New offerings from iFrogz offer best of both worlds in price and quality

As part of a household that owns one iPhone, one iTouch and five iPods, I’ve become pretty well acquainted with the variety of earbuds available out there. The standard-issue Apple earbuds still lie around like forgotten toys as my brood tends to prefer custom earbuds from a variety of suppliers. The problem with most of them is either price or quality. The cheap ones tend to last no more than a couple of months and display very limited noise isolation qualities. And the expensive ones get lost or chewed up by the dog. (sorry, Daisy).

     Which is why I was happy to receive a couple of new products of iFrogz recently which seemed to square the circle in terms of quality and price.

     The company’s  EarPollution Plugz noise isolating ear buds provide a crisp sound and the comfort of direct-to-ear delivery. Each pair includes three earfit pieces to provide a near-perfect fit and they did a great job of shutting out most of the ambient noise. Car sounds and chatter in the street all but disappeared, but they couldn’t quite block out the lawnmower or small planes landing at Santa Monica airport. Still, for the price ($14.99) and they are a great buy for the uses for which they are intended – listening to the iPod at the gym, home or on the morning commute.  As far as sound quality, they provided strong bass tones through resonant trebles and for the price are a far superior option than regular Apple-issue buds. The Plugz also come in a variety of colors.

     MSRP: $14.99

For those who want to splash out a little more and also like the look and comfort of old-school retro DJ style headphones, the company also offer the fully customizable  Fallout line. I’ve barely taken these things off since I opened the package. The Fallout is a lightweight, cushioned headphone that offers fairly premium sound for a budget-friendly price. They are a great choice for teens because they can create their own pair that can be as wild or subdued as they would like. I had the silver and black with the red dragon decal – I could feel myself channeling Bruce Lee as soon as I popped them on.  Armchair headphone designers can choose from a black or gray headband, multiple colored sidepieces, speakers, ear cushions, and side artwork.

     The sound in the bass tones is rich and vibrant, the noise isolation almost total, and the comfort, exemplary. Their lightness was a really pleasant surprise, as was the general fit and finish – for $35, you can’t go wrong.

     As is usually the case with headsets like these, Fallout headphones have inherent background noise blocking properties because they cover the wearer’s entire ear. Sound through them is surprisingly clear and good; unless you are blasting your music at rediculous and deafening levels, you shouldn’t notice any bottoming out or obvious distortion.

     Be advised that these headphones are not made to work with the iPhone; beyond the fact that they do not offer call-answering capabilities, their 3.5mm plug is not long enough to insert into the iPhone’s recessed port. They work perfectly well with my PowerBook speaker port however, which is how I usually use them.

     The ifrogz EarPollution Custom Fallout Headphones are available directly from the manufacturer. www. Ifrogz.com

     MSRP: $34.99

Specifications: - EarPollution Plugz

Driver Unit: 9mm

Impedance: 16 ohms

Sensitivity: 98dB+/-3dB at 1 KHz

Frequency Response: 30Hz to 20 KHz

Cord Length: 1M

Plug: 3.5 mm

Specifications: - EarPollution Fallout Headpones

Driver Unit:       40mm

Impedance:      32 ohms

Sensitivity:      120dB+/-3dB at 1KHz

Frequency Response:      30 Hz to 20 KHz

Cord Length:      1.2M

Plug:       3.5mm