Best cheap in-ear headphones?

cianclarke

What I'm looking for is a pair of cheap in-ear headphones (the ones without the head band bit). I had a pair from my sisters Iriver which were surprisingly great quality, but they've given up now. I seem to go through a pair of headphones every three months! So I won't be spending too much.
What I'm looking for is a pair under €50 that I can get on eBay for hopefully much less second hand. Don't care about the brand as long as the quality is quite good.
Are there really any good sony ones out there for this price? All the pairs I've ever used by sony were crap.

Soundman

SHURE-E2c-Sound-Isolating-Earphones

cianclarke

$90 with shipping though. :-( I'd buy them (I do quite enjoy my music, and quality is nice) - but the earphones would be only broken in a month, two - three at best. I know you might say I should just be careful, but I don't know how it happens! Earphones just never seem to last.

Maybe I should refine what I'm looking for to "acceptable and above" quality..? I still won't rule out those E2c's (I was looking for the E4 ones earlier, these seem better value).

Soundman

Oooh crap. Didn't even look at the shipping price mate. Have a look on Ebay anyway though and see what you can come up with. Not all of them are buy it now so you might pick them up cheaper including shipping.

projectmayhem

sennheiser cx300

got a pair last week. sound as good as anything i've ever heard in my life and ebay are selling them dirt cheap

Muzzy

projectmayhem wrote:

sennheiser cx300

got a pair last week. sound as good as anything i've ever heard in my life and ebay are selling them dirt cheap

I second that motion......, I picked up a pair in 3G for €35......., they're mentioned in another post on this forum somewhere..........

........Someone had a link to the review on Amazon which was really good.

cianclarke

Right, so I bought a pair of CX300's on eBay - no bass whatsoever, they're either faulty or counterfeit. I'm getting my money back - but I've also discovered I'm not that fond of earphones that sink into your ear like that.
How about the ones that just sit in your ears - anybody care to recommend a model, something well under €50?
Thanks

projectmayhem

cianclarke wrote:

Right, so I bought a pair of CX300's on eBay - no bass whatsoever, they're either faulty or counterfeit.

did you not get them in a sealed pack? i wouldn't buy 2nd-hand earphones...

also, if you use the wrong size buds, you tend to get a massive drop in quality, try swapping out the different size ear-buds to see if it helps

cianclarke

Nah, tried all the buds - they were all without *any* bass whatsoever, even worse than what you'd expect from a pound shop pair.
They were brand new.
Any suggestions from anybody? Does 3G still have the CX300's, I called into stevens green and they only had the MX550 (unsure of how good these ones are).

projectmayhem

cianclarke wrote:

Any suggestions from anybody? Does 3G still have the CX300's, I called into stevens green and they only had the MX550 (unsure of how good these ones are).

i got mine only 2 weeks ago and 2g had none, so i went to peates, which sell them more expensive (though lucky me getting a mates staff discount )

higster

got the cx300 from I think its the 3g stand in liffey valley shopping centre corridor (carry mostly apple stuff with some creative). €35.99 (vs. €59.99 in Dixons just up the corridor) & they are excellent. Wasn't an in ear fan 'cause never got comfortable ones but these are just deadly!

Timans

Just bought my cx300's from ebay. My first ebay purchase actually.

Hope they're the real deal now.

tywy

I just bought a pair off ebay too...I'm a bit worried too now :P

Had a pair of semi isolation sonys which were excellent but cost €50 to replace so I got a pair of sennheissers on ebay for €22

What seller did you buy off and have the arrived yet, Timans?

maxitwist

where can you get them around here? they're €60 in currys but I'm sure you can get them cheaper somewhere

higster

see post 11

Muzzy

maxitwist wrote:

where can you get them around here? they're €60 in currys but I'm sure you can get them cheaper somewhere

HMV.....€50
3G.......€35

Think I seen them in Xtra Vision listed at around the €40 mark

TempestSabre

cianclarke wrote:

Right, so I bought a pair of CX300's on eBay - no bass whatsoever, they're either faulty or counterfeit. I'm getting my money back - but I've also discovered I'm not that fond of earphones that sink into your ear like that.
How about the ones that just sit in your ears - anybody care to recommend a model, something well under €50?
Thanks

Lack of bass is often because you are not getting a proper seal with in ears. I have the CX300's but also like the MX500 & MX400's Don't like the the MX550 & MX450's. People who like bass will like the PX100 or the PMX100's. I have also have the later.

Do a search on the forums over here to find out more about various earphones.
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=2

cianclarke

Right, bought a pair of CX300's in 3G in the Ilac centre, €35.
Just my own personal experiences, and going against everybody else - however I'm sorely dissapointed. This "in-ear" system does *NOT* work for me. As far as I can tell, my ears aren't particularly abnormal, however all three sizes of earbuds don't stay in for very long. For listening to music in bed, they're completely useless. Walking - don't work particularly well either. If you brush against the wire, the noise goes up along and into your ear. And to top it all off, the sound quality is not significantly better than the pair which came bundled with my sister's I-river (which for some reason seem to be exceptional).

So, a word of caution - try the whole in-ear thing before you buy, and if you have even the slightest reservations then don't. I'd much rather a pair of bog standard headphones that sit in my ear rather than seal.

Just my .02c...

TempestSabre

The ones that came with the iRiver are likely MX300's.

Canal earphones are definately an acquired taste. I've tried two now, the CX300's and the Panasonic HEJ50's. When you have them in right and sealed they definately sound decent. (CX300's are the better of the two BTW). They have lots of bass, so if you don't get any thats a sure ign you're not getting a good seal. They have the advantage that you need less volume to hear the music so that better for your hearing. I'm not crazy about the pressure/water feeling in your ear you get either.

But these phones are a half way house. The In Ear Monitors like Shures go in much deeper and are even more an acquired taste. So I read at least, I haven't gambled on getting a pair yet. The noise of things rubbing the cable is called microphonics. Some cables seem to be worse than others, but its a problem with all these kinds of in ear phones. Don't eat crisps or anything!

I didn't like the fit or the comfort of the HEJ50's or the CX300's at all. Couldn't keep them in unless I wasn't moving. Even then if I turned one would pop out. However on reading the forums they suggested trying other tips than the ones supplied. The ones people got with their SONY MDR-EX71SL for example. I didn't have any of those, after reading your last post I tried the largest tips from my HEJ50's on the CX300's and I'm getting a much better fit. I'd wanted to try the medium tips but they are on the HEJ50's somewhere, and I can't find them. I'm going to try them like this for a while and see how I get one. They are not falling out at the moment at least.

On Head-Fi people are always trying different tips from different earphones trying to get the right match for their ears. So you might try that. The more expensive earphones are custom made for your ear canals.

http://www.ultimateears.com/custom/UE-10-Pro.htm :eek:

A disadvantage to these isolating earphones is that you lose your situational awareness and that could be dangerous if you are out on the street etc.

A final point that it take time to adjust to a better set of earphones and its often not a night and day difference. Especially if you are listening to poor quality music, badly encoded. You need a decent source to appreciate them.

cianclarke

Wow, they are indeed MX300's with the I-river.
What I'll do is try the CX300 for a bit, if they just keep falling out maybe try get ahold of larger ear rubbers. Maybe they'll grow - the sound quality does seem to be *very* good alright... Also need to get some higher bitrate MP3's onto my MP3 player.
If that fails, revert to the MX300's!

tywy

I found with my sonys the reason they were falling out was because they were too big so I switched from medium to small and had no problems then.

TempestSabre

Check out Head-Fi and hydrogenaudio.

lyonsk23

I've just bought the sennheiser cx 300s on ebay..... hopefully they last a bit longer than my previous pairs!

sham69

got the cx's aswell on ebay for 13 euro or something like that.
Have to say I am really happy with them, bass is great and they have a slight elastic feel to them so won't get strained easily.
Thinking of buying another pair as backup, at the price I can't go wrong.
Had sony's before that but the adapter got bent and the sound was only in one ear and they cost 60 euro.

pleasant Co.

You sure the ones you got off ebay are real? awful lot of fake CX300's floating around ebay...

Macspower

e-bay ones for 13 are all fakes ... guaranteed...

cheaper alternative are the creative in ear ones ... cant remember the code off them.... but they are basically the very same sound and design as CX300's... I have CX300's and find them great comfort and fit and isolation.... but have faults in the sound department with harsh/sharp highs but bass is good...