[Editor’s note: Last week, we posted our initial hands-on impressions of Apple’s new EarPods. Now that we’ve had the EarPods for a week, we’ve expanded on those initial impressions for this formal review.]

It’s become de rigueur to describe Apple’s white earbuds as “ubiquitous” and “iconic”—and justifiably so. Not only are they almost inextricably linked to the company’s iPods and iPhones, but Apple revealed at its recent press event that it had shipped 600 million sets of the headphones, a number that almost certainly makes them the most-used piece of gear in the history of audio reproduction.

Beyond their ubiquity and iconic status, though, Apple’s earbuds have frequently been derided as offering sub-par sound. They’ve also occasionally been praised—despite their mediocre sound quality compared to higher-end headphones, it’s amazing that they sound as good as they do considering that designing good earbuds is inherently difficult. (Not to mention that Apple produces them at incredible scale and includes them with many products at no additional cost.)

Apple has clearly invested significant engineering effort in its earbuds over the years. The product’s history includes several minor revisions, including the addition of a rubberized ring to help the earphones stay in place, and an inline remote/microphone module introduced to complement the iPhone. The company has also made—with mixed results—two attempts at premium, after-market headphones: the long-discontinued $39 Apple In-Ear Headphones ( ), and the still-available, $79 dual-driver Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic ( ).

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It’s become de rigueur to describe Apple’s white earbuds as “ubiquitous” and “iconic”—and justifiably so. Not only are they almost inextricably linked to the company’s iPods and iPhones, but Apple revealed at its recent press event that it had shipped 600 million sets of the headphones, a number that almost certainly makes them the most-used piece of gear in the history of audio reproduction.

Beyond their ubiquity and iconic status, though, Apple’s earbuds have frequently been derided as offering sub-par sound. They’ve also occasionally been praised—despite their mediocre sound quality compared to higher-end headphones, it’s amazing that they sound as good as they do considering that designing good earbuds is inherently difficult, not to mention that Apple produces them at incredible scale and includes them with many products at no additional cost.

Apple has clearly invested significant engineering effort in its earbuds over the years. The product’s history includes several minor revisions, including the addition of a rubberized ring to help the earphones stay in place, and an inline remote/microphone module introduced to complement the iPhone. The company has also made two attempts at premium, after-market headphones, including the long-discontinued $39 Apple In-Ear Headphones (), and the still-available, $79 dual-driver Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic ()—with mixed results.

All of that is to say that it didn’t come as a shock when Apple introduced, alongside the iPhone 5, a completely redesigned version of its classic earbuds, the $29 Apple EarPods. (The name is a cute portmanteau of earbuds and iPod, though it’s one that’s been used before by the earPod headphone case.) Still, though Apple is known for its willingness to introduce both evolutionary updates and complete redesigns of its existing products, it’s big news in the audio world when the most pervasive earbuds of all time get replaced with something that’s purportedly much better—Apple says the EarPods have been in the works for three years and boasts that the “audio quality is so superior, they rival high-end headphones that cost hundreds of dollars more.”

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Audio manufacturer Velodyne has traditionally been known for its high-end subwoofers. Indeed, a visit to the company’s home page reveals photos of speakers designed to provide the lowest of the low frequencies in a home-audio system, ensuring that bass sounds are clearly heard (and felt). These high-quality subs include fancy features such as 18-inch drivers, servo-based woofer control, and digital equalization for room correction.

But alongside this series of nondescript black cubes, the Velodyne home page shows something very different these days: headphones. More specifically, the company’s $99 vPulse In-Ear Headphones.

Velodyne isn’t the first speaker company to turn to headphones. Klipsch, Bowers and Wilkins, PSB, Harman-Kardon, Paradigm, and Polk—not to mention Bose—have found inspiration (or perhaps have seen dollar signs) in the booming market for headphones created by the iPod, iPhone, and other portable media players that have become pervasive over the last decade.

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This week’s roundup of new iOS gear offers items to make music, keep your hands warm, look at tiny things, and keep track of your Apple TV. Here are the accessories that caught our eye this week.

Bloc: Admittedly, we don’t see accessories for the Apple TV come along too often, but the $39 Bloc for Apple TV is a nice exception to the rule. It’s a wooden tray—it comes in cherry, maple, or walnut—with slots for both the Apple TV and its remote control. The device lets you create a permanent resting spot for your Apple TV, keeps the perhaps-too-small-and-light device from being pulled behind your entertainment center by heavy cables, and helps you stop losing the remote in the crevices of your couch.

DAS Concepts: Sure, you may still be healing from your last sunburn of the summer, but it’s not too early to think about keeping your hands warm and touchscreen-ready this winter. The new Concepts line of gloves can help on both fronts. The gloves in the lineup range from $15 to $25, reflecting a variety of sizes and just how cold you expect the weather to get. The thicker gloves for colder climates aren’t yet available, but the $15 varieties are ready to ship.

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Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) has long been a respected name in high-end audio, producing jaw-dropping “statement” products such as the Nautlius loudspeaker, applying new materials to speaker design such as diamond-coated tweeters, and placing its speakers in well-respected studios such as Abbey Road. Over the past few years, the company has expanded its focus from perfectionist, high-end audio to the general consumer electronics market—and Apple accessories in particular—with docking speaker systems such as the Zeppelin Air ( ), computer speakers such as the MM-1 ( ), and the company’s first headphone/headset, the P5 ( ). B&W recently released a second headset model—the company’s first in-ear design—the $180 C5 In-Ear Headphones. Given B&W’s history and the accolades its other Apple-focused products have received, the C5 has a lot to live up to.

Emphasis on design

With the C5, B&W opted for a canalbud-style design. Canalbuds split the difference between traditional earbuds and in-ear-canal (“canalphone”) models. They’re also usually less expensive than canalphones, but the C5 is an exception, falling squarely in canalphone price range. Since they fit partially in the ear canal, canalbuds block some external noise and aim to form an acoustic seal that improves bass performance. However, they don’t block as much sound as true in-ear-canal models, and, as with those models, getting a proper fit can be tricky, the cord can produce unwanted microphonic noise in a listener’s ear, and using the headset function can be weird due to the occlusion effect of having your ears plugged while talking. (See our in-ear-canal headphone primer for more details.)

Given B&W’s tradition of striking-but-functional design and exotic or luxurious (but, again, functional) materials, it’s not surprising to find some clever touches in the C5. Each earpiece is primarily a gloss-black cylinder, with one end capped by a tungsten nozzle with a silicone eartip attached. (B&W includes one pair each of extra-small, small, medium, and large eartips.) The tips are made with a double-shot-molding process—similar to those on models from Apple, Moshi, and V-moda—that produces a thick inner core that’s easier to fit on the earpieces and keeps the tips secure. The nozzle itself is the external portion of a tube that balances the earpieces toward the ear for a more secure fit.

The opposite end of each cylinder is filled with what B&W calls a micro porous filter, a feature the company says tunes bass response, like a traditional bass port, but also enhances the spaciousness of audio. True or not, it gives the C5 a unique and stylish appearance. But the C5’s most distinctive design feature is the stiff portion of cable that exits the earpieces at a 9 o’clock position and then curves around to route through a shallow notch on the opposite side, forming a p-shaped loop. The cable is stiff but flexible, letting you resize it to fit firmly within your ear to stabilize the earpiece. If you prefer, the cable can be removed from the notch and routed downward or up and over the ear.

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