When I go out in the campaign for a foot or by bicycle, the stupidity of sheep always surprises. They have been domesticated for thousands of years, when we still walk or ride to their country on a path, they always stop grazing, panic and running as quickly as possible in the opposite direction. You think, now, they would have learned that simply by standing still, they are perfectly safe place, they risk their lives in a head at a scoreboard steep, rocky path, to escape the threat of a slow — moving, less spotted British walkers.

It is an analogy that I like to be applied to iPod owners. You think now, after years of reunification Apple the same old ugly white helmet with music players they are all so in love, they understood that its terrible. But no - as sheep, they continue to listen completely oblivious to the fact that they are losing a perfectly good MP3 player on a bad pair of earphones. I even heard people who break or wear their iPod headphones to pay a lot of money to replace them over the same thing. I am not child.

There is really no excuse for such behaviour, when spending just £ 40 more on a pair of Sennheiser CX 400 will net a pair of headphones on a million times better. But for those who simply can not begin to splash on the same lot, there are still many alternatives to decent. Sennheiser, for example, is not content to expensive helmet, but also pairs budget replacement. These earphones MX 560, for example, would cost £ 19 - is precisely the amount you’ll have to pay to renew your “official” white efforts - and they also happen to be much higher.

Of course, this money, you do not get all the features of more expensive luxury helmet. The headphones are not made from aluminum, they’re all plastic. The cable is not modular, it’s just a song. And you do not receive ear canal noise insulation for this kind of money. But you get a complete surprise. Instead of simply laying the headphones in a box with a foam earpads, as Apple does, Sennheiser kit includes a flexible and ordered a spool of cable rubber. The latter has a couple of media, you can plug in earphones to protect victims and an inch long tail to wrap around the cable to prevent knotting in your pocket.

And despite the plastic, these headphones do not feel well constructed and well done. There is nothing here that makes me think he is a candidate for rupture. The 3.5 mm stereo jack, thoughtful, at right angles, when your MP3 player is sitting in your pocket, it’s likely to be less strain on the audio input jack and, unlike cheap headphones, cables between the earphones and the feel pleasantly robust.

The MX 560 is also very comfortable in the ear. I usually do not agree with headphones - I find it uncomfortably pull my ears and making them ill after a certain time - but they felt fine the entire time I was in listening. They do not have the slightly softer rubber base around the edge that iPod headphones do, but that does not seem to matter. You will be able to bring these for hours if you wish, without having to go out, grimacing in pain after half an hour. I also like how the queues are long and slightly curved, which helps to keep them firmly and fully in place.

More important than all that, however, is that, unlike the earphones they be replacing (or all sheep as owners of iPod), the MX 560 is far from being woolly. They have a full, rich sound that belies the low prices. Sennheiser makes great play on the Exchange 560 Years’ Basswind system, arguing still own thumping bass. And they are certainly much better than a pair of headphones of the iPod in this regard - for the purposes of this review, I run back to back with an analysis of third generation iPod nano and its white earphones regrouped and it is simply no comparison.

An explosion of bizarre Hiromi his album Hiromi brought this Sonicbloom. His electric bass guitar bottom is a good way to evaluate not only low-quality but low weight. It is more defined and more juicy probe with the MX 560 as the iPod with headphones. Although the MX 560, are not producing what I call thumping bass - if you want, buy a pair of Koss SportaPros or PortaPros - for the money they still sound very impressive.

In moving to something soft, like a touch of jazz courtesy of the wonderful Diana Krall, and the MX 560 begin to reveal their true colors. The full sound you get out of these compared to the iPod has more than one helmet presence, more immediate and deeper sound. They are quite rich, and you can choose a surprising degree of detail on a runway if your environment is not too noisy. The iPod headphones, however, sound as if you’re listening with an Aran sweater wrapped around your head.

When the MX 560, are not so price is high poll metal or rock guitar. They have a very clean, but may seem a little dry when fed with more complex. Classic Metallica Nothing Else Matters, for example, lacks a little hard, heat and wealth over the same prices on the ear SportaPros. But they are still miles better than the Apple phones.