[citation][nom]Nik_I[/nom]the stock ipod earbuds are hands down the worst earbuds i've ever used. i bought a good pair of skullcandy ink'd earbuds and the sound quality is an order of magnitude better.[/citation]
I can honestly say that, although not the best earbuds I've ever used, they are also not the worst. I had a $10 pair of no-name flexible behind-the-ear earbuds that had horrific issues with static (in the audio signal, not static electricity) that amplified every time the cord got moved. Which was, of course, all the time. Then I had a pair of $25 Sony behind-the-ear earbuds that I absolutely loved but broke 5 years on when the clip part snapped. Now they don't sell those anymore, and comparable Sony earbuds now cost $40. No thanks! Right now, I'm just using the earbuds that came with my iPod. Their frequency range kinda sucke, sure, but why pay for a different pair when they work well enough for my tastes and I didn't have to pay extra for them (that I had a choice to, anyway)? Plus, when I checked three years ago, they were $30. Looking again just now... the new versions with volume remote and mic are still $30. It's a little much for what you get, to be sure, but these allegations of $50 earbuds? seriously? Apple makes actually pretty good $80 in-ear headphones for just such an occasion. I wouldn't pay that much for headphones, but they're there, and they're decent for the money. Apple has even better-performing (and some worse-performing) earphones and headphones in their store for much more, made by other companies. Try $450 at the upper-end of the spectrum—for earbuds.
Not to mention, this isn't a problem specifically with Apple earbuds, but pretty much any earbuds made out of static-prone plastics. There's a reason why most electronics have a listed range of environmental variables in which it can safely operate, like humidity and temperature, for similar reasons.
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