What brand of earphones or headphones do you rely on buying? And what are the brands that are reliable and affordable at the same time?
You should look at the specs and reviews before getting stuck with a brand. Koss are not that notorious, for example, but Koss Porta Pro is one amazing piece of hardware for a great price, otherwise you could go with Sennheiser or other good brands. Once you hear some serious headphones, you'll never go back to the cheap ones you can find everywhere or the defaults coming with your player. Oh, yeah, and in case you really want to enjoy your music... get a music player, not one of those toys from Apple!!! P.S. Don't get me wrong - if you find some older iPod that has support for Rockbox, get it! Otherwise, there's Cowon, there's Sandisk... and a few others that really kick Apple's a*s on every occasion!