Review: Phonak may not be a brand name that you are familiar with, but this Swiss company has a history that stretches back some 60 years. The earphones themselves are well made and have all the accessories you would expect at this price point. If you like the design of the range of earphones from Shure, you will be familiar with the design and feel of the PFE 112s. PFE by the way stands for Perfect Fit Earphones.

These earphones are not noise cancelling, but noise isolating, which means you can expect a high level of noise isolation from any ambient disturbances in the environment on your next business trip, as long as you choose a well fitting pair of tips for the earbuds. You can also manually change the filters that are built into these earphones from the default mid range setting (grey filters) to bass boost with the black filters. The supplied tool enables this change to be carried out easily. If you want to listen to audio books for instance on your next flight, the mid range filters are great.

As Phonak are primarily a hearing aid manufacturer, they understand how to build audio products that deliver across a wide range of frequencies that your MP3s or other audio inputs could demand. The good news is that these earphones perform exceptionally well, as long as you are used to the in-ear design. If you're not, they are well worth persevering with.

The market at this price point is becoming saturated with models that can make your choice less than straightforward. Clearly the PFE 112s main rival is the Ultimate Ears 700 that offers similar performance. But if you are looking for a mid priced set of earphones that have noise isolation, the PFE 112s are great value for money.

Review: Sennheiser have built a solid reputation in this market for the past several years. The CX range in particular has become wildly popular due to the low entry-level earphones they offer. If you're already a CX aficionado, and are looking to move into mid-range earphones, the 300 II Precision is perfect choice.

Weighing a svelte 11g with a generous 1.2m cable you'll instantly forget that you're wearing them. No noise isolation is on offer here, and you will notice a marked reduction in ambient noise once you have these earphones fitted correctly into your ear canal. You are still aware of your surroundings, which is handy when crossing the street!

For business travelers that may need their earphones to perform a number of audio tasks from dictation to MP3 playback, these redesigned earphones cope well with a wide frequency range from good base to top end. The mid range is particularly good and well defined.

Often compared to the more expensive Etymotic ER-6i that are more than double the price of the cheapest available CX 300, this model more than holds its own. Clearly audiophiles will always favor the ER-6is, but for general travel use, this model can't be beaten.

The build quality of these earphones might not be the best in the world, but at this price you really can't go wrong. And you can also opt for the travel model that gives you an excellent pair of earphones that you can use with the in-flight entertainment system. As the next step up from a standard pair of earphones, these are a great choice.

Review: The noise eliminating performance you can expect from these earphones will largely depend on which set of tips you decide to use. You'll need some trial and error to find the right ones for you. The additional foam over-ear securing wires do seem to be superfluous for most needs, but you may find this useful.

In addition, you can't beat the build quality of the IE 8s, which is up to Sennheiser's usual standard. These earphones will take any knocks when you take them on the road. Do yourself a favor though, and just buy something like a zip up Case Logic to carry your earphones in, as the supplied case isn't really that practical.

When you are paying this sort of money for earphones you expect their performance to be nothing short of superb. Sennheiser understand that no two people are the same, and so allow you to adjust the base response of each earbud with a supplied tool. This will enable you to fine tune your listening experience. The build quality as you would expect is also superb with Kevlar reinforced cables, that do, however, lack gold contacts that really should have come as standard at this price range.

Clearly with an investment at this level you want a set of earphones that have excellent performance. After the initial 'burning in' period that all earphones that use dynamic drivers need, you instantly hear why you paid so much. Frequency response is excellent particularly at the bass end. The top end could have been a little clearer, but you won't be quibbling here. There are now plenty of earphones at this price point, but Sennheiser still reins.

Review: The predecessors to this model the SE550 were legendary amongst audiophiles because of the stunning clarity that those earphones produced. Using no less than three drives made them the earphones of choice if you didn't want to compromise on your audio experiences. Shure have now upgraded the 550 with a brand new model.

The outward appearance of the new model looks identical to the SE550s, but the earpieces are now able to rotate allowing a more comfortable fit. The package is fully equipped including a zip up case, an airline adapter and in-line volume control, plus a quarter-inch adapter.

As with all earphones of this type, you'll have to experiment to find the right tip that precisely fits your ears and that are comfortable to fully benefit from the noise isolating properties that that these earphones offer. The noise isolation is so good you should take care when using these earphones on the street.

You won't be disappointed in the sound quality that these tiny earphones are capable of. Shure call their sound processing technology 'triple high-definition microdriver' that simply means that each earbud packs two woofers and one tweeter. No matter what audio source you throw at these earphones they won't let you down.

Clearly the question is whether these new earphones are worth the extra money with their predecessors available for half their price? With comparable sound quality, if you can find a set of SE550s they will be just as good and not put such a dent in your credit card.

Review: Beginning as manufacturers of high-end earphones, Klipsch has also added more affordable lines to their range. The S4s are certainly not the cheapest earphones on the market, but for business travelers that need a cost effective pair of earbuds that can also deliver high quality sound, the S4s certainly tick those boxes.

The S4s are certainly small when compared to the others in this group test and weigh nearly 12g. As usual you have a choice of earbud covering to give you the best fit and noise isolating properties. The supplied conical-shaped tips arguably give you a better fit than the spherical variety favored by other manufacturers. Also, these earphones come in an aluminum case that is ideal for business travelers to keep their earphones and other peripherals in tip top shape.

Sound quality is often in direct comparison to the price of earphones. However, you will be pleasantly surprised when you first use the S4s as they punch well above their weight in this respect. If you thought buying the S4s would compromise your listening pleasure, think again. If you love your bass, however, you may feel short changed by the S4s. But for general listening they are excellent.

This package may not have all the added extras that some earphones may offer, but what is included is all you need to have superb sound reproduction no matter what source you are using. The S4s are not going to win any audio contests for sure, but as a mid-range offering, the package is well-balanced and good value for money.

The mid-range market for earphones is packed with choice at the moment. Many people are looking to upgrade their standard earphones to something with a little more punch, performance and style. If you're one of these people, you could do a lot worse than go for the S4s.