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,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of JBuds Hi-Fi Noise-Reducing Ear Buds (Black)
Customer Review: Like the ability to change earbud size
Summary: 5 Stars
I use these earbuds for listening to the radio at work. The offer acceptable blocking or ambient noise, but not noise canceling such as the acclaimed Bose headphones (which I've tried and don't like). As I said in the title the ability to choose from 3 different earbud sizes is great, I opted to use the small size because while it doesn't reduce ambient noise as much they are more comfortable to wear for 6 to 8 hrs. a day. The long cord is also a great feature.
As for sound quality, I do sound engineering and recording on the side as a hobby and am an experienced classical musician of 15+ years so I am going to try and be detailed here. There are certainly better headphones on the market, such as the pair of Sony MDR-V6 studio monitor headphones I own. Those headphones also cost a lot more and I would be very unhappy if they were stolen out of my desk. Your not going to get to get the low end response you would out of a pair of studio monitor headphones or a full range PA system, but the frequency response seems relatively flat over the full human hearing range down to around 55Hz which is way better than most cheep ear buds. I will also mention that as the manufacturer recommends, these ear buds will sound better after about 24hrs of playing medium volume music because the drivers "burn in" as its called which means the alignments loosen up a bit to allow for more accurate sound reproduction. I like the sound quality of these over the over the ear headphones provided with most CD players and radios, and I would even recommend them for mp3 players over a lot of the other earbuds out there. They sound better than the JVC Marshmallow which my girlfriend has and I can't stand. Also they can get quite loud with out distortion so I recommend listen responsibly, set the volume limit on your ipod to a level that doesn't tire your ears or make them ring after your done listening. Remember it is very easy to cause hearing loss from listening to music with headphones or earbuds because they are in your ear, thus the closer to your ear the sounds source, the less power it takes to reach damaging volume levels, this is a logarithmic relationship not linear making it all the more a sensitive issue!
As a note I've had these for 2 months and I think they were a great buy for the money ($10).
Customer Review: JBuds Hi-Fi Ear Buds VS Coby CVE92 Earphones
Summary: 3 Stars
I have been using the Coby earphones ($5) for a year now and I've gotten tired of changing them every 3-6months. So after my 3rd Coby gave out, I decided to try this item out.
Look : First impressions, they look almost identical to the Coby's but they have 2 more extra earpieces (small & large). The cord is a little flimsy (no complaints here since these are cheap) but the part where the cord connects to the jack looks very vulnerable and soft. If the earpieces get snagged (which happens with me a lot of times), I feel this part would give out. THe Coby's jack is L-shaped so if the wires get snagged, it takes a little stress off the jack/cord connection.
Sound : Here is where I got disappointed. While the audio quality is good, its not as good as the Coby's. I tested both earphones side by side (The Coby's Right earpiece still works) and the difference is big. Jbuds did give a clear crisp sound but lacks the Bass sound which makes the sound fuller. Coby's has good Treble & Bass ranges and you can even hear the tiniest sound (from shakers or maracas or tambourines). IN some acoustic songs, the Jbuds lost the tiny background sounds (tambourines, etc as mentioned). I'm particular of those small background instruments since they give the song "that feeling." I tested both on acoustic, hiphop, RnB, rock, dance, trance songs and the Cobys sound better hands down. Dance tracks & HIphop where the bass is more prominent sounds better with the Cobys.
Bottom line : If you want better sound (and can handle changing your earbuds every 3-6 months (The last one I have lasted 6mo. and all 3 Cobys lost sound on one side only) go for the COBYs. They sound good I still keep the old ones, cut-off the non-functioning side, & use it while sleeping. :) If you want an ok sound, go with the Jbuds since I read they have a 1-year warranty (without shipping charge) so your money is safe for a year.
UPDATE:
My earbuds finally quit working so i emailed them about it. They sent me a replacement immediately & I got it in no time. Maybe the production has improved over the months but the new ones that i got sound waaaay better than the ones I've had. I'm updating it to 4 stars for great customer service & good product!
Customer Review: Sometimes the Cheapest is the Best
Summary: 4 Stars
I currently own 3 kinds of earbuds, and the JBuds from JLab are both the best performing and the cheapest! I own JBuds from JLab (approximately $20), CX 300 buds from Sennheiser (approximately $50), MDR-EX51LP buds from Sony (approximately $25). They all provide good sound, and the medium inserts of each brand fit my ears. First, I owned the Sony's, and decide to spring for the $50 Sennheiser's to see if they were really higher quality. They were. The bass was far superior, and the bud's ear inserts were made of softer material. I was hooked on the Sennheiser's.
Unfortunately, I snagged and broke the wire on the Sennheiser's, and I had to buy another pair. Next, I decided to buy a cheap pair of JBuds as an interim back up for the next time I busted a wire. Much to my surprise, I found the sound of the $20 JBuds better than both the $50 Sennheiser's and the $25 Sony's!
In my opinion, the JBuds have a clearly discernable richer sound which seems to result from better reproduction of both the highs and lows. I connected a tee to the stereo jack of my Cowon iAudio G3 MP3 player, and plugged the JBuds into one jack, and the Sennheisers into the other. I played one of my favorite songs "Give It Up" by Etta James, and swapped the earbuds every few seconds. I was blown away. The JBuds sounded much better to me. As an Electronic Engineer I would like to see frequency response charts for the two types of buds to objectively confirm my subjective response, but I doubt the reliable tests are available.
In fairness, I want to state that the Sennheiser's are a number of months old, and they have spent hours in my sweaty ear canals as I jog a couple of miles a day. Perhaps, their audio quality has deteriorated. Unfortunately, I will never find out because I will not spend $50 on Sennheiser's when I can buy JBuds for $20.
I only have one small criticism of the JBuds. The wires to the left bud and the right bud are the same length. Consequently, you have to squint at the buds to see the little "L" or "R" each time you put them in. With most earbuds, it is easier to identify the left and right bud since the wire to the left bud is shorter.
Customer Review: JBud Ear Buds
Summary: 4 Stars
I give these 4 out of 5 based not on their absolute quality, but their high performance to price ratio. I was a bit skeptical when I bought them, but others gave them good reviews. I've had them about a month and I like them more than I was expecting to.....
Fit - I can't use the hard earbuds that come with a lot of players. They make my ears hurt in the first few minutes. The JBuds fit down inside my ear canal with soft rubber tips and a far more comfortable to me. I wore them for several hours yesterday on a plane ride and never once was annoyed by their presence!
Noise Cancelling - I've seen some peope call this a bogus claim since these don't offer active "noise cancelling", only passive "noise blocking". I think that it's a fair claim since some passive units apparently do a good. job. That said, these don't do a very good job of blocking out noise. If this is your primary concern, look elsewhere.
Sound - The sound of the JBuds could best be described as "inoffensive". They mostly suffer from sins of ommission versus commission. The bass is OK but not particularly deep and has a slight amount of "boom" (I'm very sensitive to boominess, so don't take this as it being excessive - it's not). The midrange is very good. Voices and instruments are clear and fairly detailed with decent articulation. The only problem with the midrange is that it's a bit exagerated (slightly too loud). The top-end is the JBuds primary failing. They seem to roll-off in the treble and rob the music of some of it's sparkle and "air."
In Use - I have a iRiver Clix that I use with the JBuds (BTW - I LOVE the Clix!). I tweaked the built-in equalizer to drop the midrange by a notch and to boost the treble by a notch and the sound is pretty good. Not as even and detailed as my entry level Grado SR60's, but at least similar in overall sound, which is saying something. I don't get tired of listening to them. They fit well and are comfortable. They seem to stay in OK, but I haven't worked out with them. They don't offer much noise isolation, but do provide a little bit.
Summary - Try them, you'll like them!
Customer Review: Good value
Summary: 3 Stars
Good:
Good sound and construction quality for the price. If you only want to spend $20, it's hard to do better than these.
Generally pretty comfortable and can be worn for long periods of time, especially if you're the type who doesn't like an earbud to put things too deeply in your ear canal.
Bad:
Ear fit isn't very tight, unless you turn them upside down and shove them way into your ear. Even then, I had to use the rubber pads from a different pair of buds for them to fit at all. The largest size pads that came with the buds were too small and pretty cheap. So while they are comfortable, people with larger ears may have a hard time keeping them in.
They also do a poor job of blocking out sound. I normally only listen through one ear so that I can remain aware of my surroundings, so I need good isolation or I end up having to concentrate to hear. Even with both in, you can't really use these effectively on the subway or in the car with the window down unless you have the volume turned way up.
The pads have fallen off more than once, which is unusual. Make sure you have spares, in case you lose one.
Recommendation:
Consider these if you
1) are cheap
2) like "Y" style headphones (I prefer J because of my one-ear listening)
3) don't have large ear canals
Bottom Line:
I've been very critical of these in my review, but all in all I am pleased with them for listening to audiobooks, which is most of my listening.
If you want a better fit, better pads, a case, and a volume control, consider the Skullcandy SC-SBB3.5 Smokin' Earbud Black, which were my former pair until they were eaten by my cat.
They're the same price, and sound great once they've been broken in. Though I prefer the smokin buds to these, opinions are divided and you might not agree after reading all the reviews.
The cheaper 'inked' buds by Skullcandy should be avoided however - within a week I had lost a pad and one of the phones had inexplicably died, and the fit isn't as good (but still better than the jbuds).