Customer Reviews

Zune Premium Headphones for Zune 4GB, 8GB, 30GB, 80GB

5 star:		(99)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

There are others that have spot on reviews here, but I wanted my voice and review to be heard and added. I intend to keep my review short and simple, since we are after all talking about headphones.

First off, these are great sounding headphones. To echo what someone else said they don't have the overbloated bass found often in other headphones. Although, on the flip side, I would almost like a little more bass. But overall, less is more in this case. What does remain though is a nice, clean, and liquidy sound. Liquidy is a hard thing to find in a pair of headphones in this price range I feel.

So whats it's one problem? While I absolutely LOVE the look and design of these headphones (including the bungie cord texture and the magnetic earbud connection) it is the one thing that causes it's flaw. And that flaw is that because of it's rough texture, if it rubs up against something you hear it transfer to the earbuds, and thus interferes with the sound. While it is noticable to tell that sound from the music, it does distract after a while.

For instance, I used it while shoveling snow (that time of year)...I could hear everytime I moved. I imagine running or exercising in any way would be the same case. Now sitting still. No problem. Overall this one element brought the overall score down one star. Still an awesome and eyecatching set of earbud headphones, but not perfect.

Pros:
*movable wire splitter to keep the headphones together when not in use
*has a fabricated cover (instead of rubber over the wires)
*magnatized earpieces
*comfortable
*different sized rubber coverings
*comes with a bag (with a magnetic close)
*has a removable stretchy pink thing (i wrap the headphones around my zune and put the eapieces through it to keep them from coming undone)
*very noise-cancelling

Cons:
*if the wire rubs against you while they are in, it makes a noise, but when you listen to music you can't really hear it
*they are very noise-cancelling, yes this was a pro too but it can be annoying because you cant talk at the same time (this is true for all headphones), but you can take one out and stick it to the other with the magnet and that works fine

Bottom Line:
These are very nice headphones for the price (a few of my friends have commented on how nice they are too).
I would highly recommend them.

It took me 3 days to realize how to use these headphones. You have to push them in your ears and then when the rubber expands they seal your ear and create the noise reduction. The sound quality is excellent. They aren't bose in that bose creates more of a seal and blocks out about 40% more sound, BUT for $30+ bucks these are great. I've spent at leaste $75 on headphones in 2 years. This was the best choice so far. VERY COMFORTABLE. They haven't fallen out of my ears after I learned how to place them in.

I saw a friend with these and decided to give them a try, even though i am not a zune owner. Was very pleased to find them for sale on amazon and was amazed at the price. I have owned A LOT of ear bud headphones in search of the best possible pair. While I have owned better headphones (my shure e4's may be the best) you can not find a better pair of headphones for the price.

the only thing that stopped this from getting 5 stars is the cloth cable. While they are attractive an stay cleaner and less knotted up that the typical black plastic cable, they transmit a lot of noise as they move across your clothes. was more distracting initially, but i've learned how to avoid moving the cable too much.

bottom line: great sound and comfortable fit and priced to make them an excellent choice.

Ok, let me first start by saying I have owned 20+ set's of headphones or earphones over the last 10 years. I listen 4+ hours a day to them so I have a little more than average experience with this stuff. These Zune earphones are by far the most bang for your buck. I hate the cheap bass sound that most earphones put out and these are not like that. The sound is rich and pure. I have owned Bose, Sure, Sony, Denon and by far these are my favorite. I had the version 1 earphones and they quit working after 6 months (my fault from rough use) and I upgraded to these. It was worth the $39.00 I paid for them. I returned the Denon earphones the day that I purchased these. Save your time on the reasearch and just purchase these.

Audio quality is pretty good, they do stick in your ear pretty well (and come with extra covers if you ear-wax them up!) However, they get tangled up pretty easily, and mine developed a 'hernia' from being tangled--the cloth outer covering has a little hole and the rubber coated wire is protruding out, more and more...and won't go back in... I agree with the review about extraneous noise from rubbing the cloth cover on clothing. And another gripe I had is the straight in connector broke off my first pair--an angled low-profile connector would be less prone to snap off.

I like these headphones. Whoever designed them came up with some innovative features that I haven't seen on other headphones. The cloth covering on the wires does a great job of keeping them from getting tangled. Most other earphones I've used have knotted up fairly easily and the rubbery texture of the cables makes them difficult to undo. The cloth covering helps prevent this. The magnets keep them from knotting up as well. I haven't seen these features on any other phones, though there are probably some out there that I don't know about. The cable does make a little noise if it rubs on something, but I haven't found this to be particularly annoying as some of the other reviewers have suggested. The sound quality is good and they seem are bit louder with my Zune than others that I've tried. I generally go through a pair of headphone every 2-3 months (usually JBL or Phillips in the 20-35 dollar range). Hopefully the zune headphones will hold up longer. The construction seems sturdy. I've had them 3 weeks now and they are holding up fine.

****One Year+ Update*******

I use these phones almost every day so they have a fair amount of wear. I don't wear them while exercising, just walking or listening to podcasts in bed. I haven't really beaten on this pair but I haven't babied them either. They have held up well though not perfectly. The cable herniated through the woven covering in a few spots. This happens if you let it knot up and pull it tight*. The cables resist tangles but aren't tangle proof. I still think they are easier to keep straight than cables insulated with ordinary rubber because the fabric isn't as sticky. The rubber boot over the audio jack started to split a few months ago. I wrapped thread around it to prevent further splitting. Even with the cosmetic wear, these earphones still work fine on both channels with no wiggly connections. They might not be pretty anymore, but they keep going. I think they are definitely worth the price considering other phones generally have lasted 2-3 months with the same level of usage. I'll post again when they finally die.

* If I could prevent my 14 year old from "borrowing" them I think the hernias would be less of a problem and they would be in better condition in general. I got a pair for her to use, but somehow she often wants to take mine.

****************

I love these headphones! I've worn them walking, running, at the gym on an elliptical and it is the BEST quality ear buds I've had (and I've gone through countless from expensive to cheap)! I see a few reviews about interference when moving, I think they must have a pair that are defective.

I have put these earphones through the ringer while exercising with them on and have had NO, I repeat NO, problems what so ever!
Love em'!

Now with that being said, the only issue I had is with the material around the cord, it can wear, fray, and tangle if you're not careful. BUT even with that I'd buy em' again because they sound SO good!

These headphones came with my Zune 80GB that I ordered back in August. They were perfect for about 2 months...very good sound quality (I'm not up to scratch on all the technical terms like a real audiophile would be, but I do know good sound when I hear it). After that, things started to go downhill. The wiring started to come out of the odd fabric lining that covers the wiring on these headphones. It started off as a small loop, then it gradually started getting bigger. This occurred in about two other places along the wiring. Being a member of the Zune forums, I have noticed that this is a pretty common occurrence for people who have owned these earphones for a few months and it seems to occur due to natural bending from everyday use. In addition, the wiring takes on a stethoscope-like quality when it rubs up against something. This isn't a major problem, though, and you can really only hear it when either no music is playing or the music isn't very loud.

Unfortunately, my headphones just stopped working in one ear a few days ago. I would purchase a new pair because the sound quality is great, but not at this price because they are lacking in durability. I only got 7 months of use out of these. My previous pair were Sony's (about $30 at the time) that had excellent sound quality and they lasted about 4 years. I chose to give this item three stars based purely on the good sound quality, but the design is a major flaw that affects the durability of the headphones, so I cannot possibly give the item a high rating. The earphones are simply not worth this much money and I would only consider purchasing them again if they were cheaper. Even then I would only use them as an emergency pair; otherwise they would just start to fall apart from everyday usage.

I bought the 2nd generation 80 gb Zune a couple of weeks ago. After doing some research beforehand, I was pretty impressed that Microsoft was willing to throw in these 40 dollar headphones along with the player (which by the way is excellent).

Pros:
I really really like the cloth wire and the magnetic ear pieces. This really reduces the tangling and it looks really nice too! The bass response is really nice, but you would except that from ear canal headphones. Overall sound is good.

Cons:
There is way too much treble for my liking. For ear canal headphones, I don't think treble should have as much emphasis as bass in general because it just irritates my head with the high pitch glass-like sounds that the treble gives. If they didn't come with the Zune I would probably never buy them, and I don't think they are worth 40 dollars.

On a personal note, I really don't like ear canal headphones. I bought a pair of Sennheiser CX-300's which are pretty well known for their amazing sound. Despite the excellent sound that both these premium headphones and the CX-300's I own give, I just cannot get down with the ear canal design. If you have never owned ear canal headphones before, it would be wise to reconsider this type of design. Like many have said, it creates a seal in your ear, and this could cause some discomfort with your eardrum when you move around because its a complete seal so the air is being pushed against your eardrum. In addition when there is ANY movement on the cord you WILL hear it. Now since this is true for ALL ear canal headphones, I haven't counted it against the premium headphones. But this is just a personal irk about ear canal headphones.

I currently use the Brookstone Surround Sound Earbuds to listen to my Zune (about 30 dollars). If you don't mind the ear canal design and you don't mind a bit of treble than these premium headphones would be good for you. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother.