Which earphones are best for MP3 players?

i have to disagree about in-ear headphones. i recently purchased a pair of Shure E3C's for my iPod (MSRP $189....not for the light in the wallet). these things can't weigh but a few grams each, and are designed much differently than normal earbuds that sit in your ear..i can hardly even tell i have them in except for the fact there's music. The E2C's which are cheaper, are built around the same design. There's something to consider with in-ear buds vs over the head cans...over the head cans, while very good, they do tend to have this issue of allowing outside sound to seep in, requiring you to crank the volume. they do make the noise canceling models, but, those modify the sound to digitally rid of the noise. There are some models wich cup COMPLETELY over the ears (like my Sennheisers) that do allow a seal. cans that sit flat against the ear are harder to get good bass out of...because bass requires a lot of power and the nature of the wave makes it difficult for this small element to produce. that's why these sound off compared to higher quality cans. ones that form over the ear are able to form more of a seal..allowing less pressure to leak. in-ear buds, while most are uncomfortable, do have the advantage that some are able to form a complete seal in your ear canal, keeping virturally ALL of the pressure created by the speakers inside your ear. some, like my shure's, come with ear piece inserts that are made of the same foam material that they make ear-plugs from, meaning youre literally shoving an ear plug in your ear then sticking a speaker tightly in there. if you have ever seen the episode of mythbusters where they tackled the subwoofer....the whole pressure thing would make more sense. of course, if you ask me, headphones that cost less than 40 or 50 bucks aren't worth purchasing.

Well the over-the-ear headphones are much better and durable. the new sony walkman also has over the ear headphones.The secret is that in the ear, there are 3 bones:hammer, anvil and stirrup. the in -the-ear head phones are magnetic due the vibrations they produce. this magnetism effects the 3 bones and the brain. bcoz the vibrations are mostly going inside the ear. the effects are: brain tumour loss of hearing paralysis extended ear disruption. therefore i reccomend over-the-ear headphones.(even i use them)