When I was in high school I used to have these nice Bose headphones, purchased with a pile of Best Buy gift cards and birthday money. It was often difficult for me to fall asleep without getting up and doing push-ups, or something that made me completely exhausted. At some point I found that listening to music (some pretty loud music) would put me to sleep without having to work myself into a sweat.

Over the years I’ve just lost appreciation for good sound. After I misplaced my Bose headphones during college I got a pair of Bose earbuds from my parents. In the past couple years, those plus about 10 other cheap pairs have gone by the wayside. Mostly because my cats are huge music fans and rock out so hard in the middle of he night that the cord gets ruined. I swear, they steal them from my backpack and put them back in the morning.

I’ve gotten really good at soldering ruined headphones back together. I should probably make some kind of video tutorial on it (although they are already out there). Well, last week someone mentioned these buds on reddit.com saying they were amazing for only 8$, including free shipping with Amazon Prime (I <3 being a student). 8$?! Okay, I'll bite.

Today: They are incredible. The bass is amazing for buds and the whole range is excellent. I’m a believer; these are as audiophile as I need, and now I’m continuing to spread the good word. Despite their goofy look and that they are relatively large, but all the better for deeper bass. The cord is unique and made of fabric instead of plastic, so it might stand up to heavy cat usage (I’ve tried teaching them about proper headphone usage), but probably not.

There is only one side stock tip included and it is a bit on the large side. They fit pretty snug in my ear once you get the buds rotated the correct way (the cord should almost be pointing along your eye-line), they are quite comfortable. I have amassed quite a few extra tips from other earphones and they fit well onto the end of these headphones, so if you have a good pair of tips you might be able to just pop them onto these buds. One additional con, after the headphones split from the main cord to the separate buds, it’s easy to pick up the vibrations from the rustling of the cords. It’s a bit louder than on other headphones.

One additional con for me, I like headphones with mics embedded since I’m listening to music on my phone all day. Just tap an extra button for hands-free talking. Maybe the next model?