Aaron Adams’s Blowhard Blog

In my opinion, the earbuds that ship with the iPod aren’t bad. They sound just fine and they fit pretty well into my ears. They’re certainly not high-end gear, but they’re not intended to be. For most of the situations where I listen to music Ñ at the gym, working around the house, during a walk, in the car Ñ they’re more than adequate.

One thing I’ve noticed is that when I tilt the buds to point more directly into my ears, the sound improves noticeably, especially bass response. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would build an earbud attachment that would hold the buds in that position? Griffin Technology has, and they’re named EarJams.

EarJams snap over the iPod’s earbuds and have a soft plastic pads that fit inside the listener’s ears. Three different sizes of pads and a carrying case that comes in handy for carrying small iPod pieces come in the EarJams package.

It’s a simple concept and it worked out great for me. The one problem I have with the EarJams is that I can’t detach them from my iPod buds! I wanted to remove them to do an on-off EarJams-to-buds comparison, but when I tried to gently pull them off, I unsnapped my buds into two pieces, exposing the wiring and little audio elements inside. The buds snapped back together with no problem and still work fine, but I may have to get something small to wedge between the EarJams and the buds to pry them off.

The bottom line is, if you’re satisfied with the sound of your buds, you’ll probably find Griffin’s EarJams to be a worthwhile purchase. If you can’t stand the iPod’s bundled buds, then your $15 is better spent toward headphones you’ll be satisfied with.

Griffin EarJams Ñ $14.99