[mas5acre]

Hi everyone!  This is my first post here.  I have a pair of white Shure SCL4s that i bought a little over two years ago so they are out of warranty by like a month.  I absolutely loved these headphones, even though I found them uncomfortable at first.  The rubber that covers where the wire connects to the earpiece came undone and the wires frayed exposing the metal coil inside but the coil inside survived and I superglued the rubber piece back into place to recover the exposed coil.  Since I did this I never took advantage of the warranty, because I figured it was void.  I only paid like $79 for them from musican's friend because they were discontinued.
 
The thing is I miss music.  I find myself never listening to music anymore in the last months when I first started hearing an audible hiss in the left speaker.  I tried going back to cheap buds and i just plain hate them.  At $79 its like a drug dealer giving you a hit for free the first time and then you can't get enough.  I've also had the shure IE1 and they were better than ipod earbuds but no where near the Scl4 quality.  The bose had immediate comfort though but a horribly thin wire that didn't last.  I am very rough on my earbuds.  I used to go thru a pair of the cheap ones each week or two.
 
On the go, I usually use my Nokia N900 (maemo linux based os)  for music which I have 64gb on (32gb internal + 32gb microsd), it also plays flac and just about anything I throw at it.  I've never used a portable amp as my phone is I think thick enough, but is it worth trying?
 
When at home I would use my Shure Scl4 on my win 7 64 bit pc, on this I plugged my buds into a Xonar Essence STX headphone amp soundcard.  For speakers on my computer I use audioengine AE2s running from my sound card which I think sound much better than my cheap 7.1 Onyko speaker system.
 
Most music I have is in flac or lame 320 vbr quality -0.  I plan on buying a pair of Sennheier HD650 cans soon or at least an audio techina ath-a900 if I can't afford the 650s.  What I need is a good pair of earbuds for on the go costing under $200 USD.  But please bear in mind I am rough on earbuds and cheaper can be better. Oh and what about portable amps?

 

[imadedend]

You've left out the most important bits, like favourite music genres and preferences on isolation, size, fit, etc. Also do you like bass heavy IEMs or ones with quality mids and highs?
 
Often expensive IEMs are extremely durable, so taking full advantage of that $200 budget may be a good idea. You may want to look at some with detachable cables if that interests you!

 

[mas5acre]

im on my phone now so forgive typos plz.



mids and highs are better than bass. i dont mind a punch but not where it affects clarity.


Rock and alternative but not current "nickelback sounding rock" i like 80s rock and newer stuff that sounds like 80s rock as well as bands like HIM, evanescence, Green Day, Lordi, Alestorm, the Cure, bloodhound gang, the 69 eyes, CKY, Disturbed, Godsmack, Hot Leg, Wolfmother, and Korn. My collection is vast though and have classical as well and even some country and rap.

closed or open doesn't really matter. ive used both, u can hear surroundings better say walking the dog with open, but closed sound better. i really would like something comfortable like the bose but sound like shures which were also fine comfort wise once i got used to it.

detachable cords is a good idea. might even go 300 if worth it.

as for size i nvr changed the tips on my shures or bose. the default middle size ones fit me well.

 

[Sebastianbf]

If you liked how the SCL4 sounded, you should probably look at the SE425 from Shure. They cost something like $300 and have detachable cable. BTW I've read that they're a real improvement over SCL4 and it has a Dual Driver setup.