Topic: In-ear headphone / IEM recommendations

[Brian Skalinder]

My latest pair of Etymotic ER-6 (which I use with custom earplugs in place of the filter) bit the dust.  That's 3 pairs now that have gone kaput, and I'm tired of their fragility even under my very gentle use.  Custom molds are a must.  I seem to have oddly shaped ear canals, which make universal fit in-ear 'phones quite uncomfortable...even painful.  So, I'm looking for a new pair of custom-molded in-ear 'phones.

Requirements

• Budget up to ~$250 (not including impressions)
• Custom molds
• Robust cabling & connections (i.e. won't break easily)
• Right-angle mini stereo connector

Bonus

• Removable / replaceable cables
• Different color earpieces (I struggle to see the small blue or red dot on my otherwise clear earplugs)
• Dual driver

These are for strictly casual listening, so I'm not looking for absolute top-notch IEMs.  But I don't want bunk, either.  Just something in budget & comfortable for quality (but not critical) listening in planes, trains (but not automobiles), etc.  I found an outdated list of IEM manufacturers on Headfi.  In reviewing those options, and poking around a bit online, these seem to stand out:

$259  |  Fidelity Duals (splinter from Livewires; not sure if/how they're different)
$249  |  LiveWires Dual Driver
$250  |  Tunz Duo (couldn't find pricing on their website)
$189  |  Alien Ears C1000 (single driver)
$249  |  EarSound Maestroz SD (single driver; these are all but ruled out due to poor product name alone!)
$289  |  Westone CR1 (single driver)

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Fidelity Duals.  Anyone have recommendations for other IEMs suiting my requirements and budget, and / or feedback on any of the above?

[DigiGal]

  Say I'm considering a set down the line, thanks to your feedback Etymotic will no longer be considered.

[EScott]

My latest pair of Etymotic ER-6 bit the dust.  That's 3 pairs now that have gone kaput, and I'm tired of their fragility even under my very gentle use.  Custom molds are a must.  I seem to have oddly shaped ear canals, which make universal fit in-ear 'phones quite uncomfortable...even painful.  So, I'm looking for a new pair of custom-molded in-ear 'phones.

Requirements

• Budget up to ~$250 (not including impressions)
• Custom molds
• Robust cabling & connections (i.e. won't break easily)
• Right-angle mini stereo connector

Bonus

• Removable / replaceable cables
• Different color earpieces (I struggle to see the small blue or red dot on my otherwise clear earplugs)
• Dual driver

These are for strictly casual listening, so I'm not looking for absolute top-notch IEMs.  But I don't want bunk, either.  Just something in budget & comfortable for quality (but not critical) listening in planes, trains (but not automobiles), etc.  I found an outdated list of IEM manufacturers on Headfi.  In reviewing those options, and poking around a bit online, these seem to stand out:

$259  |  Fidelity Duals (splinter from Livewires; not sure if/how they're different)
$249  |  LiveWires Dual Driver
$250  |  Tunz Duo (couldn't find pricing on their website)
$189  |  Alien Ears C1000 (single driver)
$249  |  EarSound Maestroz SD (single driver; these are all but ruled out due to poor product name alone!)
$289  |  Westone CR1 (single driver)

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Fidelity Duals.  Anyone have recommendations for other IEMs suiting my requirements and budget, and / or feedback on any of the above?

Does that pricing include the custom molds?  I see your impressions exclusion.

I had Sensaphonics make mine but they are specific for the brand.

I caught a pair of Shures on sale for 1/2 price a while ago and they work just fine for me. 

The ear pieces isolate so well that I am able to play my drums with my click track and hear nothing but the beats coming from the device.

[dean]

.

[audBall]

Just curious what happened to your pairs of ER6's?  I always thought of the construction as fragile, but my (only) pair has lasted since 2005.  Granted, they don't get continuous daily use, but they've been around.  I read about another member who accidentally ran theirs through the wash and ended up working fine afterwards.

[Brian Skalinder]

Just curious what happened to your pairs of ER6's?

Same problem with all three pairs:  one channel simply stopped working.  No visible signs of why, no specific trauma of which I'm aware, just...kaput.  To Etymotic's credit, they've been quite good at replacing them, even out of warranty in one instance, but I just don't want to deal with the hassle anymore.

EScott -- Pricing includes molds, but not impressions.  I've not yet considered custom molds for universal fit 'phones, like the Shure / Sensaphonics option, but seems like I ought to.  Will have to dig a bit more.  Which Shure's do you have? 

[page]

The Westone um3x were nice when I had them and are close to your price range (but above it) and by proxy I'd recomend their single driver unit. I found the um3x to be mildly dark though above about 5khz, they won't sound like the ER-6s (which I also had). They are universal drivers with custom tips made. Investigate whether or not you can have the W3 drivers done as custom tips, I can't remember, but that's the "hi-fi" edition which has a different EQ.

If you're in a pinch, you could double up and get musicians plugs which use the ety filters and then get another set of ER6s which can use those in place of the filters.

[Big Perm]

I would check out Grado Labs GR8 or GR10 if I were you. They DO NOT meet all you requirements, but very nice IEM I believe.
a

[EScott]

Just curious what happened to your pairs of ER6's?

Same problem with all three pairs:  one channel simply stopped working.  No visible signs of why, no specific trauma of which I'm aware, just...kaput.  To Etymotic's credit, they've been quite good at replacing them, even out of warranty in one instance, but I just don't want to deal with the hassle anymore.

EScott -- Pricing includes molds, but not impressions.  I've not yet considered custom molds for universal fit 'phones, like the Shure / Sensaphonics option, but seems like I ought to.  Will have to dig a bit more.  Which Shure's do you have?

I would look at these or the model above (315)

http://www.amazon.com/Shure-SE215-K-Sound-Monitor-Black/dp/B004PNZFZ8/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1316431962&sr=8-16

Sensaphonics is around $80 I think for the ear piece, but they are worth their weight in gold.

I think they are in Chicago so you can save $$ on shipping 

Looks like my style is no longer made. 

1 thing I really like about mine is they fit over the ear - if that makes sense.  I pull the molds over my ear and so the little bit of weight is not hanging but resting over my ears.

Also, not recommended for gym or exercise use - they don't take too well to sweat getting inside of the tiny headphone port.

[page]

Also, not recommended for gym or exercise use - they don't take too well to sweat getting inside of the tiny headphone port.

It's 8AM and I'm not a morning person and thus I can't find the article specifically now that I wanted to, but I remember reading recently that it's a bad to wear headphones at the gym anyway. As you're working out, the blood slightly drains out of non-working parts (e.g. your ears) and leaves them with less protection than normal to loud sounds thus putting you at a heightened risk for damage.

[EScott]

Also, not recommended for gym or exercise use - they don't take too well to sweat getting inside of the tiny headphone port.

It's 8AM and I'm not a morning person and thus I can't find the article specifically now that I wanted to, but I remember reading recently that it's a bad to wear headphones at the gym anyway. As you're working out, the blood slightly drains out of non-working parts (e.g. your ears) and leaves them with less protection than normal to loud sounds thus putting you at a heightened risk for damage.

With noise cancelling molds, you can use low volume levels and I would argue that it would be fine.  The real problem is people jacking up their Ipod headphones and killing their ears in any situation.

Plus, the music @ the gym sucks!

[George]

Read post#1:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-195-iems-compared-fischer-audio-fa-788-skullcandy-smokin-added-9-17-11

OR scroll down to post #8 (towards the bottom) to see a breakdown of each iem in terms of ratings & price.  Makes it very easy to see which iem's in the top 10-15 are within your price range and have a solid review.  I highly recommend that you purchase a pair of IEM's that use the Shure black olive tips.  They are insanely comfortable.  They glide in and out of your ear without any pain and  sit in your ear canal without any pain or sensitivity.  It will just be a matter of finding out which size fits (small, medium, large).  I used the medium tips.

On a personal note:  I loved my Shure SE530's.  They were a wonderful iem, very smooth sounding....worked very well with my two mp3 players (rio karma and iriver h140).  BUT, the darn thing would break after a year or use.   So after three warranty returns, Shure finally replaced the SE530 with the 535.  The 535 turned out to be very uncomfortable due to the physical changes Shure made to the iem bodies and the wiring leading to the bodies.  So I sold them off and have been without iem's for two months.   Shure has a wonderful warranty repair/replacement policy.  Everytime I sent in my busted SE530's they mailed me a brand new pair in it's new box, etc (with new tips and all).  Maybe you should look into the lower tier Shures within your price range.  I don't think they suffered from the same physical change that the SE5xx went through.

[jlykos]

Just curious what happened to your pairs of ER6's?

Same problem with all three pairs:  one channel simply stopped working.  No visible signs of why, no specific trauma of which I'm aware, just...kaput.  To Etymotic's credit, they've been quite good at replacing them, even out of warranty in one instance, but I just don't want to deal with the hassle anymore.

Westones have the same problem.  I had the Westone 2 and the left earphone went out on three different units.  Westone was great about replacing them, but I shouldn't have to send them back in the first place.  After the third set, Westone upgraded me to the UM3x and they have been good so far, but it's only been like two months.

When I spoke with Westone, they said that the studio monitors IEMs are made in the U.S. and their consumer models are made in China.  The 2 was part of the consumer line so maybe its Chinese origin had something to do with it.

[Brian Skalinder]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

I'm trying to stay away from universal fit earphones due to discomfort as a result of my apparently quite narrow ear canal and fairly sharp bend.

I'm still considering custom molds + universal earphones, similar to my molds + ER6i.  Earsound offers Bosefit, Shurefit, and molds that fit a huge selection of earphones (see their "other earbuds" section).  In all cases, it seems the molds simply have the proper sized receptacle into which one inserts the universal earphone.  But by the time I buy the earphones + the molds, the price is at least as expensive as, if not significantly morethan, the low end IEMs.  Pro:  if the earphones break, I can simply replace them with the same model, rather than replacing the entire IEM.  Con:  I suspect they aren't as durable and / or don't sound as good as IEMs.

Right now I'm leaning towards Fidelity Duals / Livewires, but still have some learning to do.  Decisions, decisions...

[noahbickart]

I've had a good experience with the low end westones. The ergonomics are great, and for some reason there is much less microphonic noice from the cable, footfalls, etc.

-Noah