[becritical]

Hello All!
 
I have been reading this forum for quite a while now but my confusion has reached the point in which I need some assistance. I need a pair of IEM to use with my computer and smart phone. I will also be using them for long duration flights so isolation and comfort are important to me. I listen to a range of genre of music from acoustic, folk, to punk and also some pop/rock with heavy parts of piano and vocals. I do not really listen to bass heavy music. Occasionally I might listen to some podcasts, lecturers, audiobooks. So possibly I am looking for clarity, definition, and three dimensions.
 
• I need to be able to change the amount of isolation as I also listen to music while I cycle, but when I am flying they need to have very good isolation.
 
• I am concerned about durability because I travel frequently and I do a lot of outdoor activities,also it would be nice to have an in-line volume control so I do not have to put my hand in the pocket to change the volume, I understand that most IEM’s might not have this control
 
• comfortable to wear for many hours *and possibly also to sleep with), I would like to try a foam tip so I need to be able to fit it with that.
 
My budget is around $80 and I am also open to buy used so spend less. The models I am considering are Vsonic  AN16 and the VS2/3 although I have not quite understood the differences between the lower-end models becasue the V3 costs more but seems quite similar, the Audeo 012, hifiman RE400, Yamaha EPH-100SL, very interested in the Havi B3 pro 1 (but then I read that these only work well with an amp otherwise they sound thin), Klipsch X10 but can’t be found used easily.
It seems that these IEM’s do not last too long, is this a problem caused by how they are handled or are they prone to failure because they have thin cables?
 
many thanks

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
• I need to be able to change the amount of isolation as I also listen to music while I cycle, but when I am flying they need to have very good isolation.

 
 
This is problematic - the fit depends on the tips. Even if you get a tip that has a looser fit to let more sound in, you're going to have a bad fit. You could have it fall out of your ears and then get caught in the moving parts on your bike. Not good.

I think what you need in terms of this is actually a custom IEM designed for vocalists. Some of them have an ambient sound port so the vocalist can banter with the crowd, and some have the option of plugging it closed depending on how you're using them at any given situation. Obviously, it won't need foam tips, there's likely no volume control cable for it, and if you mishandle them they'll take a lot longer to replace.

 

[becritical]

   
 
This is problematic - the fit depends on the tips. Even if you get a tip that has a looser fit to let more sound in, you're going to have a bad fit. You could have it fall out of your ears and then get caught in the moving parts on your bike. Not good.

I think what you need in terms of this is actually a custom IEM designed for vocalists. Some of them have an ambient sound port so the vocalist can banter with the crowd, and some have the option of plugging it closed depending on how you're using them at any given situation. Obviously, it won't need foam tips, there's likely no volume control cable for it, and if you mishandle them they'll take a lot longer to replace.

 
Thank you, I imagined this might have been tricky, however I need something with good isolation for plane rides. And my ears are small.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

   
Thank you, I imagined this might have been tricky, however I need something with good isolation for plane rides. And my ears are small.

 
Nothing exceeds custom IEMs for isolation, even considering the ones with ambient ports so long as they're the ones that come with port plugs, since they can better seal off your ear canals. Universal tips can't do that since your ear canal shape isn't exactly round, and depending on the sizes that you can fit, the ones that fit well enough to remain in your ears even while doing certain physical activities will have small gaps around it. The problem of course is that I'm not sure if there's any aftermarket cable manufacturer that makes cables with remotes and earphone plugs for CIEMs - the ones I've seen (and use) are for universals.

 

[becritical]

   
Nothing exceeds custom IEMs for isolation, even considering the ones with ambient ports so long as they're the ones that come with port plugs, since they can better seal off your ear canals. Universal tips can't do that since your ear canal shape isn't exactly round, and depending on the sizes that you can fit, the ones that fit well enough to remain in your ears even while doing certain physical activities will have small gaps around it. The problem of course is that I'm not sure if there's any aftermarket cable manufacturer that makes cables with remotes and earphone plugs for CIEMs - the ones I've seen (and use) are for universal

thank you for the suggestion but my budget is $60-80 max considering also used prices.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  thank you for the suggestion but my budget is $60-80 max considering also used prices.

 

Sorry, I forgot about that part, but in any case what you're looking for in terms of "adjusting" the fit for total isolation on a plane and then getting ambient sound for safety on a bike is just not feasible otherwise. At best you'd probably have to switch over to plasticky tips when cycling, since most (not all) of them tend to conform less (when new) to the ear canal shape vs foam; alternately, you can use the plasticky tips primarily, then just switch over to the foams when you board a plane.

 

In any case just understand that whichever you get it's all potentially a risk when you try out new tips to get the fit right, in case the IEM you buy doesn't come with both plasticky and foam tips, or if neither of them conforms to your desired fit. For that kind of money though I'd get the VSD3S (I have these as my "beater" IEMs), but I ordered the aftermarket cable separately for around $23 including shipping. Foam tips from Comply are another $20, and I'm not sure which of their tips fit on this (I use Sony Hybrids, as I was able to get several pairs of the same size off eBay cheap).

 

 

[becritical]

   

Sorry, I forgot about that part, but in any case what you're looking for in terms of "adjusting" the fit for total isolation on a plane and then getting ambient sound for safety on a bike is just not feasible otherwise. At best you'd probably have to switch over to plasticky tips when cycling, since most (not all) of them tend to conform less (when new) to the ear canal shape vs foam; alternately, you can use the plasticky tips primarily, then just switch over to the foams when you board a plane.

 

In any case just understand that whichever you get it's all potentially a risk when you try out new tips to get the fit right, in case the IEM you buy doesn't come with both plasticky and foam tips, or if neither of them conforms to your desired fit. For that kind of money though I'd get the VSD3S (I have these as my "beater" IEMs), but I ordered the aftermarket cable separately for around $23 including shipping. Foam tips from Comply are another $20, and I'm not sure which of their tips fit on this (I use Sony Hybrids, as I was able to get several pairs of the same size off eBay cheap).

 

 
ok I have narrowed it down to the soundmagic E80, the M9 (or M9p), the havi b3. It seems the E80 and the havi b3 include foam tips, although the soundmagic website specifies that they are Comply I don't know about the b3. Also I don't know if the M9 has foam tips included. Feedbacks on these?

 

[cel4145]

Based on the initial review on Head-Fi, the E80 looks pretty nice. I'm curious myself what they sound like

 

[ProtegeManiac]

   
ok I have narrowed it down to the soundmagic E80, the M9 (or M9p), the havi b3. It seems the E80 and the havi b3 include foam tips, although the soundmagic website specifies that they are Comply I don't know about the b3. Also I don't know if the M9 has foam tips included. Feedbacks on these?

 
I haven't tried any of those, but I'm sure they're on Joker's thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-338-iems-compared-brainwavz-s0-added-05-30-15-p-1060

 

[cel4145]

I haven't tried any of those, but I'm sure they're on Joker's thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-338-iems-compared-brainwavz-s0-added-05-30-15-p-1060

The E80 is brand new, so probably won't be in ljokerl's list for a while: http://www.head-fi.org/t/771066/soundmagic-release-e50s-and-e80s-in-ear-reference-series

 

[ProtegeManiac]

The E80 is brand new, so probably won't be in ljokerl's list for a while: http://www.head-fi.org/t/771066/soundmagic-release-e50s-and-e80s-in-ear-reference-series

 
The others he mentioned probably are.