New in-ear headphones? (Monster Turbines?)

Sharp101

Greetings H/A!

I come to you asking for recommendations for a new pair of In-Ear headphones.

I'm currently using, and am very happy with, an older pair of Creative labs in-ear earbuds. I bought these at least 3 years ago for around $40 (Canadian) and have had no problems with them.

I don't know the exact model I have, but they look identical to these ones:


They're the best earbuds I've ever used, but they are starting to show their age. So I'm looking for a new pair!


Problem is, I don't really know much about earbuds. I definitely want an in-ear pair, as I don't like the normal type of earbuds, don't like the larger wrap around ones, and I definitely don't want a standard pair of "over the head" headphones. I like the fact that I can just shove earbuds into my pocket and be done with them.

Looking online, I've only really looked at Future Shop and Bestbuy, which is severely lacking selection. Other than $200+ Sennheisers, or $10 Sony or Skullcandy shit I'm left wanting. I'm not bothering to look at anything less than $20, and anything I can find for less than $100 doesn't review well online.

Suggestions in the $40 - $60 range? I'm willing to go as high as $100 if it's really worth it, but I find it hard to justify anything more than that.

claypoolfan

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-IMAGE-S4-Noise-Isolating-Headphones/dp/B001V9LPT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272310890&sr=8-1

Got those for my bday a few months ago and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

KalTorak

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-CX300-B-Earbuds-Black/dp/B000E6G9RI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272311007&sr=8-1

Sennheiser CX300s. Simple, inexpensive (I paid $60 for them over 2 years ago and haven't regretted it), comfortable, great sound quality (to me, I'm not an audiophile). Plus there's a 2-year warranty - mine get beaten up pretty bad; over two years I've had one of the buds stop working. Sent it back to Sennheiser, in less than a week I had a new pair for free.

Sharp101

Great recommendations so far, but I should have mentioned that if I have to order online I would prefer to do it from a Canadian site. Ordering from amazon.com would probably net me another $10 on duty fees. They like to fuck me over.

Those Sennheisers look great though, I'm going to look around on some canadian sites to see if I can find them.

The closest thing on Amazon.ca are these:
http://www.amazon.ca/Quality-Stereo-Canal-Headphones-Black/dp/B001L674SI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272311700&sr=1-1

Which seem to be CX 300 II's, a model above those CX300-B's KalTorak posted, and are $80. Tempting...

Esh

What device are you using them with? If an iPod/Phone, I really like the Apple in-ear buds at the price point. You can also manipulate the volume and controls from a little doodad on the cord.

Sharp101

Yeah, I'm using my iPhone mostly. But I also use them with my PC at work.

But I'm really not a fan of the white buds. So tacky :P


In-line controls would be nice, but it's really not that hard to just take out my phone to do whatever I need.

Esh

Sharp101 wrote: »

Yeah, I'm using my iPhone mostly. But I also use them with my PC at work.

But I'm really not a fan of the white buds. So tacky :P


In-line controls would be nice, but it's really not that hard to just take out my phone to do whatever I need.

Tacky how? Everyone has iPhones, it's not like you're showing off. They're really highly rated by CNet and they held up pretty well (audio wise) in comparison to the $400 pair of Shure in-earbuds that were replaced by them.

Ayulin

I went from the Creative ones you have now to these, and love them. I've heard good things about the Klipsch ones that've been mentioned here too, though.

Knorre

I've had those Creative ones aswell, and my next pair were these:

http://www.amazon.ca/Sennheiser-200-Street-Comfortable-Ear-canal/dp/B001OIK50C/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1272363387&sr=1-3-fkmr0

They're cheap and amazing, my recommendation for you!

Beck

I'm not too impressed by sub-200 inner ear headphones but, I liked the Grados igi. Burn-in takes about 100 hours and the highs are always a little bright but that's a good trade-off if you want to save a couple hundred dollars and buy some budget phones.

solsovly

Esh wrote: »

Sharp101 wrote: »

Yeah, I'm using my iPhone mostly. But I also use them with my PC at work.

But I'm really not a fan of the white buds. So tacky :P


In-line controls would be nice, but it's really not that hard to just take out my phone to do whatever I need.

Tacky how? Everyone has iPhones, it's not like you're showing off. They're really highly rated by CNet and they held up pretty well (audio wise) in comparison to the $400 pair of Shure in-earbuds that were replaced by them.

I haven't read the CNET reviews but these are terrible for sound quality. The only good thing is the controls and mic.

You may want to check some of the IEMs that are under 100 if you want an in ear.

Sharp101

Awesome guys. I have a lot more to go on now.

Now I just need to figure out a Canadian retailer to purchase them...


- edit -

Oh sweet, the last 2 posted were from amazon.ca! Thanks again guys! I'll let you know what final decision ends up being.

Weretaco

I'm a huge fan of the westone products for IEMs.

I've been using these for a few years now:
http://www.earphonesolutions.com/westoneum1.html

The new version of them is
http://www.earphonesolutions.com/westone-1-earphone.html

Rderdall

These, from Skullcandy are available at London Drugs, and are my all-time favorite in-ear headphones, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Plus, the cords wrap around the top of your ear, so you don't pull the buds out of your ear with slight pressure from pulling on a jacket or moving your arm. And, they're right at your pricepoint.

http://www.skullcandy.com/shop/asym-blk-green.html

You will not be disappointed with these.

Cervetus

Beck wrote: »

I'm not too impressed by sub-200 inner ear headphones but, I liked the Grados igi. Burn-in takes about 100 hours and the highs are always a little bright but that's a good trade-off if you want to save a couple hundred dollars and buy some budget phones.

Not to sound like a pretentious douche, but if he's mostly using it for an iphone then I doubt the headphones will be the limiting factor in audio quality.

Sharp101

Ok, so the few suggestions that I was interested in from this thread are a little hard to find online at a decent price.

But...

I did find a pair of Monster Turbines for $60 US on ebay. Anyone have anything to say about them?

claypoolfan

Sharp101 wrote: »

Ok, so the few suggestions that I was interested in from this thread are a little hard to find online at a decent price.

But...

I did find a pair of Monster Turbines for $60 US on ebay. Anyone have anything to say about them?

Here is CNET's rundown on them:

http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/monster-turbine-in-ear/4505-7877_7-33490631.html?tag=mncol;lst;1

Beck

Cervetus wrote: »

Beck wrote: »

I'm not too impressed by sub-200 inner ear headphones but, I liked the Grados igi. Burn-in takes about 100 hours and the highs are always a little bright but that's a good trade-off if you want to save a couple hundred dollars and buy some budget phones.

Not to sound like a pretentious douche, but if he's mostly using it for an iphone then I doubt the headphones will be the limiting factor in audio quality.

Oh, is it a really shitty source? I haven't bought an iPhone yet so, I've never really looked into it.