The right headphones create an ear for music

For those of you who received iPods and assorted other MP3 players during the holiday season, your next challenge is getting headphones that not only deliver high-quality sound but meet your individual needs.

The earbuds that come with iPods have never worked for me. (Lost yours? You can get replacements for $39.99.) My ear is too shallow, and the flap of cartilage that's supposed to hold the earbuds in place is too flimsy, so the buds simply fall out.

My solution to the problem was to use the earmuff, clamshell-style headphones that were common accessories for hi-fi stereo systems in the '70s. Not only did these headphones stay in place, my favourite set–from Bose–sounded great and, even without the noise-cancelling technology that's available now, kept the noise of the madding crowd at bay.

There was a time when I subscribed to the traditional philosophy that bigger headphones mean bigger sound because larger woofers, squawkers, and tweeters provide better audio. While this is not necessarily the case, having big headphones on for any length of time did make my head and neck ache, and packing them in my carryon meant I had less space for my other gadgets.

So despite the fact that larger, DJ–style headphones are back in vogue, I went on a mission to find a more compact alternative. I've decided that the earphones that fit inside the ear canal–called canalphones–are my best option, for a few reasons. First, they actually stay in place when I put them in. Second, they are isolating, so they keep out ambient sound. This means I don't have to turn up the volume to compensate for street noise. Third, they are light and compact.

Because of the rising popularity of canalphones, there are many styles and brands to choose from. When deciding which ones to get, I've learned to consider more than just the quality of sound.

I consider the stems that you stick into your ear channel, for instance. Nearly all canalphones come with three sizes of mouldings, which fit the ear canals of most people. I've got narrow channels, so I always have to change the factory-installed middle-sized silicon mouldings for the smaller ones.

I also take the cord into account. The length of the cord is important (too long and it will get caught, too short and it will limit where you can put your music player), as are its diameter and composition (a thick plastic cable will be difficult to coil and will become brittle over time).

Ultimately, it seems that with earphones, as with everything, you get what you pay for.

The Griffin TuneBuds ($19.99), which come in a range of colours, are a good low-price option. There is a crispness to the treble coming from these phones, but because they lack bass, they sound a bit tinny. I also had a problem with the rubber earpieces because they come off too easily. More than once I found myself with a piece of rubber stuck in my ear when trying to take them out.

I really like the thin and flexible rubber-based cord on the Panasonic RP-HJE300 stereo earphones ($39.99), although it is a bit short, so it won't always stretch from your coat pocket all the way up to your head. The earplugs are soft and comfortable, and insert nicely into the canal. The range of sound from these earphones is very good, although the bass is a bit muddy.

The best I've yet tried are still the Shure SE110 sound-isolating earphones ($99.99) that I purchased over a year ago. While they aren't as comfortable in my ear as the smaller Panasonic buds, the Shures provide the best overall sound. But I have a problem with the cable, which in a year has become rigid and is starting to crack. Because of this, the speaker wires are going to end up breaking, so I'll need to replace these within a month or two.

There are other canalphones available, for a variety of prices and from manufacturers such as Bose, JVC, JBL, Skullcandy, Sennheiser, and Sony. I haven't had a chance to test any of them.

In conducting my research, I did get to test-drive the Panasonic RP-BT10 wireless earphones ($149.99), which are Bluetooth-enabled and will only work with iPods and Bluetooth mobile phones. With iPods, a Bluetooth transmitter plugs into the docking port. The receiver is a small remote that is equipped with a clip, and into which you can plug any earphones or headphones you want. The remote lets you play, pause, skip back and forth in the track list, and adjust volume, and also includes a microphone for mobile-phone use. The best feature of these is that you can pair the receiver with an iPod and a mobile phone at the same time. You can listen to music on your iPod and when a call comes in on your mobile, the receiver cuts over to the mobile phone's signal. When you've hung up the phone, back comes your music. If you like to keep your iPod and your phone in your briefcase, the Panasonic RP-BT10 is the bomb.

It's very slick indeed, but it's not a new idea. Skullcandy was the first company to provide headphones that would connect to both phone and iPod, but I was never impressed with the sound quality of their early models.

What I'm really waiting for is the point at which I can dispense with the earphones altogether, in favour of simple surgery that will embed small speakers in my jaw or temple. These speakers will be Bluetooth-enabled, of course, so that they can connect to any device, and will be operated using a remote control.

With speakers embedded in your skull–and a subwoofer implanted in your heel–you could listen to anything you want, and could even switch back and forth as needed. You could have your own personal soundtrack playing all the time, pausing only when your mobile phone rang. One touch of the remote would flip the signal from stereo to television, so even if weird Aunt Estelle talked through the punch line on the latest episode of 30 Rock, you'd be able to tune her out in favour of Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. Literally.