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Best In-Ear Headphones At Lowish Cost, Opinions?

Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 7:03 pm
by Fred
My current Sony headphones are nearly dead. They're my third pair of the same model, the first two died in ways that I can no longer remember, which shows how long these have lasted. The sound quality is OK, more than good enough for my use, but they're so old that:
  • Almost all of the gold is gone from the plug (expected considering quantity of use, and not a problem)
  • Almost all of the gold is gone from the OUTSIDE of the socket on the extension (purely from contact with clothes/me/etc)
  • Most of the chrome plating is gone from the white plastic it was once stuck to
  • The rubber coating on the body that extends to become the strain relief is delaminated from one ear entirely
  • The rubber coating on the body of the other one is partly missing
  • The rubber in-ear grommets are split and torn
  • One of the ears is now intermittent from internally broken cable
  • The model number is long-gone from the chrome fork/splitter/junction
  • The plug/socket that bring the extension and phones together is covered in verdigrease
  • The rubber sheathes on that plug and socket are completely disconnected from the metal and free to spin
So I need to get something to replace them, because I'm on skype a lot these days, and also periodically fly and sit waiting and catch trains/buses, etc... Some pictures of the wear:



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To be fair, they've been excellent (all three sets) and this set has lasted a LONG time (3 or 4 years?) of solid use! I'm considering getting something else. Partly because I have no idea what these are, partly because they're likely no longer made, partly for a change, partly to get something that sounds better.

Continued in the next post...

Fred.

Re: Best In-Ear Headphones At Lowish Cost, Opinions?

Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 7:16 pm
by Fred
So, what to replace them with?

I had a search around and came up with a few options:

Sennheiser CX 300-II Precision black Price: $37.15US + free shipping to US from: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... sku=650082
Same pair from Amazon.es 35 euro inc shipping (~$45US) http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B001EZY ... e=&seller=

Panasonic RP-HJE355 23 euro inc shipping (~) http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B005OJY ... er=&sr=8-2
Likely even cheaper in the US...

MEElectronics-A151 $49US free shipping http://www.amazon.com/MEElectronics-A15 ... onics+a151
Or, more locally... $103US....

Pity the dude living in Europe! :-p

Any experience with any of the above units?

Any other suggestions up to about 50USD I guess? Suggestions for units above 50USD should be accompanied by donation of the aforementioned units :-p

Anyone willing to sponsor a pair for me? This is one of my most important tools these days, believe it or not... I'd appreciate it very much as I'm going to be in deep shit soon if I can't find some funds and as the pictures above show, I NEED a new pair soon...

Fred.

Re: Best In-Ear Headphones At Lowish Cost, Opinions?

Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 9:13 pm
by MrOnion
I've had my AKG K324:s for many years now and still in good shape and sound good, recommended if still available. The Sennheisers are good too. No experience with the others.

Re: Best In-Ear Headphones At Lowish Cost, Opinions?

Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 9:40 pm
by Fred
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Box-Akg-K32 ... 2576884c82
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-AKG- ... 0645096947

Hmmm, looks like there are a lot of ching chong meow fakes of those floating around. How would I know a real one until the fake started falling apart, or arrived looking cheap/nasty? I like them, though :-)
Sarah wrote:Sennheiser CX300-II. They don't have volume control like my old 400s that broke, but they've the best bass at an awesome price. If you want true to life high fidelity sound though then I recommend CX880 (I have them presently and they ate pretty amazing - but less bass and much more money) anyway, Sennheiser forever!
From a friend. To which I responded: "Ideally I want a linear response, not a weighted response with "lots of bass", but I guess I'll have to wait and see :-p"

Fred.

Re: Best In-Ear Headphones At Lowish Cost, Opinions?

Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 9:43 pm
by johntramp
I have a set of Sennheiser CX300-II and they are good

Re: Best In-Ear Headphones At Lowish Cost, Opinions?

Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 3:23 am
by Fred
Spent several hours reading reviews and narrowed back down to the CX-300-II. Also looked at Kliptsch? S4, however they seem to be more popular than good.

Thanks to the two generous people who through some money at my paypal for these. Very much appreciated!

Fred.

Re: Best In-Ear Headphones At Lowish Cost, Opinions?

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 7:40 am
by toalan
I have 2 pairs of the cx-300 (creative labs branded ones), pretty good build quality, nothing bad to say about them but I do not think they are worth MSRP though. I think you can pickup low end shure earphones for ~$70, seems like a better deal than $40 for the cx-300.

The creative labs ep-630 are rebrands of the cx-300, so you might be able to find the creative ones for cheaper. I got mine for $15

I hear that the meelectronics are the best bang for buck earphones, they often have good sales ~50% off.

I also have the cx55, I prefer to use that one over the cx-300 because it fits my ears better, I can not hear any difference between the cx55 and the cx300 but then again I can not hear the difference between $2 IEMS and the cx55/cx-300.

Re: Best In-Ear Headphones At Lowish Cost, Opinions?

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:09 pm
by Fred
Thanks Alan! The CX-300 II units are in the mail on their way, looking forward to receiving them :-) Thanks again to donors and my "shipping agent", extra love for him! :-)

Re: Best In-Ear Headphones At Lowish Cost, Opinions?

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:12 pm
by Fred
Arrived this morning! Clear, detailed, yes. A tad bright in the top end, maybe a bit harsh in places, but I may just be used to those old Sonys. Certainly fit the bill, regardless! Thanks to all involved! :-)