Most people consume their music while on the go these days -- in cars, while jogging, in between smartphone calls or while working at a desk. Thousands of our favorite songs are just a playlist away.
But pumping your favorite tunes through common earbuds may not deliver quite the high fidelity you deserve. I took a look at a fleet of modern headphones, both on-ear and over-ear models. I found a handful that could greatly improve your listening experience, with style.
You'd pay much more than the typical pair of earbuds -- Apple sells it for $29 -- but the investment is worth it considering how much better music sounds. The popular Beats by Dr. Dre aren't the only stylish headphones on the streets. Here's a look at a few others, branded by popular musicians, athletes and even a TV series.
V-Moda True Blood V-80 ($230)
Supremely stylish, with a touch of the macabre, these brushed-metal, on-ear headphones boast branding from the HBO vampire series "True Blood." Once you get past the blood-red color accents on the headband padding and on the finely braided cable, you're still left with an excellent pair of headphones that perform as well as they look.
Allow me a moment to explain a bit of headphone technology. Drivers are the combination of a magnetic element and a moving diaphragm that creates the sound that your ears hear while wearing the headphones. A low-impedance rating indicates that the headphones are primarily suited for low-voltage amplifiers found in small, portable music players.
The V-80s have low impedance and 40-millimeter drivers. They offer a frequency range of 5 hertz to 30 kilohertz, which is a wide spectrum of frequency response. Jonas Starker's cello solos, for instance, felt crisp and alive.
Purists will differ on how much the human ear can hear beyond 20 kilohertz. More important, I've often felt, is the quality of the recording you're attempting to hear.
The V-80s handle modern wall-of-sound type rock records nicely as well. Regular MP3s as well as high-definition lossless audio tracks sound sharp and true to the recordings. You'll have few complaints with these.
Scosche Realm RH656md ($129.99)
These attractively priced on-ear headphones are finished in black and metal. They also sport 40-millimeter drivers and have a low-impedance rating. This pair performs fine for modern pop music, but appears to lack the detail for the high-resolution tracks that an additional $100 worth of improvements might give it.
The soaring highs in John Coltrane's "Blue Train" hold up well, with clarity, but the lower end suffers and gets a bit lost in the mix. The frequency range on the Realms is a touch tighter at 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz, which may explain why I have to massage the equalizer settings on my player when switching musical genres. (continued...)
© 2013 Associated Press under contract with YellowBrix. All rights reserved.
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