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In recent years, there has been a tendency for the media to lambaste earbud headphones because they can damage hearing, as they sit further away from the ear canal, causing the user to turn up the volume more. In ear headphones (also called canalphones) are one answer to this, and today we look at a pair, the Altec Lansing BackBeat Pro. Altec Lansing promises "high-definition, ultra-low distortion audio that rivals recording studio reference speakers" and "musician-grade sound" – but how did they stack up after we put them to the test against the other popular models such as the Etymotic Research ER-6i or V-Moda Vibe headphones? Read on to find out.

Using canalphones is very much so a different experience from using just normal earbuds. This is certainly true with the BackBeat Pro. Silicon ear tips help seal the ear from outside noise and push the headphone deeper into the ear canal so you don’t have to blast the volume just to hear the music. Finding the correct eartip from the included sizes for your ears can take a while when you first use the earphones, but once you find the perfect fit, it provides a good amount of sound isolation, making them perfect for travelers.

However, I was disappointed in the quality of the silicon ear tips, which I have found to be easily torn by normal use, as compared to the foam tips in something like the ER-6i earphones from Etymotic Research.

Sound quality on the BackBeat Pro seems to be competent for the realativly cheap price, but isn’t exactly anything to write home about. When listening to acoustic music, soft rock music, or talk programs the quality is fine, in which I have no real complaints about. However, once you put on a song with a lot of bass, such as electronica, hip hop, or heavy rock with double bass drums, these headphones are completely lack luster. The bass feels flat to nonexistent, and ruined the experience completely for me.

Depending on what genre of music you listen to, the BackBeat Pro could work for you, but in the price range of $100, there are better alternatives such as ER-6i's or the V-Moda Vibe models.

Pros

• Comfortable.
• Fairly affordable.

Cons

• Bad bass response.
• No foam earpieces are included.

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