Whoomp! Earbud Enhancers keep headphones in place

Because we'd love to stuff our iPod earbuds just a little deeper into our ear canals, a 3M spin-off called Hearing Components has developed a plastic and foam accessory that snaps onto the buds and promises to both keep them in place as well as improve sound quality. However, the so-called Whoomp! Earbud Enhancers themselves don't seem to contain any audio enhancing technology, but rather serve to simply direct the music deeper into your head holes. Twenty bucks is all it takes to score a two-pack of these in either black or white, although you really need to factor in the cost of future visits to the otalaryngologist along with all the hearing aids you'll need after blowing out your eardrums.

[nate @ Jan 5th 2008 10:15PM]

Meh, you can get a pair of real in-ears that sound at least decent for that same $20 at walmart

[SteveMB @ Jan 5th 2008 10:23PM]

Or some Koss Sparkplugs for $15 shipped.

[Allan @ Jan 5th 2008 10:15PM]

And the Griffin EarJams have been doing this for quite a while. Though I feel like they were something of a different name when I bought a set a couple years ago.

[James @ Jan 5th 2008 10:17PM]

Great idea, HOWEVER, 20 bucks is just ridiculous. I can't believe the price. They should be, at most, $5 for a pair.

[James @ Jan 5th 2008 10:19PM]

I take it back, $5 is still too much for 5 cents worth of plastic.

[SteveMB @ Jan 5th 2008 10:24PM]

Well I agree that they are too much, but there is foam and plastic. Not a big deal though.

[aguiluz @ Jan 5th 2008 10:47PM]

What a piece of wanking shyte. With all of the stupidest gadgets invented on earth, high powered headphones are the shytiest thing ever made. Why do you need to blast music into your ears anyway? Huh? Can't get enough of that damn MP3 player?

Anyway, be responsible to your hearing. If you lose it, it sucks to be you.

Just my two cents.

[jamma @ Jan 6th 2008 8:42AM]

In ear headphones aren't about power, many in ear headphones slightly block the sound around you so that you can play music quieter and still hear it, and simply have better quality

however $20 for these, which will not improve the already crap quality of ipod earphones, is a complete waste of money.

For $40 get some Sennheiser CX300,their awesome, for their price

[bertbusdriver @ Jan 5th 2008 11:05PM]

why would you want to spend 20$ upgrading ipod earbuds when you could get a new pair?

[Sean @ Jan 5th 2008 11:09PM]

In-ear headphones actually can help protect your hearing, when used correctly. Since they are in your ear canal, they give better bass response at lower volumes. Also they effectively create a seal from outside noise, further reducing the volume needed to hear the music.

Of course, if you are running your mp3 player at full volume, they are probably more damaging than cans or earbuds.

[John Russell @ Jan 5th 2008 11:20PM]

I'm already half deaf for non-noise related reasons, so it's not like it really matters much anymore.

[jamesFF @ Jan 5th 2008 11:36PM]

Now you can literly pierce your eardrums listening to your music!

[Stud Hunk @ Jan 6th 2008 1:01AM]

We have been using a soft foam we created just for that purpose.

It is soft so it doesn not irritate the ear, and you get ample bass, so you wind up keeping the volume lower than you ordinarily would.

Also because it absorbs the sound, you get less echo and more direct detailed sound quality

[Killakai @ Jan 6th 2008 1:26AM]

I'd like to nominate this as the worst ipod 'accesory' ever. I mean sure when there are like 2 billion ipods out there, I'm not mad at you for trying to ride that wave so to speak, but how about a little more creativity.

Next they'll come up with the ipod box holder.
"ever wonder what to do with the box your ipod came in..."

[rutsy5 @ Jan 6th 2008 3:17AM]

I'm not usually one for snarky "slow news day?" comments or complaining about too much Apple coverage, but this is to far. I've seen similar products out for ages; these are just one in a long line of overpriced "solutions" to enhance your already crappy music experience. I'm, sorry, engadget, but this is just kind of crossing the line.

[Paul @ Jan 7th 2008 1:17PM]

Actually, having used the Griffin predecessor to this product, i can say there is a significant improvement in sound quality simply by isolating the earbud sound from ambient noise. The only drawback to the Griffin product was that they were uncomfortable, a design flaw that this product appears to have remedied.

Also remember that iPhone users who want the functionality of the included earbuds, but the sound quality of in-ear style buds are left with very few inexpensive options. This actually looks like an ideal solution for that problem.

[MJ @ Feb 1st 2008 10:19AM]

Have you tried them? They're awesome! Really comfortable and they make the crappy ipod earbuds actually sound pretty good. But really, the best part is that they are comfy and don't fall out all the time. Definitely worth the measly $10 per pair.