Purely just for clarity's sake, I find it better to refer to headphones like the Etyomitc ER6i as "In-ear monitors" "IEMs" or "Ear Canal headphones" rather than "ear buds" "Ear buds" usually refers to the small, typically very poor sounding headphones that sit in the outer ear, but do not actually enter the ear canal. The headphones that come packed in with the iPod, for example.
Anyways, that preamble out of the way...
Personally, I think the Etymotic In-ear monitors are still the very best when it comes to small, portable headphones. They are the only ones I've found that really deliver a flat, accurate frequency response. In-ear monitors from Shure, Ultimate Ears, Sennheiser, Denon, etc. They all sound pretty darn good and are of high quality, but Etymotic is the only manufacturer I know of who seems to have designed In-ear monitors specifically designed to deliver sound as absolutely accurately as possible - even if that means less pounding bass or occassional shrill sounds due to poor quality recordings.
So personally, I would still very much recommend sticking with Etymotic. The ER6i remain a great choice, but they have been replaced by the brand new hf5 headphones in the Etymotic lineup. The hf5 are lighter in weight, have a selection of colors (black, red and blue) and come closer in performance to the still top of the line ER4 while using a 16 ohm design that is super easy to drive with portable players.
Another really great choice though, might be the hf2. The hf2 is based upon the ER4P and has very similar performance. But it includes an in-line mic and control button, which makes it an ideal headset for use with the iPhone. The hf2 can perfectly replace the iPhone earbuds, since it includes the exact same functionality with the in-line mic and control button.
So if you're getting strictly just an iPod, then I think the hf5 are probably the very best way to go. If you might get an iPhone though, then the hf2 are fantastic (I use them myself
).
Best of luck!
