[thefredelement]

I have Bose in ear headphones that I got last December. They were great but unfortunately the wire got snagged on my jacket last night and now the left channel is dead. 
 
I don't know a lot about headphone technology but enjoy good sound and am taking this as a chance to upgrade. I have a daily 3 hour commute on a NYC subway and listen to a lot of podcasts and music while at my desk. I really enjoyed the Bose because I felt they had a decent enough sound while at the same time letting me hear what was around me. 
 
My primary source of audio is a Zune HD, about 80% of the time I listen to rock music, 15% to podcasts and 5% to classical/orchestra. 
 
I liked how the Bose headphones let me hear what was going on around me at a decent volume but I could still raise it to block most of the outside noise, so this ability is is somewhat important to me, at the least to be able to hear what was going on if I hit the pause button, but at most letting me hear normal voices in my office so I know to hit the pause button if someone is talking to me at my desk. 
 
Obviously, I'd like great sound, the Bose seemed to have a decent overall sound, I can nit pick and say the mids are sometimes washed out and the highs aren't always as crisp as they should be. The punchy and smooth low ends seemed alright to me, but I've heard better on way cheaper headphones. 
 
The comfort factor for me is huge, I have these things in about 6 hours a day. 
 
Edit: My budget is around $120. 
 
Thanks for reading and I appreciate any advice you can give me. 

 

[thefredelement]

It looks like I'm between: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-IE6-Dynamic-In-Ear-Headphone/dp/B00125UBUG
 
and the Bose IE2 (http://www.amazon.com/Bose-327279-0010-Bose%C2%AE-audio-headphones/dp/B003XU6H8I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287584842&sr=8-1)


edit: updated link. 

 

[SpecialJ]

The two links are the same, but I get what you were trying to do. For $100 you can do a lot better than Bose. Personally, I'd go with the IE6. I used to have the Bose In-ears and although they sounded nice, they didn't sound like they were worth $100. I have no personal experience with the IE6 but from what I've read around the forums, they seem to be the better pick out of the two.
 
Welcome to Head-fi!!!!

 

[thefredelement]

Thanks for the welcome! This place is great, I feel like I've been listening "badly" though lol. I read (on amazon review) that the IE6 doesn't have great noise isolation, which I actually consider a feature for my requirements. I'm almost nervous about pulling the trigger on a new pair of headphones after stumbling on to this place. I feel like I don't know enough but am kind of in a rush. (I fixed the link to the bose set in the 2nd post)
 
Quote:

The two links are the same, but I get what you were trying to do. For $100 you can do a lot better than Bose. Personally, I'd go with the IE6. I used to have the Bose In-ears and although they sounded nice, they didn't sound like they were worth $100. I have no personal experience with the IE6 but from what I've read around the forums, they seem to be the better pick out of the two.
 
Welcome to Head-fi!!!!

 

 

[subxero]

how about head direct RE0?
but if you want bass then i take that back

 

[geoffourpl]

/img/forum/go_quote.gif


It looks like I'm between: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-IE6-Dynamic-In-Ear-Headphone/dp/B00125UBUG

 
and the Bose IE2 (http://www.amazon.com/Bose-327279-0010-Bose%C2%AE-audio-headphones/dp/B003XU6H8I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287584842&sr=8-1

)


edit: updated link. 

Edited by thefredelement - 10/20/10 at 11:26am

Anybody can answer it? It seems that it cannot solve my problem, Thank you!

 

[Confispect]

Bass monsters........I literally brought these at Circuit City, and took them back a minute later. Yeah for a 100 your can get a much more bang for buck.

 

[jerg]

I'm surprised at the lack of "lolbose" responses. Haha.

 

[geoffourpl]

/img/forum/go_quote.gif


It looks like I'm between: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-IE6-Dynamic-In-Ear-Headphone/dp/B00125UBUG

 
and the Bose IE2 (http://www.amazon.com/Bose-327279-0010-Bose%C2%AE-audio-headphones/dp/B003XU6H8I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287584842&sr=8-1

)


edit: updated link. 

Edited by thefredelement - 10/20/10 at 11:26am

Anybody can answer it? It seems that it cannot solve my problem, Thank you!

 

[geoffourpl]

/img/forum/go_quote.gif


It looks like I'm between: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-IE6-Dynamic-In-Ear-Headphone/dp/B00125UBUG

 
and the Bose IE2 (http://www.amazon.com/Bose-327279-0010-Bose%C2%AE-audio-headphones/dp/B003XU6H8I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287584842&sr=8-1

)


edit: updated link. 

Edited by thefredelement - 10/20/10 at 11:26am

Anybody can answer it? It seems that it cannot solve my problem, Thank you!

 

[geoffourpl]

/img/forum/go_quote.gif


It looks like I'm between: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-IE6-Dynamic-In-Ear-Headphone/dp/B00125UBUG

 
and the Bose IE2 (http://www.amazon.com/Bose-327279-0010-Bose%C2%AE-audio-headphones/dp/B003XU6H8I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287584842&sr=8-1

)


edit: updated link. 

Edited by thefredelement - 10/20/10 at 11:26am

Anybody can answer it? It seems that it cannot solve my problem, Thank you!

 

[geoffourpl]

/img/forum/go_quote.gif


It looks like I'm between: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-IE6-Dynamic-In-Ear-Headphone/dp/B00125UBUG

 
and the Bose IE2 (http://www.amazon.com/Bose-327279-0010-Bose%C2%AE-audio-headphones/dp/B003XU6H8I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287584842&sr=8-1

)


edit: updated link. 

Edited by thefredelement - 10/20/10 at 11:26am

Anybody can answer it? It seems that it cannot solve my problem, Thank you!

 

[Confispect]

What the hell is going on....?

 

[geoffourpl]

/img/forum/go_quote.gif


It looks like I'm between: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-IE6-Dynamic-In-Ear-Headphone/dp/B00125UBUG

 
and the Bose IE2 (http://www.amazon.com/Bose-327279-0010-Bose%C2%AE-audio-headphones/dp/B003XU6H8I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287584842&sr=8-1

)


edit: updated link. 

Edited by thefredelement - 10/20/10 at 11:26am

Anybody can answer it? It seems that it cannot solve my problem, Thank you!

 

[calipilot227]

It's interesting that you'd want good isolation but you also want to be able to hear what's around you.

 And considering that the Bose in-ears have absolutely no isolation (they're open), I can't understand why you'd reject the IE6 for its sub-par isolation but still be willing to consider Bose. Sennheiser's IEMs are notorious for their poor isolation, just FYI. Klipsch and Etymotic both have excellent isolation, though if you like bass, Klipsch is better than Etymotic (with the exception of the MC5, as it uses a dynamic/moving-coil driver like Klipsch). However, you will have trouble hearing anything around you even without music on (pretty common for deep-insert IEMs). If you want less isolation, go with a shallow-insert IEM like the re0. I hope this helps in some way.