I've tried earbuds, and the ones that were the best balance between price, sound, and comfort for me were the dirt cheap Koss:
But earbuds in general bug me -- I haven't found any that were comfortable or held an acoustically valid seal in my ear canals, so my vote goes to these: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-202-Headphones/dp/B000065BP9/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1221441987&sr=8-1 They're very light, only cost $25, and do a surprisingly good job cutting ambient noise. And they sound pretty good to me. I've spent too much on expensive headphones that have gotten broken or stolen, so if it leaves my house it has to be basically disposable. The HD202s have lasted 6 months riding around in my backpack and still look new, despite being light, plastic, and cheap looking. I'm done crying over Grado SR80s when I lose the earmuff and the plug goes wonky. TP told me that he DJ's with a telephone because they work, they're cheap, and no one wants to steal them.
