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Advice Needed

post #1 of 20
12/27/11 at 9:38pm
Thread Starter 

Hi everyone,

 

Sorry if there is a better place for this post but I didn't see a generic purchasing advice thread. Basically my situation is as follows:

 

I used to just always use iPod/cheap ear buds that would inevitably fail within 3-5 months of use. After getting sick of that I decided to just buy a nice pair of headphones. So I did my research and bought a pair of SR60i's. Being a student though, they proved not to be portable enough. I would rarely take them anywhere with me and would just end up using cheap earbuds. So I sold them on Craigslist and bought some AblePlanet NC200's. Their ability to fold up was great for portability. Unfortunately, I guess my head is too big for them as cracks have started developing in the headband. 

 

So I'm back in the market for a new pair of headphones. I'm really interested in portable, durable pair that will last me. So I'm wondering, were my cheap earbuds breaking because they were cheap, or because I would just wrap them around my iPod and stuff them in my pocket? I'm not sure if I want to be looking into some higher quality IEMs or portable over the ear headphones. Can anyone comment on IEM durability? 

 

Ideally I'd like to spend <$100 but I can probably be talked into spending $150. I've already looked through Joker's thread on portable over the ear cans but haven't looked through the IEM thread. Probably gonna look through both several times before trying to make a decision. 

 

Any recommendations/comments/whatever is greatly appreciated. 

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post #2 of 20
12/27/11 at 9:55pm

You can certainly find some pretty robust IEM's in that price range with good sound.  And, you'll also find some good portable supra-aural (0n ear) that fit the bill as well.

 

If you had a choice, which do you prefer?  For portability, comfort, etc...?  What kind of music do you like?  That's a good place to start, and then there is chance to start narrowing down your choices.

 

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post #3 of 20
12/27/11 at 10:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by shipsupt View Post

You can certainly find some pretty robust IEM's in that price range with good sound.  And, you'll also find some good portable supra-aural (0n ear) that fit the bill as well.

 

If you had a choice, which do you prefer?  For portability, comfort, etc...?  What kind of music do you like?  That's a good place to start, and then there is chance to start narrowing down your choices.

 


Well I'm not sure, that's the problem. I think I have this preconceived notion that IEMs lack durability, but that's because of my experience with cheap ones. I'm unsure if they broke because they were cheap or because I treated them poorly. Durability has been my main problem so far. 

 

I listen to a decent variety of music. Need good mids/highs for the indie rock but definitely need the bass for some rap/dubstep. 

 

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post #4 of 20
12/27/11 at 10:22pm

I've had some IEM's that have held up well over the years, especially those that took on duty at the gym.  My Ultimate Ears Super Fi-5's took a massive beating.  One of the housings has a crack and I had to replace the cable (easy to do since it's plug and play) and they are still going strong.  I'd suggest the Triple-Fi 10 as the construction is essentially the same as the old Super Fi 5 (the new super Fi's have a new design and I can't comment on durability), and it's better sounding for sure.   These go on sale for close to your budget all the time.

 

I'm sure you'll get some other suggestions here for IEM's, there are soooo many  good ones out there now.

 

On the over ear front I am impressed with the sound and the durability of the Sennheiser HD-25 1-II.  They are capable of being thrown into a bag without much protection and seem to hold up well.  Isolation is good.  Sound is good.  They're quite popular here.  You can grab them on Amazon new for less than $170, and you can likley do better if you search around or go used.

 

Just a few ideas from stuff that I own and use...

 

 

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post #5 of 20
12/27/11 at 10:26pm
The Sony EX600 are very detailed in mids, highs and offers good dynamic bass with wide soundstage(they are pretty durable and has removeble cable). Other IEMs like JVC FX500, HJE900 are great sounding and well built.
Edited by ZARIM - 12/27/11 at 10:28pm
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post #6 of 20
12/27/11 at 11:31pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks guys. Currently looking over some options from Joker's non-IEM thread. 

 

I'm liking the M-Audio Studiophile Q40s, though the price is a little steep. Joker has them rated quite well in durability and sound quality. They also have a removable cord which is nice for portability. 

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post #7 of 20
12/28/11 at 10:33am
Thread Starter 

Also interesting in the Shure 750DJ and the ATH M50's. The 750DJs also have a removable cord. I'm unsure of the build quality on them, however. The ATH M50s seem to get rave reviews everywhere but lack a removable cord, which isn't the end of the world. 

 

I'll have to start looking into the IEMs more as right now my search is mainly in over ear cans. 

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post #8 of 20
12/28/11 at 10:01pm

If you like earbuds, then get the Sennheiser MX580 for around $25 from B&H or Amazon. I love the sound quality. Imo it is almost as good as the $75+ Sony E888 earphone. Someone on head-fi thinks the MX580 is even better than the $170 Yuin PK1. I haven't heard the Yuins, so I won't comment on that.  The MX580 also has a right angle plug, which helps protect the plug and what it is plugged into. There are a few good review of it here.

 

 

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post #9 of 20
12/28/11 at 10:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JK1 View Post

If you like earbuds, then get the Sennheiser MX580 for around $25 from B&H or Amazon. I love the sound quality. Imo it is almost as good as the $75+ Sony E888 earphone. Someone on head-fi thinks the MX580 is even better than the $170 Yuin PK1. I haven't heard the Yuins, so I won't comment on that.  The MX580 also has a right angle plug, which helps protect the plug and what it is plugged into. There are a few good review of it here.

 

 



Interesting, the reviews on Amazon all seem really good. I wonder how durable they are. 

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post #10 of 20
12/28/11 at 10:51pm

It will probably be quite durable if you don't drop it too many times. It comes with a clip to clip the wire to your shirt. . In the past  I damaged earbuds by dropping them too many times. After dropping them a number of times, the sound quality gets messed up. Now I am much more careful with earbuds, and rarely drop them.

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post #11 of 20
12/28/11 at 10:57pm

I had Klipsch Image S4's for a while, which I found to be a great IEM for its 70 dollar price tag although they didn't deliver very good lows, but it's hard to find a cheap IEM that does.

 

I also recently purchased Sennheiser HD 25-1 ii's and their pretty good, not amazingly comfortable but maybe I have more break in still to come. 

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post #12 of 20
12/28/11 at 11:10pm

The MX580 is an earbud, not an iem. The Soundmagic E10 for $35 is said to deliver nice bass and great overall sound. I haven't heard it yet.

Take a look at this chart of iems.

 

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15243

 

http://anythingbutipod.com/2011/08/soundmagic-e10-review/

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post #13 of 20
12/28/11 at 11:23pm
Thread Starter 

So right now I think that if I were to go with on ear I would go with the M-Audio Q40s. 

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-Closed-back-Dynamic-Headphones/dp/B000XT8JTM

 

They've got everything I want. Metal headband, foldable, removable cord, good sound quality. My only concern is that a 3 meter cord is gonna be way to long. I guess I can always bunch some of it up in a rubber band or something though. 

 

Now I just need to decide if I wanna go with those or an IEM. I appreciate all the IEM suggestions, I'm quite unfamiliar with them so these are helping a lot. 

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post #14 of 20
12/28/11 at 11:48pm

I am just starting to get into iems myself. I avoided them in the past due to comfort concerns and cost, but bought my first iem 2 years ago, the Sennheiser MX300, which is mediocre. For $20 though it isn't bad(yes, I have a real one). The Soundmagic E10 intrigues me. I guess I might buy that.

 

I don't know anything about M-audio. If I was in the market for a closed headphone in the $100-150 price range, I think I would choose the Sennheiser HD380 pro. I have had a number of Sennheiser headphones over the years, and none of the ones over $20 ever disappointed me. I generally lean mostly towards open headphones for the comfort and soundstage. i bought my first open Sennheiser headphone over $100 more than 20 years ago. The Beyerdynamic DT770 looks like an interesting closed headphone, however if I was going to buy a Beyerdynamic headphone, it would probably be the open DT990.

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post #15 of 20
12/28/11 at 11:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Priptonite View Post

So right now I think that if I were to go with on ear I would go with the M-Audio Q40s. 

http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Studiophile-Closed-back-Dynamic-Headphones/dp/B000XT8JTM

 

They've got everything I want. Metal headband, foldable, removable cord, good sound quality. My only concern is that a 3 meter cord is gonna be way to long. I guess I can always bunch some of it up in a rubber band or something though. 

 

Now I just need to decide if I wanna go with those or an IEM. I appreciate all the IEM suggestions, I'm quite unfamiliar with them so these are helping a lot. 



Too late to edit this, whoops, but I'm also considering the Audio-Technica M50's. I was concerned about their durability but reviews seem to say they are quite durable and Joker's review says that there are metal components in there. 

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