Razer’s had the Moray headset for some time now, but I never considered it worthwhile since really, it was just a pair of mid-range in-ear headphones. That’s changed a bit now, and I just got a package with a pair of Moray+ headphones in it. What’s the difference? Well, now it’s got an in-line microphone, which I foolishly did not include in the picture I just took. It’s an unobtrusive little band and they say it’s omnidirectional, but we’ll see soon enough.

At the London International Music Show, Shure introduced a set of headphones that are perfect for “general listening.” The SRH240s feature 40mm neodymium dynamic drivers that promise to reproduce “deep bass with clear mids and highs.” Weighing in at 181 grams, the SRH240 headphones will be available next month for roughly $115.

You may remember the Ultrasone headphones we’ve reviewed occasionally here on CrunchGear. Well, if the pair you were looking at was just a little bit above your pay grade, now’s your chance to get some for almost half off. The HFI-680, HFI-2200, PRO 550, PRO 2500 and DJ1 PRO headphones are all going for 40% less than they were a week ago, and you’ve got the rest of June to take advantage of it.

Do you love weiner dogs? Like REALLY love them? Don’t just say you love them to impress the internet.

Call me a snob for liking my $150+ Ultimate Ears, Shure and Etymotic earphones, but they sound fantastic and fit perfectly. Oh, uh, excuse me while I remove the egg off my face. I’d never heard of Radius until I received a pair of Atomic Bass earphones a couple weeks back. I figured a pair of $40 earphones would sound like a $40 pair, but no, I was wrong.

I don’t particular think the drivers on the Atomic Bass are anything special, but the seal is a different story. I’ve lambasted other purveyors in the past for having shoddy tips because it’s usually the key reason certain earphones fail to impress, but Radius manages to hit the nail on the head. But then again everyone’s ears are different. They worked for me, though.

MSI has been expanding their territory aggressively over the last couple years. Originally they were mostly about components, but now they’re a leader in netbooks and are rolling out stuff like these headphones. They look like pretty standard, despite the inclusion of a “unique G Logo Power indicator” (they light up) and a “golden-plated USB interface to eliminate noise” (it’s a digital signal, guys).

Short Version: A great set of high-quality headphones at a reasonable price, Maximo’s $60 iM-590 “iMetal Isolation Earphones” strike a nice balance between features and affordability.

Finally, a DIY project that seems fairly simple to do: take a piece of wood, cut several holes in it, and make it look like an owl. Then wrap your portable MP3 player earbuds around it. Isn’t it cute?!

A prominent sound engineer once told me that Etymotic was one of three headphone manufacturers in existence today that actually produces high fidelity in-ear ‘phones worth buying. That’s a pretty bold statement, but an accurate one.

Of all the Etymotic earphones that I’ve tried, I’ve never had issue with the tree tips since they provide more than adequate noise-isolation, but custom tips are always best. So, Etymotic has teamed up with Advanced Communication Solutions to provide custom-made silicone tips for the hf2 earphones, which cater to the Apple crowd with the in-line controls.

You kids with your fancy Bluetooth headsets and your fancy satellite radio and your portable music players magically transmitting stuff to other devices without any wires. You think you’re all so special. Well I got news for you, bub: wireless headphones were available on a Sony Walkman — you know, the kind that used cassette tapes — in 1988! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, hotshot!

Not all of us have room for surround sound setups in our tiny studio apartments, which we’re thinking about moving out of because they’re going to raise the rent again. And some of us just don’t want the tangle of wires to deal with. Enter the growing market of surround-sound headsets, of which it appears the first bargain bin sets are hitting the streets.

Zalman is a well-known brand, but I question the wisdom of buying a $60 headset promising six-channel analog but not mentioning any qualifications from Dolby, THX, or what have you. That and it’s gigantic.

Able Planet’s headphones aren’t advertised as travelling hi-fi like the 15G, or as gaming headphones like the Carcharias. They’re supposed to be a sort of “safe alternative,” providing counterbalances for the things research has found cause hearing loss — while also being a solid headset for gaming and multimedia. Do the PS5500MMs live up to the claims?

Genius announced today that they are releasing a new, reasonably priced, noise cancelling headphone. The GHP-04NC (say that three times fast) launched today, and promises to cancel out background noise using a “superposition principle”. Priced at just $49.99, if they work as advertised they would be ideal for the person flying coach.

What? Like you didn’t see this coming?

As expected, the headphone/earbud/in-ear manufacturers are scrambling to get iPod Shuffle compatible headphones to market. The first victim of the whole scam was Scosche and now Klipsch is jumping on the bandwagon with the announcement of their upcoming headphones.