I like to think of my iPod as a coat of armor. I use it to block out sounds that make living in NY a more draining experience than it has to be: the squeal of the subway, the crazy dude yelling at me about twinkies and the apocalypse, etc.

The problem is that the earphones that came with my iPod don’t cut it. Not only do they make already tinny-sounding MP3s seem even more so, they do little to keep outside noise out of the mix. Don’t get me wrong, the standard iPod cans are fine when I’m working out, but what if I’m out in the world and want to actually listen to my music instead of just hear it?

Though I’m seeing more manufacturers step up to try and solve this problem, I feel like most of the attention is going to Bose, a company whose solution doesn’t quite deserve it. Through a mix of high prices and good marketing, Bose has convinced many-a-mainstream consumer that they represent the top of the audio market, but in truth they’re just one of many players operating in the top-of-the-middle.

Case in point: the company’s “new” noise-cancelling earbuds, the $99 “in-ears” (pictured above in an ad plastering a subway car) which have been selling well despite poor looks and lackluster reviews. Sure Bose, most of us don’t need the best earphones money can buy, but neither do we need products that are both mediocre and overpriced.

That said, here are two earphones with which I’ve had great experiences:

1) Sony MDR-EX81 (~$50 MSRP)

A cousin of the top-rated EX71’s, these are some of the most affordable, comfortable and full-sounding headphones on the market. They’re not noise cancelling in the sense that they have some kind of fancy battery-powered filtering technology, but they do have a soft rubber piece that creates a seal in your ear and naturally dulls some of the more offensive sounds in your vicinity. Try them out–you’ll notice an immediate improvement over the standard iPod headphones and you’ll never want to go back. Oh, and they also come in white.

2) Etymotic ER-6i Isolators (~$150 MSRP)

If you think $150 seems like a lot for earphones, you’re right. Still, with the ER-6i’s you’re getting a product that performs about 80% as well as some $900 models. Not only do they sound phenomenal (more on this below), but they’re startlingly good at noise reduction.

First, roll the foam earpiece between your fingers like an earplug. Then open your jaw and place them deep and snug in your ear canal. (No need to worry, it’s just foam.) These earphones block a ton of ambient sound, and they almost never leak your music to the people around you, even when they’re cranked up. This makes them a great choice for work or the subway. (Speaking of the subway, when I wear these on the platform, I often can’t hear the train arriving. It just cruises in like a boat drifting to dock.)

Sound-wise, these are the best earphones I’ve ever owned. The ER-6i’s make all of my music sound much warmer and fuller. From Led Zeppelin to J Dilla to Chopin, I find myself going back to my favorite stuff, simply because these earphones reveal things I’ve never heard before. The only drawback of the ER-6i’s is that the foam tends to get dirty from all the finger rolling, so I’ve had to keep replacements stocked. (3 replacements come in at around $20 including shipping, and each one lasts me around a month). If you’re not into the foam or you don’t want to deal with replacements, the ER-6i’s also come with soft, flanged rubber inserts, which I don’t really find comfortable, but some people swear by them.

I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you’ve tried these earphones or others, and what you think.

Update: I must have tapped into some kind of karmic manifestation of Murphy’s law with this post. Literally one day later, my ER-6i’s have failed on me. The music only plays out of one ear. After first buying them, I remember showing them to my colleague Cameron, who used a San Francisco colloquialism to describe them. He said: “Yeah, those don’t look like they’re built for the quake.” I laughed it off at the time, but he was right. They’ve failed me. Fuck.