Amazing sound quality inexpensive earbuds

Milpai, I don't know. Impedance (24ohm) should be OK but loudness depends on the particular player. I don't have Discman to try.

Amazon now has Klipsch s4 buds for just over $30. I thought these a good value at $80 prior when I bought them a year or two back.

Sounds like its a buyers market for good ear buds these days.

Mapman, you cannot go wrong with AKG K3003 and it is on sale right now for only $1300 (and it is not made of gold)

http://www.amazon.com/AKG-K3003I-Reference-Earphones-Control/dp/B006Q4NSK8

Wow! NEver saw those AKGs! I would like to hear those and compare to the Klipsch.

The Klipsch S4s originally retailed for over $200 or so I think I recall.

Ear buds are mass market products used by many. That is good for audiophiles seeking good sound for not much.

Earbuds are a great place IMHO to establish a reference for how recordings actually sound prior to investing in speakers and all that goes with it, including having to deal with room acoustics.

Earbud's job is highly optimized. Closest proximity to your hearing sensors takes a lot of variables out of the equation for good sound, making getting it a lot easier and cheaper. You need a good transducer with flat response. Also a tight seal in the ear to provide optimal acoustics.

Headphone/earphone-centric web sites compile and publish detailed measurement charts facilitating quantitative comparisons of hundreds of product options. It is much easier to both on paper and in practice to assess and compare earbuds than say high end audio speakers.

Earbuds are inherently highly efficient. Demand on amplifier is low on the grand scale of things in that not much power is required to produce good bass. Source quality becomes more apparent in that many other variables downstream are not in the picture as with a home audio system.

Of course,you need speakers in a room then to translate the sound into something that resembles what you would hear were you listening live. Room acoustics and many other factors that keep us all buzzing on and on then become part of the secret sauce.

I just got a pair of the 420's from Korea and am burning them in, out of box pretty average. Seems the midrange is there but they need tamed on highs and bass hopefully opens up. For $30 they seem nice so far.