[vanillasnake21]

I'm looking for open back / open air earphones. I've bought a pair from Bose about 5 years ago from target but I cut the cable by accidnt and couldn't reattach them again. Anyways I'm looking for the same ones, I just don't know what they're called and bose website doesn't seem to have them. They were $50 when I bough them and sounded great. I'm also open to other suggestions for other brands somewhere in that price range, no more than $75 though. I'd be happy with same ones. It's very important that they're open back and not monitors or noise canceling. 

 

[alffla]

VE Monks earbuds have been getting a lot of praise.
and they're only 5USD or whatever. Worth giving a try.

 

[vanillasnake21]

they're not open back! That's the most important thing for me. I'm not looking for the cheapest, I'm sure they're good quality but I really want something to what I had before. If someone can at least give me a name for the bose open back headphones they used to sell so I can look it up on ebay, because I don't even know what they were called.

 

[alffla]

oh right. I thought you meant you were looking for earphones, not headphones, so when you mentioned open back i assumed earbuds (as opposed to inears which have a tight seal) maybe if you posted a photo here, people will be able to help you out.

 

[vanillasnake21]

I am looking for earphones. That is they should be inserted in your ear instead of sitting on top of your head with a band. Not sure if they're called in-ear or something else. Basically like those in your avatar, but with an open back, so they would leak noise in and leak music out.

 

[vanillasnake21]

I found the ones I had they're called Bose IE2. But they're 185!? I bought them for 50 from target. Is there anything similar Bose makes or other manufacturers make? These phones have a mesh on the head instead of being fully plastic so that gives them this open air design, but they're not really labeled open-air on the site, even though I think the box did say open air. I can't seem to find any by searching online maybe I'm using the wrong terms?

 

[ryanjsoo]

  I found the ones I had they're called Bose IE2. But they're 185!? I bought them for 50 from target. Is there anything similar Bose makes or other manufacturers make? These phones have a mesh on the head instead of being fully plastic so that gives them this open air design, but they're not really labeled open-air on the site, even though I think the box did say open air. I can't seem to find any by searching online maybe I'm using the wrong terms?

Earbuds don`t seal like Bose earphones and some may have a rear vent too (though it hardly makes a difference to sound quality, rather the tuning decided by the manufacturer is what determines sound, etc).
 
Earbuds will give you a similar sense of awareness to those Bose earphones, as there is little isolation, letting you hear your surroundings.
 
There are heaps of earbuds out there that offer a lot better sound quality than the Bose for a similar amount of money, my personal favourites being the Shozy Cygnus and MRZ Ting. Cheaper options include the aforementioned Venture Monk+, Fiio EM3 and MRZ Tomahawk.
 
All of these earphones can be ordered from Penonaudio.com, I can personally vouch for their reliability, but if you want to buy in store, the Bose ie2`s are a safe bet. They often go on sale, I`ve seen them go for $70 AUD or around the $50 USD price you got years ago.