Easy listening: The best earphones

A new kind of earphones allow you to enjoy music in loud places without blowing your eardrums out. Money Magazine field tested a few. Here are our top picks.

By Wilson Rothman, Money Magazine contributing writer
Creative ZEN Aurvana: $100
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Money Magazine Field Test Winner
Creative ZEN Aurvana: $100
Cost: $100
Comes with: Six sizes, case, airplane adapter
Sound quality: "Clear with good defintion of different instruments," says audiophile Michael Fremer. A slightly weaker bass makes them second best overall. For the price, they are the best of the bunch.
Volume needed: 57 percent
Bottom line: Nice noise reduction, great sound and priced in the middle of the pack.
Grade: A-

Creative ZEN Aurvana
Apple In-Ear
Shure SE210
Harman/Kardon EP720
Sennheiser CX-300
V-MODA Bass Freq
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Contact Us Closed Captioning Manage Cookies+ Site Map

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.