[wcreek]

I am in college so an IEM is basically necessary more or less between droning out my roommate and walking to class. I have been using sennheiser cx 300 ii's which i believe are pretty much as basic as you can get
 
I have been looking into others in the area of 100-120 and I have pretty much narrowed it down to sennheiser cx 985
 
(  http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-CX-985-Headphones/dp/B009ES68P0   )
 
The reason I am interested in these is durability, 2 year warranty, and overall quality. My firstquestion is, am I missing out by a substantial amount by not picking up more popular iems like the eph-100sl, hf5 or se 215s? My second question is how much of an "upgrade" in sound quality will I notice from the cx 985 versus what I have (cx 300ii)?
 
I primarily listen to 60/70s rock, electronic, classical, jazz, etc.
 
I normally stream .flac from my laptop, output aux on my turntable or play through my galaxy s3.
 
Thanks

 

[zamorin]

Have a look at this thread. I'm sure you can find better IEM's than cx 985:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-300-iems-compared-jh-audio-jh13-pro-added-10-17-13-p-786

 

[wcreek]

I have looked through a bunch and a lot of reviewers of some of the better ones (hf5, the yamahas) indicate that they have lost sound in an ear after X amount of time.. and I am not sure if they have anything competitive similar sennheiser 2 year warranty.. The last thing I want to deal with is something that breaks in a couple months
 
I would be using these while walking etc so they won't be free of wear/tear and I would rather have a little less in sound quality for build and durability etc. Is there any reliable alternatives, and what could I expect from cx985/an alternative as an upgrade to what I am using now (cx 300ii)..
 
I am not totally clueless about audio, I do have decent home equipment for somebody my age so quality is important (ie, I don't want to fill my ears with some over-marketed, bass-filled lower value headphones)
 
Thanks

 

[zamorin]

My T-Peos H-100 comes with 2 years warranty. Have a look at the following IEMs:
 

• Vsonic GR07BE - excellent
• Dunu N1000
• HSA BA100

 

[mvrk10256]

I have the SE215 and if your ok with over ear wear they are great. Currently waiting on my RE-400s to get here because i prefer the down ear wear. Take a look at that review thread, as there are many better options. 

 

[kjk1281]

I have the Sennheiser CX985, Etymotic HF5 (well, HF3 in my case), and the RHA MA750. To me they all feel pretty durable (though the Etys are certainly the least impressive with its lack of metal) and I'd recommend any of those three depending on what type of sound you're looking for and how much isolation you need / want. The Senns are the warmest and most open-sounding of the bunch, the Etys the most linear and isolating, and the RHAs are somewhere in between. I find the Etys to be the smoothest, while both the Senns and RHAs can be a bit bright in the treble at times.

Compared to the CX300, the CX985 should be much clearer sounding and have a bigger soundstage, but they will have less bass.

Also, I think what you're reading about Etys losing sound in one ear has to do with the filters getting clogged. Once the filters are changed, there shouldn't be any issues.

 

[wcreek]

I have the Sennheiser CX985, Etymotic HF5 (well, HF3 in my case), and the RHA MA750. To me they all feel pretty durable (though the Etys are certainly the least impressive with its lack of metal) and I'd recommend any of those three depending on what type of sound you're looking for and how much isolation you need / want. The Senns are the warmest and most open-sounding of the bunch, the Etys the most linear and isolating, and the RHAs are somewhere in between. I find the Etys to be the smoothest, while both the Senns and RHAs can be a bit bright in the treble at times.

Compared to the CX300, the CX985 should be much clearer sounding and have a bigger soundstage, but they will have less bass.

Also, I think what you're reading about Etys losing sound in one ear has to do with the filters getting clogged. Once the filters are changed, there shouldn't be any issues.

I think I will be ordering the CX 985's next week. I have heard there is a strong v cut frequency - will I be disappointed with the vocal range?
 
Thanks,
Nick