Twelve South iPad/iPhone Cases
This dandy little shop makes the most stylishly convenient widgets, from its Compass portable iPad stand to the SurfacePad macbook wrist cushions. The Book Book line of cases camouflages your iPad/iPhone (and now for Air) as an old-fashioned heirloom. They also make an ingenious BassJump woofer for the much-needed bottom boost your MacBook needs in hotel rooms.
Otter iPhone/iPod Armour cases
--Waterproof, dustproof, dirtproof, sandproof, and drop-proof
--ClickWheel protected by a thin membrane which remains fully functional through the case
--Included belt clip provides cable management for your headphones (however, even these sturdy clips tend to malfunction, we recommend "through the belt" style holsters)
--External headphone jack usable with any style headphones with a standard mini stereo plug


Within the past two years, earbuds have developed into the preferred listening device for both "noise cancelation" and fidelity. They consist of some key parts detailed below: the bud itself, which sits deep inside the ear canal, the foam or rummber tip, which fits the bud into the ear canal and blocks out noise, and the "outer piece" or "anchor," which rests in the outer ear. You simply can't make the same claims to quality with those bulky battery headphones.

Shure E500PTH and SE210

Shure has the right idea with its new E500s and E530s: the earpiece fits deep into the canal while a larger anchor rests in the lobe for stability and comfort. The SE210s are better for smaller canals. The sound is faithful, full-bodied, even elegant. The problem was actually the different sized tips, because everybody knows the BIG problem with earbud units are comfort -- specifically seal and stability. For this, expanding foam works better than rubber "bubble" type, especially for larger canals. The "bubble" fits are far too leaky and unstable for most common listening experiences. Turn your head the wrong way, the fit slips and you have to readjust. Both units come with handy mute clip and volume adaptor, which should be standard on all these units, but aren't.

vmode VIBE
Sennheiser PSC-300 and CX-300 B
JVC HA-NCX77
super.fi 5 Pro

These units are all acceptable choices for reduced budgets (most under $100), but suffer from the same design flaws: weird, unstable fits marred by rubber tips and outer-ear positioning. As a general rule, the further in the earbud rests in your ear canal, the better the sound isolation, the more focused the sound. (The clip-on models are simply not for serious listening.) As with amps, test your earbuds with QUIET music, both to gauge the noise-cancellation and focus on incidental source noise like hiss. It's tempting to try out isolation earbuds in a noisy setting to see how much they filter out, but the fit will tell you this sooner and more convincingly -- a better, more stable fit is harder to find than superior noise supression. Take yourself to the quietest space possible and turn down the volume: the more detail you can hear in the quiet mode, the better earbuds you're wearing.

Apple is pushing super.fis, and they're perfectly respectable if ordinary. We had trouble getting a good fit: the metallic tubes are larger, presumably to carry more detail or sound, but cramming it into the ear canal can be painful, and there's no stability: cough, sneeze, or simply twist your neck and they jiggle out of place. Perhaps this is a better solution for Cousin Big-Ears.

Etymonic ER4P

This unit came with a lot of buzz, and has held the audiophile sector for the past couple of years, justifiably so. The sound is smooth, broad, detailed and rich, with plenty of mid- and bass range. My complaint is the fit: these buds have the longest stem of the batch, so the sound sits very close to your ear drums, but also extends further out the ear instead of resting in the lobe. These are not spy units: everybody will know you have earbuds in, you get those "subtle Martian" looks. But the quality is very rewarding. There is a budget model (ER6i) which doesn't sacrifice very much in quality, either. However, if you're serious about spending at least $170, we strongly urge you to consider: