Good Headphones

I read a post (I believe) by Robert Scoble first and then another by Omar Shahine that pointed out the idea of good headphones.  I bought a pair of Etymotic ER6i headphones shortly thereafter.  I have used them ever since with my pair of iPod Mini's (first one died sort of).  I cannot recommend too highly getting a good pair of headphones if you use a portable music player regularly.  One of the best parts of these headphones is that they are noise blocking.  They act as ear plugs and block out music as opposed to the noise cancelling products offered by Bose primarly and Sony as well.  I don't like noise cancelling ones since it makes it feel like my head is collapsing.  The main benefit of the noise blocking headphones is to allow you to not turn up the sound nearly as much.  This helps protect your hearing and also greatly improves the sound quality.

These headphones are also very durable.  I have paint on mine as I used them extensively while working on basement.  They helped alot while working on basement as earplugs since some of the equipment I used was quite loud.  Also as I mentioned in my Maryland State Fair entry they survived going through the wash and dryer in a pair of shorts.  The headphones even came out quite clean.

If you want to get a pair look around for prices.  The list price on Etymotic is $149 and they can be found for as little as $80.  It may seem like a lot to spend on headphones but I think mine will survie multiple players just as my speakers will outlast my stereo.  Another company to look at that makes similar products is Shure.