Sol Republic JAX In-Ear Headphones w/Mic

Overall, including sound quality, a 5 star product BUT sound quality is closer to a 4 or a 4.5. These get my 5 start thumbs up because they are generally $10 cheaper than Sound Magic E10's (which don't come with a microphone), and about $30-$50 cheaper than better known (more widely advertised and reviewed) products like Klipsch and V-Moda. Those are all 5 or 5+ Stars but cost a lot more (except the Sound Magic E10's). Sound Magic E10, and V-Moda, Klipsch S4, and Apple's own EarPods (the new ones, when held in by your finger tips for a good, solid canal seal only) are what I would call a "5" in terms of sound quality for non-audiophile use. There are plenty of audiophile level earphones to choose from these days, but almost none under $100. I recommend Googling for audio reviews in Absolute Sound and other trusted audiophile magazines/websites/blogs if that is the way you want to go. But if you want a rocking good musical experience with "as recorded" bass levels with iTunes AAC+ (iTunes Match, also iTunes current download quality) on albums "remastered for iTunes"), these deliver at a great ($25-$30) price point. The only others to consider at this price point are Sound Magic E10's, which I like a little better BUT the cables on these Jax are flat and don't tangle for everyday use, while the E10 cables are the usually round, get twisted affairs. If you don't know where to start and are ready to move up beyond the Skull Candy etc. level, I strongly recommend you visit an Apple Store, or even read the online Apple customer reviews of the stuff they stock. Apple is pretty selective about what they stock, and if you start there then read Amazon reviews, you will get a good sense of what works well. Then circle back to these Jax reviews and see if you can't get just a little better (or equal) sound quality for less money here. Two final caveats: Apple Stores generally carry bass-enhanced (Dr. Dre "Beats") and utterly neutral (Bower & Wilkins). You should probably audition both extremes with your own music player as part of your shopping. Some Skull Candy have bass-enhancement at a much lower price; most mid-priced earphones like these are aiming at "neutrality" but if they can't get that due to engineering to cost limitations, they try to nail the midrange.