Customer Reviews

Coby CVE92 Isolation Stereo Earphones

5 star:		(548)
4 star:		(301)
3 star:		(173)
2 star:		(113)
1 star:		(114)

 

 

I purchased these headphones and the JBuds headphones at the same time, just so I could compare the two. (I figured I could keep the one I don't like when the other ones go bad...) They both had very good reviews, and these (the Coby's) were 1/3 of the price, so I was kind of hoping they'd turn out to be better than the JBuds. But I was wrong. You really do get what you pay for, I guess. The Coby's were fine, don't get me wrong. But you could hear a noticeable difference between the sound quality in the JBuds and in the Coby's, and the sound in the JBuds was without a doubt more clear and more crisp. The Coby's also had problems with staying in my ear. Finally, the JBuds come with 3 different sizes; the Coby's only have one size.

Spend the extra $10. Go with the JBuds.

I gave this product 4 stars cause I rated the product based on price/value, product quality and sound quality. Based upon all these I believe for $10 after shipping, you just can not beat the sound of these earphones. Yes, they are bass heavy and tend to muddy the overall sound spectrum a bit because of this fact, but it is easily overcome with an EQ setting on the ipod. The sound seems tight and crisp to me listening to pop, rock and some jazz on a EQ setting of treble booster. I couldnt listen to it at full volume to see where I could head distortion in lower or higher freq. The cable lanyard going into the buds seems kind of fragile. The silicon tips feel much cheaper that the tips on my Sennheiser CX-300's. Yet, these babies play the music on my ipod much louder than the CX-300's and do not seem to distort as easy as the CX-300s in the lower freq from what I have seen. Bottom line-5 stars = price/value, 4 stars = product quality and 4 stars = sound quality. If you are rough on earphones, keep your $10. But, if you are looking for a replacement earphone for your ipod and you are on a tight budget and arent an audiophilist, these may be for you.

I've used plenty of earphones in my day. I've used headphones, I've had the ones shaped like circles that you have to stick in your ear (with our without that piece that wraps around your ears), and I've used big MONSTER headphones that look like those ones that plane traffic engineers use.

Never have I had a pair of earphones that are as comfortable as these. Many times, you get those earphones that you stick in your ear and they are VERY uncomfortable. Not so with these. They are so gentle. Comfort aside, these earphones are EXCELLENT. I can't hear a thing when I have them both on (which I think is a BIG PLUS). And the sound quality is excellent.

And you just can't beat the price for earphones of this size and quality. I highly recommend them.

As a regular I-Pod user, I've never been that unhappy with the standard Apple I-Pod earbuds -- they don't sit terribly well in the ear, but I find the sound and design to be adequate. I've wondered if there is a low-cost alternative, and my wife doesn't like them because they are too big and uncomfortable.

Here is a review of five low-priced alternatives bought on Amazon in March 2010. The story in a nutshell -- all the $8-$10 earbuds are a slight step up from the Apple buds, all the $6 earbuds are a big step down.

JBuds Hi-Fi Noise-Reducing Ear Buds (Black) (paid ten dollars) (Four stars)
Positives: Good sound, decent comfort, long cord
Negatives: Too long cord, no "slider"
A very solid sound -- much like the Apple buds. These are a great low-cost in-ear alternative to the Apple buds. The sound balance is similar to the Apple's, but a bit crisper and clearer, perhaps due more to the in-ear design than the actual technology. The JBuds ship with three sizes of silicone ear-inserts for different size ears, though I personally find the fit to be awkward and a bit slippery (see SkullCandy review below). A 54" cord was the longest of the ones I tested, and arguably too long. Also, there is no "slider" on the cord to hold the buds together when you are storing them (A very nice feature of the standard Apple buds and others).

Skullcandy INK'D Earbuds (White) (paid ten dollars) (Four stars)
Positives: Great bass, very comfortable, long cord
Negatives: Too much bass, line-rustle noise in cord
How it is possible to get so much bass into a tiny and cheap earbud I cannot imagine, but there it is. Really impressive, but it's actually a bit too much bass -- the balance is off. If you are listening to bass heavy music, it's overwhelming -- I had to try to adjust the EQ on the I-Pod to bring it down, and even then a bit too heavy. The sound is not mushy or distorted, just like the equalizer is shifted too much. These in-ears come with three sizes of silicone ear-inserts for different size ears, and I find the fit to be great. A long 52" cord, with a "slider" to hold the buds together when storing. A BIG concern -- there's a fair amount of cord-noise that rides in the line -- if the cord is brushing against your shirt or jacket when moving, you hear the rustling right in your ear. I've had worse cases of this in the past, but it is very noticeable in these, and makes them less ideal for walking or moving situations. (Is this a problem with all in-ear buds that have a snug fit?)

Sony MDR-E818LP Fontopia Ear-Bud Headphones with Acoustic Twin Turbo Circuit (paid eight dollars) (Three stars)
Positives: Good sound
Negatives: Even bigger than Apple buds, poor packaging, short cord
To my ear, the Sony's had the best sound of the five low-cost buds I tried -- a solid step up from the Apple buds, for people who don't like the in-ear style of bud. But a note of caution -- these are slightly *bigger* than Apple earbuds, even without the foam covering. In my ear, the foam cover makes them comfortable enough, but they are rather large. At the same time, the Sony Fontopia has an unusually short 40" cord (even shorter than the Apple 45" that bothers some people), but it's plenty long for typical uses (walking, etc.). There is no "slider" to hold the earbuds together when storing, which is a feature I like on the Apple buds. I have one big beef with these though -- the earbuds have a thin foam cover over the speaker that helps it hold in your ear more firmly and comfortably. I have no problem with that, but you have to put the foam pads on yourself, and it's very difficult. I ended up tearing one of them before I could even try them out. It's very frustrating to buy a new product that breaks before you can even use it. These deserve four start on performance, but gotta ding them on the design and packaging.

Panasonic RP-HV21Portable EarDrops Earbud Headphones (Black) (paid six-dollars) (one star)
Positives: None
Negatives: Huge earbud, terrible sound
I liked the look of these when I got them out of the package, but they are a bigger and worse alternative to the standard Apple earbuds. A very "tinny" and shallow sound compared with others at the same price point. They're too big for comfort in my ear, though that's always a personal consideration -- these Panasonics are larger than the Apple buds and equally hard surface.These Panasonics are about the same size as the Sony MDR-E818LP Fontopia earbuds, but those have a foam pad that helps hold them in and provide a little comfort. the "Clip" feature on these (the two buds can clip together, or clip to clothing or cords when not in use) is nice, but doesn't override all the performance downsides. I'm tossing them -- way worse than the basic Apple buds.

Coby CVE92 Isolation Stereo Earphones (paid six dollars) (one-star)
Positives: None
Negatives: terrible sound
These are cheap and I like the packaging (just in a plastic ziplock, not clamshells and fluff), but the performance is simply substandard for the pricerange, These Coby's have a very muffled sound, and don't come with different size silicone ear inserts (most people know these really aren't one-size-fits-all). I'm tossing them -- way worse than the basic Apple buds.

It would be unfair to compare these earphones to the some other more expensive earphones I own like Shure E2c Sound Isolating Earphones or Philips SHE9850 In-Ear Headphones with Advanced Acoustics. The Coby earphones cannot reproduce the highs and lows as faithfully as those earphones in the sub $100 range. However,you get good sound for a tiny fraction of the cost of the high end earphones.

Sound Quality:
The Coby earphones compare very favorably to the in earphones in the sub $25 range like Philips SHE9500 Ultra Sound In Ear Headphones or JBuds Hi-Fi Noise-Reducing Ear Buds (White). The sound of these Coby earphones is decent, they also have good bass and pretty good noise reduction. The noise reduction is not as great as some of the sub $100 earphones I have used but is good enough for listening on a plane ride. This is probably the best noise reduction you can get in the sub $20 range!

Comfort:
These are one of the more comfortable in ear phones I've owned. The flex rubber sleeves are thinner than usual and fit comfortably in the ear. I can wear them for hours without feeling any discomfort. They also don't fall out which is a big plus. The only in ear headphone that was more comfortable than these is the Philips SE9850 that came with memory foam sleeves that molds to fit your ears.

Make:
The make of these earphones is ok. The cord is quite thin and does have a tendency to tangle a bit. When you get them you have to tear apart the cord as per your preference, there is a little plastic sleeve midway to ensure you don't end up tearing them all the way down. They did seem a bit flimsy to me but in 2 months of use these earphones have held up quite well. And seriously, even if they do get damaged after a few months it will take only $5 to replace them.

Overall:
If you're like me and like to have more than one earphone lying around, this is a great product. After I lost my $100 Shures when they fell out of my pocket, I prefer to take these with me for more active trips. They sound good, don't fall out of my ears and hold up well to moderately rough use...and if I lose them, no big deal...just get a new pair.

They are nice headphones, although be careful, when you get them the two stems are stuck together -- you part them by pulling them apart to decide how much separation you want between the two. I hadn't seen this feature before, and thought they were just stuck, and started pulling on them -- if you want you can pull them pretty much entirely apart right down to the plug. But after I started wearing them, I liked them. Except that I'm a heavy running, and somewhere along the way, one of the rubber ear buds popped off and that was that. If they're going to make these for sport use, they should be made a bit stronger. I owned the Sony's for two years and the buds are nearly inseparable from the headphone. So be warned.

i bought more earphones than pair of shoes the last 5 years including really expensive ones for $100. Curious about the good ranking here at Amazon and the cheap price i just ordered one set of Coby earphones. To make it short: these are better than everything i tried before. The sound is full, smooth and fantastic. I could write more, just go ahead and get one. You won't regret it.

I read the other reviewers comments on these earbuds about the tips coming off, but thought I'd take that as fair warning to be careful and bought them anyway. Well, after only two weeks I came home from the gym with my ipod and my "new" earbuds, and noticed the plastic tip was gone when I sat them down. I don't think my ear swallowed it, but never saw it go. These little guys work just fine if there was a way to replace the buds. I should've glued them on.

I've had these for just over two months now and I have to say they are worth a bit more than what I paid.
First off I must admit I'm no audiophile, but I do listen to a lot of different types of music: electronic, classical, pop, rock, reggae, rap... Through it all, these headphones have performed superbly. They can get fairly loud (I usually keep it lowish cause I don't want to lose my hearing), and have decent, though not spectacular, bass response. Mids and highs are okay as well.
So far they are more durable that a pair of $30 sennheiser I bought earlier (cable sleeves practically fell of that model).
The only mark against these phones is the short cable...its only about three feet. That's great for a player strapped to your arm, or on the belt, but frustrating otherwise.
Overall a fine pair of phones for an amazing price.

These earphones are just as loud as any overly priced ipod earphones and are even better. They have the best bass with clear voices so you dont just hear a thrashing noise with barely any singing in the background,also one important thing I almost forgot was that they are LOUD.
Now sound volume is an important factor for people who go through busy streets,bus and train passagers, or even joggers(sweat resistant) who want to block out the outside noises from disturbing them.It completly closes you in to only your music and can even be hard to realize when someone is calling you.
I was suprised to get such a great pair of earphones for such a cheap price. I am really pleased with them and if you buy them you definetly will too.