In my testing, comfort and fit were exemplary--the hf5s slid right in, effortlessly creating a good seal, and their light weight and small size made them very comfortable, even for extended listening periods. The hf5's audio is detailed and accurate, but leans toward the bright/forward end of the spectrum thanks to understated bass response. When pushed to higher volumes, this bright sound can become a bit strident, especially with some female vocals. But if you want comfort for long listening sessions, and don't need loud volume and bass output, the hf5 are a very good choice, providing quality sound at a very reasonable price.

Future Sonics' $199 canalphones are well-built, with a very sturdy cord, and each set comes with a variety of sizes of foam and flanged-silicone eartips, a semi-hard carrying case, and a cleaning tool. Future Sonics claims Atrios can be worn either with the cable trailing down from the ear, or with the cable going up and over the top of the ear and then down behind; in the latter case, you use a slider to gather the left and right cables together behind your head. However, I was able to get the headphones to fit well only in the cable-up orientation, as the shape of the earpieces prevented me from inserting them far enough into my ears in the cable-down position. Which was fine, as I able to get a nice seal cable-up, and with the cable cinched against the back of my head, extraneous cable noise disappeared. Oddly, neither earpiece has any left/right label, leaving you to figure out from the shape which earpiece goes in which ear. (It appears, in my testing, that the cable-up orientation requires you to flip the left and right channels.)

The earpieces are available in four colors--black, blue, red, and "earth beige"--none of which, in my opinion, makes them attractive. But that ugliness is only skin deep: these are good headphones. Future Sonics makes much of its one-driver philosophy, holding that multiple drivers are unnecessary for good sound in canalphones, and the Atrios provide compelling evidence for that position. The first thing you notice is the bass response. It's not especially tight or punchy, but it's clean, real, and extended--all rarities in canalphones. In fact, there may be too much bass for some tastes, and on some recordings the prodigious bass response can overpower the Atrios's clean and clear mids and highs. Voices are natural and the highs are even cleaner (if less forward) than those of the Etymotic hf5. The Atrios headphones are not very efficient, requiring your iPod's volume to be turned up a bit, but as with most canalphones, volume is easily loud enough to damage your hearing without distortion. The Atrios's fit is a bit unconventional, but if bass response is important, these could be your ideal headphones under $200.