On the day I sat down and slammed out my Best Earbuds post, I had no idea it would become the most popular page on this site. Apparently lots and lots of people want to find a decent pair of earbuds without breaking their bank account. How about that?
I was a penniless student when I wrote the post, and now I'm a mostly-penniless graduate/church planter, so the original concept of strong bass + solid treble range + designer colors + low price continues to appeal.
Apparently it grabs other people too, because according to my Amazon stats, the now-famous V-Moda "Bass Freq" earbuds continue to sell well, and continue to be well-reviewed by other users.
These earbuds come in a good range of colors, so the other day I found myself wondering if that was a big part of their selling point. Are people getting drawn magnetically to the V-Moda color palette? I mean, "tambarine orange" earbuds don't exactly grow on trees.
It was clearly time for some quick market research. According to my stats, here's the breakdown on the most popular (best?) earbud colors.
Bling Bling Black: 50%
Platinum White: 25%
Blue Steel: 16%
Hot Pink: 16%
Tambarine Orange: 16%
Rocker Red: 8%
Rouge Red: 8%
What can we determine from this off-the-cuff market analysis? Well, Jaded Green has fallen on hard times. And the majority of people don't want to get very adventurous with their earbud colors. Maybe it takes more-than-average confidence to pull off a Blue Steel or Rocker Red, I dunno. I should also mention that 8% of earbud shoppers jumped up a price category, opting to make more of an investment in the V-Moda "Vibe" earbuds.But apparently the greatest attraction of my "best earbuds" are not the color choices. Which, despite the fact that I still think Tambarine Orange is an extraordinary option, is probably a good thing. Great earbuds should primarily be about the ability to deliver great music.
8 comments:
hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....
I admit, after reading your original review and recommendation I went and did a little more research of my own.
Being in the market for something that sounded a little less harsh than the stock ipod headphones I had nothing to lose between a local recommendation and other great reviews.
Music has never sounded so good as with those headphones.
Question, do you find that the gain/volume on your is way higher than most headphones? Most of the time I have to keep the volume low on my computer and ipod.
Cheers.
Hey man, glad they worked out for you. I think these earbuds are a great value even if you bought one of the black pairs. :) To answer your question, yeah, I find myself turning down the volume when I plug them in...although I typically turn it down when I use earbuds, so I couldn't say whether the gain is unusually high.
Hmm. Might have to compare a few pairs and find out.
Good for you, your blog entries rank quite highly on the popular Google search for "best earbuds".
Now my opinions on these buds: I think they're a bit outdated (2006). Not in sound quality but in design. The glossy plastic look can't really match the metal used on other earbuds, like the Vibe.
Thanks for the kind words, Andreas.
I agree, the plastic earbuds don't quite measure up in terms of style and durability to the metal used in the V-Moda Vibe.
However, while the Vibe is likely a better pair of earbuds (I want a pair), they definitely fall into a high price bracket, since the baseline is around $50.
Maybe not a big deal for an audiophile, but as far as the most bang for your buck, my money is still on the simpler Bass Freq.
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