[Caracarn]

The worst pair of headphones that I've used were the pair that came with my Archos Jukebox Recoder 20. Not only did they have poor sound, but they hurt like hell to wear.

[Caracarn]

The worst pair of headphones that I've used were the pair that came with my Archos Jukebox Recoder 20. Not only did they have poor sound, but they hurt like hell to wear.

[nook]

Had to be the ones that came with my 60gig iPod Video. They had ZERO bass response. And I listen to a lot of bass heavy music, mainly Drum'n'Bass, and everytime there was any type of bass, I got this horrible crunching sound. And the treble was way too high and was usually kind of painful when I listened to it at any descent volume. Right now I am loving my Zune premium headphones, but I would LOVE to have these Ultimate Ears headphones!!!!

[williamc]

A few years ago I bought a lower end (or earlier model) of some Philips Earbuds for an iPod and was really disappointed in how canned the sound seemed. The trouble is, though, I don't know if it was a necessarily a problem with the Buds: they were definitely better than the default headphones, but they were also great at pointing out how, regardless of which EQ setting I used, I was still listening to music that sounded somehow submerged, artificial, and tinny. Now, of course, I blame AAC encoding -- but it points out the need for earbuds to really make a difference in how encoded music sounds versus how a CD might sound. I would love to try out something new for the Zune!

[Kevin Jackson]

Worst pair ever? Hmm . . . it would have to be ones that I got with an old portable cassette player; you know the old foam-covered, over-the-ear type? They had no bass, the upper sounds were tinny and hollow, they were uncomfortable (the foam wasn't very thick so the edges of the plastic scratched and poked my ears) and the foam covers were torn and falling off within a week. Ever since then I have been an avowed in-ear headphone user and I don't regret it for a minute.

[David Tucker]

Those look like the sweetness. By far the worst headphones I've ever had were (and still are) a pair of Koss UR-19s. Total crap. (I love my Sennheiser PMX 200s though!)

[kalis104]

The absolute worst ones i have used are form a AM/FM Radio Shack radio. They distorted horribly on AM or FM at any audible volume. With any other headphones the radio sounder pretty good(for radio). I tossed the buds away as soon as I could, absolutely awful.

[smegmanufo]

Unfortunately my worst headphones were the most expensive I ever bought. They were the Turtle-Beach Ear Force X-51. I paid over $100 for them and they were a dud right out of the box. The surround sound was poor at best, and they were never quite comfortable. The worst part was that they were made to fold up when not in use, except they always found a way to do it while I was using them.

I ended up giving them to a guy I didn't really like. He loved them. Oh well.

[Ron Hostetter]

Several... I was using the earphones that came with my iPod several years ago, but my dog chewed them up. I was so upset! I went out and bought a pair of Sony in-ear headphones and I couldn't believe the difference!!! It turns out those iPod earphones were CRAP!!!!
I also recall paying $2 for the head phones provided by United Airlines on a flight. Those sounded like a 1920's-era AM radio. Awful!!!!
And finally, the earphones that came with my MDA phone as well as the earphones that came with my wife's DASH phone. Not only are they way too big to fit in anybody's ear, they sound just awful!!!
Yep, I've got a long history of bad headphones!
Ron

[Ranma13]

The absolute worst pair of earphones I have ever used were a pair of cheap KOSE earphones that I bought from Walmart. My previous earphones had just broken and I was desperate for some earphones, ANY earphones, so I went to Walmart and picked up the KOSE earphones, which looked pretty nice in the packaging. The many 'used and returned' packages for the same said earphones strewn about the counter should have been a blatant hint that I shouldn't have bought them, but I blindly ignored them and plunked down my $10. No sooner than I walked out the store did I realize just how horrible the earbuds were. The darned things just wouldn't stay in my ear! As much as I tried, they were just too loose, too slippery to stay inside my ears, and when I did manage to get them to stay in there, they started to hurt big time. Needless to say, I was pretty dismayed at my purchase, and instead of returning it for some other poor sap to experience my misery, I trashed it barely 10 minutes after purchasing it.

[tomeppy]

The worst headphones that I ever used was a pair of Sony earbuds that I picked up in an airport gift shop. This was because I lost my almost equally bad iPod earbuds while getting off of a plane in Chicago.