21be4db0   
   XPost: sci.electronics.design, alt.audio.equipment   
   From: lcargill99@comcast.com   
      
   RichD wrote:   
   > I have the standard earpod set, which came with my   
   > armband MP3 player.  It pops out every 2 minutes.   
   > How did these things become the standard design?   
      
   Kids these days...   
      
   > They suck.   
   >   
      
   Yep. The cheap ones tend to sound bad, too.   
      
   > So now i'm looking for the earbud style, i.e. inside the   
   > ear.  They range from $8 to $40, and Shure offers a set,   
   > over $100?!?   
      
   They have sets over $400.   
      
   > For something so small, how can there   
   > be such a range?   
      
   It's a micro machined (or cast or molded) thing.   
   It's a transducer.   
      
   > Is there really such quality difference?   
   >   
      
      
   Yeah, there apparently is. They are, as you note, a total   
   pig in a poke.   
      
   I would tend to resort to brand name choice, mainly Shure,   
   because Shure get used as in-ears by people who perform with   
   them for a living. We're down to what amounts to folklore,   
   since you can't try them on.   
      
   > They are all sealed in blister packs, there's no chance   
   > to compare.  Even if there were, differences in   
   > environment, time of day, etc. swamp perceptual   
   > discernment.   
   >   
   > How would you go about testing these things, in the lab?   
   >   
   > --   
   > Rich   
      
   I am not Shure :) I'd estimate my ear canal geometry, use   
   a model of that to connect them to a measurement mic or   
   a standalone, Panasonic omni electret element, and run   
   an impulse ( and maybe white noise and maybe swept sine   
   tones ) through 'em. That's got to be fraught with   
   error - my tympani is not much like the back of an   
   electret element.   
      
   What would be interesting ( and might even be worth $20   
   or so ) would be a subscription service where people do   
   empirical reviews of these items. Problem is: how do   
   you establish credibility? Do people even care? If I   
   were considering such a purchase, and I could hedge 10:1   
   a purchase error, I'd probably do it.   
      
   I don't see one, so I figure there's a good reason   
   for the lack of them.   
      
   --   
   Les Cargill   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)