Apple iPod In-ear Headphones

Summary

Given the iPod In-ear Headphones’ target audience - people with iPods on the move - we were surprised the Apple In-ear Headphones fell out of place so easily when we walked around. They won’t outright fall out of your ear, but even weak tugs will cause them to shift around. Their portability is enhanced by their compact size, however, and the case they come with is great for keeping your cord from getting wrinkled.

In terms of audio quality, these headphones typically performed somewhere around average. They had some real problems with bass distortion, so those who like bass-heavy music should keep this in mind when shopping. Also, they were surprisingly mediocre in terms of isolation; in-ear headphones typically act like ear plugs, keeping out most external sound. They did control leakage really well, however, meaning those around you won’t be able to hear your music, even if it’s at a very high volume.

Frequency Response (5.10)

This test measures how the headphones emphasize each frequency. Typically headphones will boost lower or higher frequencies to make them better for a certain genre of playback. Therefore, we don’t necessarily look for a flat line. What we do look for are spikes or sudden dips, and the overall trend of the line. When two neighboring frequencies are emphasized differently, it can lead to your playback sounding unbalanced. Frequency response can also differ per channel so we measure the left and right separately. In the graph below, the green line represents the left channel’s performance, and the red line is the right ear bud.

Like bass? Don’t get these headphones. Some in-ear headphones have trouble with bass due to their size: they don’t have enough room to create the big, powerful movement of air that good bass requires. Given a good seal between the headphones and the ear, however, some in-ear headphones can get close to the booming bass better than larger headphones produce, since there’s only a small amount of air that has to be moved. But the iPod in-ear headphones don’t create a good seal and don’t have the best hardware, so their bass response was weak. There’s a similar problem at the higher end, where the response quickly drops off. This means that both low and high frequency sounds will be a little weak, with the mid-range sounds coming across as stronger.

Distortion (1.90)

Distortion refers to a difference between the initial sound wave that out test equipment outputs and what actually makes it into your ear. In the graph below, the frequencies (pitches) run from low to high, and the line represents the difference; the higher the line, the more distortion. Audio geeks refer to this test as Total Harmonic Distortion (THD).

Again, bass proves a problem. We were registering almost 3% distortion in the lower frequencies; a significant amount of distortion that could be easily heard. We often see some distortion in the extreme lower end, but seldom this much, and never extending into the middle range. There was little or no distortion in the higher frequencies, though.

Tracking (7.04)

Tracking deals with how well the two channels (right and left playback) are balanced. If headphones have good tracking, a note played at the same volume across both channels will sound equally loud in both ears. Perfect tracking is nearly impossible, however, so this test measures which channel is getting more attention at any given frequency. Above the zero line means the left channel is louder, below it and the right channel is louder. Ideally, the blue line would run along the zero line.

The iPod headphones didn’t do so badly here. Again, there were issues with bass, and emphasis shifted erratically between channels — your bass will appear to jump from left to right without warning. After the trouble with the bass, tracking levels out nicely, albeit slightly in favor of the left side. Towards the high end, the iPod headphones actually hold it together a lot better than most headphones. Overall, not bad, Apple; not bad.

Maximum Usable Volume (9.88)

We were able to squeeze 119.48 dBSPL out of these headphones before reaching 3% distortion, which is a noticeable amount. Given their distortion score, we’re impressed that they did so well. To put this in perspective, anything above 120 dBSPL will hurt your hearing.

Isolation (6.42)

Isolation refers to how well a pair of headphones can block out external noise, either by physically obstructing your ear canal or by using futuristic technology to negate incoming sound waves.

Typically, in-ear headphones do well on this test, because they are fashioned after ear plugs. These, however, don’t so much plug your ear canals as sit outside them and obscure them a bit. Thusly, they only received a slightly better than average isolation score. Bass sounds will only be slightly blocked as they march past these headphones and into your head. Higher frequencies will have a much harder time finding their way into your ears. Overall, the performance is decent, but don’t expect them to block as much noise as a pair (such as the Etymotic ER6i or Shure SE-210s) that fit right into the ear canal.

Leakage (10.00)

Leakage refers to how much of your music escapes back into the outside world. In-ear headphones are usually a great bet for keeping your music to yourself, and the Apple iPod headphones are no exception. They will closely guard your music preference as long as they are properly fitted, and you keep them that way.