Suggestion for good headphones and IEM....

[warrior047]

Hi,
I own a Zune HD and cowon i10.

Need a good set of head phones and in-ear phones to play on my computer and these PMPs.

Budget for each of them is around 30-50$ and not more. Infact <=40$ ones should be good for me from a money aspect...Pls suggest good ones.

[CrowdAds]

[WalkGood]

You should read this list and post more info here by editing your first post. More information helps others make better recommendations.

Food for thought, if it were me, I'd decide which way to go and combine my budget to get something better, rather than 2 less expensive phones of $50 each. In your case you'd then have a $100.00 budget for either IEMs or full size headphones ...

[steinburger1109]

For good inexpensive phones, the new favorite around these parts seems to be the Soundmagic E10 or E30. 35 and 40 dollars respectively, they're quite cheap considering their sound and build quality. I don't have any, but I hear good things about them. But as WalkGood said, more info can get more specific suggestions.

BTW, I don't know if you've ever had IEMs before, but I think you would be surprised how comfortable they can be. Full headphones are probably not necessary if you get some that are fairly comfy.

[IDvsEGO]

Follow WalkGoods advice so you get recommendations that are close to what you want. Also check the headphone review section. lots of feedback there.

The following suggestions are based on my preference for a warm, bass oriented sound. I like my E10s and would recommend them to anybody. they have a good sound out of the box and respond fairly well to EQ adjustments. If you have never had an IEM and just want to experiment in the area you could try something even cheaper. I just got a pair of Philips SHE3850 from target for $10.50 and they are pretty good. Cable is kinda crappy and it may take some EQ adjustments to calm down certain frequencies but they are fairly capable for the price. For full sized headphones int he $40 range I would look at some of the JVC products. I have liked everything i have tried from them so far. The Sennheiser HD428 is bass light compared to what I usually like but I still enjoyed them while i had them. I have a pair of the cortex chp-2500 on the way and hopefully they will be enjoyable for the $25 investment.

[JK98]

Good point. He didn't mention if he wants a bassier headphone and iem or if his preference is for something neutral. If $40 is the limit, and you want a closed headphone that is bassy, the JVCHAS600($30) is decent. The $10 JVC HAS160 is better balanced than the HAS600 with much better highs but not as much bass.
If you wany an open headphone, the Sennheiser PX100-ii(or ever better the original PX100 if you can find it) for $41. It is on the warm side, but has nice sound and good bass for an open headphone. The Koss Sportapro($25) is also warm sounding, however its bass is more muddy than the PX100-ii and it doesn't have as much detail. The Sportapro sounds almost the same as the Portapro, but loks different and is around half the price.

I can see why someone would want an iem and an open headphone or earphone, as isolation is not appropriate for all circumstances.