Cheap Headphones

Cheap headphones are easy to find both online and at large retailers such as Best Buy. But is it worth it to even mess with a set of $5 headphones? In some cases purchasing a set of cheap earphones can make sense as long as your expectations are realistic. Obviously in order to sell earbuds that cheap, sound quality is not the primary goal. But for certain uses, purchasing a set of cheap phones does make economic sense.

We all know kids have a reputation for losing things and are particularly hard on electronic devices. It makes no sense to purchase a n expensive pair of phones for children, when they might lose them or break them. Besides, most kids do not take the time or have an appreciation for the reproduction qualities that an expensive pair of headphones can provide.

When using a pair of earphones for when performing such activities as yard work and other physical activities, having a cheap pair of earphones available on hand makes some sense. If you have invested heavily in a set of expensive audiophile phones, you may be reluctant to risk damage to them when engaged in heavy physical activity. Of course the decision to use a lesser set of phones and live with the less than stellar audio performance of a cheap set of phones is a personal decision. There are many who will not compromise on their music listening experience, under any circumstances. Another downside to cheap eheadphones is that they tend to be uncomfortable, especially compared to a premium a more expensive pair of aftermarket earbuds, which in most cases will come with several sets of earbud tips for optimizing the fit to the individual user.

The downsides to a purchasing a cheap set of earphones are obvious to anyone who has used a set of default earbuds with their IPod or mp3 player and then experienced the improvement after they upgraded to a more expensive set of replacement earphones. Upgraded earphones typically will provide a shocking improvement in clarity and performance across the entire audio frequency range. Even a $20 pair of phones can significantly improve the listening experience over the stock earphones. The second area of improvement is enhanced comfort.

While you may understand that the sound and comfort inherent in a cheap set of earbuds is a trade-off you may be willing to make in order to economize, purchasing earphones that simply become inoperable in a matter of days defeats the purpose. For this reason I would caution against purchasing ultra-cheap set, say in the $5 range. Typically these will not hold up to the rigors of everyday use, and will easily break. For these reasons, I would suggest spending at least $10-$12 as a minimum. You may not end up with the best sounding or most comfortable earphones, but at least you will enhance the possibility of acquiring a set that will hold together.

Finding a set of earbuds that create an effective seal between the earbud tips and the ear canal is imperative in order to experience music that is accurately reproduced. Unfortunately a tight –sealing fit is not always consistent with comfort. The challenge is to find a earphones that offer a comfortable listening experience even during extended listening sessions. This is further complicated by the fact that everyone’s ear anatomy is different. This is why a more expensive set of earphones will come with several sets of tips of different sizes and in some cases even different materials. With cheap earphones, customization of fit is limited and therefore one must suffer with the resulting limitations in the area of both sound quality and comfort.

Finding the best earphones at any given price point is a challenge. If you are limited to budget-wise to cheap earphones, you must be prepared to live with compromises in the areas of comfort and sound quality. But by staying away from purchasing the many offerings that are available in the under $10 range, you can reasonably expect earphones that will be usable for more than a couple of days.