I have used a lot of headphones, jvc marshmellows, sony, bose, sure. And in the sub 500 dollar range, nothing can touch these ultimate ear’s. dual drivers. great bass, great mid range and awesome high range. Very detalied and a good stereo image. They get plenty loud and punch perfectly. They come with a lot of different sized ends to fit all kinds of ears. these fit great in my ears. I cannot live with out these, i use them to check my mixes, work out at the gym with them, and i have even done live sound with them. they are perfect for everything. I would never let someone borrow these, you would have to pry these out of my dead cold hands. I cannot live with out these. I highly recomend these. perfect for ipods and mp3 players too. Sure they cost a tad more than regular headphones, but they are so worth it, they make music listening about 100% better than average headphones.