What are the best in ear heaphones $30 and Under?

Hi, I am looking for the best in ear headphones.

What is my purpose for these headphones? To go to school and listen to them on the bus. To shove them in my pocket for most of the day. To just enjoy good sounding headphones that aren't cheap sounding and that will pass the time.

My budget could be much higher than $30, but again these are headphones that will be beaten a little and not have as much care for as I should. I have Bose On Ear headphones which retail for $180 (I would never pay that much, got them free ) and those are my "audiophile" headphones (yes I know Bose sucks compared to the competition, go complain to my Dad for buying a $1200 Bose boombox). Those are used to get "lost" in the music and are worn privately, because I have a huge head and would look stupid in public.

I'm looking for headphones to pass the time. But I want the best sound for the dollar.

Here are choices I have listed as my possible candidates:
Klipsch Image S2 - $20
Sennehiser CX 400 II - $30
Sennehiser CX 500 - $35
SCOSCHE IDR600 - $30
Koss KDX100 - $35

That's all I can think of right now. So I want to hear from you guys on which you would get. Hopefully many of you will have used one of these and can tell me what you think. Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

If you are interested in what music I love, that would be metal. I'm not a Bass addict but I do a good thump. Mostly I want the music to have fullness, I want it to surround my head and engulf me.

Take a look at this list. Many options to choose from.

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread...ems-compared-unique-melody-miracle-added-7-24

Sennehiser

Though personally I would push the price point to around $60... at that price you got the Sennehiser's and the Gredo's. They are life long investments.

Again I'm not looking to spend much. I could but I know that I'm going to bang them up. I have a pair of more high end headphones so I don't want to drop a lot of cash on in ear headphones.

Maxvla, thanks for the list but most of the budget headphones that got good reviews aren't for sale anymore, at least in the USA.

I think you won't find many options that aren't on Joker's list I linked you to. He's reviewed 184 IEMs at present, which is most of the market. It is probably worth your time to find the best rated one (according to your priorities) that is still available.

you're welcome

Supish thanks for the link, it has some good suggestions. Turns out I might have a little more money to spend. My Mom wants me to sell her purses and take 100% of the commission so I might chip in some more. Are the Klipsch Image S4 as good as many people have touted it to be? Many people say they are as good as $200+ headphones, and others say they are disappointed. Problem with headphones is to know if you like them, you need to try them unlike with graphics cards where you get benchmarks that show you results.

IMO if you can swing $60 these are probably the best you're going to find:

Sennheiser IE4 in-ear monitors:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IE4


I bought a pair of CX300's originally for a Sansa, and ended up grabbing 2 of the IE4's after I listened to a set at a show. They're not the best units out there for audio work but for the money and what I use them for (general music listening) I can't complain. They do slaughter the CX300's so that's one point in their favor. They're also pretty durable, which is nice as I constantly catch in-ear headphones on random objects walking around. Haven't needed to swap to the backup pair in about 2 years of use.

IE4's have pretty balanced sound though not as much as Shure's (you'll get more bass with the IE4's if that matters to you).

They have good background ambient limiting and you can get small, medium, and large silicone earpieces to fit your ears. Radioshack also sells foam inserts that fit although I haven't used these since the silicone earpieces are comfortable for use, whereas foam's not really so much.


Edit: The IE6/IE8's are probably better but they'll blow up your budget, and the IE4's are cheap enough to be replaceable. There's a two-year warranty on these, but I haven't needed it so I don't know if it's any good.


[anecdote] Four people I know have purchased a set after hearing mine, though YMMV. [/anecdote]


That's why I replaced mine - I thought the CX300's were decent if underwhelming, and I really dislike one side being shorter than the other. The IE4's blew me away for sounding so much better despite being the same size/form factor.
VVV

I bought a pair of Sennheiser CX300's have been disappointed with the quality. I saw another thread on here with someone recommending the Brainwavz M1 which are $45, right above your budget. They've gotten glowing reviews all over the place, I actually plan on purchasing a set soon. That link Maxvla put out does have a ton of amazing reviews to look at.

MOST people like Sennheiser, so I recommend them. I personally prefer others, but that does not make them bad/good... This is all about personal opinion... Only your ears can tell you what is good or not, no one else can.

SO I looked back at Maxvla's link to the huge list and now I've decided to raise my budget to around $50. Here were the one's that got the best reviews:

Brainwavz M2
MEElectronics A151
MEElectronics CC51
Etymotic Research MC5

He gave the CC51 the best but not by much. All of these can be bought for around $50. And I'm not buying Sennheiser

Are you looking for headphones or IEM?

If you are looking for headphones, get the Koss PortaPros and don't even bother considering anything else at that price point ~$30

If you are looking for IEM, I can't help you much. I'm a big headphone nut, not so much IEM.

Thread title: What are the best in ear heaphones $30 and Under?

Maxvla said:

Thread title: What are the best in ear heaphones $30 and Under?

Click to expand...

Yes I'm looking for IEM or in ear headphones. A sound reproducing device that goes directly in to the ear canal.

I already have on ear headphones, I need IEM's that I can travel easily with.

I've pretty much made my mind and I'm going with the ME Electronics CC-51 Ceramic's.

Well just do me a favor and come back and tell me what you think about them... I always attempt to keep my ear out for other opinions to improve advice (Im kinda broke to be buying right now).