[linvillegorge]

Quote:

haha yea its a gift from my grandparents and aunts and uncles

I predict you end up selling them for beer money before your second semester.
 
Either that or they get stolen.  Stolen is probably more likely, actually.
 
Not hatin', just being honest.  Unless your family is loaded and generous, you have no clue how broke you're about to be for the next few years.

 

[ballinneb12]

yea i mean i guess the lower the price the better...i would prefer it be below 300 but if there is a pair i really like for a bit over i will be willing to get them

 

[Eric_C]

Quote:

skullcandy ones

 
If it's the Fix, those are earbuds, not in-ears. 
If it was another model (with silicon ear tips), did they come with tips in multiple sizes? The fit of an IEM usually depends on the tip you use.
 
I'm asking because, well, maybe in-ears are for you. A good pair will likely block enough noise for you, might be good enough to sleep in, and since they're very portable you could use them a lot more than headphones (and thus get more value out of your money). And they can get plenty bassy for you, too.

 

[ballinneb12]

i had ones with different sizes to put on the earbud but what is the difference between ear buds and in ears?

 

[BrownBear]

Not the Ink'd? Is that what you had? I just got a pair of them for six bucks. I thought they were pretty bad, in my opinion of course.

 

[ballinneb12]

i had the 50/50 rasta ones

 

[ChavaC]

If you really want isolation I'd go with IEMs. You shouldn't be able to hear anyone else, they don't shift when you look down to read your textbook, there's basically no weight to them, and you can sleep in almost all of them.

 

[MetalHealth30]

If its any help.... IEMs are more discreet, so they might be less likely to get stolen!
 
 
Just a thought......

 

[ballinneb12]

yea i think im just gonna get over ears and use my apple ones for iems and get a sleep phone for sleeping

 

[Eric_C]

Earbuds:

 
IEMs (various tips shown):

 
In practice? Earbuds are more likely to fall out of your ears, make them hurt even when they stay in, offer less to no isolation from external noise, and as a direct result of not isolating (via a seal, created by the tips) they will fail to let you hear a lot of the bass in any music.

 

[linvillegorge]

The bad thing about IEMs in my experience is that I've never found a pair that were both really comfortable and fit really securely.  It seemed like I was always forced to choose between one or the other.

 

[Eric_C]

^ What IEMs have you had experience with?

 

[ballinneb12]

yea same here...i also just remembered i have some jvc noise canceling headphones which i thought were just not very good. the sound quaility wasnt a huge deal to me but it was more that they didnt really block out any noises...i guess im not a huge guy on sound quaility which might not matter as much since most of my music isnt good quality anyway...i just need a comfortable pair that i can use a lot...also what is your guys take on customizeable iems that i can get custom made for my ear...would that help fix my problem of not finding them comfortable and them always falling out and how much do those usual retail for?

 

[Eric_C]

Customs may not be comfortable at first. They also start at US$400, IIRC--and this may not include the price of getting your impressions done, and the price of shipping (which you definitely want insured).
 
You're 18 now, right? Your ear shape should be more or less stable (or getting there), but outgrowing expensive customs is another concern. 
 
If you've never tried Westone in-ears with Comply or Shure tips, you may not have an idea how comfortable and isolating IEMs can be. Secondhand, even their previous flagship model, the UM3X, should easily come under $400. Their UM2 should be about half that on the secondhand market. 
 
For noise cancelling, a lot of company's just don't do it well. Beats is an example of NC as a useless feature--their Pro's NC is worse than Audio Technica's M50 with its plain ol' isolation. 
Bose is the best at noise cancelling. Its pure SQ however, is definitely behind all the supraaurals you listed earlier.

 

[linvillegorge]

Quote:

^ What IEMs have you had experience with?

Quite a few, but no customs.
 
I work for a manufacturer of a lot of in-ear type stuff.  We ship each product with quite a few gel options that are tested to fit the vast majority of people.  None of them work well for me.  Maybe I'm just weird.  I'd say it's likely.