[WChurchill]

Well, my Shure 210s are slowly (quickly) falling apart on me so I'm looking into investing into a new set of earbuds. So far my recommendations from others have been:
Ortofon EQ-7
Sennheiser IE8s
Klipsch Image X10s
Etymotic ER4Ps
UE Triple Fi Pros
Audio Technika CK10s
Monster Turbine Pro Gold
Grado GR8
Shure SE530
Westone 3s
Westone 2s
 
I'm looking to spend in the $200-300 range, possibly a little higher if they're really worth it. They're got to be pretty durable since they are in my bag a lot of the time and I prefer foam tips to plastic. Other than that, I'm open to any opinion since I know very little about earbuds.

 

[KLS]

Quote:

Well, my Shure 210s are slowly (quickly) falling apart on me so I'm looking into investing into a new set of earbuds. So far my recommendations from others have been:
Ortofon EQ-7
Sennheiser IE8s
Klipsch Image X10s
Etymotic ER4Ps
UE Triple Fi Pros
Audio Technika CK10s
Monster Turbine Pro Gold
Grado GR8
Shure SE530
Westone 3s
Westone 2s
 
I'm looking to spend in the $200-300 range, possibly a little higher if they're really worth it. They're got to be pretty durable since they are in my bag a lot of the time and I prefer foam tips to plastic. Other than that, I'm open to any opinion since I know very little about earbuds.

 
Who recommended you those? Almost all of them have their very own sound signature.
 
What kind of sound signature you are looking for? Have a look at the following link, see if there is any which might suit your sound preference:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/476315/top-tier-universal-iem-comparison-chart-frequency-response-charts-discussion-first-post-updated-often

 

[WChurchill]

It was an IRL friend. 
 
Out of those:
 
EarSonics SM3
Ortofon EQ-7
Grado GR8
UE Triple Fi 10
Phiaton PS200
 
all look good to me.  One serious concern I have is build quality due to the fact I heavily abuse my earbuds

 

[KLS]

If you are looking for IEM with good build quality, forget about SM3 and TF10.
 
e-Q7 has strong aluminium housing, but the cloth cable is a trouble to some.
 
I only have SM3, TF10, and e-Q7. Never tried PS200 and GR8, but based on the look of them, seems to have good build quality.
 
What kind of sound are you looking for? Or you just need something durable? CK10 has the best build of all IEMs I have.

 

[rawrster]

The cloth cable on the e-Q7 was quite troublesome for me and has made my pair unable to be sold or at least sold at a big loss..although it was kinda my fault as well
 
TF10's build quality is not something to write home about. I have the CK10 and it is one of the best built phones I have ever tried or owned. No idea about the shorter list you have outside the TF10 since I don't have any of them.

 

[ZARIM]

Sennheiser IE8 has user replaceble cable and it's built welll with very good enagaging sound quality. Panasonic HJE900 also has replaceble cable and it's built very solid with great sound quality. Monster Turbine Pro Gold, Copper and MD all are built well with one lifetime replacement by Monster Cable. JVC FX700 are very detailed sounding IEMs, they made with wood material and overall are very solid built. Then few more IEMs are worthy to mentioned here like Shure SE530, Westone 3 and CK10..........

 

[WChurchill]

Well my earbuds are stored in my bag most of the time, mixed up with other stuff so they take quite a beating.  The foam around the earbud on my Shures is peeling off :/
 
I listen to a fair amount of electronic stuff, but mostly a mix of anything.  Theyre used for movies on my laptop quite often as well.  They dont have to be perfect at everything, just a very high quality set with a great build quality. 
 
So what I can see so far is
 
Ortofon EQ-7 - durable housing, cloth cable can be a problem
Grado GR8
Phiaton PS200
Audio Technica CK10 - great build quality
 
From that chart it said the earbuds can be a problem to fit your ear on the CK10s, is that really a significant issue?

 

[rawrster]

It depends on the user. I have zero issue with them. However if you are not used to over the ear there would be a learning curve. Also I use monster cable triple flanges so if you use those kind of tips there is also a learning curve if you never used that before. If you use single flanges like sony hybrids or the stock tips it shouldn't be very difficult to put in your ear although I never tried the stock tips.

 

[KLS]

Quote:

It depends on the user. I have zero issue with them. However if you are not used to over the ear there would be a learning curve. Also I use monster cable triple flanges so if you use those kind of tips there is also a learning curve if you never used that before. If you use single flanges like sony hybrids or the stock tips it shouldn't be very difficult to put in your ear although I never tried the stock tips.

x2

 

[WChurchill]

The Shures I have right now are over the ear so thats no problem.  I like the foam tips over the single plastic tips, are the triple flanges better sounding/fit than single ones?