[FrZ-Fi]

So my trusty IE80S BT's finally broke after several years of heavy use. Was looking to just get a replacement set, but figured I could look into a new upgraded pair.

Any recommendations for a high quality IEM? I'm looking for the best sound quality and can either do buds or with a wire connecting the two ear pieces. Will be mostly used for streaming BT music on the road.

Budget is about $500

 

[pbui44]

Your IE80S BT can turn into a regular IE80S with this cable:

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/accessories--ie-80--standard-cable

Stock cables are known to have the jack break first before the housing connectors, so get some 3.5mm-female-to-3.5mm-male adapters for a prolonged stock cable life:

https://www.amazon.com/Warmstor-Pla...mm+female+to+3.5mm+male+adapt,aps,159&sr=8-36

If you need TWS for tangle-free convenience, then the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ has the best sound quality and battery life combo:

https://www.amazon.com/Galaxy-Buds-...62851&sprefix=galaxy+buds+plus,aps,175&sr=8-5

Lastly, a nice Galaxy Buds comparison from @crinacle to make a worry-free purchase:

https://crinacle.com/2021/01/16/samsung-galaxy-buds-pro-review-the-audiophiles-perspective/

 

[earmonger]

If you want wireless, you can find the AKG N400NC new on Ebay for under $100.

AKG (owned by Harman) also made the Galaxy Buds, and the cranky Crinacle ranks these a slot above the Galaxy Buds Pro.
https://crinacle.com/rankings/iems/
https://crinacle.com/2020/06/25/akg-n400-review-the-better-galaxy-buds/

You might also check AKG.com, where they were on sale for a while for $49 because they are discontinued, but they seem to be out of stock there right now.

I suspect the Ebay people got them on sale and jacked them up a bit, but they're still a real bargain at $80.
Obviously check the seller's reputation...

They are discontinued and so they don't have the latest-and-greatest codec, but for me, they fit easily and comfortably, and they sound very good for on-the-move use.

One eccentricity is that when you open the charging case the right bud is on the left (and vice versa). There's also a phone app to install to customize controls, but volume, ambient talk-through, stop-start and volume are controllable from the buds.

Do NOT get them if you're planning to watch videos with them; they have some latency and they don't keep up with videos. (Maybe the Galaxy Buds are better at that.) But for music they are amazingly good at the price.

 

[FrZ-Fi]

Thanks for the recommendations.

I was hopefully looking for something a little more higher end than the $100 price range.

 

[earmonger]

The AKG's were $169 before being discontinued, and you'd be surprised how natural they sound. Except for the latency problem, I'm not convinced that higher-priced Bluetooth are worth it compared to the AKG N400.

I have the top-rated (at the time) Sony WF-1000XM3 (they've moved up to XM4 now) and I think the AKGs sound clearer and more musical. As you can see, Crinacle agrees; perversely, he put his favorite buds WAY down at the bottom.

https://crinacle.com/guide/tws/

You can investigate the Sennheiser Momentum TWS buds too if you liked the Sennheiser sound.
https://en-us.sennheiser.com/momentumtruewireless-2

There is a whole TWS thread in the Portable forums.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/goi...too-soon-or-are-we-there-yet.861024/page-3043

 

[pbui44]

If you are really willing to spend $500, then check out the Drop JVC HA-FWX1 and pair it with a Audeze Euclid Cipher Bluetooth cable to add the extra power that the FWX1 needs to sound its best (both are MMCX connectors and can be worn cable-down or around-the-ear:

https://drop.com/buy/drop-jvc-ha-fwx1/reviews#reviews

https://www.audeze.com/products/euclid-cipher-bluetooth-module

Lastly, please consider buying the IE80S replacement cable in the link above and fitting it to the leftover housings of your IE80S BT to have as an emergency back-up by following the directions of this video: