JBuds Hi-Fi Noise-Reducing Ear Buds (Black)
by JLAB
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List Price: Our Price: $9.95 You Save: $40.00 (80%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Speakers See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of JBuds Hi-Fi Noise-Reducing Ear Buds (Black)
Customer Review: Awesome earbuds for the $$
Summary: 5 Stars
I use these phones to listen to my MP3 player. I bought them to replace two pairs of Coby noise isolating headphones I purchased elsewhere. The Coby buds were less than five dollars a set, and for the price were really good buds. BUT I've gone through two pairs in less than 5 months. I also have a pair of much nicer Audio Technica noise cancelling earphones, ATH ANC3WH.
The Cobys were much more comfortable and actually isolated more sound than the ATs cancelled. I say this because I could listen to my Sansa with the volume at about 20%. With the ATs, I usually listen at about 50% volume. Not ideal for long term use. I bought the ATs mainly for air travel. They are very uncomfortable in my right ear. They are in ear canal phones, but part of the phones cover the cartilage that comes out of the center of the ear canal. (I have no idea what that part of the anatomy is called! The ear "uvula?") In any case, when I remove the ATs after wearing more than 30 minutes there is definite pain. I don't experience it on my left ear, so I'm not sure what the deal is. I'm disappointed in this as I spent FAR more on the ATs than either the Coby's or the JBuds.
The ATs revealed more subtleties in the music than I ever noticed before. Instruments I never noticed jumped out, background vocals shown through. There is even one song I have which I never noticed a speaking voice in the background. The first time I heard it with my ATs, the voice was so clear I nearly jumped out of my skin. I was cleaning up my back patio and I thought someone had walked up behind me unbeknownst to me. It startled the heck out of me. When I saw no one had snuck into my backyard and onto my deck, LOL, I rewound the player and listened again. Only then did I realize it was on the recording I was listening to! That part of the ATs was incredible. CRAZY! I really appreciated the nuances revealed in my old music. On the other hand, I found when using the ATs and my Sansa I started to get a lot of static. I had been very happy with the player until I got the ATs. I went back online and read several reviews that mentioned the Sansa was known for static at low volumes. I started to dislike my Sansa and began looking for a better MP3 player that would benefit from my more $$ headphones. I was not happy about having to shell out more money to enjoy listening to music again, but I figured I spent so much on the nicer phones I should invest in a nicer player.
Now onto the JBuds. They are most comfortable and come with three sizes of very soft silicone inserts. I'm using the medium size wich fit very nicely in my ears. I am no audiophile, but as far as I'm concerned the sound is great. I hear subtle notes in the music that I never noticed on the Coby's much like the ATs. Additionally, I'm again keeping my player volume lower, around 20-30%. The even better news is with the JBuds there is NO STATIC when listening to my Sansa. I am tHrIllEd!!! I am back to LOVING my Sansa as I did before. = ) But I do still have the new MP3 player coming. Not happy about that....Oh well, maybe static was just an excuse to buy something new.
If you are an average headphone user with basic needs, you can't go wrong with these phones. At their current price of sub ten dollars, they're a thing of beauty! Buy them now....don't wait for them to go up in price!
Customer Review: Simply amazing for the current price
Summary: 5 Stars
I snatched up two sets of these ear buds at their current fraction of retail price as my husband and I are both avid music lovers and are rarely seen without our Archos media players. I was very hesitant at first given the reviews stating the ear buds failed after a fairly short period of time, but I figured for $10, you really can't go wrong. We have never had premium quality ear buds and both of us have been prone to ear soreness after extended use with our traditional ear buds. My husband especially suffered from this as he is always listening to music and podcasts throughout the day and at work and often uses music to help clear his mind to fall asleep at night. I had hoped that these JBuds would be great for both of us, and so far, I have not been disappointed.
The included instructions state that you have to let the JBuds play music for an extended period of time to play at their full potential. If that's true, I am in luck because right out of the box they sound amazing. The quality is very crisp and clear yet very full. With my JBuds in, I am completely immersed and it's a beautiful thing. It sounds and feels as though the music is all around me. I am no audiophile, but music is a huge part of my life and these buds have multiplied my enjoyment of my music tenfold. Even when listening to podcasts, the voices are clear and it sounds as if the person talking is right in front of me. I know this is much owed to the ultra comfortable silicone ear buds which block out a surprising amount of external sound. The weather has been horrid here lately with harsh winds and I walked outside to take my pups in the back with my JBuds in and I didn't hear the howling wind at all. I have even been using these when gaming which has also been a treat. I love my Logitech G35 7.1-Channel Surround Sound Headset, but as it requires a restart of my game, I'm not always willing (or able) to restart on the fly to plug in my headset. In those situations, I plug in my JBuds and I'm completely immersed in my gaming world.
As for comfort, as that was the driving force behind this purchase, they have not let me down. It was strange, at first, being that the way the JBuds fit as compared to standard ear buds is very different. The JBuds slide further into the ear than I am used to and it felt odd for the first five minutes or so. After that, I hardly noticed they were in. The soft silicone is fantastic for holding the buds gently in place but not putting any pressure whatsoever on the ear itself which was always our biggest problem. Standard ear buds have to be wedged into the ear and rely on that to stay in place, which not only leads to a less secure fit but soreness over time. The silicone ear buds fix both issues.
My husband and I are both very pleased with this purchase and they have met and exceeded all my expectations for the price I paid. (I got two pairs for less than the half the price of one pair at retail!). I don't know if my review would be as glowing had I paid retail price. In truth, I probably would not have paid retail price for these just because I don't feel this type of product is worth that kind of money, but for what I paid, I am extremely happy and I'm even thinking about buying a few more sets for my nieces and nephew who aren't seen without their iPods. For this price, the quality is unsurpassed. You won't be disappointed!!
Customer Review: Deep sounding and very comfortable
Summary: 5 Stars
I was used to the earphones i got with my iPod when I bought it one and half years ago, but like many of you, the outer rubber part wore off, and then finally the plastic cracked, mainly because the earphones were getting hit on various hard objects, such as walls, subway doors, fists(?) lol. Nah, just general use, and frankly, you cannot expect a pair to last more than 18 months of rigorous daily use.
Anyways, back to the JBuds. Firstly, they fit in way deeper in the ear than the iPod headphones, so, the bass sound is really pronounced. Some techno and K-pop songs that had a good percussion rhythm sounded completely new with this JBuds. The deep seating earbuds also allow the iPod to be set at a lower volume than usual. Subway chatter and train track rattling can be effectively cancelled even with less than 40% volume, while with the old iPod, I had to rack it to 65~70%. That is definitely a plus.
These are sort of in-ear style earphones, so, it might take a while to get used to the "intrusive" style if you are used to the regular style earphones. For the first two weeks, my ears would usually feel heavy and ring after a few hours of use with these, but now I have gotten used to them, so its no big deal.
Once you get over the unfamiliarity issue, these are almost absent-minded earphones. I like to call them absent-minded, because they are so comfortable, and snug that you forget that you have them on (just like me old iPod headphones, which is a very good thing).
These dont have a very powerful grip on your ear, so a slight tug is enough for these to come flying off my ear. Usually this isnt a problem, but coupled with a really long (about 1.5 times the length of the iPod earphones, for those that might want to compare. In the regular SI units, I think about slightly more than one metre) cord, it might cause a few mishaps. I keep mind wound up in my pocket. So, dont even think about jogging with these, unless you have ears shaped like crevices.
Its an in-ear sort of model, so dont even think about taking a nap while wearing them. If you happen to roll to your side and put your weight on your ears, you will have a rude and painful awakening. I speak from experience.
I am not really a professional sound artist or an audiophile, so I will not speculate on this pair's sound quality, but it is on the same level as that of the iPod earphones, and most people are satisfied with music of that level. It does provide deeper sounds, mainly due to the increased proximity to the ear drum, but it seems to work okay over the entire range. I have no complaints about the sound, to be honest.
It comes in three bud sizes, large, medium and small. I have average sized ears (or at least I think. My ears look like out of a biology textbook, or so I have been told, so I can speak for most people), and the only size that fit me was the small. The other two simply fell off my ear. So, that gives you an idea of what sort of ears you need to order from your surgeon next time :D
For about ten dollars, I would say this is a steal compared to buying a replacement for the iPod headphones, which go for $35 last time I checked. I'd suggest these as your first choice replacement pair. They are good value for money. I have had them for over two months, and I am not regretting it one bit.
Customer Review: I found a much better alternative for (roughly) the same cost.
Summary: 3 Stars
I ordered the JBuds Hi-Fi Noise-Reducing Ear Buds from Amazon around a month ago. I'd read the reviews and couldn't wait to use them with my Sansa Clip (mp3 player). I have a set of Sony MDR-NX1's, but they are several years old (and white, the Sansa is black), so I decided to splurge on a new set. $20 wasn't much for nice sounding buds (I'd paid a good bit more than that for the Sony's), but with the large number of positive reviews for the JBuds, I just assumed that I was getting a incredible bargain. Turned out not to be the case.
When they arrived three weeks ago, I immediately plugged in the JBuds and was surprised by their very disappointing sound. The bass and midrange were muddy and a little distorted. By comparison to my old Sony's, the JBuds were certainly just as comfortable, but sounded absolutely terrible. So I went back to the web and began searching for what might be the problem and found others with a similar impression. Some suggestions were to push the buds further into the ear canal and try different adapters (the JBuds come with three different size adapters, which is nice). I did all that and it didn't help. But still, after seeing the number of positive reviews the JBuds received, I decided to just give them some time --- maybe I would get used to them and learn to appreciate how great they are.
Alas, no. After two weeks of using them on my daily commutes and at work (around 4 hours a day), I've decided that, for me, they would only be acceptable while working out or other activities where I'm not too particular about the sound quality. But when I'm at my computer or just relaxing to some nice tunes, they just don't cut it.
And it's not a particular type of music they perform poorly on, it's everything I listen to: rock, contemporary (top 40), solo guitar/piano, classical, country, and spoken voice. I don't listen to heavy metal, but I'd imagine it would sound just as bad to me.
So I began my quest again for a new set of buds, prepared/planning to spend much more than $20 this time, because I didn't want to risk another bad experience. After reading countless reviews on various buds in the under $50 category, I decided to give the Sennheiser CX300s a try. Amazon had the black version for $40, free shipping, and I was about to order them when I found a 3rd-party seller on amazon (usedmarket24open) offering the S version (silver and black earpieces, but the wires are solid black) for $20 plus $5 shipping (Sennheiser CX300-S Earbuds (Silver)).
So I read the reviews on the seller, then tempted fate and ordered them a little over a week ago. They arrived yesterday, and wow --- they are awesome! Everything is crystal clear. The bass is strong, yet no hint of muddiness whatsoever. $5 more than I paid for the JBuds, but a night-and-day difference in the way they sound.
So there's my JBuds story. I guess my ears are different than the majority of JBuds reviewers, but similar to the Sennheiser reviewers. And if you're not happy with your JBuds, maybe the CX300 would work for you too.
Customer Review: Sounds great after break in period!!
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought these to replace my $30 Altec Lansing Backbeats which had the cord split from getting it caught between two solid steel powerlifting plates. Most of the reviews say the sound quality and volume is good, I disagree.
Fit: The ear bud tips that came with the jbuds were no good for my ears, even the biggest ones would slip out and therefore produce very little bass and low quality sound. I put on the tips from my old altec lansings and the problem was solved.
Quality: The cable looks very delicate but I can't complain, for $6 you can't expect much. The length is great and allows me to wrap some cable around my ears to prevent the them from falling out. I guess I received the new ones since the connector is straight and not an elbow shape. The earbuds are light but unfortunately none of the tips were appropriate for my big ears, I don't hold this against them since I re-used my old tips.
Value: For the price the sound is ok, gets the job done but in my opinion it's not even close to my $30 backbeats which themselves are nothing special. I bought these because I have no other choice due to my current college financial situation. Compared to something like the standard iPod earbuds these are much better. Not bad at all for $6, I just hope they last.
Sound Quality: The treble is clear but the bass is very low. My biggest grip[e is that the volume is really low for my liking, I use music to psyche myself up before a big lift and the sound on these with the iPod on full volume is nothing compared to the backbeats. After using my Altec Lansing backbeats in a quite room for a while my ears would ring a bit, yes I know not a good thing, but when in the gym loud volume is VERY important to me.With these full volume is as loud as the backbeats at around 80%-85% volume, not impressed at all. overall for $6 the sound is ok, considering I am using the tips from my altec lansing backbeats the highs are clear and the bass is not much but still present. The sound with the large tips included in the package was not good at all for me, I assume this should not be an issue to most with regular sized ear holes.
Overall: I don't regret getting these for $6 but I will definitely replace them when I get the funds to do so. The sound is good for the price but the low volume and lack of bass does not cut it for me. Like I said before, with the iPod EQ set on loudness and at full volume it was not loud at all for me. For those that like clear overall sound with little distortion these would be great, I on the other hand prefer bass heavy and LOUD earbuds. For $6 these should make most music listeners on a budget happy, unfortunately I am not satisfied with them. Just because I don't like them doesn't mean they are bad, the sounds are clear and volume should be decent for most, just not for me.
Edit: After having them for a few months they definitely sound different. With the same tips that came with my previous ear buds (Altec Lansings) these sound great! Bass is nice and deep and vocals are decent. Great headphones for the price.