After having returned my first pair of in-ear headphones within a week, I decided to buy this product because it received a lot of good reviews (meaning the results were better than all the other products that I found within the same price range).

I tend to travel fairly frequently, sometimes on very long flights, and this is the time when I listen to music. Despite being new to in-ear headphones, I have found that I am able to keep them on for long periods of time without any discomfort.

My right ear must be slightly different from my right one, as I was unable to create a perfect fit with the earphone. I think that the earphone would be easier to fit in if they were a little longer, so that we could insert them a little deeper in the ear. But I discovered that, by inserting the earphone upside-down on my right ear, I could create that perfect fit, thus bringing total isolation.

Apart from that, the sound isolation is heaven, particularly on the plane. I have found that it also allows me to listen to my music at a much lower volume than usual. I no longer watch movies on airplanes at max volume in order to understand what's being said. In terms of sound quality, it is more than good enough for my untrained ears. In fact, it's been the best of the few earphones I've had so far.

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with this product, and I feel that I got good value for my money. If you are a sound fanatic, you might want to start looking at the next category of in-ear headphones in the $150 price-range. Otherwise, if you're looking for a good sound at a price that's probably only $20 above low-quality earphones, this product might be a good buy.

I have had nothing but problems with these headphones. The cabling transmits noise when you move and the asymmetrical cord is extremely awkward. On one side the cable is only 5" and the other side is about 1' long. And the left ear bud split open after about 4 months of use. Stay away from these. The headphones that came with my iPod were better than these by a long shot.

Several of the one and two star reviews state that these headphones do not produce good bass, but after using them I have to say these have much better bass than most of the regular ear buds that I have used. The problem I believe is that many of the low-raters do not understand the difference between the design of these headphones and regular ear buds. These are not designed to just sit on the surface of your ear or sit loosely just inside your ear, these are designed to actually go inside your ear canal so the rubber creates a tight seal. I can see how some people would be hesitant or uncomfortable pushing a headphone into their ear like that but that is the design of this kind of headphone and if used properly, these puppies produce a quality sound that is very pleasant to listen to.

These do block out most of the background noise in a room and deliver the pure sound of whatever you are playing. I use these with my Creative Zen Vision MP3 player and they are superb.

Maybe it's my fault that I didn't move down to a smaller bud (I've never needed to do that before), but I couldn't get ANY bass on these things. I'm not an audiophile and I'm no fan of heavy bass, but I had to turn my Zen's bass boost on, crank the low end of the EQ almost to the max, and turn the treble almost all the way down before I could listen to music. As they slowly got "broken in", though, I found I could adjust the EQ a lot closer to normal - bass just a little elevated and treble just a little lower.

It's too late to go back and try other covers, though, because the sound completely gave out on me last week, with almost no warning. One day I heard a little bit of a crackle on the left and thought, "I'm going to have to replace these soon." A couple days later, suddenly, BOTH sides quit simultaneously. Only if I get the cord in JUST the right spot can I get any sound at all. That happened about two blocks into my walk, and now they're unusable. I've had them for about 4.5 months, so it's not the worst as far as durability.

These headphones also give a lot of "stethoscope effect". I had to hold the cord carefully the couple times I took them jogging; walking or even wind was enough to channel annoying thumping sounds into my ears. Did they design these things for stationary use only??

I didn't love the tackiness of the cord, either. It made them difficult to untangle, and on at least one occasion, I had the buds yanked from my ears when the cord simply stuck to a smooth surface I walked past (be careful on escalators!).

The buds were very comfortable, and 4.5 months of moderate use isn't too bad (used them mostly while walking/sitting, several hours a week). I'd give them 2 stars, but I'll do 3 since apparently a smaller cover may have solved the bass problem. I ordered two different brands as replacements, though, because I didn't want to mess with these again.

2.5 stars: for the price, the sound quality is good, the fit is good. Construction? Poor. Maybe I got a bad set but mine tend to fall apart quite often (each bud likes to split in half). Not too bad if you're in the house, at work, but try finding some of the pieces when it breaks apart at the beach. In hindsight, I wouldn't buy these again.