[Stylis10]

Hi everyone,

I have been scouring this site for a few days now since I have been wanting to buy a new pair of headphones as my old ones broke. I had the Bose AE2, and the JVC HA-NC80. I did not buy either of these, they were gifts, however they are both broken now.

I realize that these headphones didn't actually have amazing sound quality, however the one thing I did love was the fit of the Bose AE2. I have been looking around on this site for a while now and am even more confused as to which headphones to get so I'm hoping one of you that are much more intelligent than me in this field could give a little help. Not so sure how to portray what i want so im just going to list criteria:

- Under £50 (preferably in the £40 range)
- Very little to no noise leakage, closed cup (at very high volumes I can understand some leakage, but using for public transport)
- Around the Ear fit (I do wear glasses at my desk so preferably something with very soft cushions, or not too much clamping force, the JVCs i had, even though they were on the ear, would give me severe pain with glasses on after just 20 mins of use, they were like a vice!)


I know this may sound kind of stupid of me to ask, but I would like them to look professional, so not too much design, fairly sleek and not huge cups. (On this site I have fallen in love with the look of the MDR-V6, if that helps styling wise)

Also, as far as what i listen to and music preference, I actually listen to just about anything, Rock, Rap, Dubstep, Hip Hop...if I like the sound of it, no matter what genre, ill listen to it.

Any recommendation and help is greatly appreciated.

Edited: Terrible Spelling and music preferences.

 

[gisxer]

I joined the site a few months ago and hastily posted this new thread.  http://www.head-fi.org/t/646216/need-new-pair-with-in-line-mic-and-isolation
i didn't get any responses, duh, follow the rules.
so here goes.
 
I have a pair of Shure SE115m+ that I use with my Android phone (they are for iPhone pin set up so only the center button works).  I use them for commuting to work on the subway and they are thrashed from a few years of use. The cable has split in several places and the electrical tape I used to try to repair it is not doing the trick, so I want to get a new pair of something.  I’ve done some searching on the forum and I can’t find exactly what I need.  Criteria in order of importance.
 
1. Excellent sound isolation (riding a subway) – what I liked about the Shure was the myriad of buds to get the right fit. the olives work best for me
2. In-line Mic with controls
3. Price, less than $50 – I’d rather not spend another $100 on a pair that will get wrecked again
 
update:
i went and bought a pair of MEElectronics M9P after reading some (not all) reviews. the part i missed was that they are ported in the back.  which leads to not great sound isolation.
 
so i'm still looking.  my other headphones are Shure SE215 (old version) and Etymotic ER-4P.  
I would prefer to get a pair that are Android compatible.  i've considered the klipsch S4A, but i've read they are a little bassy. 
what are my options sub $100 that are more neutral sounding?
 
 

 

[kimvictor]

Quote:

I joined the site a few months ago and hastily posted this new thread.  http://www.head-fi.org/t/646216/need-new-pair-with-in-line-mic-and-isolation
i didn't get any responses, duh, follow the rules.
so here goes.
 
I have a pair of Shure SE115m+ that I use with my Android phone (they are for iPhone pin set up so only the center button works).  I use them for commuting to work on the subway and they are thrashed from a few years of use. The cable has split in several places and the electrical tape I used to try to repair it is not doing the trick, so I want to get a new pair of something.  I’ve done some searching on the forum and I can’t find exactly what I need.  Criteria in order of importance.
 
1. Excellent sound isolation (riding a subway) – what I liked about the Shure was the myriad of buds to get the right fit. the olives work best for me
2. In-line Mic with controls
3. Price, less than $50 – I’d rather not spend another $100 on a pair that will get wrecked again
 
update:
i went and bought a pair of MEElectronics M9P after reading some (not all) reviews. the part i missed was that they are ported in the back.  which leads to not great sound isolation.
 
so i'm still looking.  my other headphones are Shure SE215 (old version) and Etymotic ER-4P.  
I would prefer to get a pair that are Android compatible.  i've considered the klipsch S4A, but i've read they are a little bassy. 
what are my options sub $100 that are more neutral sounding?
 
 

why don't you just get a cable with a remote for your SE215? or do you mean SE210 by SE215 old version?

 

[lukEM22]

Quote:

Need some help looking for some IEM with an on-line mic and possible iDevice controls...

1. Budget is $100, but it's not firm. If there is something awesome out there for more, I'd consider it.
2. Will be using them in the car on long trips connected to my iPhone. Would like an on-line mic to pick up phone calls if needed.
3. I'm in an S2000 roadster and it gets quite loud at speed. Would like some decent isolation.
4. I listen to all different types of music and will want something that is a good all-around performer.
5. No portable amp will be used. They must be efficient enough to run off of an iPhone.
6. Needs to be very durable. I go through 3 sets of Apple earbuds a year and I would like these new ones not falling apart.

 
Thanks.

 
 
These isolate pretty well and would be decent, but not great with every genre. They lack a bit of bass to really pound in hip hop and electronic. There is an in mic remote version also, I'm not sure if thats it.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-Isolating-In-Ear-Earphones/dp/B003S3RFIQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1365564389&sr=8-2&keywords=etymotic
 
I reccomend you buy a built in bluetooth set for your car. You can hook them up to most stereos, the mic would probably be better, and its safer. I don't advise listening to IEMs in the car, in my opinion its too dangerous. You need to hear whats going on around you. If your car tries to warn you something is wrong you may not see it, or a piece of your car could fall off and you wouldn't hear (though probably through bone conduction)
They are unlikely to happen but not worth the chance in my opinion. I have listened to decently isolating IEMs at highway speeds, and it is spooky quiet. They tend to be good at blocking out frequencies of that amplitude in my opinion. Something as isolating as the etymotics would be spooky to wear.

 

[lukEM22]

Quote:

Hello all,

I'm looking for advice to buy a good (for me) pair of headphones.

Here are the requirements :

I mostly listen to dance/electronic music, so I need GOOD bass (no rap and hip/hop).

I prefer to have a closed design since I will be using it in planes and noisy environments.

I have an in ear denon C751 and I like it a lot, if it can help, I tried an AKG 518 DJ LE and it was quite good for me despite not being closed and "foldable".

The "full size" or "portable" is not really important, I can carry both...so I have posted this request in both threads

Regarding the price of course the lower the better, I don't care AT ALL about the brand, the color, the design, it's to listen to music, not to express my personallity to others (so i guess the beats are disqualified already )

Thanks a lot for the help

HFI 580. They take a while to get used to (I've had my pair for over 2 months now and I'm still adjusting)
If they arent comfortable enough, buy Brainwavz HM5 ear pads and a Sennheiser HD 600 headband. They make them SO comfortable!
Also, after the first ~50 hours of burn in they are done changing for the most part, at least to my ears. If you will drive them from an android device, download the Equalizer app by Smart Android Apps, LLC. Put the 60hz tone at +6 and the  14khz tone at +6, and they begin to sound much more natural, the bass really fills them out and I absolutely love it.
In my opinion, its the best android EQ I can find. I have downloaded and gone through about 6 or 7.

 

[TwinQY]

Finished with the previous replies, check them out if you were waiting - post #3721
Quote:

I joined the site a few months ago and hastily posted this new thread.  http://www.head-fi.org/t/646216/need-new-pair-with-in-line-mic-and-isolation
i didn't get any responses, duh, follow the rules.
so here goes.
 
I have a pair of Shure SE115m+ that I use with my Android phone (they are for iPhone pin set up so only the center button works).  I use them for commuting to work on the subway and they are thrashed from a few years of use. The cable has split in several places and the electrical tape I used to try to repair it is not doing the trick, so I want to get a new pair of something.  I’ve done some searching on the forum and I can’t find exactly what I need.  Criteria in order of importance.
 
1. Excellent sound isolation (riding a subway) – what I liked about the Shure was the myriad of buds to get the right fit. the olives work best for me
2. In-line Mic with controls
3. Price, less than $50 – I’d rather not spend another $100 on a pair that will get wrecked again
 
update:
i went and bought a pair of MEElectronics M9P after reading some (not all) reviews. the part i missed was that they are ported in the back.  which leads to not great sound isolation.
 
so i'm still looking.  my other headphones are Shure SE215 (old version) and Etymotic ER-4P.  
I would prefer to get a pair that are Android compatible.  i've considered the klipsch S4A, but i've read they are a little bassy. 
what are my options sub $100 that are more neutral sounding?

Less than $50, inline mic, isolates - yeah, not a lot of neutral sites with those criteria. The S4 is sibilant, V-shaped, treble hell. Would recommend against it. The E10M is less v-curved, a bit more balance, but certainly not neutral. The MH1C is very bloated and excessive (mods seem to do it justice from the looks of rin's blog - http://rinchoi.blogspot.ca/2013/02/on-modification-of-sony-mh1.html) but the cable is kinky and awkward beyond belief.
 
Quote:

Hi everyone,

I have been scouring this site for a few days now since I have been wanting to buy a new pair of headphones as my old ones broke. I had the Bose AE2, and the JVC HA-NC80. I did not buy either of these, they were gifts, however they are both broken now.

I realize that these headphones didn't actually have amazing sound quality, however the one thing I did love was the fit of the Bose AE2. I have been looking around on this site for a while now and am even more confused as to which headphones to get so I'm hoping one of you that are much more intelligent than me in this field could give a little help. Not so sure how to portray what i want so im just going to list criteria:

- Under £50 (preferably in the £40 range)
- Very little to no noise leakage, closed cup (at very high volumes I can understand some leakage, but using for public transport)
- Around the Ear fit (I do wear glasses at my desk so preferably something with very soft cushions, or not too much clamping force, the JVCs i had, even though they were on the ear, would give me severe pain with glasses on after just 20 mins of use, they were like a vice!)

I know this may sound kind of stupid of me to ask, but I would like them to look professional, so not too much design, fairly sleek and not huge cups. (On this site I have fallen in love with the look of the MDR-V6, if that helps styling wise)

Also, as far as what i listen to and music preference, I actually listen to just about anything, Rock, Rap, Dubstep, Hip Hop...if I like the sound of it, no matter what genre, ill listen to it.

Any recommendation and help is greatly appreciated.

Edited: Terrible Spelling and music preferences.

Closed, isolates, under 50, circumaural, all-rounder - of course music preferences are helpful but sound preferences would be even more so. Anyways the 8323 would be a good starting point, but again, sound preferences.

 

[dreamrockman]

Quote:

Not so. Portable stuff is essentially that, designed to be portable. If they were all exceedingly inefficient that would be greatly detrimental to portability, would it not? The HD25-1 didn't neccessarily need an amp IMO, and spec wise that would seem to correlate nicely with subjective impressions of efficiency. If the stock player/phone you're using is exceedingly bad though (high noise, roll-off) and has a line-out, looking at an amp would not be an bad idea, if only to circumvent the horrible stock amp.

Main output is a Macbook Pro, sometimes I also turn to my Galaxy Nexus. Not sure in what quality their stock amp specs are. HD25-1 sure sounds like an excellent choice though. Thank you!

 

[koflok]

Just straight to the point.
 
I have a budget around $100. Listen to all sorts kind of music, but mostly EDM. Not really a bass-head though. What I look in my IEM is clarity mainly.
Comfort is major point and build quality / durability needs to be above average as I am not a very careful user. I broke the cables of both Klipsch S4 and Shure SE215.
 
Right now I'm torn between TDK IE800 and WiFiMan RE400.
 
What do you guys reckon between those two? I can get them both for around ~$115.

 

[alexm84]

Can someone recommend me a set of IEM's?
 
I was set on a few which then got bad reviews when i came to this site.
 
Currently looking at the id America spark's but don't mind spending up to $60-$70.
 
Are there any better ones you can recommend. I want a remote to at least be able to skip tracks on my ipod. I listen to all types of music so no preference on bass/mids/highs just a good sounding set.

 

[Saumil1989]

@ TwinQY
 
Thanks for the response
I reside in India (Mumbai) Can you please give me d link where can I order Monoprice 8320?
Which is the cheapest good IEM which u can recommend?
 
I went through some reviews, and noticed that Meelectronics M6 was d cheapest budget IEM. Flipkart is selling it for 1450.. sadly it is discontinued and could not find it on any other website which ships to India. (eBay selling it for 2500+) can I trust eBay seller and is it worth 2500? I am ready to spend. assuming a little flexible budget..
 
Also,
I have shortlisted these 2.
 
Sony XB30EX (1699)
Sennheiser CX 180 (1690)
 
I would be really thankful for answering my queries

 

[goriath]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwinQY /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Are you looking at the frequency range specs? Those are rather meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Advertised ranges for extension are rarely met by the manufacturer, and sometimes the claims are just exaggerated beyond human audibility. Unless you're referring to some FR measurements I'm not aware of.
 
Would personally pick the AKGs out of the lot. Tons of punch and a bit cleaner than the Beyers IMO. Any reason for angled jacks in particular?

 
Thank you TwinQY for the kind reply.
No, I don't look at the specs of course, I know they are meaningless in regards of how a headphone sounds. What I was trying to say is that I know beyers and how they sounds. DT231Pro is good entry-level headphone and I like how it performs with my mobile phone, but it's not portable. Since DTX501p seems to be a step ahead and I never get disappointed by the balanced sound of beyerdynamic HPs, I believe that I could be pleased by the DTX501p as well, at least according to my impression. BTW I don't know the AKG. I read good things about the K450 especially the part about the powerful bass but someone complained that because of the excessive bass boost the mids are disappointing. I would really like to test them both before buy one of them. I asked to my usual dealer if I can come to the shop for a direct comparison but he should order the AKG first and BTW he told me that they don't deal beyers anymore.
The reason about angled jack resides in the fact that my mobile phone has the jack in on the side, so with a straight HP jack would make the phone uncomfortable in my pocket.

 

[BentoBoxx]

Hello folks, I'm in dire need of help!
 
My headphones cables always set out on kamikazi missions: they'll wrap themselves around doorknobs, pantry handles, armrests, my knee as I'm biking. They will often self-eject as I'm performing death-defying stunts on my rollerblades. Though they always make it through the day, it's wearing on them, slowly but surely, until they are no longer able to route sound adequately to my eardrums. One of the two always fails me after a few months of abuse. That's when I start to play around with them: I'll twist, pull, shift the position of my Galaxy Nexus in my pocket, play with the sleeves wrapped around my ear until my right to listen to music undisturbed is once again respected. 
 
I bought Shure's e215s during the summer last year, and I'm currently a few clicks away from ordering a third set of replacement cables. I am afraid of taking my Porta Pros outside with me as I know what fate awaits them... and the last time I sent them back to get them repaired (hurray lifetime warranty!), it took forever. I actually bought my e215s thinking that my PPs had been lost in the mail. In fact, aside from losing my headphones, all pairs I buy seem to be cursed with the inevitable one-ear syndrome. 
 
I have a dream: That there's a cable out there for me; Resilient, tenacious, flexible, unwavering, loyal.
 
I dream of army-grade headphone plugs. 
 
Is wireless the answer?
 
Help a brother out.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
(formalities: I listen to hip-hop, electro, jazz. Price point sub-250$ if possible)

 

[roguegeek]

Quote:

 
 
These isolate pretty well and would be decent, but not great with every genre. They lack a bit of bass to really pound in hip hop and electronic. There is an in mic remote version also, I'm not sure if thats it.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-Isolating-In-Ear-Earphones/dp/B003S3RFIQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1365564389&sr=8-2&keywords=etymotic
 
I reccomend you buy a built in bluetooth set for your car. You can hook them up to most stereos, the mic would probably be better, and its safer. I don't advise listening to IEMs in the car, in my opinion its too dangerous. You need to hear whats going on around you. If your car tries to warn you something is wrong you may not see it, or a piece of your car could fall off and you wouldn't hear (though probably through bone conduction)
They are unlikely to happen but not worth the chance in my opinion. I have listened to decently isolating IEMs at highway speeds, and it is spooky quiet. They tend to be good at blocking out frequencies of that amplitude in my opinion. Something as isolating as the etymotics would be spooky to wear.

 
If isolation wasn't an issue, what would you recommend?

 

[kimvictor]

Quote:

 
If isolation wasn't an issue, what would you recommend?

MC5 is really good at isolating. SE215 is also balanced(bit warm) with rigid build quality and superb isolation. MC5 is more analytical and SE215 is more warm and bit midcentric.

 

[sam-c]

Hi guys, I'm looking for advice once more and so far you have never let me down! 

I'm seeking a pair of IEMs for use in the gym. I have searched extensively and read the various threads but none of them give many suggestions of IEMs which have clips that go around the ear or neckbands and for me this is a must as I have tried various headphones without and they all end up falling out.
 
I'm based in the UK but looking to spend the equivalent of $100

In terms of what I'm looking for sound wise, I'm looking for something fun and musical, as opposed to clinical. If any of you have heard the AKG K 81s then this is the sort of sound signature I'm looking for, or that of the Monster Audio turbines as opposed to say the AKG K550 (I keep meaning to add a review to the comparison thread about the K 81s and the K 550s but after having had them for a while now I still haven;t got round to it!). So yeah, something angled towards the "dark" side and easy to listen to.
 
I'm not overly fussed about them being too noise isolating as I'll be in a gym so its not a huge issue, conversely they dont need to block out 100% of noise but 70% upwards would be ideal. Also, I would like noise leak to be kept to a minimum just as it really bugs me when other people have headphones which leak. 

Look forward to hearing your recommendations!

Thanks

Sam