[aionis]

I'm relatively new to having enhanced sound in general...
 
 
So I'm looking for a couple of different explanations on a few particular things, as well as advice on products.
 
 
I've researched a little bit about ohms, hz, drivers, sensitivity etc.. From my understanding more drivers = more everything, which is why headphones typically beat out earphones because the amount of space for additional drivers/better ones?
 
 
Secondly I'm looking to buy, however I really don't know how to compare a lot of the specs listed... because sometimes some of them have drivers and others don't, and some of the ones without drivers end up costing more.
 
 
* Thirdly, is it possible to get earphones that are comparable to headphones? Assuming money wasn't an issue, with today's current technology.
 
 
My price range for earphones would be between the range of $100-250. Ideally $250 is getting pretty high, but if they were really good, I'd consider it.
 
 
* I've had a set of these http://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-Siberia-Full-Size-Gaming-Headset/dp/B002Q8IHDQ for maybe 2ish years now, and they broke. Along with the fact that I'd prefer earphones over headphones. So.. I'd AT LEAST want something that is just as good as these if not better. It doesn't have to have a microphone, all though it might be nice, as I already have one.
 
 
So ideally I want something that has base in it (could feel it in the sibera v2, definitely noticable) as well as sounding good. As well as maxing out what I can get for the money I'm putting in.

 

[XGUGU]

HIFIMAN - RE-400, Yamaha EPH 100SL, Dunu DN-1000-(hybrid triple driver) May match your query. 
Those are very recommended earphones withing that price range 
Look for their threads and read their reviews or ask more questions there to get better help. All are worth the money and of course, there are more options around.

 

[Taveren]

Check out jokers thread, here is a link to some of his recommendations per sound sig.

http://theheadphonelist.com/earphone-buyers-guide/

Happy hunting!

 

[aionis]

  HIFIMAN - RE-400, Yamaha EPH 100SL, Dunu DN-1000-(hybrid triple driver) May match your query. 
Those are very recommended earphones withing that price range 
Look for their threads and read their reviews or ask more questions there to get better help. All are worth the money and of course, there are more options around.

I've been looking at shurs a lot... but at the same time people have said that they don't really have any bass.
 
 
Honestly I just want something that is better or as good as the sibera v2 steelseries headset.. I've talked to another person that said pretty much any earphone over $100 is going to completely destroy the sibera v2 in comparison and sound way better, even though they're headphones.
 
But I'm completely new to even using earphones.. Also the isolation seems appealing, and I'm okay with the earphone being a little bigger for space for the drivers, or whatever it is they're doing inside of it. All though I want them to stay in as well.
 
 
I remember seeing some that had a decibal isolation of up to like 26 decibels or something with 4 drivers, and like 400-500 reviews on amazon with 4+ stars.. I lost the page when firefox crashed though.
 
 
edit: to clarify, again it doesn't have to be something that's insane on bass, obviously I want the best sound that I can get for the price range that I put up, and I want there to be bass, as well as good mids and highs

 

[aionis]

Check out jokers thread, here is a link to some of his recommendations per sound sig.

http://theheadphonelist.com/earphone-buyers-guide/

Happy hunting!

All those products that were listened under balanced, I haven't really seen any of them mentioned here on head-fi in relation to what I'm looking for.
 
 
..This would be a lot easier if everyone was just like these are the best no argument. >.>

 

[milford30]

No more drivers doesn't not imply better, high end headphones only have one driver on each side.
 
The specs are only useful in giving you and idea if you need an amp or not, you have to test them out or at least read reviews.
 
Apart from soundstage iems can beat the headphones in some price ranges, of course it depends on your preferences and tastes.
 
It sounds like you need bass look at the ATH im50, they are a bit big, but for the price they are excellent. I have read some people find the Atrio M8 bass better so maybe that's worth looking into.

 

[aionis]

Does anyone have any set of earphones that have a fair amount of reviews? All these ones that have been listed don't really seem to have too many reviews...
 
I mean ones that in the range of 100-500ish reviews.
 
 
I think I've looked at probably 70-90 different earphones so far. I feel like I understand it a little bit better.. but it doesn't really feel like there is a solid way to compare them, aside from the brand name and very high reviews with a lot of reviews..
 
 
I want something that has isolation, probably over the ear? I guess one with a wire that doesn't drag over the ear so it doesn't make noise, fits well into the ear, good balance through mids, lows, and highs.
 
 
Just to be clear, I'm checking all the earphones you guys are listing.. I just want to get a lot of different options to choose from so I can keep comparing.
 
So far from what I'm understanding, any of these earphones are going to be better than the sibera headphones I had anyway, hopefully.
 
 
2nd edit: Shure SE315-K, Sound Isolating Earphone, Hi-Definition Micro Speaker with Tuned Bass Port.. are their earphones better than this for the price range? ... I've read other places that these don't have bass, but it says it has a bass port?
 
edit: TF10 seems to get mentioned a lot on your guys board, but it's a bit too much for me price wise, unless I knew I was getting pretty close to the best possible.. even then I still don't really want to break $200

 

[hatefulsandwich]

How is 500 reviews going to help you much more than 5? At the end of the day, it's your ears that will be listening to them, not those 500. You can read all you want and still find yourself disappointed. Don't discount earphones just because hundreds of people haven't reviewed them.

Ironically, the Shure SE315 is often considered the most pointless IEM in Shure's line-up because it doesn't do better than the SE215 but costs more. Not personal experience, just going by what I've read. The TF10 was a staple at head-Fi and many still enjoy it, but it is rather large and there have been lots of leaps in portable audio since the TF10 reigned supreme.

It doesn't sound like you're all that experienced with IEMs, so the best thing to do would probably be to try some of the current bang-for-buck IEMs to establish what kind of sound you're into before dropping more moola. Don't underestimate the importance of establishing what your taste actually is - a lot of the time there isn't a "better" earphone, just a preferred one. You could get the most technically capable earphone and still be unhappy with it.

It's funny, you seem to be more focused on physical specifications and price than sound - we don't even know what you're intending on using them for and with what type of music and gear. All earphones have drivers. Drivers are the things that produce sound. Earphones without drivers would be earplugs. Headphones without drivers would be earmuffs. Some earphones are harder to drive than others and benefit from an amplifier, which is what the sensitivity and impedance numbers are for. Generally earphones are made easier to drive than headphones from a lower-power source, but it's not always the case.

The main driver types are dynamic and balanced armature. They come with their own pros and cons which you can research for yourself. You get earphones that combine several of these same drivers at once or even combine the two types - these are referred to as Hybrids.

Seize the day. You'll have nothing in your ears for as long as you're sitting comparing hundreds of other people's impressions. Here are some IEMs that are currently being lauded as bang-for-buck wonders that don't even break $100
Zero Audio Carbo Tenore
Ostry KC06 (and the "A" variant)
Narmoo S1
Havi B3 Pro 1

There are actually TONS of earphones in your price bracket worth looking at, but like I say: you'll never know until you actually try them. If you can demo earphones anywhere, just to find out what the kind of sound signature you like is, do so. If you have somewhere to start such as, "I loved the Sennheiser IE80, but didn't like the Westone UM30," then we can already steer you in a better direction.

Hope that's helpful. I know you're probably trying to save yourself some possible regret by doing loads and loads of research, but with something as subjective as sound, those can only steer you in a very general direction and even then might land up in disappointment. If you don't like what you get, there is always selling and trading options on the For Sale forums.

 

[hatefulsandwich]

That was so much more succinct in my head...

 

[aionis]

That was so much more succinct in my head...

How would you compare IEMS in relation to headphones? Not assuming the same price, where would you say the general variable of it is? I'll check out your suggestions as well.
 
As of current, I think I'm going to be ordered the Shure SE215LTD Limited Edition Sound Isolating Earphones with Enhanced Bass.. reviews seem pretty good on it.
 
What I'm going to use the earphones for is going to vary greatly, it'll be from listening to music, to working out with them, to gaming. I essentially want it for all purpose.
 
 
I've been told that pretty much whatever I get for over $100 is going to be a huge upgrade in comparison to the headset I had previously. Which was the Steelseries Siberva v2.
 
The only issue I have with the ones that I'm looking to get, is that it doesn't seem to have a volume dial, and that the cord isn't going to be long enough.
 
 
So to touch on those two last concerns.. everything else seems good so far, aside from maybe the highs not being great.
 
If I find a wire with a volume dial, it probably isn't going to be the same type of wiring; will there be a noticeable difference from not having the same type of wire? ...As well as any recommendations on the particular type of wire that I could get, that has a volume dial... constantly having to mess with the sound through each file on my cpu is rather annoying.
 
 
edit: to clarify, these are going to be plugged into a laptop for a majority of the use
 
2nd edit: one of the main reasons I don't really want to drop below around $150 price range is because the headset I bought varies from $60-$90... I'm new to earphones, and I wanted something that sounded as good, or better than those.. I never really looked into varying sound quality as I have with these though

 

[milford30]

 
How would you compare IEMS in relation to headphones? Not assuming the same price, where would you say the general variable of it is? I'll check out your suggestions as well.
 
As of current, I think I'm going to be ordered the Shure SE215LTD Limited Edition Sound Isolating Earphones with Enhanced Bass.. reviews seem pretty good on it.
 
What I'm going to use the earphones for is going to vary greatly, it'll be from listening to music, to working out with them, to gaming. I essentially want it for all purpose.
 
 
I've been told that pretty much whatever I get for over $100 is going to be a huge upgrade in comparison to the headset I had previously. Which was the Steelseries Siberva v2.
 
The only issue I have with the ones that I'm looking to get, is that it doesn't seem to have a volume dial, and that the cord isn't going to be long enough.
 
 
So to touch on those two last concerns.. everything else seems good so far, aside from maybe the highs not being great.
 
If I find a wire with a volume dial, it probably isn't going to be the same type of wiring; will there be a noticeable difference from not having the same type of wire? ...As well as any recommendations on the particular type of wire that I could get, that has a volume dial... constantly having to mess with the sound through each file on my cpu is rather annoying.
 
 
edit: to clarify, these are going to be plugged into a laptop for a majority of the use
 
2nd edit: one of the main reasons I don't really want to drop below around $150 price range is because the headset I bought varies from $60-$90... I'm new to earphones, and I wanted something that sounded as good, or better than those.. I never really looked into varying sound quality as I have with these though

 
If you've already decided then don't waste our time asking, we've recommended so many sub $100 that would bet the shures into the ground, have fun judging stuff by it's price and be disappointed.

 

[aionis]

   
If you've already decided then don't waste our time asking, we've recommended so many sub $100 that would bet the shures into the ground, have fun judging stuff by it's price and be disappointed.

I'm not really disagreeing with posts. It's just that it seems odd to me that there isn't a sort of set earphone for each certain price range...
 
With computers, cars, etc, you can get a certain set increase for each different price range. So it seems odd to me when there are 5-10 alternatives listed all with varying price ranges.
 
 
..I don't judge things by their price alone, but price typically indicates something that will be of somewhat better quality.
 
..It's also kind of hard to compare what I should go for based on a very brief explanation in comparison to something else. 100+ reviews @ 4.3/5, with people claiming to be audiophiles in reviews.
 
 
If I'm ignoring that I'm going purely on the assumption that Head-Fi is offering a better insight to it with one response vs 100. There are also threads mentioning the regular version not really having any base, vs the enhanced one being noticeable. 

 

[milford30]

  I'm not really disagreeing with posts. It's just that it seems odd to me that there isn't a sort of set earphone for each certain price range...
 
With computers, cars, etc, you can get a certain set increase for each different price range. So it seems odd to me when there are 5-10 alternatives listed all with varying price ranges.
 
 
..I don't judge things by their price alone, but price typically indicates something that will be of somewhat better quality.
 
..It's also kind of hard to compare what I should go for based on a very brief explanation in comparison to something else. 100+ reviews @ 4.3/5, with people claiming to be audiophiles in reviews.
 
 
If I'm ignoring that I'm going purely on the assumption that Head-Fi is offering a better insight to it with one response vs 100. There are also threads mentioning the regular version not really having any base, vs the enhanced one being noticeable. 

 
Search 'shure cable problem' in google. Not much I can say trust, your 100 review + score. For almost all the iems we mentioned there is a dedicated thread with hundreds of posts, no one's telling you don't do research on them and just blindly pick one.
 
there's a 'Multi-IEM Review - 315 IEMs compared ' on the first page (and other threads) with scores, price and individual review from well respected members.
 
Edit: Also if you believe the shures are worth a '4.3/5' then any high end iem would be off the scale, unless you give it a 4 for actually producing sound.

 

[aionis]

   
Search 'shure cable problem' in google. Not much I can say trust, your 100 review + score. For almost all the iems we mentioned there is a dedicated thread with hundreds of posts, no one's telling you don't do research on them and just blindly pick one.
 
there's a 'Multi-IEM Review - 315 IEMs compared ' on the first page (and other threads) with scores, price and individual review from well respected members.
 
Edit: Also if you believe the shures are worth a '4.3/5' then any high end iem would be off the scale, unless you give it a 4 for actually producing sound.

I'll look into that. Since you say the shures are overpriced, where would you put the Shure SE215LTD earphones at if they were priced correctly or fairly in relation to other models that were like them or better? Currently they're going for $149.99.

 

[Lorspeaker]

i bought two iems lately.... 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/708427/the-new-jvc-fx850-woodie-perfection-a-review
 
and ....
Zero Audio - ZH-DX200 Carbo Tenore | ZH-DX210 Carbo Basso (Carbon & Aluminium IEM) - Information, Appreciation and...
 
do check them out, hope one or both of them should make u happy. 
 
( havent heard siberian headfone b4... will check it out one of these days.. )