Tech Speak: IEM VS Non In-Ear Earphones

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2011503,00.html

These days, nobody should be using non-in-ear earphones anymore. Their quality is generally low and audiophiles squirm at the sight, or sound of them. In ear earphones are good in audio quality and they also block out unwanted noise from outside. While some people say that blasting sounds directly at your eardrums is no good, I would say having in ear earphones allow one to hear their music at a much lower volume compared to normal earphones. I've seen so many people listening to music so loud on the train or bus that I can hear from 5 metres away. Can you imagine how loud the sound must have been channeling onto his eardrums? People up the volume of their player mainly because they cannot hear their music due to ambient noise. Therefore in ear earpieces are the way to go to protect your eardrums. Of course if you still want to set your volume at half of the maximum when using in ear earpieces, then your eardrums are really at your own foolish mercy.

PS. There are lousy in ear earphones as well.