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In a less-than-coordinated moment at home, Shanghaiist accidentally stepped on a pair of iPod headphones (sorry -- "ear buds"), mashing them beyond repair.
Since we’re unable to stand more than one hour in this city without filling our Eustachian tubes with loud music to block out the noise, we immediately made our way into the electronics market on the corner of Huaihai Zhong Lu and Huangpi Bei Lu and bought a pair of “Sony” buds as a makeshift replacement. They cost 30 RMB, bargained down from 55 which was the initial price set by the yawning sales girl.
Six days later they were broken: the left earpiece simply stopped working, perhaps in protest at our predilection for bands like Yob. So, back we went to try our luck at the electronics market. First we asked at the Apple store to see what they had, but only one set of headphones was available, the overpriced and much maligned iPod Ear Bud Headphones.
Instead we decided to try another set of cheapies. Now, every electronics stall in the market looks identical. Shanghaiist picked the first one that seemed to be selling audio equipment and made a beeline for it. Greeted by another yawning sales girl, we explained that we were looking for a set of cheap earphones for our iPod. She picked up a black set of “Samsung” buds and handed them across: “These are good. They’re 45 kuai.”
A quick test in the iPod and they seemed to work okay. But not wanting a repeat experience, we mentioned that we’d bought a set of Sonys (Sonies?) in the building a week ago only for them to fail within days.
To which the sales girl responded: “Oh, you can just have those then.” “Huh?” “Yeah, just have them. I don’t want any money.”
Shanghaiist hadn’t bought anything else in any of the stores, we hadn’t told this girl that it was her shop who sold us the duds, and we hadn’t looked worried when she mentioned the price. In fact, we’d retrieved our wallet from our pocket and already had it open.
Yet she insisted and handed over a new, free set of headphones. How very odd.
Less odd was the quick demise of the headphones, just four hours later, while our iPod played a seemingly innocuous Lambchop album.
So then … Anyone know the best bet for replacing a pair of iPod earphones? And where’s the best place to buy them in Shanghai?
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I am very skeptical about the authenticity of those products sold in the market. There must be some real ones, but I don't dare to risk losing any money. So instead of replacing the crappy headphones, it's wiser to fork out 100-odd yuan to get a durable pair of headphones in a licensed retail shop. My current earphones are TDK bought cheaply in Spain and still work fine.
did you ShanghaiDaily subscription expire or is your intern Peijin on holidays or do you really don't have anything else to write about ???
All of the above.
Etymotic ER6i's are in my opinion the best bet for
1) Sealing out the outside world (they offer massive passive noise cancellation in the form of a deep in ear seal-up to 35dB!)
2) Accurate sound reproduction with a slight modification made specifically for the ipod/portable music players underpowered headphone output (the bass is slightly elevated above neutral)
3) They come in ipod white!
At roughly 90 USD they are quite expensive compared to the markets here, but they do compare favorably with 400 USD models.
If you can get used to the snug in-ear fit you will never go back.
Have a friend get them from Amazon and bring them to you!
DPOP, cheers for the advice. Just checked on Amazon: they look like some heavy-duty phones. And if they can deliver brilliant sound and eliminate the noise of the guy who is currently drilling through the wall next to my office, then they'll be worth every cent.
You got ripped off first time around mate. You should only pay 15-20 rmb for fake iPod buds. Pay for the real thing on amazon.
Not earphones (but lightweight, anyway), not exactly a new model (though user reviews appear to think its better than the new releases), and not exactly uncommon, but I'll still be sticking with my Sennheiser PX100's.
I've had pretty good luck with a set of Firstline that I bought at Carrefour in Shenzhen. I think they only cost about 20kuai and they've lasted a little more than 3 months now.
I'd reluctantly suggest trying major chain stores like (gasp) walmart so that you can at least return them should they break quickly.
The earphones for my Philips MP3 player lasted about four weeks. Like Matt (above), I replaced them with cheap-ass Firstline earphones from Carrefour. Months later, still work fine.
I'm rather surprised, as every other piece of Firstline merchandise I've purchased was cr@p.
Personally, I think it's rather pointless to spend more than about 25-35 rmb on earphones. Unless you're packing a portable Cone of Silence, the ambient noise of China pretty much levels the playing field.
I got my fake ipod buds at Cyber mart at the corner of Huaihai Zhong Lu and Huangpi Bei Lu after the cats destroyed two sets of real ones, 20 Kuai works still well after 3 months.
Go for the Shure earphones. You won't be disappointed, to be sure though they are expensive. They virtually eliminate outside sound meaning you don't have to max out your iPod to hear over the street noise.
I've seen them at the Apple Experience store at the Hong Kong Plaza.