Altec Lansing im716 vs Philips she9850

Just so you are aware, I haven't heard either of these, but from what I have read, that Altec Lansing has some Etymotic research backing it... Etymotic is an audiologist company, and their earphones have the most natural frequency response of any that I have heard, ie. perfect vocals, just enough treble and bass, very realistic. The Phillips, in comparison, may be more 'musical' enhancing certain parts of the audible spectrum.

If I where you I would get the Etymotic Mc5... It is natural, and has better isolation than any other earphone on the market, The driver is durably enclosed in aluminum, and the cable is high quality memory free mylar.

The Etymotic Hf5 looks very similar to that Altec... It has durability issues though, that's why I would get the Mc5, as they sound very similar, and the Mc5 is only $80.