Apple In-Ears vs NuForce NE-7M
I wanted to post an update to this. I've had my Apple in-ears & the NuForce in-ears for a while now so I wanted to share my thoughts.
Now, I'm no audiophile so don't expect a technical review. Just an average listener I guess.
I have to say first that the Apple in-ears are MILES above the stock that come w/ the iPhone. They work great except for volume control which we already knew didn't work for iPhones. They are very comfortable and I could wear them for hours. They also sound much better that the stocks and best of all, stay put even when I went running. I really did enjoy them and could have been perfectly happy with them.
But...I love to try new electronics so I also got the Nuforce in-ears. In comparison (same song, same volume level) the Nuforce do sound better. I can't get all technical with the description but basically, the Apple's sound just slightly muffled next to the Nuforce. Not by much but enough to notice after listening to a few songs switching back and forth between the two for each song. The Nuforce also block sound out better at a lower level. Nuforce do not have any volume control either.
But the Apple's are also just slightly more comfortable. Not that the NuForce aren't comfortable but the Apple in ears feel softer. If you remove the tips off both, you can clearly see that this part on the NF are larger in circumference so the Apple's have more "padding". I have small ears so I think this part is subjective. But this probably also contributes to the sound quality of the NF's over the Apple's The Nuforce come w/ 3 sizes of ear tips & a pair of foam ones.
The controls are a little stiff on the Nuforce probably just need a little breaking in period but the Apple's didn't need that. More often than not, if I click twice on the NF to skip to the next song and it will pause then start a song again instead of skipping ahead. So sometimes I have to click 3 times to skip and then it pauses the next song. Kind of frustrating since I never had this issue w/ the Apples. But hopefully the controls will loosen w/ use.
The mic works fine on both...I mean no one had any problems hearing me on either.
Summary:
Sound - Nuforce
Controls - Apple
Comfort - Apple (for me at least. small ears)
Price - Nuforce ($30 cheaper at $49)
Mic - tie
Planes/extended wear - Apple
Daily/subway w/ lots of noise - Nuforce
I like them both so I guess I can go back and forth and have a spare. I can keep one in my purse at all times just in case I forget to grab the pair off the table when I run out of the house. I've done that a few times and dreaded my subway commute
.
Hope that's helpful for those looking for a good pair of in-ears.
