[sphinxvc]

Quote:

Advice. She should get a new boyfriend.
 
Just kidding. I was using the RE-0 for 3 months with Olive tips and wasn't happy with the bass. As soon as I tried the large bi-flanges, the bass grew exponentially.
 
You can get her a Shure E210/310, or a lower end Ety.
 
However my advice to you, is take your budget and double it. A year from now, you'll forget about the money and still have a killer headphone, no matter what you decide, My ex-wife didn't wan't me buying a new pair of rollerblades (she had a tight sphincter), so I bought a pair of $99 Lightnings (1992). I was doing 20 miles a week and wore out my abec 3 72a 78 mm wheels in 2 months and had to buy a pair of abec 5 $100 replacement wheels, The moral is, if I bought the TRS Lightnings for $199 which lasted forever ot would have cost me less in the long run. She was pissed at me for getting the $100 dollar Lightnings anyway. As soon as I left her, I got the the ones that I wanted and was in hog heaven.
 
It pays to get the better headphones and enjoy them, because it will pay of in the long run. Unless you are destitute, you will forget about the extra money quickly and really enjoy your sessions. Life is short and you shouldn't settle. In the end, it will pay off.
 
Trust me. Don't sell yourself short for short term gratification. It's your and her love. Eat macaroni and cheese for a week.

+1
 
Life is short.  
 
OP - maybe you should up her budget for her.  

  
 
Within budget though: I was quite happy with Klipsch S4s when I started out.  If I had to do it all over again though I'd get RE-ZEROs used off the FS forum.  Don't forget about fit issues w/ IEMs.

 

[deadsea]

How handy are you with scissors and cable sleves? Matt's big sale thread has a pair of custom 3s. The wire cover has partially crapped out. $80 i believe. But i think you'd won't mind too much covering that bit of excess right?
 
There's also 2 etys there. MC5 and HF5. All around 60-80. Why oh why is international shipping so expensive...

 

[shrimants]

She seems to have done one of her characteristic female quirks and decided "screw headphones". She will keep asking me to borrow my turbines every weekend. I'm actually wondering about my next pair myself, and once I buy it I'll just hand her my turbines. I'm undecided on going full size, getting custom IEM's, or getting universal IEM's. I'm also undecided on whether I want to buy something around 300, 500, or go all out and get the end-all be-all pair for 1000. If I get a pair for 1000, it needs to last me like 20 years, so I dont think i'll be getting those any time soon, but if I get ones for 500 and they last me 10 years or so i'll be more than happy.

 

[blackz88]

How can anyone not mention Brainwavz M2/M3 at $45/75
 
I reckon the M2 is an absolute steal
 
I own both turbines and M2 and i would say they are nearly on the same level with turbines being a tiny bit better
 
Trust me, Brainwavz M2 is the way to go
 

 

[immtbiker]

If you can broaden to full-size, then nothing is going to beat the $69 Fostex T50RP's Orthodynamics. They are a second generation T50 and sound as good as many $300 cans.
 
Here is a 100 post thread on them:  http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/452404/just-listened-to-some-fostex-t50rps-today-wow/1485#post_7393009