I am in a similar situation with a similar IEM -- I have the CX-400s. I love the sound. These were an upgrade from EP-630s, which were the first IEMs I'd ever tried, maybe about 4 years ago...when I finally got the right fit I was completely blown away by the overall sound, especially the bass. Like I had just put little subwoofers in my ears, damn! Until that moment I had always equated IEM's with earbuds which I had tried once or twice over the years, they seemed like useless toys...now it's almost impossible to imagine listening on a portable without them.
Actually I have been without them for months now, they've gone missing and I've been relying on a pair of sonically identical CXL-400's as a backup. Critical to both the 400s is a 1-3 ft extension however, and that has given out.
While I could easily recommend CX-400 as an upgrade, I've done some searching around and stumbled across the new CX's. Weirdly (seems like a backwards step), they have chosen to descend with the model numbers and even with pricing...they are the CX-150, 200, & 250 and are about 18-32$ street priced...but according to everything I've read, they are a definite upgrade. A really good IEM comparison thread is here
Multi-IEM Review - 60 IEMs compared (Sennheiser CX250 & CX300 added 04/13) - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio, and includes the CX-250.
Apparently all the new CXs are share the same new, better sounding driver. As far as I can tell the difference between them is that the 150 lacks a gold plated plug that the other two have, and the 250 adds an inline volume control.
FWIW, you may or may not have noticed that the CX-300 don't get a whole lot of love around here, often listed as last in sound comparisons and sometimes outright derided. I suspect the comparisons at least are justified, because even though I enjoy the CX signature sound -- an emphasis on lower-ended fun -- it's not hard to imagine how much I've been missing. But since they are so cheap...the 150 goes for $21 shipped at the moment...and are supposed to have improved in quality, and are all J-corded, I think one of the new CXs is a solid recommendation, at the very least as a good backup to have around when needed.
When you get around to realizing how relatively little J-corded options there are though, you may want to consider giving up on that format in the pursuit of potentially better sounding options. Right now the phones I wish most were J-corded are the Hippo VBs, ($79) which are reputed to have amazing bass without sacrificing decent mids and highs, and the FA Eternas ($67)also a more bass-emphasized phone that isn't supposed to lack in other areas within it's price class. After lurking a good number of hours here the past week or so, these are a couple of the top candidates I'm looking at that promise to upgrade what I've liked in my CXs.
@rawrster -- maybe the Senns have a longer cords, but I've never had trouble going J-Style over the ear, and I have an XL head.
It's true J-Style does take some getting used to....I wanted to toss the things in the garbage when I saw how weird they looked at first, I actually thought they were defective, lol...but after wearing them for a while and realizing how having a single wire coming from one ear just felt "free-er" in addition to cutting down on the microphonics, it actually feels a lot more natural to me now. Ideally, 5 years from now most good phones would use a standard replaceable cord like Sleeks and HJE900s, and would include both J and Y styles for the wearer to choose.
PS: please try to excuse the insomniatic ramblings...damn this turned out long...
