New in-ear headphones make Apple sound better
Among all of the moderately large announcements made by his Holiness the Jobs at the Apple music conference, one that slipped by relatively unnoticed was the release of the new Apple headphones which, for a change, are not rubbish.
The new in-ear buds will sadly not come free with the pods, nanos and touches but can be yours for a teeth-gritting outlay of £55. Of course you can stick with the legendarily bad regular ones – these are compressed music files we’re talking about after all – but there is the added advantage that the new ones will stay in your head.
The buds of Apple earphones 2.0 have silicon tips to help them mold to your lug holes and tiny wire meshes to protect them from whatever vegetables you might be growing down by your eardrums.
The part where you money goes, though, is in the sound quality itself and no better place for it. Each bud has two drivers instead of one, comprising of both a tweeter and a woofer to isolate your high and low end frequencies and produce an altogether more rounded acoustic. If you’re listening to 128kbit/s tracks you may not notice the difference but, for anything CD quality, it should be a great improvement.
I’d have a listen to someone else’s first just to make sure or have a play down the Apple store but, in theory, it’s a good way for Apple to go.
Your 55 spot also includes the new remote control system and in-built mic, which will give full mastery over volume and playback on whatever your choice of Apple PMP.
The same new hardware is available with the basic earphones too and there they come in at £19 for the privilege. Not sure if these are the same ones you’ll receive gratis when you buy a pocket Jobs but given as the remote control is not a removable attachment, there’s a good chance that these will indeed be the new standard.
Apple
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