Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic

Isolation (8.20)

The Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote and Mic had good isolation for in-ears. Good isolation for in-ears is excellent isolation for any other headphone type. Like most in-ear headphones, the majority of the sound blocked out is towards the high-end, with less blocked out from 100-1000Hz. This isn’t the best isolation score we’ve seen for a set of in-ears, but the Apple In-ears do block out more sound on average than high-end active noise cancellers.

Comparisons

See how the Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic compares:

Sennheiser MM50 iP Compare

V-MODA Vibe Duo Compare

Monster Turbines Compare

Apple iPod In-ear Headphones Compare

Click here for more information on our isolation test.

Leakage (10.00)

The Apple In-ears really don’t have a problem with leakage. We rarely see leakage issues on in-ears that fit into the ear canal and the Apple In-ears stick with this trend. When playing back music at normal or even louder-than-normal decibel levels, someone sitting right next to you won’t be able to hear anything. Of course, if you’re playing music at max volume in a quiet place, nearby people will hear a bit of a whisper, so maintain reasonable volume levels in such scenarios.

Click here for more information on our leakage test.

Maximum Usable Volume (9.84)

The Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote and Mic were capable of a decent maximum usable volume: 119.34 decibels. We stop awarding points at the 120dB mark, because anything louder than that is doing you more harm than good. Anything withing 10dB of 120 is excellent, making the Apple In-ears excellent. You shouldn’t have any volume concerns with these headphones.