Regarding the Etymotics that’s why i mentioned some folk don’t enjoy the very particular sound signature, i sold my set of ER-4P to someone on this forum a couple of years ago but i soon regretted it and ended up buying a new set of the ER-4PT and a P to S cable as i use them quite a lot to verify my mixes as they are so precise and analytical in use. That’s what i love about them as they add no colouration to the music whatsoever, and they are brilliant for 24bit wav samples and tracks – been listening to Nils Frahm : Spaces on 24bit wav and it makes the hairs stand up, personally i don’t use EQ with any of my headphones but that’s my preferred choice and what works and sounds good to one person can be far removed from another persons ideal sound.

If you can, try a few varieties out before purchase as it could be an expensive mistake.

Listened to Etymotic ‘phones once – exactly as you describe. Yuk.

I used to have some Parrot Zik headphones, they were crap.

Grado SR80s or my mate has some Sennheisers that are also pretty good. I prefer the clarity of the Grados though but some complain they don’t have enough bass.

Is this what you mean? 😀

PSB M4U 2 ftw!

Cheers guys. Plenty to google and look for amongst that lot…

I’m a long time user od Shure in-ear sound isolation and had a lot of success with them, but you to need to regularly replace the foams if that’s what you use for the fit.

Having said that, I’m having a lot of success with the new Bose Noice cancelling earphones – the QC-20
http://www.bose.co.uk/GB/en/home-and-personal-audio/headphones-and-headsets/acoustic-noise-cancelling-headphones/quietcomfort-20i-headphones/

I agree with somafunk. I had Etymotic ER6i’s which lasted ages and I really liked but the sound was less bass orientated although if you put the phones in your ear fully the bass did pick up. I currently have Rockit R50s with comply ear tips which are also good but not as good and the build quality isn’t quite there. The b&w p3’s sounded warmer and a bit less precise but very pleasant but they are not a convenient to carry round which is why I went for earphones,

My view, and I accept personal and subjective!!

I’m a long time user od Shure in-ear sound isolation and had a lot of success with them, but you to need to regularly replace the foams if that’s what you use for the fit.

I never use foam eartips, I use the silicon triple-flange eartips that are supplied. After a while, the heat of your body causes them to adopt the actual shape of the ear canal, and they’re easily wiped over with antiseptic wipes every so often to keep them clean. Mine have been in use since I bought them three-four years ago. Nearest thing to having custom jobbies made up, and around £110 cheaper!

Closed backs for isolation (in both directions if you see what I mean).
I’m currently looking at:
B&W P7’s (like, nicely open and detailed tho’ perhaps not suited to bass heavy listening – very comfy).
Senn Momentum over ears (uncomfy due to my big lugs, also bass biased but relatively uncontrolled to my ears)
Still to audition B&O H6’s.
Depending on source may be worth looking at a headphone amp. ifi iCAN seems very well regarded, waiting on demo.
Forget Skullcandy, Beats etc if quality is concern, IMHO.
Above are either side of £300, with iCAN a shade over £200, so we are talking mid-price.

In ear I have Shure 535s which I really enjoy. I prefer them to the much more expensive ACS T1 custom in ears which are a little too light in the bass. I looked at loads of over ear headphones and eventually settled on V-MODA Crossfade M100s

Love my shure se215 been using the same olives for best part of a year 2+ hours a day 5 days a week. Excellent for blocking out noise, I can happily watch a tv program on a crowded train at a sensible volume and really comfortable too.

*Bump*

TurnerGuy – Member
I hated my Etymotics but have loved all my Shures…

Had to use lots of EQ to get the Etys to sound balanced to me.
I was playing around with the Etymotics the other evening on my phone, and I had an idea, so did a bit of a search, and found just the thing, an app called EQu, which gives you the facility to create custom curves across the audio spectrum and save them for use with different headphones, etc. Works a treat with the Eties.
Not as deep a bass as the Shures, but much better that the flat response, or any of the stock EQ’s.

I’ve just done a week of surveying on my own in the middle of nowhere,

I used my Shure 425’s every day for about 8 hours a day. I never tired of their delivery or comfort and with the iPhone lead (optional extra) , it made them very useful for taking phone calls whilst still carrying out my work this week.

As above mentioned by CountZero – there’s also another app by Accudio, a free version and a paid for version that can tailor the sound signature output of the headphone out/eq to your specific canal-phone or headphone to give you whatever sound sig you desire. – it sounds reasonable to my ears but yet again i like a clinical exact sound sig as most of my tracks are 24bit so i’m prob not best to pass judgement on something i’d not use, worth a punt on the free version for some folk though i imagine.