This turned into quite an education in earphone/headphone technology. The good news is that there is no reason to live with the less than adequate sound quality of the stock buds provided by Apple or other manufacturers. Like many things, you get what you pay for (with a couple of exceptions).

The key is to determine what kind of music you listen to most and then prioritize comfort, sound quality and price in deciding which to buy.

The Shure E2g’s were the lowest price headphones in this group and they are available for under sixty bucks on Ebay and other e-tailers. They offer the greatest Bang-for-the-buck of the group.

I was really impressed with the Audio-Technica offerings in this roundup. The ATH-EC7 is a work of art and an amazing sounding product. They were hands-down, the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn. While not as deep in the bass, they did offer beautifully detailed and well balanced sound.

There is no question, after much listening by me, each member of my family and several friends, that the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro’s are the best sounding earphone/headphone, period. The sound quality is superb. There are issues with their comfort – so I would urge you to try them at a friend’s or at a guitar shop if you can. If they fit well, you will not believe the things you will hear, that you never heard before in your music.

These are all “Premium” Headphones. You will hear everything better than you currently do if you use inexpensive earphones. The only caveat to beware of, is that you will hear the imperfections in your music. If you use compressed files at anything less than192 kbps, you will hear the imperfections and distortion. It isn’t horrible by any means – but beware. If you listen to CDs or DVDs, or use these on your PSP, you will not believe your ears.