What are the best in ear headphones for under 500 dollars?

I'm curious about the K3003, but I'm also curious as to how they stack up against the JH13 or 16 for both isolation and sound. I'm guessing, and it's purely a guess, that the AKG comes up short. 'course, as a generic the K3003 will be reviewed / experienced by more people. Dunno, maybe a day when I'm feeling extra curious and an airport has one for sale...

 

When I move into my new condo I am going to drop like 7-10k on a definitive tech surround sound system. I haven't decided if I will stick with 5.1 or move up to 7.1. Probably will go with 7.1

 

It definitely gives you the strengths of both ba and dynamic drivers. Fit could be an issue as I found the metal constructed casing quite heavy.
The best non custom out there. But for 1000 usd, no thanks. There are many hybrids coming out this year which are less than half that price. Now is a good time to get into iems.

Sent from a Galaxy far, far away

 

very nice! let us know how that goes. i have buddies with Def Tech setups and they sound pretty dang nice. going bi-polar towers?

 

Yup. Basically getting their entire model 800 set up. Though for the sub I may do 1000. When I heard them in best buy I was like this is waaaayyyy better than the bose and bang and olfusen sound systems I have heard.

 

they're really cool speakers. just make sure u audition them a bit before u pull the trigger because the bipolar sound stage is not for everyone. i'm thinking about Bowers & Wilkins for my next setup. never really tried them before. the salesman was trying to tell me that the Lucas Studios use B&W, so i will look into them more when i'm almost ready to purchase.

 

Bowers and Wilkins may be good. I have their portable ipod player. Never heard their home theater system. I will check them out too though.I already have listened to the definite tech speakers. I loved them. It was the difference between hearing and feeling the movie lol.

 

I was really heavily sold the B&W's by the more small-timer of the integrators I contacted. Even the guys I finally went with were fans of the Panorama's for non-core use. I thought 'eff it' and bought them (the Panoramas) for rooms without dedicated audio to hook up to the TV's but I have to say I regret it - I wish I'd just stuck the TV's in the rooms by themselves.

Not actually that impressed with their budget-to-mid speaker ranges either - they strike me as yet another brand, basically a Beats for when you start developing some taste The 800's may be good, but the competition is pretty fierce at that level.

At the near-lowest end of what I was demoed for my living room system, I thought the Focal Diablo Utopia's sounded OK for a compact quasi-bookshelf for HT use. Depends on if you're hiding or showing your speakers as well, I guess - I decided to hide.

 

Someone here is selling a set of Logitech UE 900s for $270.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/everything-else/712208-fs-logitech-ue-900-earphones.html

 

Well I never had much experience with high end sound theater systems because up till recently never had money to afford them lol. I only knew of bose which I thought is a lot to pay 3500 on a system till I did research and found out that is nothing. And I knew bang and olfusen which is 20k and completely crap and not worth it. The bose were better.

So now I'm doing research into other brands and so far I'm liking the definite techs I heard in best buy. I'm essentially trying to find the best system possible for around 7-10k max. I want a 7.1 system and so far the receiver and blu ray player I have chosen to be onkyo since pioneer dropped the elite series. The receiver and blu ray so far seem to be around 1500. So that leaves around 5500-8500 left for speakers after all discounts are applied.

Then for a tv I was going to get a 4k tv but they are 12k and OLED aren't in America yet and when they come they will be like 20k probably so I was going to get that samsung 8500 plasma in a 64 inch.

 

So I finally got the headphones and compared to Bose they are more clear but lack in bass. They need a bit more. Would the westone 3s solve this issue? If these things had a bit more bass they would be perfect

 

Have you tried all the tips and obtained a seal?

 

I have only tried the tips it came with. I think it was a seal issue on top of the laptop settings. After I played with the settings and raised the volume the bass is much better. I have to watch the dvd on changing the tips since I can't figure out how to do it.

 

That's really the way ba driver iems sound - great clarity and separation but not booming bass.
This is why I kinda hesitated recommending ba driver iems to you. They are good for listening to music, but may not be as good for gaming or watching movies.

Sent from a Galaxy far, far away

 

See my post above. Bass is good.It was just a setting issue on the laptop and a seal issue. Now compared to bose the bose have slightly more bass but the clarity of the 4Rs just kill the bose. I have to play around with the different ear pieces soon.

 

The W4's deliver absolutely adequate bass for some boom, certainly compared to a set of dynamic in-ears. This is I guess the problem with 'googling experts' like trvelbug who try to amalgamate different people's opinions and then try to pass it off as their own.

Definitely try all the tips as this'll change isolation and sound. And try some aftermarket ones too, as I linked to before - the Comply's (and you can get a ballpark idea of fit by the included foam tips so you know which ones to order) preserve good overall response allied to excellent isolation, though they do need to be replaced quite often (as foams pick up dirt and skin oils, etc) and aren't as convenient as the silicone sleeves to put on.

The main difference will be that you won't be getting the full physical effect of bassy headphones on your head. You can actually remedy that by a relatively simple step if you're somewhere stationary and still keep the clarity of delivery of the Westones.

If you're on the move then it's impractical, but then the need for massive bass is negated by the need for isolation and practicality.

1. Buy a cheap pair of around-ear massively flabby bassy headphones.

2. Buy a multiple-output headphone amplifier - e.g. a Fiio E7 (which also has a bass control) - or a soundcard with more than one headphone out.

3. Wear both. The simple reason that headphones feel bassier than IEM's is that the IEM is only affecting your eardrum, and isn't vibrating your entire ear / localised skull area with sound energy. This way you get the quality of IEM's allied to the physical sensation of wearing bassy headphones. Beware of hearing damage though - don't turn them up too much. Part of the advantages of IEM's is that especially in a travelling situation, you can turn the volume down.

 

Lol Vogel I've tried it and as adequate as it is for bass in songs it will not be adequate for the booming bass in games and movies for most people.

Sent from a Galaxy far, far away

 

This is also the reason why I mentioned hybrids.

Sent from a Galaxy far, far away

 

Well I haven't tried in games yet. Probably should play BF3 with them later today. I haven't watched a movie per say with them either yet just shows. But like I said I understand now when people say it has good bass but it is not intrusive or over the top. So I would say compared to bose IEMs, the 4Rs are a little bit less but not in the boom sense but more in the loudness of the bass.

I have to use them in games and movies before I can talk better on it. But if the sacrifice is a tiny tiny bit of bass for more clarity, i'll make that sacrifice.

 

Comfort (i.e. lack of) is exactly why I'm reluctant to buy iem's in the $400 ballpark.

OTOH I'm willing to try something less expensive, like the Etymotic Research HF5 iem's which one can get from Amazon at under $100, see: Amazon.com: Etymotic Research HF5 Portable In-Ear Earphones (Cobalt): Electronics

From the perspective of most comfort, for a person who has small ear canals (me), c/would you suggest a similarly priced iem that might lend itself to better fit and comfort? I'm not worried about it not sounding as good as the HF5's, just that it have OK sound and great universal fit choices.

IOW not sounding as good as the HF5 is OK, so long as it has better comfort for me. Thanks in advance.

 

I finally tried all the ear tips that come with the westones and the standard ones it came with already are actually the best fitting for my ears. I have medium sized canals. After about 5 minutes I don't even feel them in my ears anymore which was shocking since if I ever put beats or any other in ear headphone that actually goes in your ear canal I hate that feeling. Which is why I like bose so much.

They have some really small tips and big ones so whatever size your ear there is a tip for you. I watched movies and games with these headphones and they are actually in fact better than the bose I can confidently say that. The more I listen to them the better they get. The detachable cable is awesome so when the time comes around if the cable breaks I can easily (and under my extended warranty) get a new one for free.

 

Thanks for the response. I'm not adverse to spending $400 ($500?) for the Westone 4r's that you got. I'll just make sure I buy them from an authorized dealer that has an easy return policy, where I have confidence that I'll get most of my money back without any hassle.

So at present, my short list (ascending price) includes: Etymotic Research HF5 (~$100/Amazon), Etymotic Research ER4S (~$200 (and up!), all from Japan, so odds are returns will be "impossible"), Westone 3 (~$270 (and up!), but Amazon themself doesn't sell them), and Westone 4r that you got (~$500 (authorized, but again Amazon does not sell by themself))

So Etymotic Research HF5 (~$100) is the only one that Amazon sells by themself.

Stereophile lists Etymotic Research HF5 as "C" class in their most recent 500 Best Audio Product list (April 2013 issue), Etymotic Research ER4S as "A" class, Westone 3 as "C" class (October 2012 issue), and AFAIK has never reviewed the Westone 4r.

So Etymotic Research HF5 will be the easiest to try (as well as the "cheapest") and to return if I can't get a comfortable fit, and at only $100 seems worth a try.

FWIW I'll wait at least a week for Vogelbung (or others) to offer thoughts on comfort with a stock universal iem purchase. That's one thing I've learned in posting, wait a while for useful responses with useful comments and/or useful ideas.

Also, Stereophile has two interesting reviews of custom molding of iem's; see:

Etymotic Research hf2 & hf5 in-ear headphones Etymotic Custom-Fit earmolds | Stereophile.com

and:

Shure E4 in-ear earphones Custom Earmolds From Westone | Stereophile.com

 

I got mine from sonix electronix. They discounted them 100 dollars their return policy is a 10% restocking fee. I also got their 3 year extended physical damage and mechanical damage warranty though as well.

 

I'm glad we got you to be less judgemental-without-knowledge, OtherSongs

The armature Shures, Westone UM/TF series and some Etys have a much smaller eartube diameter compared to cheap / badly-designed IEM's (like the UE Triple.Fi 10 mentioned previously in the thread) which allows for more precise control of fit with tips.

Other than that, I'm afraid I'm not really that much help in the sub-$100 department. I would just say aim for a single-armature (since a dual is very likely to be a passive-crossover, leading to the same issues as the Triple.Fi) phone with small eartube and good reviews.


Oh yes, wear tip for earphones like the 4R if you don't know already:

Don't wear them with the cable looping over the ear and back to the front of your head. Instead, wear them down the back of the neck. The movable cinch toggle in the Y section is there for this purpose - use the toggle to make the cable hug the back of the neck securely. This allows you to move your head more easily without affecting the seal or fit.

e.g. Put the phone cable down the coat hook of your jacket. Then put the earphones on after you've worn the jacket.

 

Amusing, especially given your "I R judgemental" tag just underneath "Vogelbung".

At this point I'm treading very cautiously with a 2nd try with iem's. My focus is on being able to return them without a hassle, if I can't get them to be comfortable.

Very useful comments. Thank you very much!

The Etymotic HF5 specs state: "Transducer type: single balanced armature. Frequency range: 20Hz–15kHz."

I'll wait another couple of days to see if any other useful input shows up, but at this point my short list seems to be narrowing to the Etymotic Research HF5. BTW I believe they list at $150. For others, that ref I provided on the Ety custom earmolds has refs to the HF5 iem main review web pages at the bottom.

 

I wear them around the ear then back to the front because I am afraid if I put it all behind my head it will get yanked out since normally I am laying down when I use my head phones. Though I saw in the supplied DVD that they said you could put it behind your head completely or wear it in the front but the behind the head was better.

 

Ah you see, I never wade into discussions with a definitive opinion on subjects I haven't comprehensively thrown my wallet at

The problem is, too many do thinking Google gives them all the answers


The HF5's are not a bad place to start - though I'm personally not a fan of Ety at all. They have Etymotic's narrower-bore ear tube, but with a retaining lip at the top - which units like Shures and Westones don't have. This actually helps to keep tips on better (than especially the Westones) but can also at the same time interfere slightly with best fit, or can feel more invasive. As mentioned to envy89, best to try the entire selection of tips though Ety doesn't ship a complete selection of tips - e.g. you'll need to order the Small foam separately. The unique-to-Ety olives should be the best place to start usually though, as they're the best general-purpose tips IMO (and trigger less itchiness than Etymotic's rather rough foams).

 

Yeah, that makes sense. In normal - portable - use, behind the neck is usually a lot better.

 

Ah, philosophy!

FWIW that statement only makes me wonder if you see/hear/feel/smell the forest or mainly the trees.

A large set of people that I've seen, or met, only see the trees and that includes some extremely high priced people; and an even larger set mostly only see the trees.

Meaning that I see the system 1st, and I worry about details later, unless the details are critical to the job at hand.

Again thank you for your helping me with my iem choice for myself!

Meaning that I just placed my order with Amazon for the Etymotic Research HF5 iem (w/ Amazon as the seller) for the paltry sum of $97.

If I can't get somewhat comfortable with the HF5 iem's, then I'll simply return them.

If I can get comfortable with the Etymotic Research HF5 iem's, I'll give serious consideration to spending another $100 for Ety's custom ear molds. And if that works good, then I'll consider spending $200 for Etymotic Research ER4S from Amazon's 3rd party Japan based vendors, since the custom ear molds fit both models.

Meaning one step at a time.

Oh... what are your top 2 reasons for not being a fan of Etymotic Reasearch iem's???

 

Think of me as both LANDSAT and the logger with the chainsaw in that context

- Fit / tip selection
- Sound signature / character through 'mis'use of the drivers, especially on the ER-4 series

 

On a tangent, you know what I'd love to see around the $500 range? Noise-isolated versions of these with a smaller energiser. The midrange especially on these is truly a thing to behold.

Sadly, as they stand they have quite a bulky (cigarette box sized) energiser which doesn't last for long, you can't get them even a bit wet (well, the same goes for IEM's but the damage potential is only really for water in your ears*), swallowing or otherwise moving your jaw while wearing them causes a noise like you dancing on a bed of chip packets, and last but no least - they're of a completely open design which makes them unusable on public transport, etc.

But yeah, the midrange... sigh. Beautiful music.


* Oh yeah, a caution point for balanced-armature driver novices: They're quite easy to kill with water ingress, e.g. by leaving your ear waterlogged after a shower and then putting them on. So don't do that.

 

I didn't even realize that electrostatic IEM's existed, interesting.

 

Really happy with my Audio Technican AD700's! I think I only spent $130 on them and combined with a nice portable amp they sound awesome.

 

I got my Etymotic Research HF5 iem's today and have been using them for the last 2 hours with 16/44.1 CD ripped .flac stereo files.

Not bad. There may be hope for iem's.

I'm presently using my X220 laptop w/ 3' mini USB cable w/ Centrance DACport

I took Vogelbung's suggestion of wearing a shirt/coat with a "fabric hang up loop" (at the back of the neck) in order to loop the ear piece cables over my ears and down the back of my neck, which works especially great.

 

Some guys in my headphiles group have a stax, on my to do list of stuff to demo (but I usually stick to iems for portability).

Sent from a Galaxy far, far away

 

That's an awesome price for that pair of phones!

Sent from a Galaxy far, far away

 

And you're going to be like an expert once you've demoed them for 30 seconds, right?

 

You can definitely do better, but the HF5-class phones are absolutely fine for everyday listening if you're happy with the overall frequency balance. Unlike a dynamic driver, the problem with single-driver armatures is their limited accurate frequency range. Etymotic generally biases / picks their armature drivers for 'crunchy-sharp' treble which tends to give the mistaken impression of top-end detail when what you're actually hearing is the onset of very-quick-transient distortion.

When you throw more drivers into the mix, you start being able to address all the other frequencies - from a decent bass upwards to a distortion-free (or reduced) treble, and that's where multi-driver phones like the Westone 4R start to shine. The problem is that things get disproportionately expensive for the relative performance you're getting, if you compare across headphones - but obviously IEM's have advantages headphones don't.

Wearing down the back works less well with the Etymotic designs, but it generally should help keep the phones in during head movements anyway.

 

For me the top end is ever so slightly bright. My mobile DACport is class A, so does not exacerbate the top end brightness.

I wonder if they'd sound even brighter if I were 20 years younger?

They're also rather good on comfort; one discovery is that the standard size triple flange works good for my left ear, with the large size triple flange being best for my right ear.

So 2 days of wear so far, and my ears aren't sore at all; so the comfort question seems settled.

Overall sound quality is very good to excellent with that one minor flaw of top end being slightly too bright; when you consider that they only cost $97, w/ Amazon as the seller, the value is outstanding. Wes Phillips (long time Stereophile reviewer) calls them his "everyday beaters"

Well relative to a high end pair of tower speakers (say minimum of $5k and 300 pounds for the pair), high end iem's are totally convenient weight wise and relatively dirt cheap.

I'll have to rethink both Westone 4r and Shure 535 and variants of each.

Wearing the iem cord down the back of the neck takes a bit more time/work to put on, but pays off with the cord being out of the way.

Would you kindly explain why you said this: "Wearing down the back works less well with the Etymotic designs..."

 

Comply foam tips for use w/ iem's are more complex than I ever imagined.

Start with this_high_level_ref of Comply's 5 different types.

Then you need something like this_tsx_ref for each of the series.

A few words on how_to_insert these foam tips might also help.

And a review that comments on the S_and_T_and_Tx series might offer an idea or two.

Good luck!

 

Yeah. How the cables exit the housing, and the leverage this exerts on the unit as a whole in relation to the ear canal placement, is not ideal for maintaining a stable seal compared to other units on which a) the unit housing is designed to partially nestle in the bowl of the ear and b) has a cable exit configuration which is more conducive to wearing the cable behind the back.

Remember, having one upper-entry IEM doesn't make you an expert as it apparently does with other stuff you come across

 

Thanks for the followup.

Looking at pix of high(er) end Westone iem and Shure iem, I see what you mean.

My new Etymotic Research HF5 iem cable's don't wrap around my ears all that easily, not uncomfortable but they tend to stick out a fair bit, which can easily put stress ("leverage" as you call it) on the ear without much effort applied.

And the twice as expensive E.R. ER4S look all too similar on overall shape.

Ah more philosophy.

I'll wait until I have a few month's experience w/ several different "upper-entry IEM" for a few months, before getting on any podiums.

I ordered a few different Comply tips yesterday to get started; which should help with finding better overall comfort.

 

Lol we use them extensively during meets. And the good thing is you get to a/b them with other gear. As you see most of the gear I recommend are neither popular nor easy to find. But it's what I've determined are the best for my needs.
Even if i could afford to buy a potentially interesting iem, I find it a waste to do so when there are people around who own them and you can test them, some even allow you to bring them home for extended periods just to get the proper feel. To me that's the great benefit of joining such a group.

Sent from a Galaxy far, far away

 

I followed up and bought 1) Westone UM3x from Sonic Electronix (the OP (envy89) mispelled it as sonix) at ~$330. I searched Amazon and Ebay and other, and S.E. was lowest and dealing with them on the telephone actually impressed me.

Perhaps the most interesting thing (to me) about the Westone UM3x is that they seem to get better as they are used. Meaning the midrange was muddy to start, but with use that has gone away.

That's a 1st for me in my long audiophile career! (i.e. that "break-in" might actually make a difference)

2) I also bought Etymotic ER4S from Japan (via Amazon) for ~$210.

The jury is still out on my Etymotic ER4S and HF5. But they're way easier to insert into my ears than the Westone UM3x.

Bottom line is that there may be no bottom line.

The whole iem thing is a mixed bag.

Comfort is everything, and I've been able to get comfort with all 3 iem's.

At this point, on sound quality, I give the edge to the Westone UM3x.

My main gripe at this point is that putting on iem's is a complete pain.

Once on the sound is great and comfort is good to great.

Maybe it's all about how to put iem's on without too much nuisance?

 

The most surprising IEM I've used in a long long time is the Brainwavz R1. It's a weird brand, made in China, etc. But they are supremely comfy, and I like them more than my UE TripleFi 10s. And they're cheap!

 

What does the Brainwavz R1 cost?

re the "UE TripleFi 10s" there were one or two negative mentions of them in this thread, so it's not like a high hurdle.

 

The Brainwavz R1 often cost around $30-35 USD, depending on if they're on sale.

It's unfortunate that the TripleFi 10s were so poor for so many people. I paid a good amount for mine, and loved them for a while. I just like the R1 beetter.

 

I tried looking them up on Amazon and they're there w/ good reviews along the lines of "Excellent phones for the price"

The Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 get overall good reviews on Amazon without as much mention of price, but then they're in the ball park of $250 and up.

@Vogelbung was the main NBR person who criticized them, but he's generally pretty careful with what he has to say of a product.

 

Probably late now but you can get JH5 customs for $400. Impressions cost another $50 or even less. Its a basic but effective two driver set up.

I ended up with customs because i had fitment issues even after trying every ear tips around (it comes loose if move my jaw too much). Also in case you didnt know who JH (Jerry Harvey) is, he founded Ultimate ears.

 

The W4's are better at the level. Fitwise, sure - but for someone looking into getting into it, a generic is the best bet.