[XxATOLxX]

Once again my dog managed to eat his way through another pair of my trusty NE-7M's.



See the carnage here:

Anywho, I like to have IEMs to work out with. I could order another pair online but then I'd have to wait for shipping and I don't want that downtime. So I did what any good Head-Fi'er would do and stroll into a Best Buy to see what can hold me over.

So there's the usual Best Buy fare: colorful iPod earphones, Dr. Dre Beats, Skullcandy earphones, etc.. and something catches my eye: Ultimate Ears. Hey isn't Ultimate Ears the brand that makes those really nice UE10s? They should at least know what they're doing.


Wrong.


These things sound horrible. Extremely boomy bass with a badly recessed midrange and a screechy top end. I honestly do think these are comparable to Skullcandy IEMs. I'll give them another couple of hours to see if they open up, if not, then they're getting returned.



Sorry to start another noob thread, but can anyone recommend IEMs I can buy locally (Target, Wal-Mart, Best buy, etc)? Preferably under $60.

 

[intoflatlines]

Don't know off the top of my head any IEMs available for that price from B&M stores, but I agree that lower end UE IEMs are pretty bad.

 

[bjaardker]

Looks like you're a candidate for a set of Koss headphones.

I've utilized Koss' warranty on multiple occasions when tragedy befalls my headphones.

 

[ljokerl]

If you have a local Radioshack I would see if they've got any Auvio Armature earphones in stock. While not stellar by any means I didn't find them particularly lacking in anything. The online price was $59.99 last I checked and there's a chance they'd match it in-store. I think Best Buy sometimes carries these as well.

 

[collin482]

I'm in a very similar situation, my NE-7M's ceased to work after about a year of use. I needed to get some IEMs for travel and bike rides and didn't have time for shipping. I saw these at best buy and thought they would be decent sounding, plus they were on sale for 30 bucks. Well now I can tell why they were on sale, they really are only worth that much in terms of SQ, they completely kill the tone of distorted guitars, overall the sound is very bloated and the highs are quite shrill. I guess I should have expected to be disappointed after getting used to the likes of my Grado's and NE-7M's.

 

[jbi130]

I was able to buy some SuperFi 4's at Future Shop which is owned by Best Buy.  They usually only have one pair in stock though.  I also have the MetroFi 170(vi) and they do suck compared to the SuperFi 4, even the cable is nicer on the SuperFi 4.  But even with those, I'm hoping to upgrade when I head down to the US next month.  Selection in Canada is not very good, and I have the upgrade itch.

 

[nikp]

The fit of the MetroFi 170 is pretty bad.