IEM under $ 100 (Preferably with inline Microphone)

Hi guys,​

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I intend to invest in an IEM and my budget is somewhere around the $ 80 mark but can shell out about $ 100 at max if the product is really worth it.​

At the onset I would also like to mention that this would be my first major investment in the $ 40 plus price range and I'm really inexperienced in the technicalities of the subject.

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I would prefer having an inline microphone with my IEM as I do play a lot of games, make VOIP calls from my laptop and may also use the IEM with my mobile. However, my emphasis will of course be for for the sound quality for listening to music and movies. Please note that I don't listen to any specific genre of music, I want an IEM covering the broad spectrum of sounds and want and pleasant experience while hearing.​

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Please note that I'm from India and some suggested products might not be available in my country and the price of individual products may also differ.

Also, I don't use iPhone so any iPhone compatible IEM may not work with my mobile / laptop.​

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Initially while going through some product reviews online, I found that the Klipsch Image Promedia In-Ear Headphones to be having quite nice reviews. Its supposed to have the same specifications as the Klipsch Image S4 but comes with an inline microphone. However, the product has been discontinued by Klipsch but is still available on some websites.​

The product also comes with a 'Y' splitter cable incase the headphone and microphone sockets are different like that on my laptop.
 
I had also checked the Brainwavz M2 & M3 but I'm not sure about their performance and they don't come with a microphone. Mp4nation ships its products worldwide, so getting hold of it wont be an issue.
 
On the other hand the Vsonic GR06 supposed to be an all round product, even if it doesn't come with microphone, but the product is not available here in India.
 
One of my fiends had also recommended me the Soundmagic products since he said they are really value for money. Also what about Sennheiser products in this price range?
 
Please help me in choosing the best IEM possible which can be there with me for a long run. As you my already understand this will be my primary listening device and will be a stepping stone towards becoming a genuine audio connoisseur.
 

I would really appreciate if I got the feedback from all you audiophiles and I'm really open to suggestions if any better products are available in this price range.​

 

Thanks in advance.​

Forget senheiser, the only good iem imo in that would be ie80 which costs around 400$ and their products are bit costly.

You can get all the vsonic products from lendmeurears, the official retailer(ebay) with free shipping to India.

The best recommendation for you if you want microphone included imo would be the meelectronics a161p which has an inline microphone along with good balanced signature. The sound quality would be one of the best in its range of balanced iems. Add the outstanding customer service of meelectronics, it's a great deal. Look for meelec its official ebay retailer, shipping to India would be 6-7$ but trust me their service is outstanding, I got a new headphone free of charge when mine broke (it was my fault but they indeed sent a new one to me free of charge!)

If you lift out the microphone, the other good ones can be head direct re0(official ebay retailer head direct) , vsonic gr06, and the one which I'm proud to have, rock it sounds r-50 which costs 120$ with free shipping to India(in their official site) but trust me these literally owned westone 3 which costs around 300 $. These are the best sounding iems I heard after westone 3. With a very balanced signature, the sound stage, highs and mids are just outstanding. Mid bass is great in depth, not in height and it makes listening so fun. I highly recommend you to buy this even it's 20$ more and you decide to opt out the microphone because the sound quality is better than ones I heard on 300$ range.

Regarding Klipsch Image S4, they arent much considered here as a good IEM, SoundMagic doesnt got much good 100$~ IEMs, I had a brainwavz M4 and I totally disliked it, but M2 has got the best reviews. You can also consider brainwavz B2 for an analytical/balanced sound signature.

Thanks for your feedback.
 
I have checked the online reviews and understand that the Rock It Sounds R-50 is an outstanding product and a value for money, however, the price of $120 is a bit beyond my range and after incorporating the taxes & import duties in India, the cost goes up by almost 28%, making it beyond the $ 150 mark. You can check HERE for the details. Also, the microphone is absent on the R-50, which is a negative for me compared to price paid for the product. If in case, the microphone was available with the product, I might have given it a second thought.

Try Nuforce

I keep hoping someone would give the Soul SL99 IEMs a try.  They sound fantastic at $100

Quote:

abanchii said:

Thanks for your feedback.
 
I have checked the online reviews and understand that the Rock It Sounds R-50 is an outstanding product and a value for money, however, the price of $120 is a bit beyond my range and after incorporating the taxes & import duties in India, the cost goes up by almost 28%, making it beyond the $ 150 mark. You can check HERE for the details. Also, the microphone is absent on the R-50, which is a negative for me compared to price paid for the product. If in case, the microphone was available with the product, I might have given it a second thought.

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Nope. You are wrong in that. It doesnt ship from USA. It ships from Hong Kong, free shipping and 0 customs and taxes.
 
I exactly paid 120$ for the product to be shipped to Hyderabad. You can buy it here:
 
http://rockitsounds.com/shop/product/?prod_id=16
 
20$ is more than worth for spending on these, they can highly compete the 300$~ higher end models in terms of sound, build quality, comfort and isolation, except only a mic not provided. Its really hard to get a good IEM with inline microphone. If you want mic, you must compromise the sound quality.
 
Meelectronics A161p would be the one I recommend if you want the mic option , they are a balanced and amazing IEMs added with MEELEC extraordinary support. I highly recommend it.
 
http://www.meelec.com/MEElectronics_A161P_Balanced_Armature_Earphone_p/ep-a161p-bk-mee.htm
 
Buy them from here (its official retailer):
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MEElectronics-A161P-Balanced-Armature-In-Ear-Headphones-with-In-line-Mic-/140767577032?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item20c666c3c8
 
So imo, sound quality -> go for rockit sounds r-50,(120$)
microphone+decent sound quality-> Go for A161p(99$+ 20$ shipping from its ebay retailer MEELEC)
 
 

Quote:

hitme987 said:

Nope. You are wrong in that. It doesnt ship from USA. It ships from Hong Kong, free shipping and 0 customs and taxes.
 
I exactly paid 120$ for the product to be shipped to Hyderabad. You can buy it here:
 
http://rockitsounds.com/shop/product/?prod_id=16
 
20$ is more than worth for spending on these, they can highly compete the 300$~ higher end models in terms of sound, build quality, comfort and isolation, except only a mic not provided. Its really hard to get a good IEM with inline microphone. If you want mic, you must compromise the sound quality.
 
Meelectronics A161p would be the one I recommend if you want the mic option , they are a balanced and amazing IEMs added with MEELEC extraordinary support. I highly recommend it.
 
http://www.meelec.com/MEElectronics_A161P_Balanced_Armature_Earphone_p/ep-a161p-bk-mee.htm
 
Buy them from here (its official retailer):
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MEElectronics-A161P-Balanced-Armature-In-Ear-Headphones-with-In-line-Mic-/140767577032?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item20c666c3c8
 
So imo, sound quality -> go for rockit sounds r-50,(120$)
microphone+decent sound quality-> Go for A161p(99$+ 20$ shipping from its ebay retailer MEELEC)
 
 

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So here is the thing, after the recommendations of hitme987, I checked up the MEElectronics A161P on their website. After incorporating the coupon code "BUY AGAIN 20", the price of the product came down to $ 79.99 from $ 99.99. However, the shipping itself amounted to an additional $ 30.48 (which was the minimum shipping option) and therefore my total cost amounted to $ 110.47.
 
Due to this exorbitant shipping charges, I had emailed their customer support regarding the same and they replies today saying that they had to disable cost-effective shipping methods to India this year due to a large incidence of missing, stolen, and misdelivered packages. However they can temporarily enable the standard international shipping (1st class airmail at a cost of $ 7.95) but they cannot guarantee delivery to destination for this method in India.
 
What I understand is that due to some of the above mentioned issues, they are not really confident of our local postal system, and if I actually choose the budget airmail option their may be a possibility that the above item may not actually reach me. One question I would like to ask is that, as you have already mentioned that you had pruchased earlier from MEElectronics, what are the chances of this actually happening?
 
Also, as djvkool had mentioned on The IEM/Portable Headphones Deal Alerts Thread that MEElectronics may offer special deals for Black Friday this year. Can anyone throw some light about the possibility of MEElectronics providing special offer for the A161P for this year's Black Friday or any other upcoming event? In that case, it will be a better option to wait a few months and get a better deal.

I got a S6 and M151P from meelectronics via USPS standard international shipping and never had any issues in the state of the product, but it takes long upto 4 weeks. I cant suggest to go with it, but it wont be a problem with the shipping as far as my experience with the deals there,
 
Its upto you to wait till Nov 30, but in that day there will be a heck lot of headphones deals in amazon but it doesnt ship to India, Im not sure if the deals could be applied to the meelec.com website too. Im personally waiting to grab another ultimate ears TF 10 @ 100$ on friday for my bro, but you need someone to post it from USA to India.
 

Quote:

hitme987 said:

I got a S6 and M151P from meelectronics via USPS standard international shipping and never had any issues in the state of the product, but it takes long upto 4 weeks. I cant suggest to go with it, but it wont be a problem with the shipping as far as my experience with the deals there,
 
Its upto you to wait till Nov 30, but in that day there will be a heck lot of headphones deals in amazon but it doesnt ship to India, Im not sure if the deals could be applied to the meelec.com website too. Im personally waiting to grab another ultimate ears TF 10 @ 100$ on friday for my bro, but you need someone to post it from USA to India.
 

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How are you getting the Ultimate Ears TrippleFi 10 only at $ 100? Dude, please enlighten me....

Quote:

abanchii said:

 
How are you getting the Ultimate Ears TrippleFi 10 only at $ 100? Dude, please enlighten me....

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Dude, I said on black friday, 2 years straight they sold it for 99$. I got one last year, looking to gift my bro another one cuz this is just too good for an IEM

Quote:

hitme987 said:

Dude, I said on black friday, 2 years straight they sold it for 99$. I got one last year, looking to gift my bro another one cuz this is just too good for an IEM

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Will you be shipping this through someone in US? 

Quote:

abanchii said:

 
 
Will you be shipping this through someone in US? 

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Yeah. Some relatives there, theyll ship or bring it when they come here