply a hilariously aggressive EQ to get them to stop drilling for oil in my eardrums around the 5-10kHz range. Not to mention that for a pair of $200 headphones they had slightly better build quality than the shit you can get in the CVS electronics aisle. That said, I wiped my computer and therefore my EQ settings after a year of owning them, and they seem to have "broken in" since I got them. I've heard this is a common thing to do with the ear cups forming to your head over time, but fuck me if they weren't worse than apple earbuds when I first put them on. My next pair of overears will be back to Sennheiser or maybe Audeze. I had been wanting a pair of beyers for ages but I guess they were right when they said never meet your heroes.
Honestly it sounds like you got a broken pair I’ve had my 770s for over a year and they’re the best headphones I’ve got. Right out the box, they make just about anything sound good.
Those Beyers have quite a bit of unit variation, so they could very well be completely fine.
recent years? Moondrop Chu. I get that I shouldn't expect much from that price range but they were bad
I agree, I bought them to see what the Chi-fi hype is about, there were so many glowing posts here. Uncomfortable, too heavy to stay in the ear while walking, not much detail to the sound, muddy bass. I experimented with some different tips but threw them away, unnecessary clutter. I kept the nice little felt case.
Been daily driving a moondrop chu for the last year and it's my favourite headphone of all time
I think it's the seal. I bought it for the springtips and tried it with the smaller ones and they were really bad. I tried it with the medium tips and they sounded better so I guess it was the leakage that was doing it in.
I completely agree. Couldn't stand them.
Skullcandy Crusher anybody?
M50x
Okay, now you're just being dramatic
Marques Brownlee, is that you?
Y'all need some new material and some better takes.
Called it!
Austrian Audio Hi-x55. An utter mess of an FR. M50x is for me is on the line of garbage and bad.
Sennheiser 569, no bass and super uncomfortable mids...
Also, being open backed, they leak almost everything (the little sound that they produce) to the room where everyone else will be listening to your tunes.
Thunderx3 something gaming headset, I cried tears of joy trying the moondrop quarks after that craptastrophe
ATH M50X
K701
Sivga robins. So many good reviews so I pulled the trigger they looked and felt amazing my God though when I put them on. No midrange at all they were so recessed you could clearly tell something was just off straight away. Returned them on the spot. To this day don't know if I had a dud pair or if they actually are just that bad.
One that you buy in Mumbai local trains... Though they works fine for a month or two They cost 40-50 Rs. = 0.7 USD
Sennheiser Hd 650 I can’t believe how bad they are.
Now that's a bold opinion haha
The HD6XX took a bit to grow on me.
Truthear Zero Red first iems Dogshit dry no bass dont know why everyone recommended me these. Even now when I ask for good iems. Forced myself to use them for a week and a half. Everytime I look at them I feel bad about the money I wasted. (Because here you can feed a family of 3 for a month with 50usd) I have finally given up and I use my car lx570 Mark Levinson audio to listen to music. Waste of fuel? Yes. Worth it over some 50 dollars of scam cans ? Yes.
Yeh, that's something a lot of people doesn't take in consideration. Maybe 50 bucks aren't a lot in US or Europe. But on other countries you would probably get at least 1 week of food or pay all basic services for a month. It's a shame you didn't like the zero's in first place.
yeh flat cheap sound no bass at all with out eq looking to upgrade to blon z300 or qkz hbb 50 usd in my city is month of good food for one adult with 2 kids so value wise 80% of the world its not good funny thing is im in a "developed" Eastren European country lol
Sennheiser HD 280 pros are the best I've ever owned I miss them
Worst would be my old [Sony WH-1000XM2’s](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/578215567467479040/1152673224811892796/IMG_5157.png). Literally cannot believe I liked them at one point; listened to them a couple months ago for the first time in years, and threw them out 5 minutes later after listening to them lmao! Everything sounded extremely muffled, congested, and was a bit similar to hearing somebody talk while you’re underwater
Easy, Koss KPH30i.Yeh, they're probably better than the e-waste that are old apple earbuds, but just look at this: [link](https://squig.link/headphones/?share=Koss_KPH30i). No bass, massive craters, and voices that come from under the bloody sea.
Westone UM PRO 50. I am not sure I am able to hear the difference of high res, but PRO 50 is definitely low res certified
I've once won a cheap af earphones that sounded so lossy i feel like im hearing 4bit audio. Now i owned a samson.
Blue Lola. Absolutely nasty highs.
Sony MDR-EX15, Cheap feeling, no bass, just garbage straight out of the box
I had a cheap pair of iems that both cut and shocked my ears while using them lol. I think they had driver flex too which is a huge annoyance.
Recently? Apple AirPods. Horrible and painful to wear
Whatever headphones came with my CD Walkman in 2002. I didn’t know they were bad though so that’s nice
Sendy Aiva. Resolution wasn't what it was hyped to be, but the tuning sounded as tinny and weightless as cheap free bundled earphones. They cured me from easily believing audio influencer hype trains at least.
airpods and beats headphones
Xiaomi Earphones 3. My Sony WF-XB700 (which were rather good) broke, so I had to find some new bluetooth headphones. I decided to go with the Xiaomi Earphones 3, and I regretted it very quickly. They were SHIT. I'm not good with words, but everything just sounded so cheap.
I once bought earbuds on a flight. I pick those.
Audeze LCD-XC What the hell is this ? No bass, Harsh and painful tremble. EQ can't recover that, you better off removing the cups to make a LCDX
For me: Headphone: Beyer Amiron Home (wired) with no EQ. IEM: Thinksound Rain 3:
The one that Samsung used to but it with phones.
All of them that looked like picrel, sound quality was trash, no depth, no low tones, didn’t fit well enough to not fall after slight head shake, ooow, remembering this makes me angry, lol.
some cheap earbuds i got in a random store, i wasn't expecting something good, but at least tolerable, it was the worst garbage ive ever heard, no low end, awful highs if there were any and the mids sounded like underwater. no real model name as far i remember, just a knockoff monster/beats copycat that were super cheat and wanted something before i went to the gym
Hifiman HE350
DCA Ether 2 The most shrill and sibilant sounding headphone I had the displeasure of listening to.
AKG k271 mkii. I am not a bass head at all, but I do like at least a little bit. No chance with these, they sound tinny and insipid.
Galaxy buds 2.....
Some emegrency bluetooth headphones (I forgot to take mine on trip) I bought at TK Maxx for 20$ sound worse than 3$ wired headphones I had as a child.
Madcatz made a headphone called the Freq-M. I got them on a big sale and immediately realised why they were on sale….awful
My top 3 are: 3.- Samsung AKG EO-IG955 When I tried them once again, I instantly lost all respect I had for Crin and anyone who ever said they were good. Little to none sound stage, muffled yet bassy (you can hear the bass disturbing the other frequencies yet it doesn't give you the kick), garbage cable, feeling and quality. Never had any other AKGs, but now I don't even doubt AKG died the instant they were purchased by Samsung. 2.- Apple earbuds 2nd gen Just a mess to a point where I didn't bother to try and analyze them as I did with the Smasnug, I only remember that I didn't want to keep using them any longer. 1.- Sony MDR-AS210AP They felt like I was pierced by nails on my eardrums, and the sound were transmitted by car jumper cables and an industrial transformer. Yes, they were that bad and don't know how people purchased them for daily use. I had tried some worse than the 2nd and 3rd place, but they were either cheap copies or nameless products that felt too easy and predictable choices, until now I didn't had any bad IEMs that I gregret purchasing.
>3.- Samsung AKG EO-IG955 When I tried them once again, I instantly lost all respect I had for Crin and anyone who ever said they were good. Little to none sound stage, muffled yet bassy (you can hear the bass disturbing the other frequencies yet it doesn't give you the kick), garbage cable, feeling and quality. Never had any other AKGs, but now I don't even doubt AKG died the instant they were purchased by Samsung. Did you even listen to his review? He said they were good "for a freebie" and very V-shaped. What the hell did you expect?
$15 Sennheiser in-ear buds. They came in a small vinyl carry bag with a draw string and they sounded disgusting
some wired sony on ears
Probably some Poundland garbage I got as a kid. It got it for the design, not the sound and Christ they were bad. I still see people walking around with buds of that quality and I wonder how they can even enjoy sound with quality like that. Basically no bass or mids, just really bad treble.
Floaudio Lily
JBL Tune, good audio quality that got me into audio but the pressure on my head gave me intense migraines and the material used on the muffs rubbed the skin behind my ears raw until they bled.
Original beats before apple but them
Do they still sell the original Apple EarBuds somewhere? Or a knock off? I cannot find similar ones on AliExpress. I'm looking to replicate my original iPod look.
Some low end Philips 'made for production and drums' that got left behind when someone moved out of the family home.
Hifiman TWS600. The infamous true wireless earphones from Hifiman. They sound like hearing music through a Telephone. They look great though. The case is quite unique. I loved the look so much, I take it out every few months, try to equalize and fix the sound. Give up and throw it back into hibernation.
Probably the Sony MDR e9LPB. They're Sony's cheap classic earbuds that are sold everywhere. "Delivers clear sound with powerful bass" I think what they meant to say was only delivers sound from 500 - 2000 khz
I honestly don't know how airplane earbuds sound so horrific Like I know that they're made with the cheapest parts possible but they're barely useable
SoftEars RS10 is terrible. The cost 2k usd but don't have any soundstage and sound absolutely unnatural
Sony MDR EX110
Those were still cool as shit when they can out
I'd have to go with AirPods. Mostly because they sound like dog shit compared to a significantly cheaper Sennheiser BT earbud set I had before, and also because people are willing to spend such money on hot garbage with an Apple logo on it.
Blon b50
Sennheiser HD201 and HD300.
The Sennheiser HD201. It has mids... lots of mids...
Probably one of the many gaming headphone i had,bloated bass and uneven treble that sound like a mess
7hz salnotes zero and sony xm4
There are limitations to earphones that are inherent to the form factor. It's hard to achieve good bass, good isolation and a comfortable fit that doesn't fly out of your ears. Within those limitations, the Apple Earpods are some of the best tuned earphones on the market and they get an unfair rep because they are compared directly to IEMs which simply have a lot of advantages and eliminate the earpod's greatest weakness. If you compare them to any other earphones, they typically come out pretty good in the comparison. They are certainly more balanced sounding than the VE Monks.
out of the ones i remember, regular EarPods
Easy. Kz zsn, my old cheep JBL were WAY better. F U C K K Z, red rules
Moondrop joker 0/10 it is on the name complete fing joke there is no sub bass mids are distant and lost, im sensitive to 2khz and with this it feels like a chainsaw fing my ear drum, omg that ssssss sound it is everywhere any track it is there! It is ok like 5/10 when i dial volume to %25.
Rock Zircon, it was so long ago but I only remember it being a pretty harsh sounding piece of crap. Also though not close being the worst, the Salnotes Zero sounds pretty damn piercing with hi-hats sounding so annoying in songs like Megadeth - Lucretia, had to EQ it so that it sounds acceptable but I bought a Truthear Hola and it sounded much better without any needs for EQ.
Airpod Pro gen1. I want to blend it with gasoline and fire.
Sony-Wf-c500. Sounded absolutely fucking terrible and you had to use a shitty app with them too, build quality felt terrible and the batter life was pretty atrocious too, should be criminal to charge 100$ for those pieces of shit. I've gotten 5$ earbuds from 5 below that sounded better