
you will only get A pair of ears, so it’s a good idea to take care of them – a good set of earbuds can come in handy in a variety of situations. A suitable suit for blocking noise at night is a better solution than a pillow on your head, and is more comfortable than headphones. What you look for in a set of earbuds really depends on what you want them to do. For example, comfort is paramount when you sleep. Plus, you need an indiscriminate way to stop snoring, traffic noise, or car alarms on the street.
However, if you’re watching a live band, you want to keep the fidelity as high as possible and only remove frequencies that might be harmful to your hearing. The average noise at a concert is about 100 decibels, but if you’ve watched My Bloody Valentine, you’ll know that some bands seem to have a personal grudge against your ears—constant exposure to sound above 85 decibels can be harmful to your ears. Permanently damage hearing in your ears. That means it’s practically impossible to pick out a pair of earbuds that will work for all situations. Instead, we’ve chosen six pairs that meet different needs.
Be sure to check out our other buying guides, such as the best sleep gadgets, best wireless earbuds, best wireless headphones, best mattresses, and gifts for those who need a good night’s sleep.
Special Offer for Gear Readers: Get 1 year subscription wired $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access wired.com and our print magazine (if you wish). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
We may earn a commission if you purchase something using a link in our story. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.Please also consider Subscribe to cable