Hot wired: Price of a decent ear style

By PAUL BRISLEN

It's a funny old world when you buy a set of headphones because they're good at stopping noise. Actually, when you think about it it's probably the right thing to do - you don't want to muck about with the wrong noise infiltrating your delicate ear canals while you're listening to your oonst oonst oonst music.

Headphones, earphones, buds, whatever term you use they've come a long way since Sony introduced the first Walkman back in the 80s. Which brings us to the tricky question of the cord - do you stuff it down your back like one of the cool kids or hang it down the front of your shirt like Dad used to? It's an important question in today's sociological youth culture class.

Sony MDRNC20

Some companies need to sort out their naming philosophy. Where are the Sony Whispers or the ClearAsABells? Okay, so maybe the MDRNC20 isn't such a bad name after all. The earphones are described as "closed, supra - aural headphones", which is a funny way of saying they sit over the whole ear. In-built circuitry works to counter-act any constant irritating background noise, such as a plane's engines, the rumble of a train or your mother telling you to turn that racket down and do your homework.

Cunningly, the headphones are sold with several attachments designed to fit into just about any airline's entertainment systems. It's a nice touch if you travel on the big tin tubes frequently. Sony also says the headsets will help you sleep easier on planes, but that's a bit much considering the size of them.

Price: $249

Bang and Olufsen A8

B&O don't make earphones so much as statements.

The A8 pair are beautiful to look at. They're an artwork, a sculpture, a celebration of the ear.

You dare not listen to the D4s or any of your 80s glam rock on these - instead you're required by edict to listen only to Mozart, to Bach, to William Shatner's new version of The Common People.

B&O describe these earphones as "Electro-dynamic speaker In-ear type (intra concha earphone)".

Nice.

Price: $275

Apple iPod remote and earphones

Today, iPod users are warned about their distinctive white iPod ear pieces being a dead give away for iPod-hungry thieves but as a status symbol they're almost as potent as the iPod itself. I've even seen T-shirts with painted-on iPod ear pieces hanging over the shoulder.

These earphones come with a remote so you can leave your iPod tucked in your pocket and control it from the outside. That's nice, if you don't actually have an iPod and want to pretend (if you can get the remote to control your old tape player that is), but for me I'd want to wave the iPod around every time I need to shuffle to one of the six million songs I've loaded. If I had an iPod that is.

Price: $92.25