[pianoplayer88key]

Hi all. My current $25 pair of earphones just bit the dust after 4 months, so I need to find a more durable pair.

I'm looking for:
* preferably under $100 shipped, but might be willing to consider something up to $150.
* DURABLE! I want these to last at least several years even with heavy use/abuse. Pretty much EVERYTHING I've had in the last 10 years has given out within like 6 months or so. (Durability guarantee alone would be worth a moderate (30-40%) price premium over a cheaper pair.)
* good isolation - I like the specs on the Etymotic HF5 for example (35-42dB according to their website). I like to listen in noisy environments without having to crank up the volume very loud.
* suitable for classical music, also able to faithfully reproduce all the detail, nuances, the entire frequency range, etc, of a concert pipe organ (especially ones with a 64-foot rank - going down to 8 Hz.. and if it could go down to 4 Hz and faithfully reproduce this (especially the 2nd half of that sound clip) it'd be nice), concert grand piano and well-produced choral vocals (not the type that sounds like monks chanting in a monastery)
* clear pitch definition at all frequency ranges.... for example in the bass be able to tell pitches apart that are simultaneously played and less than 100 cents apart in pitch at the bottom end. (and NOT "muddy" like some that artificially boost the response around 200 Hz - that totally ruins bass response for me, as in my definition bass doesn't even start until you get down to about 32 Hz.)
* an in-line volume control would be nice, but if I can get better quality and more durable ones without it that's fine.

Two pair I have "ears" on are the Etymotic ER-6 and HF5, but I'm willing to consider others.

I'd prefer to buy at a local store - like Guitar Center, Fry's, Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc... (I'm in San Diego, CA.) so if for some reason I don't like them I can return / exchange them. (Unfortunately it'll be a few days before I'm able to buy a pair as I'm trying to recover from some bug.)

So what would you all recommend?

P.S. I'm just curious a little about the high-end ones that are custom-fitted by an audiologist. I would assume their sound quality is equal to or truer than hearing the instruments live in the best seats in Carnegie Hall? Also how is the isolation on those? When properly designed and inserted can you simultaneously fire a 14-gauge shotgun and 50-caliber pistol 2 inches from your ear (when there's no sound playing in the monitors) and not hear the firearms at all? Also durability? Could you hoist a full-gross-weight Airbus A380 and fling it into orbit with the cable from one of those and can the ear drivers/molds survive a direct hit from a nuke?

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Wow! Post this at like 1 am, and by 10:30am it's fallen off the front page!

So is the Ety ER-6 or HF5 a good pair?

Also another thing... I want to avoid this.

 

[mark2410]

HF5 is better than the er6

isolation is very high on ety's, durrability is fine, v unlikely to fall off in your ears

comfort can be an issue with them as can microphonics.

se310 would be more comfortable

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Thanks for the se310 suggestion. It's a bit more than I want to pay, however. Is there a lower end model of Shure, like an se210 for example, that might be ok and in my price range? The two Etymotic IEMs I referenced are pretty much at the absolute top of my price range.
Also where do you recommend buying them? (Preferably a brick-and-mortar store in San Diego county south of Mira Mesa / Del Mar.)

Also at this price range... durability is HUGELY important! I don't want to spend ~$150 on IEMs, only to have them fail in 6 months, like ALL my other headphones in the last 10-15 years have! I've probably spent like $400-650 on headphones in that time (with no one pair being more than like $30 or so), and I expect my money to go at least 40-100 times farther than that!

 

[jws919]

Classical sounds very muddy to me on the SE210. Granted, this is a subjective science, but it's night and day between the SE210 and the SA6 I own (SE210 being the far worse of the two).

 

[mark2410]

comming from something that was so cheap im sure the se210 should sound crystal clear to you but i can say if it was a choice between the se210 and HF5 i would go with the HF5, the shures are likely to be far more comfortable though.

lol as for where well for you where it says El Cajon mine says im really not terribly near you

 

[Dobber65]

I'm in agreement with Mark's suggestions, with a possibility of a few others. Any of the Etys about the ER6/6i are going to be great (even the ER6 is a good entry IEM). If you can spring for it, the ER4P remains a reference, is extremely well-build, and Etymotic's customer service is very good. However, since you have the HF5, the ER4P may not sound significantly different.

I have found the Monster Turbines (yes, from Monster...) to be excellent with timbre and resolution on well-recorded acoustic music. My wife is a pianist, and the reproduction of pianos is very accurate. Also, the timbre of woodwinds, strings, brass, etc. to me is unmatched in this price class, plus the bass adds a very strong and necessary foundation. Large symphonies, chamber, chorale, jazz combos, all sound very very good, and they rock like my Grados when asked to do so.

One last recommendation is the Phonak PFE, very good reviews, decent price, but I have not heard them personally.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Those Monster Turbines look really good. I might consider those instead of the HF5 or maybe ER6/i.

I'm still a bit concerned about durability, though. How likely would any of the sets I'm considering be to fail in the next 6 months? 3 years? 15 years? Virtually ALL the ones I've had previously in the past 10-15 years failed within 6 months of purchase. If these are going to be likely to fail in several months, I wonder if I'd be better off purchasing another cheap $10-20 pair knowing that fact? (I sure hope >$100 phones are MUCH more durable and can take TONS more abuse than <$20 phones!)

Also based on a few reviews I just looked at, the Phonak PFE might also be a good choice, and one thread on head-fi (which I got linked to from google) is a comparison between the Monsters and Phonaks, and generally ppl are saying the highs are a little more recessed on the Monster than the Phonak, and a few ppl say the Monsters seem to sound the bass at a somewhat higher frequency than the original music, but I'm not sure I understand what they're talking about.

 

[Bonthouse]

I think it's safe to say that the Phonak PFE is what you're looking for

Good luck!

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Ok where can I buy the Phonaks? Google only lists swisshearingaids.com, is there another place that has them, preferably brick-and-mortar? Also how durable are they?

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Hey quick question about the PFEs... if I get the one with the microphone, can it be used for in-game chat in games like TF2, CS:S, etc? Or is it a single plug with the triple rings on the end of the cable, that has mic and speaker functions on one plug?

Another thing... if it breaks, for example one of the ear pieces stops working due to a frayed/damaged/etc wire, how easy is it to repair it?

 

[chinesekiwi]

Try some audiologist centres that use Phonak products. They actually might be able to help you. Not kidding.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

*snip - see new thread*