Buying advise for In Ear Headphones from USA $50+

[Sarath]

Requirement: In ear headphones preferably; good quality, comfortable, reliable and within $50 (dont mind spending upto $100 if justified)

Summary: Typical relative/friend goes to US for a short trip story. My friends sister is going to US on a 1month trip. I thought this time I can get some nice goodies from that distant land so I decided to get something that is light and feasible for them to bring.

On another note; any other buying sugestions
[I already have an ipod, android phone, PS3, everything my PC needs, good camera & thats all] [Dont want iphone, PSP, Nintendo] NOT SO IMPORTANT

My previous IEMs were Sennheiser CX180 which went kaput recently. I dont mind extra bass. I may actually prefer them; which I cant verify as Ive never use any other set of phones.

Kindly suggest 3-4 earphones since a single one might not be available and they are unlikely to go searching a lot for my phones.

So if there are any earphones you guys have gone all- "Wow those are sweet but DAMN! not available here" then let me know. Or you guys can share with me anything you have wanted to get from the US of A.


DISCLAIMER: This is my second thread for earphones. I know. However I was broke then. Now this opportunity strikes and I am taking it and I just so happen to have a $100 bill

 

[teejay_geekEd]

You could have just given a look at the other threads in the audio section.
I had posted two links that would suffice.
Here you go again.
Multi-IEM Review - 172 IEMs compared (Xears XR120PRO II & Kozee E100 added 06/01)

and

Concise Multi-IEM Comparison (Radius HP-RLF11 “radHeadphones LIVE” and HP-TWF21 “W n°2” added, June 4th, 2011)


And I would recommend you the Brainwavz M2 for 59 dollars. You can get them from Amazon USA.

If however you are willing to sacrifice on Bass and want the best analytical iems then go for Head-Direct RE0 and Head Direct REZERO. (It scores 8.6 out of 10 in joker's thread on head fi ). Somehow I think that everyone who wants the so called bassy iems initially (including me), ends up longing for an analytical pair of iem.

Check the table given at the end after you click the first link and then compare with the corresponding review.
You will get your answer.

p.s You can also check out fischer audio eterna v2. Its a bassy iem thats good for its price too. Infact there are many options in those threads, but some of them arent available (discontinued products). Alternatively you should check out the head-fi forums.

 

[Extreme Gamer]

Amazon.com: Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Audiophile Headphones: Electronics

best headphones for $100.

 

[teejay_geekEd]

Dude he didnt ask for headphone.
He asked for in ear monitors (IEM) which he misspelt as in ear headphones.

 

[Extreme Gamer]

Im just saying, if he changes his mind and gets headphones, he wont regret it.

 

[Sarath]

Actually I want both. I had initially thought of getting a sub 10k headphone from sennheiser like the 555 etc.

Wanted IEMs for around 2.5-5k for mobility.

You guys can suggest either. Anything is fine.

Right now immediately looking at $50 headphones.

 

[Extreme Gamer]

hey if you can spend ~10k then the HD598 is available at an amazing 9k + shipping/octroi from bitfang.com. (MRP is ~13k). dunno about rep tho.

I would've done the same but unfortunately my dad wont let me use his credit card anymore.

hell, if he did, id get the ATH-A900 from amazon.

 

[Sarath]

Does it need an amplifier?

 

[Extreme Gamer]

An amplifier will benefit it because of the 50 ohm impedence but you dont need to spend too much on one.Fiio E5 will be good enough IMHO.

It will not sound bad without amplifier tho.

If you were to get a model with 64 ohms or higher impedence then a good 5k amp would be very beneficial.

If you spend on the HD800 or the 600 series monsters then even 500$ amps will be worth it.(Not saying that you will spend so much tho).

They have a huge 300 ohm impedence.

 

[Sarath]

Nope not spending that much. I want to get one that can be done with without requiring an amplifier.

 

[Extreme Gamer]

Get HD598

My bro has a an HD380 Pro with 54 ohm impedence (598 has 50 ohm) and it sounds great without amps.

 

[Sarath]

Thats 10-12k I dont have so much to spare.

Looking for a 5k Headphone. Circum aural.

And a 2.5-5k IEM

 

[Extreme Gamer]

Sennheiser HD 518 Headphones: Sennheiser Headphones: Price India: Flipkart Headphones

It is good, but will cost 5.7k (maybe there is shipping cost...I'm not sure|EDIT: there is no shipping cost for orders above Rs.100 lol).

Best part is the COD service.

I dunno much about IEM sorry.

BTW The 598 is available for 9k at bitfang.com.

 

[Sarath]

I have narrowed down my choices to

Klipsch IMAGE S4
Sennheiser CX 300
BrainWavz M2


Any more recommendations or suggestions?

 

[teejay_geekEd]

Put CX300 out of the equation. Doesnt deserve to be there.
And regarding S4 and M2, depends on what u want.
M2 has better bass, S4 has better soundstage but has sibilance issues and bass creeps into the midrange which doesnt qualify as a good thing.

 

[desiibond]

I have narrowed down my choices to

Klipsch IMAGE S4
Sennheiser CX 300
BrainWavz M2


Any more recommendations or suggestions?

Image S4 is for bass lovers and CX300 is okayish IEM. I think M2/M3 are much better than the other two.