Decent earphones?

T

TechBoy

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
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Does anyone here have advice or input on a decent pair of earphones that are reasonably rugged too. Because I have just gone through my 6th pair of earphones and probably a total of 200~ish in the last year or so in earphones.

So far the only thing I know of is the Shure E2Cs.

Please help me out!:p
 
Check out Head-Fi.org.

Also, what do you mean rugged? Are you abusing your earphones or something? I've had the iM716 for a while and while they're not the strongest around, I haven't had any problems in the past few months I been using them.
 
Well, some how or another the wire gets ripped from the jack after a few months. Probably because I like to wind up the earphones. But other than that I dont do anything. The only earphones that havent done this so far is the iBuds which came with my ipod but the quality is horrid so I dont really want to use them.
 
What's your budget? For an initial jump into earphones I would suggest ER6i. Grab the shure olive foam tips while you're at it.
 
the Nuforce NE-7m (i think thats the whole name lol) has been getting a lot of attention lately, its relatively inexpensive as well
 
I love my westone UM2's.

I paid around $250 on ebay (can put you in touch with the seller if you like) and they are great. So comfortable, great isolation, and much much more pleasing sound than my old Shure E4C's. Not sure how durable they will be, as they are pretty new (3 months...) but the twisted wires make me nervous....

If you don't want to spend that much, check out the NUforces listed above... I have heard great things and will be picking up a pair for myself once I get a paycheck!
 
I was going to say ER4 but I didn't think that was within budget since he keeps getting cheap earphones?
 
they can be had pretty cheap used, and are fairly durable. I've been using mine daily for about 6 months.
 
$100-$140 is not cheap when you can only afford buying earphones that are so cheaply made they break every couple months. I think he's buying ~$35 earphones? $200 divided by 6 earphones...

That's why I suggested the ER6i which is a nice step up while not breaking HIS bank. ~$125 might not break your bank, but it can for many others.
 
Alai said:
$100-$140 is not cheap when you can only afford buying earphones that are so cheaply made they break every couple months. I think he's buying ~$35 earphones? $200 divided by 6 earphones...

That's why I suggested the ER6i which is a nice step up while not breaking HIS bank. ~$125 might not break your bank, but it can for many others.
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yea pretty much. Last one I bought was 35 with a $15 off coupon from buy.com. My budget is 60-70 ish.
 
Then ER6i will be perfect for you. If you don't mind used, you can buy one in the Head-Fi FS forums for $50 shipped (doesn't include filter though). I see another open box pair for $65 shipped that includes filters. I think either one of these come with unused tips though, so you don't have to worry about someone's ear infection or something lol. And usually, if the Head-Fi seller has good feedback, they know that they should be cleaning their earphones before selling them (we have our own feedback forums on Head-Fi.... works really well).
 
TechBoy said:
Well, some how or another the wire gets ripped from the jack after a few months. Probably because I like to wind up the earphones. But other than that I dont do anything. The only earphones that havent done this so far is the iBuds which came with my ipod but the quality is horrid so I dont really want to use them.
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If you make a habit of messing up the cables, many IEMs now have removable cables. Just to name an example, I recently got the Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 Pros and found that their cable was removable. I bought a Westone ES cable to put on and it works perfectly (many choose to file them down, but I really don't see the point. Yeah they stick out a smidge, but not enough even for someone nearby to notice and say something.) That cable is incredibly flexible and smooth and doesn't catch on things much so it should take a good bit of punishment too. Also, the biggest reason to change is that you can get a better sounding cable this way than what most come with.

The Super.Fis are only one of a rather large list of IEMs that have removable cables (and the Westones aren't the only ones you can buy either.) Definitely something to look into if you have a history of problems with the cables.

BTW, on the subject of tips, I recommend at least trying Comply's memory foam tips. I found that they work a LOT better for me. Especially on my old IEMs. I used to have Shure E2Cs as well and those are a real pain (literally) to deal with. I had to practically shove the entire thing into my ear just to get a decent seal and not too badly recessed bass. When I got the Comply foam tips for it I was able to put it in more ordinarily and the bass is more or less exactly what it's supposed to be for them.

AC!D-RXN said:
...

Not sure how durable they will be, as they are pretty new (3 months...) but the twisted wires make me nervous....
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If they use the same wires as the Westone ES series, don't be nervous. I have the white Super.Fis, so when I decided to get a Westone cable I ultimately decided the clear one would look best with them. I can see through it to the wire and what I see makes me believe that these things have a number of flex cycles that would put their durability into the decades of normal use most likely.
 
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