What earbuds for under $200

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ninethreeeleven

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I ordered an iPod and have been looking at buds for a while so now its time to put the order in.

I have looked at Shure E3 and E2 and Etymotic ER6 but can't decide.

I have no where to turn to in my area to give either pair a listen, so I guess I have to go with user reviews.

What I am looking for:

I ride the bus so I wan't to drown out background noise.
I go to work and my hair is already a mess so I don't want anything but buds.
I like bass, I know thats hard to explain but I really like low bass. I wan't to hear smooth low bass.

Thats pretty much it. $200 is my abosolute limit so don't post anything thats $204 or $250. I would really like to spend under $150 so the E2's and ER6 are my favorites right now.

I read somewhere "that if you want bass get the E2's over the E3's" is this true? I'm not an audiofile but I really want to finally hear the music when on the bus rather than hear the craptastic headphones I have currently (don't ask, don't tell policy is in effect).

Thanks for reading, please reply.
 
From my experience, I liked the ER-6i better than the E2C. I noticed clean, punchy bass and otherwise a more neutral frequency response. I haven't heard the E3C, so I don't know how to rank it. I don't care much for the over-the-ear wire style that Shure canalphones are sporting, but maybe you feel differently.
 
i've never tried other brands, but the e4c's are very impressive, i'm not sure if you can find a retailer near you that lets you test out different earphones. but that would be your best option right now. test em out and see which sound you like the best
 
Thats the problem, there are no reltailers around here that have them.

For all those saying E4C over E2C is that because their more expensive and thus supposed to be better? Like I said, I heard (here on this forum) that the E2C's have better sounding low bass than the E4C's which have a better overall sound. If thats the case then I would be better off with the E2C's but I just am not sure.

Thats why I posted this thread, to get some more opinions.
 
You know. I'm no audiophile, but I bought these at Best Buy for $20:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=5426318&type=product&id=1051826212451

They are the best ear buds I have ever heard. I haven't heard the E2 or ER6 or whatever, but I do know what sounds good, and I can tell you for your money, I don't think you will gain much quality by going with a $200 pair. The reviews on the net are mixed. People either love them or hate them, and it looks to me like the difference is because the plugs fit for some people, and they don't for others. When the foam plugs make a full seal in your ear, outside noise is obviously cancelled out, and the bass is full and rich. When I bought them, they came with 5 pair of different sized and shaped pads, so I found a couple of them fit very well, better than others. Also, some people on the net are buying regular foam ear plugs and cutting them to fit on the Koss buds, and are getting good results doing that. I say, for $20, give them a whirl. You won't be disappointed. And, if you aren't satisfied, what did you lose? $20.
 
ninethreeeleven said:
Thats the problem, there are no reltailers around here that have them.

For all those saying E4C over E2C is that because their more expensive and thus supposed to be better? Like I said, I heard (here on this forum) that the E2C's have better sounding low bass than the E4C's which have a better overall sound. If thats the case then I would be better off with the E2C's but I just am not sure.

Thats why I posted this thread, to get some more opinions.
Click to expand...

great....

then i don't know what to tell you. everyone has a personal preference. i guess your best bet is to find resellers that have a good return policy. so you can try em out and if you dont like it, you can return it
 
Headroom is by far the best headphone retailer in my experience (and they have an overly generous return policy as well, especially if you are looking for just different headphones if you order a pair you don't like).

I've had both the Shure's (2c and 4c) and currently own a pair of Etymotic ER-6i's. The ER-6i's are defintiely the best coming straight from my iPod and sound even better with the airhead headphone amp attached (which is another $150 but SO worth it if you're an audiophile). The isolation to me just sounds better with the etys than the shures.

As far as $20 best buy headphone's go, i've never tried them. I can for sure say tho that if they're anything like the stock ipod buds, then they leave a lot to be desired. Personally, my feeling is why pay $300-$400 for a audio device and then listen to it with cheap $20 phones? It's like having a great computer with a generic 15" crt monitor.

One more thing tho, i would highly suggest the ER-6i phones as opposed to the plain ER-6's... the response on the 6i's are better and sound cleaner coming straight off a mobile device and not through an amp...
 
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