Replacing iPod earbuds with a better alternative

While I love my iPod mini, I never liked the Apple earbuds. They are uncomfortable, sound tinny and are cheaply made. Because one of my pleasures in life is to listen to Led Zep with plenty of bass cranked up,  it was obvious from the start that the Apple product simply wasn’t up to the task. While very stylish in Apple’s white plastic way, I was never really happy with the bass response from these earbuds, regardless of EQ setting. You can image how happy I was when I inadvertently stepped on mine and mashed one flat. Finding a replacement wasn’t too hard and after some comparison shopping online, I narrowed my search down to either a pair of Sony Fontopia earbuds or the low end Shure buds. I choose the cheaper of the two and purchased the Fontopia buds  (model number  MDR-EX51LP) for around $30.  The bass response is particularly good with the phones pressed into the ear and for my money, this is a great replacement to the Apple earbuds that ship with iPods.      
 Two things to watch out for when using these phones with an iPod:
–if you use the included extension cable (to allow stashing your iPod in your pants pocket) make sure it snaps into the connector. If it isn’t all the way in, you’ll still hear sound but nowhere as good as if you make it click.  
–hang on to the extra soft rubber inserts. The Fontopias come with three pairs of inserts ranging from small to large. After losing one on a hike, I had to hunt for the spares as the phones are unwearable without the inserts!

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