Future Sonics Earphones For iPod

Henry Carmona · 08-02-2005, 04:19 AM

Just wanted to give a big thumbs up to Future Sonics for creating a great set of earphones/earbuds.

I orderd these from Future Sonics for right under $100 as they are currently on sale.

I dont have all that much experience with portable music devices or headphones. But i had tested 3 others before settling with these. The factory earphones which came with my iPod Shuffle sound pretty good, although you have to press them in to hear any bass and they arent very comfortable.

I first purchased the Yahba Opus earbuds and loved the look but they were actually a DOWNGRADE from the factory Ipod earbuds. I then ordered the Sony MDR-EX71's and HATED the look, sounded pretty good too but was a bit muddy and not very crisp.

Finally i broke down and bought the Future Sonics. Im like WOW! Beautiful, full bass. And the dynamics, voices, and highs sound really nice.

You really can hear parts of your favorits songs that you never really noticed before.

I wonder how much better the $250+ earbuds sound, haha.
THese things rock! Good isolation from other noises/sounds in the room too. Much more comfortable than the factory earbuds thats for sure.

Im rediscovering my mp3's and really enjoying my little 1 gig Shuffle.

Highly Recommended!

Theyre ugly, but theyre suppose to be skin tone and not really meant to be seen.

Kirk Gunn · 08-02-2005, 05:41 AM

Interesting... thanks for the post. I just picked up a Zen Micro and feel the same about their "factory" buds:

Quote:

although you have to press them in to hear any bass

Scott Merryfield · 08-02-2005, 07:06 AM

I've gone through a few different earbuds with my iPod, too. I hated the ones that came with the player (too uncomfortable) and tried teh Sony EX71's for awhile. I found these very comfortable, but phones overemphasized the bass, which was also too muddy for my tastes. I'm using Shure E3C earbuds right now. They are an improvement in sound clarity over the Sony's, but they do bump up the midrange a little.

Greg_R · 08-02-2005, 07:13 PM

Try out the Shure E3C and Etymotic ER6P. The more expensive headphones can sound better but most only really shine with a headphone amplifier. I have Etymotic ER4Ps that are pretty good in stand-alone mode. Their bass is significantly better with a headphone amp...

Henry Carmona · 08-03-2005, 04:57 PM

Yeah, i tried to dig up everything i could on Etymotics earphones and most did talk about the lack in bass.

The Future Sonics got great reviews and they do have great bass. For the price, i think theyre a great value.

**HTF Ads**

Kirk Gunn · 08-11-2005, 10:11 AM

Ordered a pair with some additional Large ear inserts. Total w/USPS shipping was 122.00, and received them in ~4 days. While their build quality was not overwhelming, they do provide outstanding sound from my Zen Micro !

Color is pretty nasty, but who cares.... I also should have ordered the Small inserts, so be careful if you are ordering before trying. The Large are similar in size to the normal yellow ear plugs you can get at hardware stores, and they just started bugging me after an hour or so.

Unfortunately one of the buds "separated" and is barely held together by the wire. Their website is very sparse on returns/warranty info, so I fired them off an e-mail at their generic "info" addy. Will keep everyone posted.

Henry Carmona · 08-11-2005, 01:02 PM

Wow, thats too bad about the bud.

You know, when i wrote them an email about my satisfaction with the sound i got a reply the next day thanking me for my purchase.

If thats the case throughout, i dont think you'll have a problem getting them replaced.

Im about to goto Loew's home improvement store and get me a box of 200 for $23 and just modify them. If they block out the noise as well as the factory ones, ill be set.

I think when you first put them in your ears theyre a bit strong and do put some pressure trying to open up, but that was only for a couple days.

Since i wear them alot, i dont even feel them anymore. just keep listening and im sure youll get used to it.

My shuffle is so small, i dont know how it has the power to make these sound so good. Hows the sound from the Micro?

PS-i should have emailed you before you ordered, but if anyone else is interested, shoot me an email and ill give you a $10.00 off code.

Greg_R · 08-11-2005, 03:11 PM

The Etymotic 4P + ear flange mod results in better bass than the stock 4P (sticks the driver closer to your ear drum). head-fi.org has tons of info about this and other headphones...

Scott L · 08-12-2005, 12:03 AM

Good Scott:
Thanks for the review Henry, I definitely would like to get rid of the stock headphones which are really uncomfortable.

Evil Scott:
+1 on the headphone amp comment. Talking about great sound quality on a miniscule ipod amp, dac, with 128kbps mp3s makes baby jeebus cry.

Kirk Gunn · 08-12-2005, 01:12 PM

E-mail to "info@Futuresonics.com" never returned, but e-mail do "dmac@Futuresonics.com" returned within a couple hours with an RMA #. Sucks having to pay shipping back... guess that's pretty much standard these days.