Altec Lansing Back Beat Plus Noise Isolating Earphones for iPod iPod Touch and iPhone

These headphones have great noise-cancellation, in my honest opinion, which is a major thing for me. I use these at work because my music choices bother some of my co-workers. Very comfortable, though hard to place in my ear at first. After a few seconds wearing them I cannot even feel that they are there, which is a definite plus as well. The highs are crisp and wonderful, along with the mids. The bass is indeed rich, could be too strong for some music choices, but easily fixed with changing the equalizer. Cord is a cloth-covered type, which doesn't tangle. Good length (46") and overall superb sound for the $20 I purchased them for at my workplace. Would recommend to anyone, the quality construction, sound reproduction and comfortability are unmatched for the price. Grade: A

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The Altec Lansing 206 Backbeat Earbuds are probably some of the best sounding earbuds in the $30 or less price range that I've ever stuck into my big ol' ears. To top this off, they are pretty darn comfortable, have a "tangle-free" cord, and enough bass to shake your skull!

But there is a catch. The good times don't last, and before you know it you'll be left with a dead piece of rope in your hands.

I've personally owned 4 of these sets of earbuds. The first lasted 9 months, and the lifespan of the Backbeat's just goes down from there. Eventually, as I came to realize, the poorly made straight jack will ALWAYS wear out and start making the audio cut out in one ear, then the next, and then back and forth. I wrote to Altec Lansing after the first pair died and received a new pair right away, but then this new pair only made it to 6-7 months. I was getting a bit annoyed at earbuds which seemed to have an internal self-destruct timer ticking away, but I figured...Read more

I love these headphones. The sound quality is great, the bass is good, and they block outside noise well. They're comfortable and the construction is really nice. I'm pretty hard on my headphones so the wire usually becomes exposed at the headphone jack, but I don't see that happening with these because of the material of the cord. I think these will last a long time.