nextgap.com

MAXELL:

I bought the Maxell earphones (Maxell digital stereo earphone MHP-EP02) after I thought I’ve lost my iPod original ones. The Maxell make an impression like quality earphones, but are they?

The package comes with an extra 2 pairs of replacement silicone cups. A big sized pair and a small pair. The medium pair is already installed on the earphones.
Fit – the Maxell ear phones are comfortable, no doubt, more than the iPods. They fit snugly into the ear, and while that, they cancel a bit of outside noise, which is good, cause that way, you don’t have to raise the volume too much.

Use & Sound – The earphones PL jack length is like the original iPod: 2.5. Although normal 3.5 PL jacks will work on an iPod too. Sound from these earphones is fair (1 to 10? 7) , but not good. These earphones miss on high frequencies, and the lows as well, making the overall sound a bit flat.

Durability: up until now (from Aug 08)  the silicone cups stay in good shape. How long until the need replacement? I don’t know. But as I wrote, you got 2 spare pairs (but in other sizes…).

iPod:

Funny, but just after I bought the Maxell’s I found the lost iPod earphones (in one of my shorts pocket…). I plugged them into the iPod, and the sound was not just a bit better, but on a different level – amazing and amazingly better than the Maxell. It’s not a matter of taste, or 1 on 1 comparison, the difference is noticeable, even if you listen to one today and the other tomorrow .

Fit – comfortable wise the iPods are ok. The Maxell’s are a bit more comfortable I think, maybe cause they are smaller in diameter, and fit into the ear canal, while the iPods seat on the ear- the classic type. But, on the other hand, the iPod can just be a loose fit if you want, while the Maxell’s have to be snugged in the ears, otherwise they’d fall off.

Not so good news is that these iPod earphones will probably cost more than the average earphones. And they sound better assuming they are fitted correctly, otherwise you lose all the bass.

Durability: One more thing worth mentioning is the rubber that surrounds the speaker will not hold forever. Mine fell off after couple of years of use. When it does, the ear phones don’t fit the ear good and they are not comfortable as they used to be, you lose a fair amount of sound quality and basically you need to buy new ones.

iPod earphones on amazon