Hello,
A year and a half ago I bought a set of thinksound Rains based on comparing reviews on this thread. I turned them in for warranty twice, once because of the sound being unbalanced and once because the headphone jack shorted. The jack then died again so I then bought a second pair in early summer thinking that I was just being too hard on my headphones, despite my Zune Premium V2 having no problems for over 4 years which also had an I plug (Of course after the thinksounds, I could never go back). This new pair then had the unbalanced issue so I sent them in, and the second pair came back still unbalanced, but nowhere near as noticeable. About 4 months later the jack has died again despite no obvious external wear. I feel as though I've used up enough warranty claims and that it's time to move on even though I could probably solder a new plug. I fear returning to thinksound as a brand because out of breakage worry, but perhaps that's my fault.
Regardless, in this new pair I'm looking for something that's quite sturdy, balanced range, and has decent separation (to my ears) like the Rains without being too analytical. I listen to many genres but mostly electronic, acoustic, and rock; a warm sound without being boomy is ideal to me. I understand that nothing is going to match the Rains signature exactly, but I loved them greatly for what they were and would like to find something close.
I'm interested in the MC3 but worry that they may be too analytical from the reviews I've read. The Fischer Audio Eterna rev.2 and Ultimate Ears SF3 also looks interesting but hard to find. Other considerations right now are various MEElec IEMS for their build quality, and the HiFiMan RE262 although I wonder how they compare in treble to the Rains and they're a bit more expensive than what I plan to spend. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!