[shrimants]

I have current Bose On-Ear headphones. I really like their sound (though their build quality is abysmal) and I'm looking for a pair of in ear monitors that can rival their sound. People have pretty low opinion of bose in general, so I'm assuming I'm going to get a bunch of really cheap-o recommendations. RRight now i get about 30 bucks a week disposable income, and I can stand to spend absolute maximum of 150 USD on headphones.
 
I will be listening to them when I am going to sleep or at the gym, and they will be my primary portable form of headphones. Before, I was using Creative EP-630's. Dell's website had them for 10 bucks and they sounded halfway decent.
 
Anyways, Im trying to get the bose sound but possibly with a little more precussiveness to the bass, though the balance on the bose is really nice IMO. I havent heard anything with better balance, but then I havent heard many different headphones at all. I used to have a pair of Shure E3C's but the bass on those was so abysmal that I could never stand to listen to them, and eventually they snapped in half in my pocket. Superglue fixed them but they still sounded like crap and reproduced the sound so well that 192kbps mp3's were hard to stand...
 
I have most of my music in 320kbps MP3 and i'm working on reacquiring the important bits in FLAC, but here and there I have some really trashy VBR MP3's that I couldnt find in a better format..... Spending 50-80 bucks would be downright perfect, though like I said, i'm willing to go all the way up to 150. Not more because I'm simply not responsible enough to warrant having anything more expensive than that. Nor is my music collection worth listening to.
 
 
On the music recommendation side, I've come to a point where stuff just doesnt sound catchy or appealing to me anymore. I really like radiohead's In Rainbows, Hail to the theif is their next best for me, and OK Computer isnt really my style. Too depressing. I like system of a down occasionally, but that is really only something I listen to while driving and whatnot. I'm looking for something catchy and imaginative, unrepetitive, and something that uses a very large range of sound, ie most of the audible spectrum.... Classical music bores me too quickly. Dance music is too repetitive. I'm going to see what that arcade fire album is all about, but I have no idea how that will turn out. I like pink floyd but not really led zeppelin. I like Maximum the Hormone, but only because they have so many different melodies and movements in their song that flow together so nicely that the screaming vocals dont bother me. also they arent all angry or all depressive, they have an actual range to their moods in each song.....

 

[mark2410]

senn IE7

 

[shrimants]

senn IE7: 250 bucks.....
 
I have barely 150 that I can spend on these if i save up 100% for the next month or 2.....
 
 
If price wasnt an issue i'd know more or less what direction to go.
 
I should also say, I have an android phone so a mic and play/pause button would be amazing. Also, I dont have a problem spending 10 bucks on a pair of Radians Custom Ear molds (http://www.amazon.com/Radians-CEP001-R-Custom-Molded-Earplugs/dp/B002XULPSQ/ref=sr_1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298929085&sr=1-1-catcorr) and creating my own custom fit bud. I'd rather not, of course, but it isnt a giant problem for me to use those for a custom fitting instead of using the included tips/flanges...
 
but yeah, sorry mark2410 but 250 is gigantically out of my budget of up to 150 MAX. like I said, i'd prefer 40-80 bucks.

 

[mark2410]

i thought it was available for less than that there, oh well
 
in that case id say Brainwavz M3 or ECCI PR401

 

[dbdynsty25]

Monster Turbines...55 bucks shipped from the Monster.com outlet store.  Sure, they are refurbished, but how else are you going to get 150 dollar headphones...for two weeks of your disposable income savings?  
 
I'll also second the M3s...nice earphone as well.  I've got a set of NuForce 700xs coming in tomorrow to try out, and those are pretty highly regarded around these parts at 65 bucks too.
 
http://www.amazon.com/NuForce-NE-700X-Fidelity-Earphones-Silver/dp/B004GFNDDG/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

[shrimants]

Yeah I was looking at those NuForces, but I have a bit of trouble adapting technology that doesnt have a big name attached. I kept seeing the name thrown around on this forum...
 
The monster turbines I dont really have a problem with getting refurbished because monster price/3 == actual value anyways. They have quality stuff, just the overprice for it too much.
 
I was looking at the MeElec series and I saw that they have the A151's (balanced armature driver) and they also have a pair of ceramic ones. I was wondering if anyone has experience with those....
 
TBH If I could test drive earbuds before buying it would be perfect. The reason i went with bose on ears at all was because my friend's dad had a pair of them and we were able to use it pretty regularly, and also they have those listening booths in most stores. I was also looking at Etymotic's and at Klipsch Image S5's. People on the forums talk about sound as "warm" or "cold" and use a bunch of adjectives that make no sense to me so I dont really get too much out of it.....
 
Anyways, keep the reviews/recommendations coming. I'm researching every piece of info on this thread.
 
BTW what is MEElectric's flagship model? Im getting the impression its one of the M series but the ceramic ones are the most expensive on the site, so its weird.

 

[dbdynsty25]

BTW...right now (literally just saw it 30 min. ago) the Turbines are 74 bucks brand new from Amazon w/ free shipping.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Turbine-High-Performance-In-Ear-Speakers/dp/B001LNO722/ref=pd_bxgy_e_p_b
 
You CANNOT beat that deal if you can stretch your budget ever so slightly.
 
BTW...if you want to test drive the Turbines, check out Best Buy.  They had a little listening station for them in the Magnolia home theatre section.  If your local BB has one, you can always check em out there.  Amazon has a very good return policy too, so there's always that option.

 

[shrimants]

How are the turbines? I'm afraid they'll have overpowering or muddled bass. My current desktop speakers (audioengine A5) have that problem where theres a certain range of sound between 75 and 125 hz thats just exceedingly loud. Im not sure if it is because of the room i'm in or if that is how they are designed, but it is loud enough to actually bother me when I play some music. Have you listened to bose on ears before so I could get a comparison? I've tried the bose In ears, on ears, and triports and quietcomfort 2 and 3. There was a bose store around that I went to. The triports sounded really weak and "tinny", almost airy. The in ear sound was wayyyy too open. I liked how clear it was but I could hear ambient noise straight through them, and that blew. Not only that but they had no strong points except for treble. The bass was present but in a lonely child in the corner sort of way. The quiet comforts were nice sounding but there was a discernable hiss when the actual sound canceling feature was turned on. Not only that, but I cant justify the price of those just to get active noice canceling, I barely ever travel.

 

[dbdynsty25]

The Turbines are fantastic...the bass is not muddled at all and it doesn't overpower the mids and highs.  For 150 bucks they are a good value in my mind...for 75 they are FANTASTIC.  There is a 66 page appreciation thread that can speak to more of the technical aspects that I'm not qualified to speak about.  
 
The only recent on-ears I've used recently are Sennheiser HD25-IIs and I'm am equally happy with the sound.  The on-ears are obviously more open just because of the form factor, but bass response and clarity are exceptional on both.  The Bose on ears weren't enjoyable to me when I tried them before I bought my Senns, so I can't remember my exact complaints.

 

[scannon18]

The Turbines don't have a "muddled bass" but they do have a muddled overall sound, which is to say they aren't especially clear, or crisp.  It's not a big deal though, considering how great they sound.
 
$75 for a pair of Turbines is a fantastic deal, I second that suggestion.

 

[shrimants]

Found a giant ass review chunk. looking between monster turbines, as stated, along with these ones:
 
 
(2B3) Panasonic RP-HJE900

(2B2) Audéo Phonak PFE 122

(2C22) Sunrise SW-Xcape

(2C15) Head-Direct (HiFiMan) RE-ZERO

(2C1) Head-Direct RE0
 
 
Here is where I found the reviews.... It didnt make the decision any less difficult.
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/478568/multi-iem-review-150-iems-compared-jvc-ha-fx700-fad-fi-ba-ss-1964-t-added-02-27#post_6492051

 

[scannon18]

I don't think you'll be able to find the Panasonics anymore, they've been discontinued ($250 on amazon). 
 
Good luck otherwise

 

[shrimants]

Alright so the RE Zero are ruled out. I like the fact that it has a TRRS connector, but not the fact that said connector doesnt work within standard 3.5mm headphone jacks. Meaning it does not have a standard pinout. Monster Turbines are rather expensive for my taste at 150 compared to these other ones, as are the panasonics, although those are taken out anyways. so really, now its between the turbines, the phonak, and the RE0 and se-xcape. Turbines im not looking at too keenly because right now i have 20 dollars to my name, so it will take a while before I can afford those. Steve guttenberg from CNET stands by the turbines though, so those are most prevalent in my head ATM.

EDIT: i guess the xcape are out because I cant find them on amazon. now the fight is between re0, pfe112's, and turbines. As i said, i'm leaning towards the turbines unless someone has a better sounding suggestion for a guy who listens to mostly pink floyd, radiohead, and is trying to open up his musical avenues.

 

[scannon18]

Another headphone you might consider is the Klipsch S4 in ear monitor.  Good build quality, notoriously comfortable, and I think that they sound very good for $80.  If the Turbines aren't on sale by the time you can afford them, the S4 will still for sure be under $80, and I've been enjoying mine for eight months now, appreciating them a little bit more with every pair of headphones I try.
 
Again, the Turbines are better (except in clarity and soundstage) but they won't be at that low price forever (although this is the third or fourth time I've seen amazon price them this low.)

 

[shrimants]

to be honest I'm considering just getting a set of creative EP 630's again. They are about 30 bucks or so unless you find them on sale. I just figured that I should at least make some sort of attempt at a better set, but seeing the review of bose on-ear's on this site and me actually liking them, i'm not sure if its really going to make a difference to me what i put in my ears....


EDIT: of course, ignorance is bliss, and I havent exactly been exposed to many different kinds of IEM's or anything either. And im not enough of an audio geek that I'd buy multiple sets of headphones just to compare them...

EDIT2: Now i'm also wondering about the Westone 1's... BTW i would definately like that first impressions of the monster turbines. I'm also wondering if I shouldnt just say screw it and get some cheap crap, then save up and go all out in one fell swoop for some 1964's or some such... More than likely I'm going for the turbines unless I can either find someone selling something better and used for cheap, or unless I give up and go back to the old 630's or cx300's with my tail between my legs...