Need new ear buds - what's available in the over the 100 price point

[maflynn]

I have owned a pair of klipsch S4i in-ear headphones. They were a decent pair which fit my ears nicely. With that said they accidentally fell out of my pocket and were run over

I'm starting my research and from what little I know, it appears I want a pair of head phones that have
1. High impedance.
2. Sensitivity in the 120dB range
3. frequency in the 10hz to 20khz range (which 99.99% seem to have).

The klipsch appear to be a good buy for the 100 dollar market with an impedance of 18ohms and 110dB range.

I saw for a little more money the Bowers and Wilkins C5 on the apple store with an impedance of 32 ohms which would indicate a better set of earbuds.

Any recommendations on the over $100 (but under 300) earbud market? Any brands I should avoid or focus on?

I saw the klipsch X7i which is about 200 which is around what I want to pay. Will I notice a big difference between the X7i (impedance of 50 ohms) and the S4i?

btw, I'm not interested in Bose, from my research I'm more or less paying for the name w/o getting the same level of sound quality.

I'm also not interested in BT or wireless headphones.

Finally I see a lot of people with Beats, how do they measure with the competition?

 

[JaySoul]

What kind of music do you mainly listen to?

 

[maflynn]

What kind of music do you mainly listen to?

I'm all over the place

1970s and 1980s hard rock, i.e., led zeppelin and AC/DC. I also enjoy Christian music (talk about diametrically opposed music ) I also like some of what Emiem has and most rock music from the 70s and 80s

 

[JaySoul]

I'm all over the place

1970s and 1980s hard rock, i.e., led zeppelin and AC/DC. I also enjoy Christian music (talk about diametrically opposed music ) I also like some of what Emiem has and most rock music from the 70s and 80s

The reason I ask is that a lot of modern headphones have become very bassy, in order to reflect hip hop, dance music etc.

That doesn't mean they can't handle other genres well, it's just that they sometimes need EQing.

I have to say that the S4's are still possibly your best bet! They've now got a Mk II version of them.

I had X7's and they are perfect in so many ways except the design - it falls out of the ear a touch too easily and you can't wear a hat on top! I know that sounds silly but it's true.

I'd stick with the S4's and maybe try the Mk II version of them.

 

[maflynn]

Thanks for the advice, as noted by my 'Tar I'm always wearing a hat (baseball cap to be specific) so that's good info regarding the hat wearage. One thing I liked about the S4 was the fact they stayed in my ear better then others so its a bit disconcerting to get feedback that the X7 has some issues with that.

 

[Dstopsie]

I like the Bose headsets

 

[DowdyFick]

Check out the Klipsh X4i

 

[maflynn]

Check out the Klipsh X4i

Nice suggestion, I'll do more research on this. I'm also leaning towards the X7 as well.

I don't want to over spend based on my needs, I'm no audiophile but when going from a pair of apple earbuds (their old higher end ones with the silicon tips) to the i4, I noticed a marked improvements sound quality. I'm hoping the improvements the X7 or X4 bring to the table will be just as noticeable given the prices I'm dealing with.

 

[musicjunky]

Try the Shure 215K.