[Orlando]

I've got to get a good recommendation for my sister's birthday here. She needs some comfortable, good sounding phones, and I'm suggesting IEMs even though she's never had some before. She works in a dental lab and wants to shut out the noise.

Criteria:
1. Shuts out the noise
2. Will be used everywhere, but particularly in dental lab to drown out background noise
3. Need to be comfortable and sound good for a first time IEM user.
4. Driven by an iPod nano, probably. Maybe a laptop.
5. Preferably in the $100 to $150 range.

My Reasons to go IEM:
1. Can you even get over the ear cans that cancel noise for under $130?
2. I now use IEM for work. Hopefully she'll like.

My experience:
1. I got some Shure e2C's and loved them.
2. I upgraded to UE Triple.Fi 10's and think they're... pretty good. I put the Shure olives on them, and they're comfy, but I miss the bass. They sound good, but for the price, I wasn't as blown away as I'd hoped to be.

I have a hard time not wanting to go with Shure's because of my experience. They have the olives, so I figure comfort is a non issue. Not sure what model would be best.

 

[Orlando]

Bump. I should come to a decision today, so I'd really appreciate any feedback. Last I was researching I was looking into the super high end (Shure 530's vs Triple.fi's), so I'm not sure about what would suit the mainstream market.

I'm considering the SHURE se110's, unless I should go with something from UE?

 

[jonathanjong]

Noise-canceling might be the wrong word. That implies "active" noise-canceling to me.

Anyway...~$130...If you're gonna go SE110, why not Head-Direct RE2? Heck, if Amazon is still doing it for ~$100, why not Denon C751 (actually, check the big thread. These might not isolate so well)?

 

[ThePandemonium]

Now, I LOVE my SE110's. But the only way you can make them sound their full potential, is with my set up, or somthing equvielent. (Meaning customizable EQ) They do isolate aton, and do fit the bill. If your sister has a decent set up, or really dont not care for a ton of bass, I say do it. If your sister is somehow a basshead, I say look around.

 

[Malux]

you can get the comply eartips for the denon 751s and still be under $130.

the 110s and 210s are pretty weak on bass. I'd recommend the 751s.

Another iem i like is the futuresonics Fs1. You can get them for 120 on the futuresonics site or for $80 on ebay. Hope that helps.

 

[ameyer17]

probably not the RE2 because they're semi-open and might not be good for criteria #1.

 

[jonathanjong]

Actually...same might go for the 751s. Aren't they semi-open? OP might want to check the mega-thread.

 

[Orlando]

Thanks for the advice. The DENON 751s hasn't been something I've considered before. Are they as comfortable as the Shure olive foamies?

I got the comply tips for my TF10's and didn't thought they were okay, but ultimately used that 'trick' to put the SHURE olives on them.
---

Also, amazon doesn't list them for $100. Did I miss this sale of some kind?

 

[kirtar]

Two of the vendors --ANTOnline being one ("Computer brain" being the other) -- have the c751 listed for under 100 USD before shipping. Buy.com also has it for like 104.95 shipped.

 

[jonathanjong]

You can put olives on the Denons. Modded, anwyay.

 

[Malux]

there's some pics out there but nothing really comprehensive. have you done it?