What are /r/Techno's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Obviously deadmau5 is traditionally progressive house, but lately he's been shifting more and more toward techno (which, as a lover of both genres, I am definitely okay with). Give it a listen before you downvote on principle.

NOTE: The recording from his Twitch channel has much better audio (and the option to follow the chat replay): https://www.twitch.tv/deadmau5/v/59064694?t=08m30s (Starts at 8:30) continues here: https://www.twitch.tv/deadmau5/v/59068704 (he stops due to complications w/ the stream around 2:30 and resumes at 8:50)

Ben Sims has a few recent releases on Drumcode (recent as in 'released in the last five, six years') and he's definitely a solid producer. I also liked this release by Jel Ford and some of the Drumcode Ltd records. Other than that most of their stuff is pretty generic and forgettable imo.

Hawtin's Decks, FX & 909 or Mills' Live At The Liquid Rooms.

Or The Martian ‎– LBH - 6251876 (A Red Planet Compilation). I still rinse my CD's of these every so often.

Amazon, This one called Govee https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Govee-distancia-cambiantes-instalación-dormitorio/dp/B07RX57HDL/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=led+strip+lights&qid=1626047066&sprefix=cinta+de+lu&sr=8-9

This mix by Veronica Vasicka is just rude and features howling wolves, mean synths, and just lots and lots of lovely noise.

Also, DJ Hell's EBM-mix on DJ Kicks is a classic.

I'm quite sure this was in Terry Mullan's rotation around the same time as well, so you might try to reach out to him if you can't find it.

Edit: I found it! It is Barada "Pilot" - b-side from "Arm Your Frequency" EP

I found a sample of it here: http://www.mole-music.com/?pid=78678023

Bigups to /u/mrblaq for the tip

There are a lot of different artists call Jeff Mills...

https://www.discogs.com/search/?type=artist&title=Jeff+Mills&advanced=1

Spotify is not very good at recognising different artists with the same name.

edit - found it on Juno Download http://www.junodownload.com/products/jeff-mills-stay-together/3002898-02/

released on some unknown Exspansion (sic) label.

I AM GOING TO TYPE IN ALL CAPPS BECAUSE THIS TRACK IS JUST THAT LOUD AND HOLLY FRIGGING FUCK AMAZING, MAYBE I'M OVERREACTING A BIT BUT THIS ALBUM BY LEVON VINCENT IS JUST CRAZY!!11 HE IS GIVING IT AWAY FOR FREE ON HIS FACEBOOK BTW!

HERE IT IS ON WETRANSFER

The mixing in general. Some bits where fine, others felt rushed. Like I said from song one to song two really didn't get me going on the right foot. Maybe you're looking for more tech-house sort of stuff?

If you want more party vibe, check out some Ben Sims stuff, he's been around a while and some is heavy tech but also some really nice party tunes. Check out Aus music label, some nice tech that borders on some house in places. Skober has some nice uplifting track as well you might want to look at. There are some more deep house/tech house tunes I know of, but it's not really Techno as such. Bicep, Ejeca, old Scuba stuff etc etc. You might find some tracks in a mix I did earlier this year which was a bit more party vibe. Quite short though, some how still sometimes remember to click the record button!

https://www.mixcloud.com/codechris/wonderland-festival-brixton-london-19th-march-2016/

Funnily though, I also fuck up mixing the first two songs because the monitor speaker wasn't working for me. You'll hear, absolute disaster

Aside from the obvious e.g. Basic Channel, Chain Reaction, Rhythm & Sound, Maurizio I would recommend the labels Silent Season and Knowone. I am sceptical of most dub techno released these days as much of it brings nothing new and inevitably tries to ape the greats I listed. These labels are pretty much the best you'll find these days if you want to listen to brand new music.

Try this album by Refracted.

Yeah I read he was ill recently but had no idea it was so serious. A sad loss, his productions (particularly acid tracks) were always amazing.

My two favourites Gehm productions below:

Yes Or No

Cologne Ranger

RIP

Future Techno. Who is coming up with sticking future at the front of everything. Claude Vonstroke makes techno , tech-house & house.

future genre is just present/past EDM thinking its the future of music.

Try some of the Unmixed Global Underground collections. This one springs to mind https://www.discogs.com/Various-GU-Mixed3/release/1371183

Download a copy of Virtual DJ Home http://www.virtualdj.com/download/index.html It's free and will give you an idea of what goes on without spending a dime. Then check out /r/beatmatch and ask questions.

All you need is Mixxx

If you decide it's something you might want to continue with, you can graduate by picking up a controller and Traktor (or Serato, but Traktor is more popular for electronic music) or CDJs/turntables if you really want to commit.

Interesting - will give a full listen to this mix soon . Out of curiosity: How do you record the video and what software do you use for inserting the titles?

(I am also interested in doing something like this, but so far I do only audio - can check here: https://hearthis.at/knusper2000/)

Pretty decent for a first mix I think, very nice song selection. That third song I felt didn't really match with the rest of the set too much. There's always room for improvement in the transitions but that just comes with time. Really like the mellow sorta vibe your giving between some songs though.

If we're gonna do this I guess I'd invite you to tell me about one of my own sets.

https://www.mixcloud.com/louislouismtl/sous-sol-012/

You're welcome to listen to the whole thing although I feel like I where I really hit my stride and got into my zone was the whole second hour (from 1:00:00 to 2:00:00).

My first compilation:

Technorave 3 - Technomania (1992)

Includes Get Ready for This by 2 Unlimited, which was a great song before it got licensed for use by sports and wrestling events throughout the 90s.

I recently bought the vinyl for this.

hi!
thank you for the honest comment!! :)

btw...marcel has made a remix from the original :D
<strong>&quot;Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away&quot;</strong> <strong>Antoine de Saint-Exupery</strong> <3

As a product designer and living room DJ, this looks (and sounds) really cool! I'm sure in the next few years there will be a wave of debate as to whether this type of app helps or dilutes the techno/dance music scene. My take is that, like anything, if it's well done people will use it.

A few questions:

1. Do you have any footage of what it looks like from the perspective of the DJ? What are the controls like? I've never used VR before but read about it regularly so I guess I have a basic understanding of the hardware and environment
2. Regarding the avatar: What was the reason to have a ghosted character rather than a full body? I also personally think it would be cool to see the hand movements as they would occur in real life rather than the controllers. Was this just to showcase the product?
3. How are the visual effects and lighting reacting to the music? Is there any real time analysis to changes in the waveforms or is just thumping to the bpm in semi-random patterns?

I'd love to hear more about how you plan to market this app. PM me if you want more in depth feedback. great work!

Edit: I found this review/demo that shows the first person control. Is there a plan to be able to use different mixers and hardware?

I had a minor obsession with the drum-only hardcore tune EDMX - Cerberus for a while after hearing it in the Truss/MPIA3 Resident Advisor podcast. Pretty cool video, too.

As /u/__NOPE__ said, the track is actually called Bosch and released under his Richard Wolfsdorf alias in the 90s. Cracking track. The track that is actually called MDMA from the same EP is also dope.

https://www.discogs.com/search/?style_exact=Techno

Lots of people miss the explore function and lists in Discogs. You can customize the search to match any criteria you want and together with lists its the best platform to discover new and old artists. Only downside to Discogs is huge amount of releases that you have to dig through, just like you would in a big used record store.

Glad to hear you had a blast! TBH, Berghain (to many regulars) is a bit beyond being "just" about the music.

At Berkeley suite. Get tickets here, it's on final release so get them quick if you want any.

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/shootyourshot/597082

They're playing a 5 hour b2b, special and rare 5am license. Will be awesome.

If you have a tablet or smartphone you can use TouchOSC to create your own custom controllers. It works great for knobs, sliders, and XY pads but not so great for playing notes. Depending on what you do, it can be a complement or a replacement of your typical midi controller.

I get that man. Some of the tracks are so odd compared to anything else out there that it doesn't correspond to many genres at all. Check out this website if you haven't http://everynoise.com/. I feel like you could appreciate it.

1. Listening to mixes online and searching ever artist in the tracklist
   
2. Find a song by that artist with less than 5,000 views
   
3. Follow the Youtube channel that posted it
   
4. Look up any producers that remixed any of their tracks
   
5. Buy a track on Bandcamp
   
6. See what other collections that track is featured in
   
7. Dig through those collections to find other gems
   
8. This Godsend website http://everynoise.com/

You're most welcome! Hope you like. :)

And if so, I'm sure you'll like some of my mixes as well. My SoundCloud can be found [here] and you can check out the complete (techno) archive [here] on Mixcloud.

I recommend moving to tunemymusic. It's the same price and 10x as easy to use. https://www.tunemymusic.com/

I used to use Soundiiz too. Mind sharing some of your tidal playlists here? I would like to add to my collection since I can mix using them on my denons.

haha lol, i havent controlled the quality of the matches. the process of creating was automated with https://www.tunemymusic.com it tried to match the titles of the youtube videos against the spotify database.

The 303 drops in at about 1:20

https://hearthis.at/unthuz/dont-fuck-with-denver-heiss-unthuz-hardware-junkiez/

Get SocialMedSEO from the Amazon Appstore. Check it out - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQ1T3NX1/ref=apps_sf_sta First SEO App tool for beginners for content creation and visibility online with -hashtag generator and more —

Dan Sicko - Techno Rebels is a great read!

Amazon link ($40) / Earasers link ($50)

If you like to read you can always check out this Dan Sick's classic book on the subject: Techno Rebels: The Renegades of Electronic Funk

https://www.amazon.com/Techno-Rebels-Renegades-Electronic-Painted/dp/0814334385

For travel, TRN v80. Multi driver IEM's that are cheap and punch well above their weight. amazon

Life long rock drummer and electronic musician/club goer here. GET EARPLUGS… but not the shitty foam kind.

Something like these that don’t mess up the sound as much

High Fidelity Concert Earplugs, Reusable Musicians Ear Plugs, 24dB Advanced Filter Technology Ear Protection for Music Festivals, DJs, Musicians https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GYXJZRY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_GPQHZ0M5HBSG43B5G03F

And they don’t take down the volume too much either. Just the right amount so it’s not doing any damage, but you still totally feel the volume.

I have friend who have lost hearing, it’s tragic.

And honestly the earplugs make the music more enjoyable!

Always bring plugs, although I would by proper ones, not the cheap disposable kind. Something like this

I keep some Earplugs on my keychain and put them in anytime I’m in a loud club/bar or at festival.

My cheapies are Downbeats, they are super discreet and only $15 on Amazon, my custom molded earplugs are westones.

https://www.amazon.com/DownBeats-Reusable-Fidelity-Hearing-Protection/dp/B00A3Z44R2

You'll want this: https://ifttt.com/applets/311620p-when-a-song-is-added-to-a-spotify-playlist-song-details-appended-to-google-sheet?term=spotify%20playlist%20sheet

Oh and the song was inspired by a massive power plant right next to my house in Lebanon that pumps out massive clouds of nasty into the air on a daily basis + that sweet acid sound that I'm addicted to :)

It sounds like many people like it : 13th in Hard Techno : https://www.mixcloud.com/discover/hard-techno/ 29th in Dark Techno : https://www.mixcloud.com/discover/dark-techno/

Thank you to everyone

This closing set from Adam is really good. Showing a good hour of what sort of stuff he likes to play in the UK is like

https://www.mixcloud.com/adambeyer/dcr301-drumcode-radio-live-adam-beyer-live-from-pressure-glasgow/

according to Discogs, this got released in 2000 https://www.discogs.com/Various-Missile-Launches-2/release/7276 and a different mix in 1999 https://www.discogs.com/Wild-Taylor-Bang-Claude-Young-Remix/release/11164

Looked it up again as I couldn't remember the details; this is what I have:

https://www.discogs.com/Keiichi-Suzuki--Electrotete-Satellite-Serenade-I-Love-You/release/659770

It's listed as a mispress but I read elsewhere the remix was released without their permission

I really like this mix! Its so chill and features a wide variety of genres. Also, I love Josh's voice. Such a class act. This was an opening set for Claude Van Stroke. You can check out part two here.
Its probably closer to deep house, but since Winx is such a techno household name, I posted here.

We definitely did talk about this in the 90’s but I don’t mind it being discussed again for the new generations.

I had this great book called Sacred Dance: Encounter with the Gods that was just all images from around the world of dance that really hits home as far as how important dance is to what makes us human. I still think raves are such an important outlet for this in modern times because there just aren’t a lot of places where really wilding out dancing is ok and encouraged.

I don’t think psychedelics are absolutely necessary but with the research coming out these days you can’t deny they can be helpful.

What kind of controller ? I can give you some tips and advices in future, if you want to.

Btw check my mixes https://www.mixcloud.com/horror/

Borderline journey and corrupted data are the best.

Delsin or Geigling records are good places to start. This particular track imo is a stand out. Talking of Vril sets this one is pretty recent and really good - https://www.mixcloud.com/residentadvisor/ra467/

Either Traumprinz - This Is Not or Surgeon - This is the place...

Both are timeless to me. I know i'll still be listening to them many years down the line.

Hey! Would love to jump on for a mix. Here's a link to my most recent techno mix. https://www.mixcloud.com/uniVibes/isaac-dugdale-busy-holidays-mix/

Let me know if I should record something for you!

mixcloud mirror where the station actually stores it's archives (regular shows by Pacific Rhythm, Nautiluss, Basic Soul Unit, etc. it's worth checking out!)

https://www.mixcloud.com/trparchives/meat-produce-january-14-2016/

Touched is a record label that started out as a compilation album curated by Martin Boulton (aka Min-Y-Llan) in 2013. What began as a holiday charity album featuring some friends' music grew into a mega-compilation of electronic, ambient and modern classical music. Touched is a non-profit label with a cause; Macmillan Cancer Support. https://www.discogs.com/label/674769-Touched-Music-For-Macmillan-Cancer-Support

The Techno Trax compilation series (ZYX Records) is a very wise place to start for anyone wishing to quickly catch them self up to speed. Also please look under Antler Subway which has a couple awesome series What About Dance? as well as Serious Beats (you'll likely have to sort all the way towards the last pages under Various (Artists).

Both The Friend and Marshall Applewhite have released on a great 'sludge' label How to Kill. Some really really good slower techno released here, including my favorite: 3. Fame - Wet

What's on your Spotify wrapped this year? Here's mine

Link to find yours - https://www.spotify.com/us/wrapped/?

Do most of my techno listening on Soundcloud really so not the most accurate picture but still interesting

Hi there and thank you for the cool feedback, this is exactly what I teach. you can book a free session with me and I’ll check your status and tell you how you’ll be able to perform your music and improvise on the spot like I did in this video. Follow this link https://calendly.com/drumnoteproductions/discoverycall

when minute 1.17 hits and the vocals come in sounds so good! Keep up the good work and I have shared your track with a few friends and they all like it. Hopefully one day you can make it to above and beyond! PUSH THE BUTTON!

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1448707

Surgeon
Xhin
I could upload the Surgeon one to a filesharing site if you know one. Sad to say now I checked I lost the Xhin one for sure and maybe the DVS1 one as well I'll have to check a different hard-drive. At least invites choice 100 has part of him playing in berghain. But im pretty sure I had a 3 or 4 hour set from him there.

https://www.mixcloud.com/PastPresentFuture/ra452-dj-bone-vs-differ-ent/

This is a fairly recent RA podcast that I really enjoyed. He also mixes pretty aggressively, but even the song selection/order alone is p. exciting.

It's definitely a live one. It could be something he's brought a non-live version out of, although it sounds a bit harder and more 4-to-the-floor than his usual vinyl releases (compare it to Aksum or Unanimity released around that time for instance). Hope you find it, if it's there!

i usually play https://soundcloud.com/slyfoxrecords/sets/slyfox001-promo/s-KolT0

or ill play the bells by jeff mills no ufos - model 500

the karenn set from boiler room

or best day in detroit - reference... going to go listen to that now actually

https://youtube-dl.org/ is a popular command line tool (terminal, cmd or powershell) for downloading videos and audio from a lot of sites. when you download the txt file, install youtube-dl and execute that command it will download all the music in the best available quality and the artwork. when possible it will save the artwork into the audio files, if not it will be saved as a jpg file.

iomg?

edit: It at the very beginning of this video https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP99oTdk0S3zS4MUiUl5Xb6cZTYfdvE8YktzzQsNQjivLp_uNFku6VouU1VXIHp_g/photo/AF1QipMqJjrkQ-SaKcEINvvEafLonjykCPQA1QcH3hQZ?key=SnpkU0dXZmcwZUhhXzR2NlI5dUtIYnBfNnJQdXlB

(sorry for the crazy link)

Same happened to me now I watch youtube without an account, i bookmark everything ( yes i'm this paranoid) I also watch youtube with Mozila firefox browser and uBlock add-onNO MORE advertisement money for youtube!

on my phone I use Vanced Youtube, so no advertisements there either.

I highly recommend EVERYONE to block youtube advertisements, it takes some pennies away from Google bank, but best of all you dont get bothered with ads every bloody time.

&#x200B;

&#x200B;

FUCK Google!

My Industrial Techno project is called Leikkuri. The 45 min will include 3 brand new tracks and a selection of already released tracks by me.

Tune in: (http://mixlr.com/jayne-tabb/)

At 19:30 UTC: a selection of news tracks by emerging producers At 20:30 UTC: Exclusive Mix by Leikkuri

Facebook event: (https://www.facebook.com/events/1075527572491976/)

See you there !

Always a fan of your music and mixes!

I know this is a long shot - I have a track that I think would get some serious dancefloor traction (it would also go with your style), but no one knows about it! If you want to take some pity on me and listen to it, it's at http://www.beatport.com/track/little-fingers-original-mix/4052912

If you want to play it (I hope you do), I can send you a WAV.

Was searching for this on discogs today to put it on my wantlist (aka hundreds of records I want but never will man up and buy) and some guy said that two tracks on this were copied. Listen to this and this. I don't have it and there's no samples around anymore so I have no idea if it's 100% the same tracks but it's probably at least 80% either way.

Either this was done with permission of the artists (happened before with the Knowone series - they re-released old digital only stuff without telling anyone where the tracks are from, kind of a dick move if you ask me) or it's just a straight up bootleg. Kind of dick-ish either way but in the end it's a whitelabel so it's not like anyone gains anything from it.

If you can't see the Ed Banger (aka "nu disco") influence in his music that's fine. I've already written about it at length in this thread and i'm going to add my final piece of support - a NU DISCO COLLECTION featuring a track by our fine hero.

All you've done is say i'm wrong and call me an idiot without any support for your claims beyond "IT DUZNT SOUND RITE". It's not my fault you're ignorant and I really don't have the energy to keep explaining it to some cretin who has no understanding of music or willingness to even argue in good faith. Stick to creeping on those rateme chicks. It suits you better.

Adios.

Check out my bio in my soundcloud. Not trying to shill myself or anything, its just that I have a comprehensive list of artists similar.

https://soundcloud.com/deepdubtech

Also this website
http://everynoise.com/

I haven't heard of him before, but listened to some of his tracks on spotify; I'd say most of it is Tech House, some tracks feel more housey and some feel more techy.

If you look on http://everynoise.com it says 'Deep Euro House' and 'Deep Disco House', I think Euro House is also fitting, some tracks remind me of Kalkbrenner.

Though I wouldn't be too hung up on classifications into genres. For me it is about the feeling, techno needs to be hypnotic and entrancing.

It sounds like just the bass from this old song (1997), that was composed out of samples of even older songs: Snitzer &amp; McCoy vs. Humate - Oh My Darling I love You. It could be sampled from the same source, though whosampled.com apparently hasn't ever heard about it.

Will check it out. Just saw that Mael is listed on that release.

Here's a mix he did for my radio show, https://www.mixcloud.com/TheStudioSessionsCork/mael-irish-artists-showcase-procss-take-over/

because of the response, for those interested here's where i most recently heard the track. i believe it was around an hour and 12 mins in.

in this context, you realize that this is a track that CC woulddd play, haha.

https://www.mixcloud.com/CarlCox/global-630-recorded-live-at-timewarp-in-mannheim-germany-easter-sunday/

Underground sounds hmmmm

https://www.mixcloud.com/tag/sinfol/

I think pure techno is just too cold for you.

Check out

Kink - pocket piano (also cloud generator, darker, but very nice)

Joris voorn - sonic highway

Also theres no shame in liking house music. The commercialized poppy house should not even dare call itself house.

Hmm well yea Chevel does have some deeper releases but I guess he would be more an experimental artist indeed. SHLTR is also doing a great job here, hosting great parties and a solid label. Next release will be by Acronym and Artefakt, can't wait!!

virtual techno party https://meet.google.com/otj-qeoc-yqd

Not exactly a long one this, but I hope you like the vibe

https://hearthis.at/reclaimedm.com/reclaimedm-redm-podcast-010/

Follow our movements on FB if you like what u hear www.facebook.com/reclaimEDM

Ismus record label has some good stuff, also some free VA releases on their bandcamp page. Very in today's crossover style of industrial techno and trancy melodic lines.

RAW compilation 1 & 2 also hit the same nerve, even tho it's a Paris based label.

I recorded a set last weekend that is very much inspired by the harder Griessmuehle/ Tresor/ Berghain nights. Feel free to ask me about tracks, if you want to know anything. It's a spontaneous recording, so I don't have a tracklist ready. But I can figure it out if you give me timestamps of the tracks you like.

https://hearthis.at/tobias-bock/greenfetish/

Dr. Walker is still very active. We do lsbTV together every Saturday night mid-6am Berlin time, dark trippy chillout with visuals, lsb.tv or alex-berlin.de

my 3.5 hour set from last week

You'll probably see people openly taking drugs, depending on what you used to do as a younger teenager that might be weird or not. Try not to make a scene about it, it will only attract security.

If you are taking drugs yourself watch out for security in printworks, they walk through the crowd randomly and I've seen many people get pulled out of the crowd. Try not to get too fucked up, or at least if you're in a group try not to all get stupidly fucked, it's annoying to be near a group of people that can barely stand up

You might think it's uncool but investing in a pair of earplugs, something like these. The music in clubs is loud enough to damage your ears, you can hear perfectly fine with the earplugs in and it will reduce your chances of getting tinnitus. As a 26 year old who has tinnitus from going to clubs, I wish I started wearing them sooner

It's going to be absolutely rammed, probably for both of those events, Afterlife always is at printworks. The good thing about Printworks is there are speakers all the way down the main room, you can go to the back and still hear fine, you get a better view of the lighting setup from the back anyway. At Printworks there's an upper balcony level, from the lower you can see there's letters and numbers written on the side of the balcony, like A1, A2, A3 etc. Can be useful if you lose your mates to ask what numbers they are near. Otherwise it's really fucking hard to find your mates in that place when it's busy

The main thing is just don't be a dickhead

Generation Ecstasy:Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture

The Secret DJ Vol 1

I would totally recommend the book Der Klang der Familie: Berlin, Techno and the Fall of the Wall - it gives you a great insight into the birth of Berlin's techno scene:

"After the fall of the Wall, Berlin is full of disused spaces and abandoned buildings, just waiting to be filled with new life. It is unclear who owns any of this, which allows the techno scene to take over these new empty spaces in both halves of the city. Clubs, galleries, ateliers and studios spring up - only to disappear again a few weeks later. Soon Berlin has become the epicentre of a new culture, attracting enthusiastic followers from all over the world to clubs like the Tresor and the E-Werk."

I know of djay by algoriddim that works decently for me. You can load tracks from Spotify, it's got basic functionality, only the bpm and beat detection sometimes messes up. Can have some fun with it though!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.algoriddim.djay_free&amp;hl=en

1. If you can get your hands on these, get them.

LiveMus!c HearSafe Ear Plugs - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H2F87I8

This has the max NRR rating for commercially available earplugs, 29 dB. There are other earplugs but they tend to range from 13-22 db. I used to use 20db earplugs but my ears still rang for quite a while after. No longer have that problem after switching to these.

Take breaks to give your ears a rest when at events and try your best to not worship the speaker (I know its hard.lol) This is the best thing you can do for your hearing.

1,3,4,5 is all personal preference. Just play it by the ear.

https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-ETY-Plugs-Fidelity-Earplugs-Standard/dp/B0015WJQ7A

I got these a while ago and was very happy with them. They offer decent protection without distorting the sound too much. They're a whole lot better than nothing.

Eventually I decided to upgrade to custom molded ones, which was a significant upgrade in both comfort and how little the audio gets distorted. It costs quite a bit, but I have absolutely no regrets.

I swear by these ones. I notice very little to no distortion. https://www.amazon.ca/Etymotic-Research-High-Fidelity-Earplugs-Standard/dp/B00RM6Q9XW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1475595821&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=etymotic