Hi,
Long time reader (lurking here since launch!), first time signup. I finally suffered the inevitable and stepped on one of my Shure SE315 IEMs and broke the sound barrel off the body in way that will never be easy to re-pair. After 5 years of faithful service from both the IEMs and the stock cable that they came with, I am investigating all the awesome looking ChiFi sets < $50 as a replacement. There are so many that it's hard to resist the temptation to order 5 or 6 different pairs all at once.
I have gone through tons of over-the-ear and higher end phones over the years, including sennheiser, 2 different sets of sony v6's (they get stolen or permanently borrowed before breaking!) and tons of cheap IEMs from panasonic, sennh, sony, and a pair of etymotics that never agreed with me. The only thing that lasted were a pair of nicely broken in Grado SR80s, but are now just broke due to a soldering failure in the cable. Will for sure be looking for tips on how to re-cable my SR80s.
Like the SE315's from Shure and my prized V6's, these are all fairly neutral. I enjoy a lot of technical listening in jazz and classical, and tend to boost EQ for rock and pop. Right now I'm slumming it with a pair of AKGs that came with a samsung tablet, some wired gen2 Marshall's, and a freebie Acer Nitro gaming headset that came with my laptop. Don't laugh ... the 50mm driver in these actually has some decent thump after EQ'ing them to taste!
Look forward to sharing some experiences. cheers