OP, there's a lot of things that go into loudness and sound quality. These days you hit diminishing returns hard very quickly, but in my experience its not too difficult to outdo the mass branded cheap stuff you'll find at typical stores. Not saying they're terrible, but you'd probably have a revelatory experience if you listened to some of the $50-100 IEMs. Only thing is you'd need to find one that suits your music and listening preferences. I'm not saying to go and fall off the deepend, but something to consider. You should check around and see if you might have a store where you can demo stuff.
The one caveat though is that, you may or may not find the value in doing that, with regards to money. By that I mean, it sounds like you go through these fairly often, which cheap earbuds/IEMs do tend to have durability issues, or possibly losing them (which if its the former, there's some very rugged/well made ones for not ridiculous cost; if its the latter, then maybe look into shirt clips and things like that which would make them easier to keep from losing them).
I had a friend that used to go through headphones, I'd recommend whatever the new good sounding but cheap headphones at the time were, but they kept breaking. I finally convinced him to splurge on some V-Modas (I think around $100) due to their durability (helped that they also had decent sound for the price). He's had them for like 5 years now and they're still going strong. Before that he was spending probably $30 a year on headphones as they'd break after about a year of use, so he actually saved money by splurging a bit on some better quality ones.
Another thing to look into with earphones are the tips, as they can make a big difference in the sound quality/comfort. Weirdly, I found the smooth surface foam tips that I got with JVC Marshmallows (not sure they still make them, got mine at Wal-Mart for like $10 around 10 years ago), which resemble Shure "olives", to be the best for comfort and sound across a range of IEMs I used them on.
But there's nothing wrong with sticking with what works for you, and no shame in cheap stuff. There were plenty of times when I just put on my old KSC-75s for listening on Youtube and things like that versus using my big nice full-sized headphones, and the sound was quite enjoyable. If they were more isolation and circumaural, and I hadn't been exposed to some headphones that did stuff sonically that I hadn't heard from anything else (headphones or speakers - granted I didn't have the ability to have nice high end speaker setups due to cost and living situation), I probably would've been happy enough to not bother with most other headphones even.
Are you talking physical sensitivity or sound sensitivity (by that I mean, comfort or loudness)? With good IEMs you should be able to listen at lower volumes. But Apple even upgraded the stock earbuds so they're actually not nearly as awful as they used to be. If its comfort you should try some legit IEMs (not earbuds since they won't seal and thus you'll lose out on bass response which will likely cause you to push volume higher to compensate), and try different tips, it can make all the difference (I really don't know how people do deep insertion with stuff like tri-flange silicone tips).
I wish Phonak hadn't left the consumer market, they made what are probably the most comfortable universal fit IEMs I ever had/tried. Only customs came close to that level of fit/comfort for me.
The one caveat though is that, you may or may not find the value in doing that, with regards to money. By that I mean, it sounds like you go through these fairly often, which cheap earbuds/IEMs do tend to have durability issues, or possibly losing them (which if its the former, there's some very rugged/well made ones for not ridiculous cost; if its the latter, then maybe look into shirt clips and things like that which would make them easier to keep from losing them).
I had a friend that used to go through headphones, I'd recommend whatever the new good sounding but cheap headphones at the time were, but they kept breaking. I finally convinced him to splurge on some V-Modas (I think around $100) due to their durability (helped that they also had decent sound for the price). He's had them for like 5 years now and they're still going strong. Before that he was spending probably $30 a year on headphones as they'd break after about a year of use, so he actually saved money by splurging a bit on some better quality ones.
Another thing to look into with earphones are the tips, as they can make a big difference in the sound quality/comfort. Weirdly, I found the smooth surface foam tips that I got with JVC Marshmallows (not sure they still make them, got mine at Wal-Mart for like $10 around 10 years ago), which resemble Shure "olives", to be the best for comfort and sound across a range of IEMs I used them on.
But there's nothing wrong with sticking with what works for you, and no shame in cheap stuff. There were plenty of times when I just put on my old KSC-75s for listening on Youtube and things like that versus using my big nice full-sized headphones, and the sound was quite enjoyable. If they were more isolation and circumaural, and I hadn't been exposed to some headphones that did stuff sonically that I hadn't heard from anything else (headphones or speakers - granted I didn't have the ability to have nice high end speaker setups due to cost and living situation), I probably would've been happy enough to not bother with most other headphones even.
I don't know how the hell anyone can stand earbuds. They hurt my sensitive ears...
Are you talking physical sensitivity or sound sensitivity (by that I mean, comfort or loudness)? With good IEMs you should be able to listen at lower volumes. But Apple even upgraded the stock earbuds so they're actually not nearly as awful as they used to be. If its comfort you should try some legit IEMs (not earbuds since they won't seal and thus you'll lose out on bass response which will likely cause you to push volume higher to compensate), and try different tips, it can make all the difference (I really don't know how people do deep insertion with stuff like tri-flange silicone tips).
I wish Phonak hadn't left the consumer market, they made what are probably the most comfortable universal fit IEMs I ever had/tried. Only customs came close to that level of fit/comfort for me.
Facebook
Twitter