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Durable IEM for Classical Under 100

post #1 of 18
11/17/12 at 12:24am
Thread Starter 
Hello fellow Head-fiers, 


Can you please point me in a direction for listening to classical music with IEMs? I'd prefer to keep the price between $50 and $100.


The most important factor for me is durability, because I don't want to be buying new IEMs every month tongue.gif
I'm considering Hifiman RE0/RE-ZERO or Etymotic MC5/HF5 at the moment.


I've read that the RE0 isn't that durable (cable splitting issues?), and the HF5 is less durable than the MC5.


How much of a pain is it to hook up a TRRS adapter to the RE-ZERO every time you want to use it?


In terms of comfort, which is the most comfortable out of these?


Thanks in advance for your help!


Edited by LordSnail123 - 11/18/12 at 12:44am
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post #2 of 18
11/18/12 at 12:47am
Thread Starter 
Bump - modification to questions.
Man, threads in this forum get buried fast.
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post #3 of 18
11/18/12 at 2:00am

Get 2 Sony MH1Cs for 50$. They beat the hell out of all 100-150$ IEMs Ive heard till now. They are quite isolating with proper fit and comfortable with proper management.

 

Cables itself are vastly durable and stiff. Will last a year even with heavy usage imo. Go check its appreciation thread with heck lot of positive reviews:

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/632892/review-sony-mh1-the-best-kept-secret

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post #4 of 18
11/18/12 at 10:49am
Thread Starter 

@hitme: These sound interesting, I'll take a look into them! (and maybe buy them AND whatever I'm looking for)

 

Sorry I didn't specify this, but I was interested in a pair of analytical/flat response IEMs, because the K240 and FX40 make me happy on other sound signatures. 

 

Thanks in advance!

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post #5 of 18
11/18/12 at 12:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LordSnail123 View Post

@hitme: These sound interesting, I'll take a look into them! (and maybe buy them AND whatever I'm looking for)

 

Sorry I didn't specify this, but I was interested in a pair of analytical/flat response IEMs, because the K240 and FX40 make me happy on other sound signatures. 

 

Thanks in advance!

Then Sony EX600, HF5, RE0 are amazing for the price and they all are very detailed, balanced and sound good with these genres music.

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post #6 of 18
11/18/12 at 12:24pm

The Mee A161 or for $120 the Rockit Sounds R-50 personally I think the R-50 would be the best option.  The have a very good spacious and cohesive soundstage with really good imaging and separation for classical.  I don't listen to much classical but when I had the R-50 thoughs are what I used.  While I like the MH1C the R-50 is better and would be much better than the Sony for classical.

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post #7 of 18
11/18/12 at 1:52pm

Xcape IE and all another phones which guys named :)

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post #8 of 18
11/18/12 at 2:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZARIM View Post

Then Sony EX600, HF5, RE0 are amazing for the price and they all are very detailed, balanced and sound good with these genres music.

The EX600 is out of my budget :/ it costs upwards of $200 on Amazon.

RE0 is $49 on head-direct right now, is the HF5 worth the doubled cost ($99) on Amazon compared to the RE0?

How does the RE-ZERO compare to the RE0 i.e. is it worth the slight increase in price ($59)?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Techno Kid View Post

The Mee A161 or for $120 the Rockit Sounds R-50 personally I think the R-50 would be the best option.  The have a very good spacious and cohesive soundstage with really good imaging and separation for classical.  I don't listen to much classical but when I had the R-50 thoughs are what I used.  While I like the MH1C the R-50 is better and would be much better than the Sony for classical.

Is the A161 worth the $100 compared to the RE0's $49 or the RE-ZERO's $59?

R-50 is stretching my budget a little... I don't really want to spend too much on IEMs, even though these seem amazing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Berkovajazz View Post

Xcape IE and all another phones which guys named :)

The Xcape sounds cool, but where else can you find it besides eBay?

-------

In terms of bang for the buck, do the RE0 (or RE-ZERO?) win under the clearance prices of $49 for RE0 and $59 for RE-ZERO?

-------

Possible IEM choices so far...

HF5

RE0

RE-ZERO

A161

Xcape IE

 

Thanks in advance!

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post #9 of 18
11/18/12 at 3:56pm

The HF5 offers better isolation, higher resolution soundquality and durablility.......

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post #10 of 18
11/18/12 at 4:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZARIM View Post

The HF5 offers better isolation, higher resolution soundquality and durablility.......

Do you mean compared to the RE 0/ZERO, or compared to all of the options listed?

 

To quote ljokerl on the HF5: "The nozzles are quite thin so care should be taken when changing eartips." What can potentially happen to damage the nozzles?

 

Thanks beyersmile.png

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post #11 of 18
11/18/12 at 5:10pm

I've owned almost all the iems mentioned here, and I'd still take the MH1C for your purposes and budget. I listen to a fair bit of classical and opera, and the MH1C is among the most engaging of all. 

 

Even if you find them too bassy, you can enable the bass reducer preset on whatever device you're using. Don't discount them because of the price!

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post #12 of 18
11/18/12 at 8:00pm
Thread Starter 

I have some reservations for something being hyped as much as the MH1C... as everyone's basically saying these are the best budget IEMs. This feels like a FOTM IEM to me... If I buy the MH1C, I'm waiting at least half a year for the hype to die down first... thanks though.

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post #13 of 18
11/18/12 at 8:27pm

Thats a shame you are going to have to wait. Not sure about the hype component. They are just awesome.
 

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post #14 of 18
11/25/12 at 3:10am

Re0 is sounding too thin for classical music for my taste. I think RE-ZERO will be better option for that purpose.

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post #15 of 18
11/25/12 at 10:36am
Thread Starter 

RE-ZERO is hard to find now that head-direct ran out again... 

 

How's the MC5, the HF5's little brother? I hear it has much better durability...

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