Good headphone recommendations?
Aug 1, 2015 at 12:14 PM Post #32 of 42
So can anyone tell me which in ear earphones should I get?

I want good noise isolation, good sound quality, comfort, durability and overall very good earphones for under 200 if possible.

Also can you tell me about these headphones (sound quality):

Sennheiser Momentum in ear
Shure Se215
Sennheiser ie60

I'm a student so I don't have much money and I want headphones that last as long as possible.

As I said earlier about the AKG K3003... I would really like to buy those but no way I would never spend such amount of money (1000€) for any headphone.
 
Aug 1, 2015 at 12:28 PM Post #33 of 42
I forgot to tell what kind of sound I want:

I want to hear every single instrument in songs, warm sound that hugs your ears every time when you put on your headphones, not necessarily bassy sound, accurate bass (not boomy but still there if you know what I mean) and of course significantly better sound than my current Samsung sh!ts. ☺
 
Aug 2, 2015 at 2:31 AM Post #35 of 42
Here is some stuff that might help you know what to search for and couple of thoughts: 
 
First you said "I want to hear every single instrument in songs" which indicates you want very clear sound, so a lot of clarity to make you hear everything sharp and have feeling of good instrument separation, to hear them all clear. 
The other half of sentence you said you want warm sound, which doesn't stack up so well, because usually one thing have to suffer at the price point you are searching for. 
 
Warm sound signature usually have "thicker" mid bass (that's those higher bass frequencies, not sub bass feel at <50 Hz but that mid bass at ~150 Hz) and that usually interferes (words used on head-fi are also veil, muds, bloated mids etc.) with midrange making mids sound less clear. It may be fun and engaging to listen to, but clarity suffers in most cases.
Also warm sound signature usually has laid back treble (high frequencies are bit more silent comparing to those lower frequencies) which makes everything sound smoother and warmer, but then perception of clarity suffers again, since bright treble is the thing that makes music sound very clear, even tho that might be an illusion because clarity can be technically on the same level, perception of clarity is better if treble is bright, which is kinda opposite of warm.
 
To achieve both warm sound signature without bass interfering with mids and without loss in clarity in high end you need earphones with few BA drivers and well implemented crossover, which basically splits frequencies into 3 or 4 groups (depends if it's 3-way crossover or 4-way, or whatever manufacturer implemented into their earphones) and each driver (or group of drivers) play their own frequency, so bass driver plays low freqencies and mid range driver plays mid range. What this basically does is eliminate interference of low frequencies with mid frequencies, making mids sound VERY clear while maintaining warm sound signature and thick bass. 
Some took it to completely next level such as Unique Melody PP6 or JH Audio JH-3A with completely separated active crossover that splits completely frequencies and sound travels into the earphones in 4 different wires (so the cable on them is a bit thicker too). That tho sound CLEAR as it can get.
 
Anyways my point is that usually one thing have to suffer, and in the price range it's hard to achieve real warm sound signature and maintain great level of clarity. 
 
Now to choice of earphones, I've heard only Momentum from those you said and I must say I wasn't impressed at all, they didn't sound much if any better than Sennheiser CX 300-II for example that are 2 times cheaper now, and since CX 3.00 came out recently CX300-II is almost everywhere on discount (in my country there is ~20-30% discount on CX300-II because of that new cosmetically changed CX 3.00). So my advice is to go rather to that cheaper model than Momentum, also 2 year warranty and very decent pair of earphones for the price.
 
Also note that Shure is an American company (tho idk why that worries you, it should completely fine). 
 
 
My recommendation for the price you said (<200 $) is Vsonic GR07, they should be around for ~100-160$ and they blow away any other similar priced earphones I've heard, including Momentum, by far. 
And yeah, any earphones you choose from these will be noticeably better than your stock Samsung in ears. And you bump the post a bit too soon :)
 
Aug 2, 2015 at 4:47 AM Post #36 of 42
Here is some stuff that might help you know what to search for and couple of thoughts: 

First you said "I want to hear every single instrument in songs" which indicates you want very clear sound, so a lot of clarity to make you hear everything sharp and have feeling of good instrument separation, to hear them all clear. 
The other half of sentence you said you want warm sound, which doesn't stack up so well, because usually one thing have to suffer at the price point you are searching for. 

Warm sound signature usually have "thicker" mid bass (that's those higher bass frequencies, not sub bass feel at <50 Hz but that mid bass at ~150 Hz) and that usually interferes (words used on head-fi are also veil, muds, bloated mids etc.) with midrange making mids sound less clear. It may be fun and engaging to listen to, but clarity suffers in most cases.
Also warm sound signature usually has laid back treble (high frequencies are bit more silent comparing to those lower frequencies) which makes everything sound smoother and warmer, but then perception of clarity suffers again, since bright treble is the thing that makes music sound very clear, even tho that might be an illusion because clarity can be technically on the same level, perception of clarity is better if treble is bright, which is kinda opposite of warm.

To achieve both warm sound signature without bass interfering with mids and without loss in clarity in high end you need earphones with few BA drivers and well implemented crossover, which basically splits frequencies into 3 or 4 groups (depends if it's 3-way crossover or 4-way, or whatever manufacturer implemented into their earphones) and each driver (or group of drivers) play their own frequency, so bass driver plays low freqencies and mid range driver plays mid range. What this basically does is eliminate interference of low frequencies with mid frequencies, making mids sound VERY clear while maintaining warm sound signature and thick bass. 
Some took it to completely next level such as Unique Melody PP6 or JH Audio JH-3A with completely separated active crossover that splits completely frequencies and sound travels into the earphones in 4 different wires (so the cable on them is a bit thicker too). That tho sound CLEAR as it can get.

Anyways my point is that usually one thing have to suffer, and in the price range it's hard to achieve real warm sound signature and maintain great level of clarity. 

Now to choice of earphones, I've heard only Momentum from those you said and I must say I wasn't impressed at all, they didn't sound much if any better than Sennheiser CX 300-II for example that are 2 times cheaper now, and since CX 3.00 came out recently CX300-II is almost everywhere on discount (in my country there is ~20-30% discount on CX300-II because of that new cosmetically changed CX 3.00). So my advice is to go rather to that cheaper model than Momentum, also 2 year warranty and very decent pair of earphones for the price.

Also note that Shure is an American company (tho idk why that worries you, it should completely fine). 


My recommendation for the price you said (<200 $) is Vsonic GR07, they should be around for ~100-160$ and they blow away any other similar priced earphones I've heard, including Momentum, by far. 
And yeah, any earphones you choose from these will be noticeably better than your stock Samsung in ears. And you bump the post a bit too soon :)
Ok, so momentum is out. Shure se215 would be good headphone but only thing that worries me is the durability.

I would also consider your recommendations but Finland is so small country that there aren't many headphone oriented stores. Many people use beats or something 20€ **** from local grocery store.

If the SE215 is durable and sounds good I would buy that but I have read that the cable tends to break easily and of course you can't find Shure cables in Finland...

How about Sennheiser ie60? Is it better than Shure se215?

I also like that the cable goes over the ear. Earphone stays in the ear better...

Also thank you for your help. Now I know little more about warm sound and clarity. ☺
 
Aug 2, 2015 at 6:28 AM Post #37 of 42
Ok, so momentum is out. Shure se215 would be good headphone but only thing that worries me is the durability.

I would also consider your recommendations but Finland is so small country that there aren't many headphone oriented stores. Many people use beats or something 20€ **** from local grocery store.

If the SE215 is durable and sounds good I would buy that but I have read that the cable tends to break easily and of course you can't find Shure cables in Finland...

How about Sennheiser ie60? Is it better than Shure se215?

I also like that the cable goes over the ear. Earphone stays in the ear better...

Also thank you for your help. Now I know little more about warm sound and clarity. ☺

Well you can order them online as most people do, I had 0 problems with that in total and you can get better deal and get the earphones that suit you the most, unlike that narrow choice, also check out for second hand earphone sales here on head-fi, even tho they are "second hand" most people here take care of their earphones very well, and many are collectors that have barely even used the ones they are selling, also many of them are still under international warranty, so you should be pretty safe with buying here, also you can see the sellers reputation. (For example for the same money you'd buy IE60 you can get IE8/80 in great condition still under warranty and get much better product).
And check for Klipsch S4 if you must buy in some store in Finland, since they sell everywhere also and are very good value, very decent sound in general, especially for the price 
 
Aug 2, 2015 at 7:50 AM Post #38 of 42
Well you can order them online as most people do, I had 0 problems with that in total and you can get better deal and get the earphones that suit you the most, unlike that narrow choice, also check out for second hand earphone sales here on head-fi, even tho they are "second hand" most people here take care of their earphones very well, and many are collectors that have barely even used the ones they are selling, also many of them are still under international warranty, so you should be pretty safe with buying here, also you can see the sellers reputation. (For example for the same money you'd buy IE60 you can get IE8/80 in great condition still under warranty and get much better product).
And check for Klipsch S4 if you must buy in some store in Finland, since they sell everywhere also and are very good value, very decent sound in general, especially for the price 
I would definetely order online if shipping wouldn't cost so much(not sure how much) and also there are horrible taxes in Finland.

I also checked out customs website. You have to pay some kind of payment for customs to check out your package (not sure how to explain).But if you order from "European Union tax area" you don't have to pay for customs or any taxes...

And I think I'm going to buy the SE215. It fits most of my requirements.☺ Not sure about the durability though.
 
Aug 2, 2015 at 8:23 AM Post #39 of 42
I would definetely order online if shipping wouldn't cost so much(not sure how much) and also there are horrible taxes in Finland.

I also checked out customs website. You have to pay some kind of payment for customs to check out your package (not sure how to explain).But if you order from "European Union tax area" you don't have to pay for customs or any taxes...

And I think I'm going to buy the SE215. It fits most of my requirements.☺ Not sure about the durability though.
shells are durable, the memory wire downright sucks, though. I'd replace the cable with the ue900 one
 
Aug 2, 2015 at 9:34 AM Post #41 of 42
Well, that cable was just an example, but there are plenty of mmcx cables out there, just try to get one that is highly rated.
 

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