earbud recommendation plz

[Manatou]

• Price Range: approx $50-$100 aud
• Type/Design: earbuds, iem's don't really fit my ears, haven't tried the ear support buds, but willing to try, not a huge fan of over head headphones, i have a bit of a cone head, they never really fit that well, and after a few hours my ears hurt.
• Open Style: Like others to hear what i'm gettin' into, yeah i'm one of those dudes on the train headbangin or dancing in my seat, instead of all the other zombies that are listening to something but seem totally bored.
• Primary location of use: Portable, walking, public transport
• Preferable SQ or Sound Signature: Balanced from lows to highs, with strong bass.
• Media: various genres, but not classical, opera or country rubbish, preference for grunge/hard rock, don't want distortion coz its metal etc.
• Source: Cowon J3

Really don't know much about the earphone industry, but need something better than stock earbuds for the J3 to improve upon the listening experience. Cowon is like sex in my ears.. i need some good phones so its like an orgasm in my ears.

My local pawnshop (cash converters), has a pair of sennheiser px 200's for $90, i guess i could try them, but they're about 5/6yrs old, and they're not earbuds, but i guess i could give them a soundcheck, but if i'm gonna fork out $90 for them, i could probly get something decent at that price brand new, with updated audio technology. Checked some reviews, apparently they suck.. so scratch that.

minidisc.com.au have some Sennheiser MX 880 West earbuds for $75 aud. Anybody have any experience with them? The reviews are very limited, apart from video reviews, and they sound quite good, but they're talking about ohms and impedience which is just going in one ear and out the other coz i haven't a clue whats good and whats not. Maybe somebody could clarify.

[CrowdAds]

[JK98]

Used PX200 headphones for $90???? They are new on Amazon for $80. Here it is new for $60.

http://www.austinbazaar.com/Sennheis...aign=SEN-PX200

A more reasonable price for used ones is $40 maximum. If you are really willing to get a headphone rather than earphones, there are many other good choices under $100. For monster bass in a headphone, the Sony XB500($50) or XB700($80) would be great choices if you don't mind a large headphone. Some of the JVC headphones are also nice. The Sony V6 and ATH-m35 are nice more balanced headphones in the $50-$70 price range.

For $66, the Sennheiser MX880 earbuds look like a great deal.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-MX-...3272451&sr=8-4

The Yuin PK2 earbuds for $78 or PK3 for $38 are interesting. The PK3 probably has more bass than the PK2, however the PK2 has more detail and better highs.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...-keywords=yuin

The Sennheiser MX580 earbuds is a great value for $23.

Earbuds in general won't give huge bass, however decent ones will have at least some bass.

[Manatou]

prices and availability in australia vary quite dramatically, but thank you for your suggestions. I posted the message, and then read elsewhere in this forum hardly anyone uses earbuds, lol, so i'm skeptical of getting much of a reply. I have some iem's that i found, and after cleaning them, tried them, but maybe i have small ear canals or something coz they just don't fit.. and i'm a bit against trying to shove something deep in my ear.. that doesn't sound healthy, not to mention impractical every time u want to plug them in on the fly.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Manatou

... maybe i have small ear canals or something coz they just don't fit.. and i'm a bit against trying to shove something deep in my ear.. that doesn't sound healthy, not to mention impractical every time u want to plug them in on the fly.

Your right, hardly anyone on these forums use earbuds because they don't offer good isolation like IEMs do. Try looking for proper size tips, they do make some very small ones, Sony hybrids are very affordable and should provide a good seal. It's not all about getting them in too deep but rather getting that good seal which improves the sound quality dramatically and provides better isolation. You can typically tell right away if you have a bad seal by not being able to hear the bass.

[JK98]

I just dug out my old Sony MDR-E888 earbuds to compare to the Sennheiser MX580. The conclusion is that the MX580 sounds almost as good, with crisp clean highs and decent tight bass. The one striking difference between the two is that the E888 is 108 db/mw while the MX580 is only 101 db/mw(Sennheiser lists it at 119 db/V).The MX580 also has an annoying volume control, however it doesn't seem to be a problem if left on maximum. My Sandisk players have no problems powering the MX580 to high volumes(don't play your music too loud!). Since the E888 seems to be at least $75 if you can find it, the Sennheiser MX580 at around $25 seems like a much better value.

[Manatou]

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I'll probly create a mini playlist of songs that don't perform well with my current earbuds (distortion), then visit some shops and see if they'll let me test them if they have any available for test, coz hard to tell if one is balanced or not, or low or high heavy etc. The proof is in the pudding as they say. Will have to try some puddings

[Danneq]

@Manatou

You can find Yuin PK2 for around US$55 on Ebay. It is from Chinese sellers, but they are not fakes. Chinese may make fake headphones from brands such as Audio Technica and Sennheiser, but small Chinese brands aren't that interesting to them.

The new Sennheiser MX series seems interesting as well. The MX880 seems to be the best value from that one.

I can also recommend Blox M2C, which is a very good earbud with a surprisingly wide and deep soundstage. It is on about the same level as Yuin PK2 when it comes to detail level and it's got slightly less amount of bass.
You can only buy the M2C from the manufacturer and right now they are out of stock. Hopefully they'll have a new batch for sale soon.

Edit: You can find an informative thread here.

[JK98]

The MX880 seems good except that there are issues with the volume control. The much less expensive MX580 also has issues with the volume control, as on the MX580 if the volume control is set less than maximum, the volume to each channel may be different. The issues with the MX880 volume control seem like they may be far worse. I wish Sennheiser left off the volume control on these. I guess that may be why the MX880 is discontinued.

[Danneq]

Is the MX880 already discontinued? I only have one pair of earbuds with volume control, AKG K319, and I find it a nuisance and try to avoid earbuds with bult in volume control. The MX880 should be re-released without a volume control!

[JK98]

The MX880 is replaced by the MX980. Unfortunately the MX980 is much more expensive. I think the MX880 used to be much more expensive than it is now. I don't know if the volume control on the MX980 is better than the one on the MX880. One review of the MX880 said that volume control problems on it bothered him so much, that he is now happier using the MX580. I guess he could take his MX880 to a repair shop to have the volume control removed, however some repair shops might charge plenty to do this. Imo it should cost $10, however I wouldn't be surprised if in some places a repair shop charges $50(or perhaps even more?) to do this.

[Danneq]

But weren't all of the MX x80 series released at the same time?

The MX980 has gone down in price, but it still is the most expensive earbud for sale right now. The MX880 seems to be only slightly inferior to the MX980 when it comes to SQ, so it should be a good choice for those who seek good SQ for a relatively low price.

[JK98]

Originally Posted by Danneq

But weren't all of the MX x80 series released at the same time?

The MX980 has gone down in price, but it still is the most expensive earbud for sale right now. The MX880 seems to be only slightly inferior to the MX980 when it comes to SQ, so it should be a good choice for those who seek good SQ for a relatively low price.

That is true if they don't have volume control issues with the MX880 or they know a repair shop that can remove the volume control inexpensively(or they are handy and can remove it themselves). If the MX880 didn't have the volume control, I might have bought one already. I bought the MX580 though as it is under $25. it has a volume control as well, however the one on the MX580 is different, and is said the only usually be problematic when it is used(different volumes in each channel). When left at maximum, the volume control on the MX580 usually isn't a problem. Yes, it is annoying having it there. The MX580 sounds great. Almost as good as the $75+ Sony MDR-E888.

[Manatou]

Santa delivered some sennheiser mx880's, and it rocks.. still need to tweek the eq settings, and working on burning them in atm. Volume control is not a problem, just set it on 10 and leave it. I prefer to use the vol on the J3 in any event. Base is rich and responsive, electro sounds sweet, metal is hard edged and rifftastic. Good buds make all the difference! I had trouble listening to the J3 on 37, now its hard to go above 33

[JK98]

Sounds good. You are smart not to mess with the volume control on the MX880. Hopefully if you don't touch it it won't give you any problems. In the worst case anyway it can be removed, although I don't know what that would cost you, and how ugly the cord would look after that.

[Danneq]

Great that you like them! I'm a bit curious about the MX880, and also the MX980. I have tried them both in the E-earphone store in Akihabara in Tokyo (definitely go there if you ever go to Tokyo!), but a few minutes in a store doesn't give you that much insight into how they really sound.

Embedded volume controls are a bit of a nuisance, but I suppose there's not much you can do about that...

Off topic: In Japanese, heaven is called "tengoku". E-earphone surely must be tengoku:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19394978