I paid about $20.00 for a pair of Sony portable headphones that sounded pretty good. I use them with a small AM/FM walkman type radio for commuting. I got tired of them hanging around my neck when I wasn't wearing them and walking to the building or home so I wanted to get earbuds so I could just tuck them away. I've tried a couple pair and have been disappointed. The first pair was a cheap pair of Koss that were horrible, no bass or anything else they sounded very muffled. Next I tried a $10.00 pair of Sony's which still don't have bass, decent mids and rolled off highs, they're tolerable but I want better. Now I'm wondering if the earbud design is capable of doing any good bass response and if so at what price. Oh, I also tried a pair of earbuds that came with my nephews Gameboy or some hand held mezmorizer and they really sucked, extremely tinny. I saw a pair of Sony that cost $50.00 that was recommended for I-pods. I don't want to spend that kind of money to be disappointed. And here's the real kick in the pants, I can't even go back to the headphones I had and liked because my daughter sucked them up in the vacuum cleaner and that, needless to say, destroyed them thoroughly.