Best Current In-ear Headphones

[Mouse1903]

Always preferred in-ear headphones and about 4 years ago got myself a nice set on Sennheiser IE8's which cost me well over £200. The last year the sound seemed to go on one side but come back, but as of yesterday it is so low on the right hand side it's as good as gone. Swapped the cables to confirm it's the actual right hand speaker itself that's faulty.

As for a replacement Shure SE425's and Sony XBA-4iP's get a good write up, but are they reliable? The IE8's were the best I've heard to date so looking for good sound quality and durability.

[Zod]

Etymotics ER4-P with custom-moulded earpieces.

[untakenname]

Xiaomi Pistons, tried them and couldn't believe how good they sound. Depressing how much money I've wasted beforehand on pairs costing ten times as much.

[FurtiveFreddy]

I've been using IE6's with custom earplugs for a few years and just bought a new set of SE425's with custom earplugs.

The SE425s are better made with a replaceable cable so if the cable or plug develops a fault you can fix it.

For the price, I'm pretty happy with the SE425's, although you really do need to get custom plugs to get the most out of them as one common criticism is that they're lacking at the low end, which is what I thought when I first used them with the standard earbuds.

The best upgrade for any IEM's in my opinion is to get moulded custom earplugs. You'll get effective noise isolation and experience the full range your phones can deliver.

[Mouse1903]

Thanks guys, I was hoping it was the cables as I'd have just upgraded, but I'm not prepared to pay for a new headphone for it to develop the same fault. I see some other threads have been bumped so will give me some food for thought.

In the meantime my Mum found an unopened pack of £20 skull candy earphones, these will have to do in the meantime

[THX]

I've spent anything between £5 and £300 on in-ear headphones and always found the best to be the circa £50 Sonys.

Source varied from top end portable Mini Disc until iPhones took over the world. Sometimes with a little FiiO DAC / Amp to increase the gadget factor (which, obviously increase sound quality. Even when it doesn't)

Oh, and a pair of £8 JVC's I picked up some time around 2001...

The £300 fkers now sit at the bottom of my box of forgotten gadgets, while the Sonys - easy replaced if lost / eaten by cats (happened once), sing on.

[Finlandia]

Depends how much you're willing to spend really (Shure SE846 or Westone W60, both around $1000), but seeing as you liked the Senn with its bassy dynamic sound, the SE425 would probably sound thin for your liking. You would be better off looking at dynamic earphones instead of balanced armature ones.

If you can get your hands on a set of Phonak PFE232 I can guarantee you will not be disappointed (even if they are balanced armature), other than that, I recently listened to the Brainwavz S5 and found them really good, Rock-Jaw Alfa Genus is another really good one.

[ALFAROCKA]

These hit the spot and can tune them with changeable filters http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Reviews S-Z#Rock_Jaw


oops see above post also

[jimmyjimjim]

THX said:

eaten by cats (happened once)

Happens to a lot of my stuff. Pleased to find that my latest acquisition, a new router, has internal aerials; both previous routers are looking decidedly ragged.

[theboss]

I've never had much time for in-ear headphones but quite impulsively bought some IE800 a few months ago and have been blown away by how good they sound.

[Mouse1903]

theboss said:

I've never had much time for in-ear headphones but quite impulsively bought some IE800 a few months ago and have been blown away by how good they sound.

Of course, these are pretty much the successor to the IE8's. Wonder if they have improved on the reliability / build quality? Any issues with yours so far?

[kingston12]

Mouse1903 said:

theboss said:

I've never had much time for in-ear headphones but quite impulsively bought some IE800 a few months ago and have been blown away by how good they sound.

Of course, these are pretty much the successor to the IE8's. Wonder if they have improved on the reliability / build quality? Any issues with yours so far?

I think it is the IE80 that is the successor to the IE8s. The IE800 are a lot more pricey.

It is definitely worth giving Sennheiser a call to see if they will repair yours out of warranty. Their customer service is good, and you will probably find you will end up with a new pair for a small fee.

I had IE8s a few years ago, but unfortunately broke them. Since then I have been through B&W, Denon, Shure phones before giving up and buying IE80s. I couldn't find anything else that was as good.

What is your preference for sound? The IE8/80s have quite a big bass and a massive soundstage which I like and have not found on other headphones. I tried B&W C5s which had more bass still, but just totally over-exagerrated for me, and Shure SE535s which seemed like the real 'Hi-Fi' option in that they were very detailed but lacked the warmth and bass I was used to.

[theboss]

Mouse1903 said:

theboss said:

I've never had much time for in-ear headphones but quite impulsively bought some IE800 a few months ago and have been blown away by how good they sound.

Of course, these are pretty much the successor to the IE8's. Wonder if they have improved on the reliability / build quality? Any issues with yours so far?

I've had them 3 months or so and they are only lightly used - so understandably if any issues were to arise at this stage I'd be miffed! They probably aren't even worn in yet, but they do sound very good. I tend to listen to classical music so appreciate their detail and very natural sounding quality. Build-wise they can't help but seem a little delicate by virtue of their tiny size, lightweight cable, etc. and also as the bodies are ceramic I tend to treat them like little glass ornaments as if they were prone to chipping - I always put them down on soft cloth rather than a hard table surface for example, and wouldn't just throw them in a pocket.

I do think the cable is a bad design - too short and too noisy/microphonic - but as I tend to use them in static locations (sat at desk or on train) this doesn't bother me as much as others who have reveiwed them. I don't have a problem with isolation but then my other headphones are HD800 so anything which kind of 'plugs' your ear is going to sound rather well isolated to me. I also don't tend to listen in busy environments (i.e. on the tube or whilst walking down a noisy street) because my choice of music with extreme dnyamic contrast just doesn't lend itself well to this... so I don't think the demands I impose on them reflect the requirements of typical IEM buyers.

[Murph7355]

I rate the top end Sonys. Had a couple of pairs and they served well.

Decided to try something different last year (lost one of the silicone caps prior to a flight and got hooked in by Dixons Duty Free), so bought some Klipsch X7s. They're very, very good. Feel marginally better built than the old Sonys I've had (MDR EX90s), though are more fiddly to stick in due to the design (small) and ceramic material. Sound marginally better than the Sonys too.

Am not totally convinced they're worth the premium over the Sonys (twice the cost), but they're nice earphones. I'd recommend either brand.

[HOGEPH]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SoundMAGIC-E10-Earphones-B...

I have a pair, good bass, and not expensive.

[probedb]

Current best is far too wide ranging. You can buy monitors that cost over £1k, my current Westones have custom molds and I'm happy with them.

[Digger]

I can't get a decent fit with the default ear pieces on my IE60 buds.

Where would you chaps recommend sourcing some custom earplugs from?

[FurtiveFreddy]

Digger said:

I can't get a decent fit with the default ear pieces on my IE60 buds.

Where would you chaps recommend sourcing some custom earplugs from?

http://acscustom.com/uk/

[cho]

Not sure if ACS still require you to use their audiologist so for moulds but it's also quite important to get decent impressions made. When I got my ACS's many years ago I wasn't asked to use a bite block and even though the monitors are silicon they still occasionally leak if I move my jaws etc. my most recent pair of acrylic CIEM's had (I believe) perfect impressions made and the monitors fit perfectly even if I open and close my mouth which obviously helps with the overall sound

[FurtiveFreddy]

cho said:

Not sure if ACS still require you to use their audiologist so for moulds but it's also quite important to get decent impressions made. When I got my ACS's many years ago I wasn't asked to use a bite block and even though the monitors are silicon they still occasionally leak if I move my jaws etc. my most recent pair of acrylic CIEM's had (I believe) perfect impressions made and the monitors fit perfectly even if I open and close my mouth which obviously helps with the overall sound

No, you can get the impressions done at any of their approved agents, most of which are opticians or hearing aid specialists used to doing this sort of thing.

If you're relatively young, the impressions will need to be redone every few years because the shape of your ear canal will change as you grow.