Apple introduces $79 in-ear headphones
By Donald Melanson 
posted Sep 9th 2008 12:09PM
posted Sep 9th 2008 12:09PM
In case you missed 'em among all the iPod hubbub, Apple also introduced some new in-ear headphones today, which should go some way to improving its reputation among more discerning listeners. These boast two drivers each -- a woofer and a tweeter -- and come with three earbuds to ensure a proper fit. They sure are running up against some stiff competition at the $79 mark though -- but hey, they're white.
In ear for 79 -- I'd rather go with 20 + for bose
$79?
Costs broken down, I think that would be $60 for the apple logo. $5 for the case. $14 for the headphones.
These are dual driver...$79 isn't all that bad assuming they'll actually be good quality. Are there other dual driver earphones out there at this price point?
My Shure E2's were $99 and only have a single driver. If these get decent reviews I might consider picking up a pair.. though I much prefer having normal black headphone cords and drivers.
I wonder if these'll have a narrow plug so it fits in the moronic recessed 1st gen iPhone headphone jack...
I'm pretty sure they won't make them compatible with the 1G iPhone, because now it's outdated, and as we all know, Apple doesn't like things that are old. Especially 3 months old.
What I find interesting is that they mention that they have a mic that is compatible with the just-updated iPods, saying that you can use them for "voice memos". I never saw that in the list of new features, but that'll be nice to have. Means jailbroken apps on an iPod Touch can support things like Vo-IP without some $50+ modded mic.
I'm with Jason here... $80 for (assumedly) decent dual-driver in-ears?
Show me the stiff competition. If these stack up at all to other similarly spec'd headphones, it looks like they're a pretty decent price.
lay off the haterade.
@Tinu - Hilarious, and right on the money.
I wouldn't be surprised if the quality of these phones weren't nearly as good as the Bose or Shure $99 models. Yes dual drivers are a nice boost, but as someone who has owned both Shure e4cs and Shure e2cs, I can say that a lot can be done with one driver (the e4cs have one driver and are $300+, and sound simply orgasmic), and I might go so far as to say that, especially coming from a company like Apple with little dedicated acoustics experience, dual drivers can be a gimmick.
More important than the number of drivers is their quality (I've never been impressed by Apple 'phones), and the internal acoustics/sound shaping of the headphones, and the type of driver. Is it a dynamic driver, is it an armature driver? Apple doesn't tell us these things because the insides probably have about as much engineering, research, and development put into them as their $30 phones which are worth $8. The odd shape of the e2cs is a visible testament to this fact and I'd be skeptical of the time/effort Apple put in to deliver truly quality headphones at $79 when people who have been at it for decades (Shure, Bose, Etymotic) don't stuff two drivers into their cans for such a low price.
Although they come with a remote thingy they're not worth it since that money would is in the territory or proper Shure ear-buds.
F-Me, just get some Seinhouser CX500's, probs much better and look a lot nicer if these pics are anything to go by!
yes, but no mic/controller built in.
While I totally agree with you and prefer Cowons for that reason, Apple isn't stupid and they have their ears to the ground. The iPod seems slowly shedding its reputation as a silly DAP for the average listener because of sound quality/headphone jack improvements. Apparently these headphones are intended to represent another step in that direction. However as skeptical as I am, I'll have to withhold judgment until I actually get a pair of these in my ears hooked up to a new iPod.
@RICK
the controller and microphone only work on the new iPods
@Joe
Unforutnately I feel like if Apple was that concerned about sound quality, they would had said eff the headphones and given iTunes and iPods/Phones FLAC (or even OGG) support, and user defined EQ.
harveyhanson,
if you really like it, try to learn its name. it's called Sennheiser
I'm guessing that similar quality headphones from someone like Sennheiser or even Sony would cost $40. These are probably as overpriced as Bose in-ear headphones
Well then stop guessing. I am a discerning audio consumer and dislike Apple as much as the next jaded neo-revolutionary super savvy post-hip internet peruser, and while I don't intend to insult your ever-wise flip assessments, you should know that two drivers in those things is pretty impressive at that price point and unless they're wielding some embarrassingly ungainly acoustics, $79 is a pretty damned good deal on paper. Say what you want about iPods, but they've never been anything but competitively priced, you have to give 'em at least that much.
"improve its reputation among more discerning listeners."
um yeah... Apple has no reputation whatsoever among discerning listeners, as discerning listeners generally go for a decent sounding mp3 player! Not the average stuff Apple pumps out.
which probably means that every iSheep out there is going to become a self proclaimed audiophile because they have these phones :\
Discerning listeners don't listen to mp3's.
Fine with me. The average audiophile is a complete 'tard. This coming from a guy with Paradigm Monitor 3's, so I am not completely tasteless, just not willing to spend thousands on speaker wire.
MP3? I think you'll find "discerning listeners" will skip MP3 all together my good chum.
Real audiophiles go for lossless codecs. Almost all easy to get DAP's don't support them, though.
We're talking about MP3's here. It's silly to be talking about 'discerning listeners' when the source is heavily compressed in the first place.
Yep, 192 Kbps .ogg or FLAC here, I avoid mp3's like the plague.
I enjoy good sounding music on my players and I use MP3s. Why? Because every single player out there will take them. I use 256 kbps and up, and some decent earphones. It's good that some mainstream players like those made by Samsung and one by SanDisk I think now accept FLAC or OGG though. I would switch over to OGG or FLAC if I knew more players supported those formats. It seems that AAC is now becoming a standard and that's pretty good too at higher bit rates(NOT the 128 mainly in the iTunes Store). I really don't like being limited to only certain brands, so I'd like to see more support for lossless formats over MP3 also, but it's just a bit too limited right now. Unfortunately high bit rate MP3s are the only thing you can use across the board.
Who cares?!
Are all these iPod threads needed? Engadget seems to love Steve Jobs more than he does.
since when have apple headphones been called 'ipod'???
There are lots of Apple posts because Apple have released a lot of products today. You get similar things on here all the time with other companies releasing large batches of products, just nobody notices because its not Apple
@ eiki
since apple called them "apple ipod earphones" maybe?
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MA662G/B
true, true, but you could use these on any player, so non-ipodders may want to view this post without having to scroll through a powerpoint about ipod/itunes the price point is competitive for the construction, these will also be called
Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic, so not so aligned with ipod
Typical overpriced Apple crap.
typical uneducated kneejerk response
wow relax Unix... put that cross down and stop taking life so seriously.
the original ipod headphones were awful! i still dont know why people wouldnt buy their own.
i've been using the sony in-ear n its only $29. $79 for apples is a joke!
Judging from Apple's prior half in-ear headphones, I will prefer spending the extra $20 and purchase Shure's. Wonder if these actually stay in your ear unlike their last model.
I doubt they'll stay in, they look like the same friction-hold design. I made it about 1/4 of a lap on my first run before I realized the apple earphones were going buh-bye.
I actually think that these will stay in a lot better than the last ones. The older in-ear earphones has silicone ear buds that were tapered, these new ones look more similar to the ear buds that sony and shure offer on their in-ear earphones.
I rather buy a Sennheiser CX500 for $79 (Yes I can find a deal @ that price) which is like 10 times better than this*.
Although, they should have just put this in the latest iPod Nano and Touch.
I'll stick with my Sennheisers for now.
$79 is a little much to pay just to have an apple logo on it.
oh, so you've heard these already, what do they sound like?
shmendrick! two drivers each, hence price!!
HAHAHAHAH.
iPrefer they drop the price on them Dr. Dre Headphones! $349.49, you gotta be kiddin' me! iMean, they bump; especially with this one program iHad since '04 that iNcreases the volume on mp3's to 1000%. Anyways, still lookin' forward to 3rd Gen iPhone. The 3G iPhone iS trash when compared side-by-side with the first gen iPhone. Enough said...
-sent from my iPhone
_____________________
iGet enough exercise just pushin' my luck!
@Cherry
Wow. You're so cool. Can I be like you?
@B.Cherry
I still don't understand why you replace every instance of -ing with in' or n'...
"You gotta be kiddin' me! Im not lookin' forward to the new ****n' machine Apple's makin' !"
"Stop making ****n' ****, Apple! ! I'm dyin' to make a ****n' ****y comment on Apple's ****n' ****y product on this ****n' blog!"
It sure makes a lot of sense.
@myself
OH NO, I SAID MAKING, NOT MAKIN' !!!! I MUST SHOOT MYSELF!!!
I kinda like the http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/hf2.aspx myself. Apple quit designing crap and just get with them.
Are these the ones with the microphone built in? That's more interesting to me. The new iPod Touch has a built-in speaker, the optional headphones have a built-in microphone. iPod Touch phone, anyone? All we need is Skype. Or better yet, a T-mobile Hotspot@Home app that allows you to use your iPod as an iPhone wherever you have WiFi. We may yet have a legal iPhone that escapes AT&T's horrible service!
(BTW, iPhone 3G reception problems? I'd sooner blame them on AT&T then on the iPhone.)
Yeah, I've also been looking for a way to use my iPod Touch as a Skype phone. It would be awesome if it turns out that you can use it in this way.
Wow, everyone's real negative about these. Two drivers for $79. They have NO competition at that price point! We'll see if they're any good, but none of the ones mentioned above have two drivers.
I agree; $79 is reasonable.
Such an expensive device should come with quality ear buds. Not pay extra.
I hope they will be adding triple click to play the previous track to the current iPhone headphone functionality
Read the Product Description Page - Three Clicks = "Previous"
I was waiting for that, too. I'm even more excited about the volume controls, though. It's about time something less than $100 included EVERY feature I've been wanting in a pair of in-ears.
No thanks, I dont care about an apple logo.
I had a pair of Sennheiser cx500s and they were amazing. Now I have Skull Candy (I got for free with entourage but their $15) and they sound amazing.
For $79 those headphones had better doubled as earwax remover as well.
Oh my god. I don't think you guys know what you are talking about here.
We are talking about in-ear headphones with TWO SEPARATE DRIVES!!!
Shure for less than 200$ sound like a raped donkey.
Senheiser... they have single drive, they are alright but two drives do produce more clear sound.
Until a review of these headphones and better specs come out for Apple's in ears, you cant say anything about how they perform.
Super.fi with two separate drives start at 300$. Go learn to read FF (the second F is face).
Clearer sound would just get you killed because you aren't paying attention to your surroundings. You'll walk into traffic, onto subway tracks, get mugged walking into a parking structure, etc.
But whats the quallity like? The chances are they are no where as good as the super fi 5 pro.
@James
No, noise cancellation would get you killed because you can't hear your surroundings. Clearer sound doesn't necessarily mean blocking out sound or louder sound, it just means the sounds that you already hear will include clearer, more life-like sounds from the audio player.
@Evan
These are in canal phones, so sound isolating. Near as makes little difference to sound cancellation. Think ear plugs used for operating heavy machinery with a pair of headphones built in.
I have a pair that work in a similar way, and I don't dare wear them when outdoors. Not enough awareness of traffic sounds and the like. In canal phones do sound great though. Magnificent Bass, and plenty of detail. Just not a good idea when there is a risk of a car coming up behind me. I have a pair of ordinary Sennheisers for out door use.
Apple's packaging is better than the product that goes into it.
Man...people obviously must not listen to earphones outside their stock brand. $79 for a dual driver headphone WITH a mic and controls is an awesome price. Definitely will order a pair and compare them to my current SA6s.
i agree, a great deal. let's just see what kind of sound it puts out.
Oh my god. I don't think you guys know what you are talking about here.
We are talking about in-ear headphones with TWO SEPARATE DRIVES!!!
Shure for less than 200$ sound like a raped donkey.
Senheiser... they have single drive, they are alright but two drives do produce more clear sound.
Until a review of these headphones and better specs come out for Apple's in ears, you cant say anything about how they perform.
Super.fi with two separate drives start at 300$.
It is a 'driver', not a 'drive'...
...
...
...makes me wonder if you even know what you are talking about...
...
...and anyway, numbers don't matter. That's like saying, I have a cock on my forehead, that must make me better than you because I have two.
### You could have two crap drivers blasting out any old crap, OR you could have two high-quality drivers with a good crossover and frequency responses tuned to compliment the crossover frequency. I wonder which these are? ###.
they might absolutely suck,until we have an ears on id rather go with a normal sure.
Am I the only person who thinks the new case looks like a uterus?
iUD FTW
@CJ
lol, it really does look like a snatch
@noodles
uterus =/= snatch
I think they mentioned these have a mic built-in too, right? Wonder if they're the triple-ring kind & would also work w/ iPhone? Would be nice to have an iPhone headset w/ inline volume control... (but for $79? Yeesh...)
iPhone isn't listed in the compatibility section in the store which I hope is a mistake. Having the volume control would be very nice while working out.
iPods only have a very narrow frequency response of 20Hz to 20,000Hz..its a limited signal, small range with not a lot of highs and lows, so new headphones won't do a tremendous amount for sound quality. Save some $$$$
What? How is that narrow? That's the full sonic range of a CD. I fail to understand how people can justify skimping on headphones/earbuds. It's the only part of the whole system that is actually producing the sound waves that you hear.
Believe me... a 20 to 20,000 Hz frequency response is no guarantee that sounds will sound good at all. I remember back in the day, when I was looking for replacement earphones for my old iPod shuffle, I went to a Radio Shack (bad idea already) and got a pair of Koss earphones that had the exact same frequency response. Twenty Hz to twenty kHz is the frequency response of the human ear, so I said to myself, ok. As soon as I put on those earphones, I was amazed at how horrible the sound was. I am never going to Radio Shack ever again to get new earphones, and I am never ever going to get Koss earphones either.
Also @ phlavor:
A CD can go up to 22 kHz. It's not like many people can hear past 20 kHz, but there are a few people who can tell when something is beyond that range. For example: anyone who prefers lossless codecs over 320 kbps mp3 and aac CAN hear that range between 20 kHz and 22 kHz since 320 kbps mp3's don't get any frequencies beyond the 20~21 kHz range. Last time I did an mp3 to lossless frequency response comparison (just because I'm nerdy like that), 320 kbps is insanely accurate to lossless quality until it gets past 20 kHz. I, myself, am perfectly fine with having a 192 ~ 320 VBR mp3, but there are others who need the extra accuracy that lossless codes have.
Now you can really hear how crappy those lossy AAC downloads from the iTunes store sound.
wow, the haters are out in full force.
Cheapest Dual Driver earphone in market! Thats for sure!...
We won't know if its worth $79 until some good reviews.
People who are complaining about the price... you don't need this,
People who thinks this is a wicked deal, should wait until some reviews pop up.
I will be looking out for these.. hopefully they will have other colours available beside white.
Wait for the reviews, but these don't appear to be a rip-off at all. They have 2 drivers and the remote w/ mic &volume controls. That combo of features is tough to even find in any competing in-ear headphone, regardless of price (which at $79, isn't too bad).
HOWEVER, The product page does not list it as being compatible with the iphone. I was looking to make sure that it can be used like the current stock iphone headset, but the ability to take and hang-up is not listed and the mic is to "record voice memos on supported ipod models".
It would be really lame if these don't work with the iphone. Especially since there is no reason for them to not work.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA850G/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Ng&mco=MTcyOTAyNw&p=1&s=topSellers
mic=voip??
Perhaps they should just enable A2DP on their products and let us choose whatever earphones we want. But then they can't make any more money. :(
I think they ship with crappy earbuds because they don't want to raise the price of the player.
Plus, it's better for consumers who care about audio quality to throw out ear buds worth $2, than to throw out dual-driver earbuds worth $50+.
Guy I talked to via Live Chat with the Apple Store said he wasn't sure about iPhone Compatibility, but he was assuming these would be compatible. (The product page for these doesn't say if they are.)
I would pay $80 for these, and here's why - First of all, they're dual driver, and around this price bracket, you're hard pressed to find anything else that will perform all that much better. Second of all, I've always appreciated Apple's minimalist design approach, most of which being the remote. I'm a big fan of the remote, and I'm liking the upgraded version with volume control and a "Previous" button. Finally, they're still cheaper than just about anything else out there that offers "In-Ear" AND a microphone... But you also get the remote.
Dunno why everyone's so quick to bash these, they seem like one of the better announced products today.
One more thing to note - One of the product images gives you a glimpse at the connector, and it looks fairly identical to the current earphone/mic/remote combo headsets that are currently shipping with the iPhone. I doubt there's some kind of hardware difference between the iPod Touch's headphone jack and the iPhone's, so I'm willing to bet these are going to be completely iPhone compatible.
Exactly. While I think these in-ear headphones look promising, I don't understand *why* these won't be compatible with the iPhone models. Part of me thinks Apple is already forgetting the people who paid for the 3G iPhone and that wasn't too long ago. Without the mic or remote control functionality, hopefully the sound quality will make up for that little shortcoming.
I'm thinking that these new headphones require a new firmware update to 2.1 before they are compatible (perhaps for compatibility with the volume buttons on the remote). Since 2.1 is only available to the iPod touch and not the iPhone until Friday, I'm thinking that Apple is playing it on the safe side and not listing the iPhone yet as being compatible until the new firmware 2.1 is up.
Just a guess.
The biggest problem with these headphones is they contain a cord.
Uh, hello Apple? Its called Stereo Bluetooth. Please adopt technology that your competitors have had for, what 5 years now?
I don't know what's uglier... a cord, or those hideous adapters people have to sling onto their iPhones and iPods to do stereo bluetooth.
Looks like the iSheep are happy.
I will stick with my Ultimate Ears headphones...
I got some sony ones I'm pretty happy with. I like earbuds 'cause sound doesn't have any time for the waveforms to decay before they reach your eardrumbs, and I can get it loud and clear without disturbing other people..
These are the kind that fit around your ear, I think a lot of people hate those, but I'm not one of those people.
sp/drumb/drum..
..blasted english language.. and lack of post edits..
GET BLACKBERRY OEM HEADPHONES!!! Perfect match and good sound quality! Works with the iphone....and has microphone! for like $15 max.
Someone does not know the difference between crappy earbuds and proper earphones.
Why aren't these compatible with the iphone???
from their product page:
*Compatibility Information
The remote and mic are supported only by iPod nano (4th generation), iPod classic (120GB), and iPod touch (2nd generation). Audio is supported by all iPod models.
Maybe it uses a different wiring scheme, idk... but that sucks if they don't work with the iphone.
I see these have a mic but arent listed for use with iPhone. Can these be used to replace my iPhone OEM's? They are not comfortable and always fall out of my ear. I need a good replacement.
White, thats funny seeing that you cant get an iPod in white anymore...
these will compliment my $129.99 HDMI cable nicely
@UnixSystemsEngineer
Obviously.
the whole point of twin drivers in speakers is that to the size of the cones (or domes or whatever) is related to the wavelength, bass notes from the large-coned woofer. in headphones it's just a stupid gimmick - the drivers are tiny compared to the wavelengths.
people in the know buy Grado, maybe Shure, and sometimes Etymotic if they have noise isolation needs. Sony and Sennheiser are "good enough" if you pick the right model for the right purpose.
On paper, these are a fantastic deal. A two driver headset for $79.
In actuality, they will probably not be so good. More drivers != better, sometimes. I'd take a good single driver over a crap two or three driver 'phone.
They're also not earbuds. Earbuds are what come with the ipod; It doesn't go into the ear canal at all. These are canalphones, or IEM's.
I still like the Etymotic HF2 more. A fully isolating IEM with a microphone.