gdgt

This is a good question. You're right about the Bose having poor build quality. Everything Bose makes is either overrated or overpriced. It's nuts.

Try out these: gdgt.com­/panasonic­/rp­-htx7/

I love them and use them daily with my 2nd Gen iPod Touch. I would say that the bass might not be balanced as well as higher end headphones but the mids are okay and you get better than expected detail in the highs. They are nice and cheap too compared to some others.

The thing with high end headphones is that they need a headphone amp. These ones don't need that at all.

I don't know about Bose headphones but the Bose in my car is phenomenal. But Skull candy apparently makes some really good products, my buddy swears by them.

The skull candy headphones are great usually too. But you do pay a premium for the name and design. I'm not a fan of the looks of a lot of them but still.

I listened to some skull candy 'phones at a best buy not too long ago. While not bad, I wasn't really too impressed. I was agonizing over new headphones myself and saw all the rave reviews for the Grado sr80 and was ready to pull the trigger on them until I saw some reviews for the Alessandro MS1. These are modded Grados, although I haven't been able to confirm if they are modded 125's or 80's. After having them a couple months, I can safely say these are the best bang for the buck headphones I've ever heard. For $99, they come to you shipped from the website and are easily better than any Bose I've heard. The other only real high end 'phones I've heard have been the Monster Beats at Best Buy, although I own the Sennheiser PX100 and the V Moda Vibes as well. The MS1s can't compete in bass quantity but top the Beats in every other category including Bass quality. The one drawback for some with these headphones is that it's an open style headphone, so everyone can hear your music around you. My wife can hear my music from upstairs sometimes when I have them going loud. If that's not an issue, I can' recommend them enough.

If you prefer in ear style phones, I've had good luck with stuff from headdirect.com. I have the Head Direct re2 and the Yuin OK3. They are both great headphones that sound even better when amplified. The RE2 isolates very well if that is a concern for you while the OK3 is an earbud, so it allows for some sound to come in if you don't want to be isolated. If I had to choose only one of those two based on sound quality alone, the OK3 wins but it's close. The RE2 is $40 and the OK3 is $60. I tried the RE2 against the Monster Beats at Best Buy as well, and again, the bass quantity on the Beats is the only area I thought they won, and they cost $300.

I have an iPhone and I figure the sound quality is the same coming out of the touch. I would really recommend getting a portable amp if sound quality is important to you. Apple products haven't been known to pump out the greatest sound. The Fiio E3 and E5 are two good, inexpensive, portable amps that I have and love. Go to Head­-fi.org to check up on what they think, but be careful, you can easily get sucked in and find yourself spending large sums of money on sound products!

I personally own a pair of shure e530s for any and all on the go listening i do, but for a more affordable price the lower models all sound good so you can just find your price range and look for the best available price. Also i bought my sister a pair of ultimate ears i found here a pair of superfi 3 for 69.99 which is a extremely good deal i think. It was a year or 2 ago now but i remember finding the link to the deal in one of the headphone sites, either headroom, head-fi or another i can't remember right now. And i was really close to buying a pair of (gasp) monster tubines not to long ago.

I have both the Bose in ear and the the V-Moda Vibe earbuds and I find them both adequate. The Vibe are a little better for comfort and working out because they fit snug and provide lots of sound. The Bose provide a very rich sound with lots of bass, but the earpieces can fit awkwardly sometimes and I wouldn't work out with them - I just use them at the office...