Not too impressed with the sound quality produced by the factory buds. Looking for an upgrade and came across www.ultimatebuds.com Anyone own a set of these? I have read a lot of good reviews but I would love to get some more feedback before dropping the cash to get a set.
i saw these on engadget and they look great. not sure about the price though. and i actually found an auction on ebay where someone is selling a modded iPhone headset with jvc marshmallows. i've heard the jvc's are pretty good and saw the video too but wouldn't want to do it myself (not too tech saavy). not a bad deal for $99 tho. don't have the auction number but i found them by searching "iPhone jvc" or "iPhone mod".
The Etys that mod is based on are pretty a pretty good sound for the money option. I personally hated the Shure EC2 (muddy bass and rolled off high end) for about the same price.
Another option that will be available soon is an iPhone specific canal phone (like the Etymotic and Shure) from Ultimate Ears. I got a set for beta testing today, and they sound REALLY good out of the box. Based on the state of manufacture my prototypes are, they have to be pretty close to production. They're based on the UE Metro.fi, which are their lower end models (they make serious audiophile custom monitors, too for mucho dinero). You can get Metros at Amazon for about $50, so I imagine the iPhone model won't be terribly expensive...
Another option that will be available soon is an iPhone specific canal phone (like the Etymotic and Shure) from Ultimate Ears. I got a set for beta testing today, and they sound REALLY good out of the box. Based on the state of manufacture my prototypes are, they have to be pretty close to production. They're based on the UE Metro.fi, which are their lower end models (they make serious audiophile custom monitors, too for mucho dinero). You can get Metros at Amazon for about $50, so I imagine the iPhone model won't be terribly expensive...