[pianoplayer88key]

Looks like this maybe has been blown a bit out of proportion..... ok first off, the few times it has been caught in the bicycle gear, the bike was NOT operating - it was just sitting there, and I was standing beside the bike adjusting a few things, and the headphones fell off my ears and onto the bicycle gear. Also they have a couple times been caught under the seat post / back tire/brake area (again while the bike was sitting still) when they fell off.
Actually though they seem to be cracking while around my ears or something... I DO take better care of them than you guys seem to think, but I don't baby them like some people do theirs. (If I have to baby something, why should I even have it (unless it's some decoration like a fancy vase or something)?)
I picked up a pair of JVC Marshmallows. They seem to be ok, although I'm having to use the large tips to get any isolation at all. Hopefully those will last long enough for me to find something else that'll last a long time.
About my budget vs having them last a long time -- I am willing to pay more up front for these headphones, because I want them to last enough longer than the cheap ones (assuming the same rough treatment that the cheapies get) to actually have them be less expensive in the long run. For example, if a cheap $20 pair lasts 3 months, then (since I want the price/longevity ratio to IMPROVE with increasing price) 18 months for a $120 pair would actually be way too short. Also, I should have been concerned as soon as I saw that the cables were very thin. If properly designed would thicker cables last longer?
Also quite often my headphones wear out / break because the wires get stressed. Are there any in my price range that will withstand this (go to about 2:50)?
If the marshmallows last longer than the Phonaks did, then it will confirm that P's QC is far beneath the sewers imo.

If asking for 15 years in an IEM is unreasonable... would 10 be more reasonable, or at least 7-8? (2-3 might be ok if the price is around $50-70 or so.) Or should I look at something different besides an IEM? A couple reasons I picked IEM are because they're supposed to have better isolation than a full-size headphone, they're more compact for storage, they can be worn while you're wearing a helmet (although when I'm bicycling with them I don't insert them as deep so I can still hear some outside sounds - are there full-size headphones that you can wear with a helmet on?), among other things.

I'll repeat. When it was caught in the bicycle parts, the bicycle was NOT operating at the time! And yes getting caught in bicycle gear is NOT the type of use I have planned for these, or had planned for the Phonaks. It's just that sometimes I forget that I'm still attached to the headphones when trying to divorce myself from the equipment I'm listening to, or they fall over something, or other things...

I generally liked the sound of the Phonaks, though, except for being a little harder to drive than I was hoping (sometimes it wasn't loud enough even when I cranked up my Creative ZEN or the Realtek ALC889A audio on my Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H, for example), and having an anemic bass compared to what I was hoping for. I wanted to be able to FEEL the low frequencies on the Bosendorfer grand piano, or the 64-foot contra-trombone stop (as low as 8 Hz) on an organ that has it, and of course be able to hear them. I hope my next one can faithfully reproduce these low bass frequencies...

 

[pianoplayer88key]

So is there an IEM under $130 shipped that is built to military-grade durability standards, sound decent (relative to similar or slighty lower priced ones), isolate well, and are easy to drive from portable unamped sources

A clarification re: my bass preferences: When I mention good bass, I don't mean something that sounds good when playing the bass drum in hip-hop music, for example, as that's not a genre of music I listen too. Most of the music I listen to features keyboard instruments that go down to at least 27 Hz (which is still too high for me), often down to 16 Hz, and occasionally down to 8 Hz (a little more like it) or lower. I want those frequencies to be accurately reproduced and not overly suppressed. If I could actually feel those frequencies it would be nice. Basically I want it to be like I was in a concert hall listening to a pipe organ + large concert grand piano duet. Also check out this linked youtube video - while some frequencies may not come through very well, the video description is interesting. A brief quotation: "This is a debatable subject but I want to point ou that something is definitely audible from sounds emitted below the audible threshold for the human ear (approx. 20 Hz ~ F0, subcontra F). One hears the beats/pulses per second of the fundamental. If our beats/pulses per second of the fundamental. If our ears were tuned to these frequencys I guess we would hear it in a different way. As it is, below 20 Hz the sound gets stripped of the sinusoidal tone Hz the sound gets stripped of the sinusoidal tone timbre and sounds more like pulses."
I basically want the bass to preferably extend low enough, if possible, to the limit of hearing the "pulses" or feeling the vibrations. (Side note: maybe I've spent too much time at this website.

)

 

[qusp]

well regardless of whether you can hear that low, MP# does nort go that low, so anything below 20hz is pointless. also I dont think you are going to find one that accurately portrays good low bass in your budget. the monstor IEMs and maybe Phonaks will do tight lo0w bass, but they are above your budget and about as close as you are going to get IMO. generally producing IEMs at budget prices, the bass is the first thing that they give up. only the mid/hi to high end IEMs portray good bass IMO

 

[hockeyb213]

Well also bass is the first thing headphone companies seem to try to make good in a can because the average user picks up bass the quickest and will seem to make judgements based that way. Or may be it is because more people like warm stuff now then in the past.

 

[IPodPJ]

Invest some more, buy a pair of customs and maybe they won't come out of your ear so easily. And if you were planning on returning them to Phonak and didn't plan on mentioning the multiple bike incidents, that's just unethical so don't plan on getting too much sympathy here.

And you shouldn't even be wearing IEMs when riding a bike, period. Having your IEMs fall into your bicycle gear is the least of your worries. Having your head fall into fender of the car behind you is.

But if coordination is a problem for you when your bike isn't even moving, perhaps riding a bike isn't a good idea anyway.

 

[Carlsan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif But if coordination is a problem for you when your bike isn't even moving, perhaps riding a bike isn't a good idea anyway.

LOL!!!!!

Hey that's why I don't ride a bike