Looks great, sound is good, fit is perfect and essential in earphones.

The wiring keeps stuffing up. Don't quite fit as snugly and deep into the ear to give the absolutely best sound. The male socket into the ipod et al is too long and should be in a moulded 'L' shape for durability and compact fit.

I've used the A8 earphones for a few years now and love them for the fact they stay in your ear when you run/work out. They are brilliant in their fit. But the design flaw that has turned me off is in the wire connections to both the ear piece and the male plug. Without mistreatment, I have been through two pairs of these pricey but addictive phones, plus had one set repaired while under warranty. They are not durable enough. The wires have come loose, lost sound and been irreparable. My only problem is not knowing of any earplug of similar design that will stay comfortably in the ear. And i agree with most that even the Apple plugs have as good a sound quality, especially at the low end.

Design
Quality
Very clear sound
Comfortable
They stay in place, even through exercise

Hard to get adjusted- but once on, very comfortable
Thought they were a little expensive

Bought the B&O A8 Headphones last night and promptly went jogging. Sound is great and the headphones never moved (not like those awful earbud things) - I did have some trouble getting them on - but that is part of the design - they are designed to fit every contour of your ear - so once you get them on, your set.
GREAT sound - especially horns and vocals. I thought the bass was a little lite, but then read the manual and found out that I hadn't adjusted them correctly - they have to fit right over ear canal for the full sound - once that adjustment was made, they were great!
These headphones do close out most (about 90%) of the outside noise, but are not like the Bose version - but then again, the B&Os were not sold as noise cancelling.
You will definitely hear the limits of MP3s.

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Bose Noise Cancelling

Best looking headphones on the market?

Great sound (once you get them in right!)

Block out background noise pretty well

Adjustability

Neat little leather pouch and accessories

Build quality is superb

Can get slightly uncomfortable during extended listening (talking hours here)

A bit of a faff to get them in

I noticed these headphones because of their looks, and decided to buy after auditioning at a B&O store.

Although £100 seems quite steep (you can get them cheaper), what you get for your money is a pair of pretty sexy earphones that (can) sound awesome.

The only trouble is, that although they can sound excellent, it's a nightmare getting them in and adjusted right. Especially when you have to deal with frequent interruptions, as I do at work. You basically have to get them fitted so that they really 'seal' your ear canal.

Once you manage this (and work out a way of obtaining consistent results quickly and repeatably), you'll be treated to a detailed and solid sound that compares to the DT231s I also use. OK so those phones are less than half the price, but do they look this good?!

They do a pretty god job of blocking out external noise, and once you get them in place they really stay put (which is something that I had a nightmare with when using my sennheiser MX500s). You can almost forget about them when you're wearing them.

I suspect (with others) that people that have complained about their sound quality (especially the lack of bass-there's plenty enough for most music) probably weren't wearing them right. Just spend a bit of time experimenting and your patience will be rewarded!

Customer Service

No sure what's going on with the warranty...

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Sennheiser MX500 (in ear)

Beyer DT231 (headphones)

looks nice, sounds OK

not a comfortable design, not great quality

I loved the look of this ear set. $150 seemed steep, but it was Bang & Olufsen, so I gave it a go. The sound is good. Nothing worth the money, though. And I have had several aggravating problems with this set - the cushions on the earset continuously fall off and get lost - but worse, the sound in the right earset drops. Sometimes I can get it working again by twisting the wires a bit, but this time it seems final. In addition, the comfort is minimal. This is mainly because of the cushions - but the adjustable hook is a little finicky to adjust right. In addition, B&O require you to register with them online before they will send you a warranty sertificate. That's absolutely crazy in terms of customer service. My set it broken, and I have to wait for them to send me a warranty sertificate before I can have it fixed?

Superior, crisp sound and ergonomic shape allows for comfort for everything such as running to shopping.

Left side malfunctioned in less than 10 months of regular use. Cords got tangled too easily.

I would agree with most that the A8 is by far the best looking headphones on this planet. However two days ago, the left side of my headphones decided to go on a holiday - indefinitely. I've had the headphones for less than 10 months and while I'm not entirely precious with them, I don't throw them across the room either. They sound great, however at this point I'm pondering whether I should fork out another $235 (Aussie price) for a pair of headphones which so far gave me roughly 10 months of use. The only problem is I have a Beosound 2 and there aren't any headphones out there, other than the A8, which actually looks 'great' with them.

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Nothing from this decade - maybe in another 10 years time.

Build quality is top shelf. Sound as good as any high end earbud. Not too flashy- nobody likes to be ostentatious. Well, at least nobody I want to know. Very comfortable

Expensive if you're interested only in sound quality. Hard to pack into case after use. Cord could be thicker- I fear I may break it some day.

Quite the earphone with regard to build quality and comfort. For the price, you could have a pair of Shure in-ear phones, but that's not what the B&Os are about. Sound is quite pure, with a tight low end and controlled mid to high range. Highly recommended.

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Shure 3c

-mini amplifiers built into each earbud -poly diaphram with rubber surround unlike other brands with metal diaphrams that sound tinny. crystal clear vocals and high frequencies the way they are held on to your ears and adjustable fit

deffinently do not have the bass of the bose, but in every aspect they are worth the money

i purchased an ipod and the first thing that had to go were the earbuds that came with it. i was stuck on the bose headphones due to their full bodied sound but knew they were to big for on the go use, i figured i should try out a highend pair of earbuds both i and my father fell in love with superb detail in clarity and high frequencies the B&O's have over the bose.

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apple ipod earbuds

Superb sound, quality aluminum construction, comfy, and lots of sex appeal.

Bass response may be below expectations for certain hip-hop and jap enthusiasts.

The Bang & Olufsen A8 earbuds produce fabulous quality sound, especially for what they are--ear buds. I bought them from Apple.com for the full asking price in a fit of rage when those damned iPod ear buds (which never sounded good in the first place) broke. I must say that this may be one of the few times that acting off impulse hasn’t come back to bite me in the tuchus. The A8s sound so good that I find myself starting to dislike my home and car stereos. I listen to alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, and jazz, and the A8s take listening to music to an all-new echelon of music-listening bliss. They produce crystal clear highs, warm lows, and solid middle range response. I have owned and listened to other high-end headphones but no truly portable set ever sounded this good. (The pair that sounded better could not run off the output on a portable device.) In terms of construction, the A8s are made of aluminum and look totally sexy. Also, they are very comfortable (unusual for earbuds) and adjust in ever which direction. (I wear glasses and have had no problem with getting the aluminum arms to warp comfortably around my ears.) It’s a rarity to find electronics made to look, last, and wear like these. Although I did not personally find this a problem, I have to admit that someone who is into hip-hop, rap, or some type of music that depends upon extraordinary bass response may be disappointed with the A8s. I personally hate it when bass takes over the music, but I do know that many do. The A8s just don’t produce top-end bass response. But then they’re earbuds and not 12-inch subs. They have a purpose and a place and nauseating bass is not theirs. So just a friendly caveat: the A8s will not gratify the bass-thumping junky. Overall, Bang & Olufsen made a real winner with the A8s. They'r worth every cent to someone whose looking for a rich and balanced reponse from headphones or earbuds.

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iPod earbuds, Etymotics ER-6, and Sony noise-cancelling earbuds

Sound quality Excellent soundstage Looks

Very sensitive to positioning Leather case a little too small for 'phones and cable Really show up MP3s at anything less than 256Kbps

I've been eyeing up these headphones for a while, but as a student couldn't really justify the price. However, I recently managed to break my Sony MDR-EX71 buds, and I just happened to pass a B&O shop the same day. So I tested them in the shop...I couldn't believe my ears. The assistant set the player going unplugged, then plugged the headphones in and I almost didn't realise he'd done it! The sound quality is unbelievable, and the sound-stage is simply incredible for in-ear headphones. Needless to say, they look great and feel like they are constructed strongly. Positioning them correctly is indeed important, and this can take some time...especially as they are adjustable in basically all directions. I simply can't recommend these enough. Although the price was hard to swallow at the time, I can see now after some use that they were definitely worth the investment.

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Sony MDR-EX71 buds Many other in-ear headphones Pioneer HDJ-1000, Sony MDR-V700

Everything. Build quiality, comfortness, and the unique bang and olufsen look. The sound is tight, trebles are clear, and bass is very well defined. (side note: The headphones sound less bassey then other cheap headphones i've tried, but i've since established the cheap headphones are all about loud bass as most cheap equiptment is.) It also sounds great for a great variety of musical styles and are an excelent price for the quality.

For thoes people used to plastic headphones: Metal get's cold when the wind comes and it sometimes feels like water is dripping down the side of my ears. They take practice to put on and take off. When used with mp3 players the compression is definatly noticable, and dvd-audio/SACD players haven't come out in compact form yet (in australian anyway).

These earphones stunning design is beaten only by the sound they put out. These are quite easily the most beautiful earphones i've ever head, and one of the few which fit comfortably in my ear. Although it takes a while to get used to placing them on the ear, once they are there you will neither notice them nor want to take them off. These are quite easily the best $195 australian dollars (140 USD) and i would have gladly paid twice, or even three times the ammount for the high quality.

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None. A $60 pair of Sonys don't even compare!