Listening Devices
Starred are my most commonly used at present.
- *Apple EarPods: The best budget listening, in my opinion; and seemingly most people's opinions. Apple's wired earbuds were ubiquitous when they first arrived, but they've rushed back onto the scene with a fervor.
- Apple AirPods Gen 2: The Gen 1 and Gen 2 shared the same shape and provided similar acoustics to the EarPods. However, AirPods only seem to last 2-3 years before their battery life is too short. When talking, I have to use one at a time, alternating them during a conversation. Due to the expense of replacing these (and the inconvience and quality issues with non Apple devices), I have been seeking alternatives for a long time.
- *CMF Buds 2 Plus: Similar or slightly better audio quality to the Apple AirPods Gen 2 and the Apple EarPods, and the battery life is incredible. Mic quality is decent, but not necessarily better than EarPods. These have provided my first frequent use of active noise cancellation. The ANC works well in the subway (platform and in car), on sidewalks, and in moderate wind. They aren't the best at filtering out voices of people nearby.
- Sony MDR-7506: The legendary closed back, over the ear, monitors.
- SMH-1200: Closed back. Similar to the 7506, but had a detachable cable and a slightly more comfortable headband. Unfortunately the attachment lock was custom, and they didn't sell a longer cable.
- AKG K240 Studio (Massdrop AKG M220): Fantastic budget open back, over the ear, monitors, with a standard detachable cable. I used this for the longest time
- USB-C to 3.5mm DAC with CX31993 and MAX97220 chips (CCZ): Claims to provide PCM 32bit/384kHz audio. I wanted something more durable and potentially better than the Apple adapter. The braided cable of the CCZ is definetly more durable and it turns out that it can provide the in-line mic audio from the Apple EarPods to the host device.
- Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 Gen 3: A decent computer interface that improves average speaker and mid-range earphone performance.
- Sony MDR-XB950BT: My first bluetooth headphones, and still technically my only ones. They didn't sound that great, but they were cool to use.
- Amazon Echo Buds 2023: I thought these would be a pretty cool budget alternative to Apple AirPods. I was willing to put up with slightly reduced fidelity, but switching them between devices was terrible. They had terrible audio quality when paired with a computer. And
- TaoTronics TWS earbuds: I tried several of their early TWS earbuds. They all sucked.
- Tin HiFi T2: My first experience with in-ear monitors. They performed marginally better than the Apple EarPods, but they were quite uncomfortable for me.
- Anker Soundbuds Tag: Small bluetooth earbuds with a wire connecting the buds around the back of the neck. They didn't sound good, and the wire was fragile.