Selecting new earbuds

[88MVP]

I'm thinking about buying a new pair of earbuds, and I've been looking at the offerings from Shure and Sennhieser so far. I'm currently alternating between a pair of ~$40 Sony's and roughly equivilent Creative buds, so I'm sure whatever I buy will be an improvement. Is there any place that I can order from that allows a demo (I'm thinking they just replace the silicone tips) or accepts returns on in-ear phones? I'm nervous about dropping significant cash on something I can't even test out beforehand.

Alternatively, what's a good site for objective comparisons and reviews?

 

[mshan]

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/

 

[cheesehead]

Shure's low-end buds aren't that great. I've been told that Mylarones are the way to go for low-budget IEMs. (Also, Triple-Fis are nifty.)

 

[88MVP]

I've heard that too, which is why I wasn't too keen to drop $100+ on phones that I can't demo and might not even be that good.

I checked out the head-fi forum... it just seems like a lot of people, each with their own tastes, spouting about which of the ones that they own they like best. Is there a review site anywhere that does comparative reviews of offerings across the industry the same way Anandtech covers things like graphics cards?

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: 88MVP
I checked out the head-fi forum... it just seems like a lot of people, each with their own tastes, spouting about which of the ones that they own they like best.

Pretty much, yeah. But unfortunately, that's what all speaker/headphone discussion tends to be.

Is there a review site anywhere that does comparative reviews of offerings across the industry the same way Anandtech covers things like graphics cards?

Based on what, though? There's nothing as simple and objective as FPS -- most people LIKE certain kinds of inaccurate reproduction. And you can only tell what kinds *you* will like with some experience.

This thread at head-fi may be more useful than most. Also, HeadRoom has frequency response graphs for the stuff they carry... But they don't have nearly everything, and their recent additions aren't listed there.

 

[Elcs]

Although subjective as i was my only pair of "expensive" in-ears... I did like the V-Moda Vibes. Very good sounding and come in many flavours of colour these days.