House of Marley Smile Jamaica: Wired Earphones with Microphone, Noise Isolating Design, and Sustainable Materials, Brass

[***UPDATE after six months of using both the JBLs and the Marleys (I returned the others):SOUND: The Marleys have consistently better sound than the JBLs across music genres -- crisper highs, deeper bass, and a fuller spectrum overall...in fact their excellent sound quality rivals some much pricier earbuds I've had and doesn't disappoint in any way.BUILD: The JBLs' design is better suited for use while exercising, being outdoors, etc. They're water-resistant and can endure a lot of jostling before they dislodge, and the magnets are a handy feature for storing, so there is definitely a role for them. That said, the build quality of the Marley pair punches well above its price point and with the woven cables, wood-capped buds, etc. has even a bit of a subtle luxe feel to it.SUM: If I were to choose just one of these, it would be the Marleys. I'd pay $75-100 for these and still feel that it was a good value. (Don't get any ideas, Marley folks...)***]I compared four low-cost (under $20) wired in-ear earbud sets:JBL Endurance Run 2House of Marley Smile JamaicaSkullcandy JibLodos OmnitoneI listened to pieces from four contrasting genres that I enjoy, represented by:Heart "Magic Man" (rock)EBTG "Wrong" (techno)Coltrane & Hartman "My one and only love" (jazz)Ginastera "Estancia Suite: Danza Final - Malambo" (classical orchestral)On each of these pieces, I rated each earbud (1-10) separately for clarity of treble, depth of bass, richness of middle, and overall "fullness" of the sound spectrum. The aggregate results for sound quality were as follows:1. 7.9 Marley2. 7.6 JBL3. 7.4 Ludos4. 6.7 SkullSome individual observations about sound:None of them had much trouble with treble (not surprisingly). Marley & Ludos were the clearest, producing a crystalline "sparkle" across all genres, especially Rock & Jazz, but none of the earbuds disappointed on treble.The biggest differentiator was bass: Marley & JBL produced noticeably deeper bass than the other two, especially the Skullcandy.Although they were not especially good on Classical (scoring better only than Skullcandy), the Marleys were fantastic for Jazz; JBLs were very strong as well. Marleys were best for both Tech and Rock -- although the sound they produced there didn't surprise me as much as it did on Jazz -- with JBLs being second for both.Build quality for both the Marleys and JBLs is both very good -- I'd even call the Marleys "fun," given a few thoughtful and tasteful elements they added -- with the JBLs gaining an edge due to water resistance, fuller mounting construction that allows earlobe to carry most of the weight (= more comfortable) and magnetized buds that will help minimize clutter, risk of getting caught on something; my only build suggestion would be a 90 (not 45) degree plug to minimize exposure to getting hit. Ludos construction was decent, just not quite to the level of the other two. Skullcandy build quality is certainly adequate for a $10 pair of earphones.I am keeping both the Marleys and the JBLs: Marleys for use in home/office, JBLs for exercise/outdoors/travel.

Best quality audio I've ever experienced from a corded earbud, even rivals some headphones I've tried. Listening to music is an entirely new experience; it feels like being in the room with the band. I can differentiate individual cords on the bass, slide guitar, beats on the drum -- extremely impressive for earbuds.They also fit well, and there's a second set of silicon inserts included in a small box at the bottom in case they're a bit too small (for reference, I'm 5'9 and they're small but snug and comfortable, so most should have no issue wearing them). Cord is thin but braided, L-shaped plug fits the edge of my laptop just as close to flush as the plug-in for my cordless mouse (~1/4").My only complaint is the controls on the cord: they're effectively non-existent. If you use an apple device you can control playback, pause, and accept/end phone calls. If you do not use them with an apple device, the single button present does nothing. It has a microphone though, so if you don't mind controlling these things from the device as opposed to the cord it's not much of an issue. Personally, I'm using them on a Dell laptop, so while the button doesn't function, its more convenient for me to use the volume and playback controls on the keyboard anyway, so it's not a huge sticking point for me.Otherwise, materials and packaging are all sustainable: even the tie used to wrap the cord is braided twine as opposed to plastic-wrapped wire and the sticker to seal the box is made of recycled paper.TL;DR: spectacular product, especially for the price -- I have two just so I have a backup :)

I wanted a decent set of wired earbuds. Good sound out tiny drivers is difficult. I have a bluetooth set that taught me why good base response is desired and wanted something with a wire. There were recommended in the comments under this and other earbuds a user was rating. The base is pretty good, but not as strong as the BT ones. If I were to describe the experience, I would say they sound "brighter" which doesn't make sense for audio. But, if you imagine a video and they up the brightness and turn up the color saturation a little, it is the audio equivalent of that. Not just brighter, but more textured and detailed. I feel like I can pick out individual instruments easier with these. I can almost point to where the musician would be standing in three dimensional space.I took off one star for the cable. Wired earbuds are just going to tangle. There's no avoiding it. But these seem even more tangley than my other earbuds. I don't know if it's the cloth cover or something else. I would have only take 1/2 or maybe 1/4 star off for this, but it has to be a full star, so here we are.On the whole I am happy with these. That it's getting such sound out of my cheap MP3 player is a nice bonus. Would $150 wired earbuds sound better? Possibly, but I'm happy enough with these.

Bought these several years ago as a replacement for a previous set that met an untimely end thanks to garden shears (whoops!). Works like a champ, does what I ask, no batteries so they run forever. Mostly tangle free wires. Good quality sound and noise isolation (abs. depends on the ear fit). Only downside is the wires but then i never worry about loosing one in the dirt. Simply my go-to solution for nice and reasonably cheap wired earbuds.