[Eilatan]

Okay, so I absolutely love music in every way, and I love hearing a nice crystal clear bassline on any genre. I'm also an absolute nerd when it comes to games, movies and tv shows. I love to hear stuff, seriously and that's why it's so important to me to get a perfect pair of earphones. So two weeks ago my last pair of earphones died and I'm totally stuck on what to get. I basically always had an earphone glued to my ear and it just never left. Though, the last proper pair of earphones I had was the ones that came with my ipod and died a year ago; ever since then it's been the generic kind for me. A couple of months back though, my friend had to replace his dead sennheiser earphones, something that had lasted him over 6 years, and it occured to me that these things can last more than a year.
 
I always loved the apple earphones, since they're earbuds and fit my ears perfect, and after that every generic earphone I got was the same style, but of course none of these earphones have long lives or good sound quality. So what I'm looking for is earbud earphones (since headphones require me to give up my "ninja hearing", and the in-ear earphones hurt my ears), that:
 
1. Have rich, crisp and undistorted sound and bass quality
2. Fit in ears without foam covers
3. Are tough enough to survive the pocket
4. Are durable and up for getting accidently wacked on wood tables (it has somehow happened to every pair I have had so far, and they have survived)
5. Will live long with care (despite the two above, I do care for my stuff)
6. Outside noise cancelling would be nice
7. And won't start sounding like certain cereal after a couple of months
 
Okay, I know I'm kinda asking a lot but I would love love love to find an amazing set of earphones. Just to know that one exists out there for me. I'm also willing to spend up to 300$, the lesser the better XD But yeah, hoping someone can help me find the buds of my dreams!
 
Thanks!

 

[fatthumb]

1) Read multi IEMs review by ClieOS and |joker|.
2) Fit cant be simply determined with words alone. Best if you try it yourself.
3-5, 7) Take care of the IEM well and it should serve you long enough.

 

[chrislangley4253]

The Yuin PK series comes to mind immediately for me. That and being more careful with your stuff.. If you are going to spend a hundred dollars or more on a pair of earbuds, why not buy a nice little case for them and treat them like you would a hundred bucks instead of shoving them in your pockets and whacking it against a wooden table?
 
I don't mean to be a hyprocrite, I've broken my fair share of headphones. But, I learned to take care of my stuff and it happens rarely now.
 
I just really don't think you can come into a headphone purchase expecting as much durability as you are. The weak point on Yuins is probably the cable, as with most headphones. I'll let someone else speak on their durability, but I haven't heard anything yet and they are commonly recommended for earbuds.

 

[PhoenixClaw]

The Earsonics SM3v2 might be good for you, or the sennheiser mx-980 earbuds. They're both recommended as very good IEM/earbuds respectively

 

[Austin Morrow]

I am enjoying the e-Q5's from Ortofon very much. Very balanced and crisp, not very much bass output though.

 

[Eilatan]

Quote:

The Yuin PK series comes to mind immediately for me. That and being more careful with your stuff.. If you are going to spend a hundred dollars or more on a pair of earbuds, why not buy a nice little case for them and treat them like you would a hundred bucks instead of shoving them in your pockets and whacking it against a wooden table?
 
I don't mean to be a hyprocrite, I've broken my fair share of headphones. But, I learned to take care of my stuff and it happens rarely now.

 
Ahhh. Sorry if it came out wrong. See, I tend to have whatever I'm listening to in my pocket, so what happens is the place where there's that bit of plastic to protect the bottom of the wires (the bit that plugs into things) seems to be I guess, "weakened" by being connected to something in my pocket, and so when they earphones are dying I find I have to move that bit to make them play. As for the wooden table thing, when I have one earphone in somehow (at least once for every pair), the other one has hit something hard.
Don't get me wrong, I do take care of my stuff very well, and all the pairs I've had for about the last year have been under like $5 and some have lasted me pretty long. The apple ones I had even lasted a year and a half, which is much longer than most people. Perhaps I am looking for too much durability, but that's because I care about their survival.

 

[Eilatan]

Oh, sorry for the double post. But I just looked over this (http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/492165/sennheiser-mx-series-vs-yuin-pk-series-6-earbuds-compared-and-reviewed) review Sennheiser MX vs Yuin PK series, and the MX won out. I kinda have small ears, though *ish short* so dunno if getting mx would be any good.

 

[DaBomb77766]

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/531063/quick-guide-comparison-and-ranks-top-10-earbuds
 
Here, I'd recommend checking out this.  You have to keep in mind though that there isn't a very big selection of earbuds out there.

 

[Eilatan]

Yeah, I checked it, both the 9wave and the MX980 seem great, but the 9wave don't seem very accessible to buy at the moment. Do you know when companies usually bring out new stock? I don't want to end up spending a great deal of money on something just to find out it gets a better brother a month later. XD

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

Yeah, I checked it, both the 9wave and the MX980 seem great, but the 9wave don't seem very accessible to buy at the moment. Do you know when companies usually bring out new stock? I don't want to end up spending a great deal of money on something just to find out it gets a better brother a month later. XD

That's just the way of things.  I'd recommend you go for the Sennheisers if you want something that's easy to get and easy to get customer support for.  That part's fairly important when it comes to headphones.  And I don't think they'll be releasing any new earbuds any time soon, but I could be wrong.  There's no real way to know.

 

[chrislangley4253]

I didn't even know senn made earbuds.. I've never looked into earbuds much, I'm an IEM guy.
 
 
Although, I do use some stock sansa earbuds (which I modified a bit) that came with my clip when I mountainbike.. they are surprisingly good, but I could probably do with an upgrade. Maybe that will be my next purchase.
 

 

[Br777]

the sennheiser MX980 and OMX980 have been the reigning earbud champions for a while know and probably will be since earbuds are not exactly at the forefront of constant development at the moment.
 
i have the OMX version with the ear hooks and love them.  I dont think i could live without the ear hooks.
 
personally i feel they need eq to really shine.. but i feel that way about nearly all earphones/buds/iem's..
 
 

 

[VolcomStone]

Quote:

Yeah, I checked it, both the 9wave and the MX980 seem great, but the 9wave don't seem very accessible to buy at the moment. Do you know when companies usually bring out new stock? I don't want to end up spending a great deal of money on something just to find out it gets a better brother a month later. XD

Also, I kinda got turned-off by the 9wave ones by the description that they are bass light. Seeing as I'm a bit of a bass-head, I don't think I'd go for them. I think I'll likely end up going with the MX 980s.
 
 
 

 

[Br777]

i am a major bass head.. just know that earbuds are earbuds.. they are not going to shake your eyes.  though the 980s are very capable of good bass quality and quantity, they are still earbuds.
 
that said, with my clip+ rockboxed and some help from the graphic equalizer and or bass boost, i typically ad anywhere from 7-18db (yeah, thats a LOT) of bass to my music when i use these buds, depending on the genre, and WOW do they respond well.  you really can get them to slam without distorting at all.  of course if you add too much you start drowning out mids and highs, but thats the case no matter what the headphone.
 
 
 
 

 

[VolcomStone]

Mhm, I'm thinking if I get these I may be a bit disappointed. I'm used to the bass coming out of MTPGs, and that's a whole lot. However, I need a decent earbud for everyday use. IEMs just aren't my thing for school and stuff.