Teh interesting tech news stub thread

[Sforza]

Reposting since people don't check the audiophilia thread

The Secret Scam of Cheap Earbuds
http://gizmodo.com/5617200/the-secret-sc...ap-earbuds

Those cheap earphones you keep buying year after year? The ones with the cool designs? They all kinda sound the same, huh? There's a pretty good reason for that: They actually are all the same earphones.

In the world of gadgets, earphones occupy a decidedly weird space. Few categories can boast mind-numbing variety (both in price and quality) that headphones offer. Every year, companies like Sony trot out a phalanx of multi-colored ear candy at CES, each with various frequency responses and designs. You can pay as little as $10 for a standard pair earbuds, or drop as much as $2,000 for a pair of custom molded in-ear monitors. The space in between these extremes is even becoming crowded, with offerings designed specifically for running, yoga, juggling chainsaws—basically any activity you can conjure up that can be done while listening to music. And that's not even getting into traditional over-the-ear (or on-ear) cans.