Metropol

Yesterday I had a terrible moment when I realised my earphones were failing, only playing in the right ear if I
knocked the cable. Thing is, these were pretty decent earphones, with very good base and overall sound quality, and now I dislike using any others because they just seem so inferior. These were they: http://www.amazon.co.uk/JVC-HA-FX34-SE- ... 0019CEEMI/

I just wondered what to look out for when buying such devices. I mean, you see tables of data like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/JVC-HA-FX34-SE- ... pd_cp_ce_2 - but what does it actually mean? I understand the frequency part, of course, but what about the rest, and does the metal used on the jack actually matter?

I'd be grateful if anyone could impart a little knowledge!

I can't really go by stats only by what I can here. I'm personally a big fan of Bose, the new Quiet Comfort 15's are their best yet, the noise cancellation is superb and they've tided up the bass which used to be a bit mushy. I've also got a set of their "on ear" rather than over ear which I use everyday and are just as as good imo.

For a normal set of in ear headphones, the best cost/performance set I've found are Sony EX90s. The block out most sound naturally and have an excellent dynamic and frequency range.

Cheers for all these great links - very helpful in deciding what to get next!

Just read your question again, the metal used in the connector is largely irrelevant. Don't be taken in by paying extra for gold, or whatever is the flavour of the month and OFC, any system is only as strong as it's weakest components, which in the case of headphones will be the solder at either end of the cable. No point in paying extra for the elements on either side of these joints.

I was surprised to hear Adam Buxton talking about being suckered into buying a stupidly expensive HDMI cable the other week. I didn't think that kind of scam was still going on!