Gear Days - Summer Super IEM Showdown

Since I've been at the headphone collecting game for about a year now I thought I'd start doing yearly headphone roundups broken down by headphone type.  For summers I think IEMs or in ear headphones are worth a look at.  For falls I think that on ear headphones are a good topic.  And for winter I think that over ear headphones are the most fitting.  In spring I'll do the full gambit with a full relisten and a completely updated ranking.  Why such arbitrary month matchups?  Personally I think summer is the season most about traveling and a good pair of in ear headphones can take you a long way if you don't want to get noise cancelling headphones.  In the fall, I like walking around outside as the temperature begins to drop but isn't too cold yet.  On ears tend to be cooler to wear outside than over ears so they get fall.  Winter is the coldest month and over ear headphones can work as pretty good earmuffs so that's that.  Spring is the time for rebirth and a fresh outlook and so a full listen will be good to reassess the top and the bottom alike.  Now for IEMs.

Currently I have 9 pairs of in ear headphones.  Ranked from 1 to 9 they are:
1. Brainwavz B2
2. Klipsch X10
3. Shure SE-315
4. Sennheiser CX200
5. Sol Republic Amps
6. Klipsch S4i Rugged
7. Nuforce NE770X
8. HiSoundAudio HW2 Wooduo 2
9. Zipbuds Juiced

Now that I've given you the order let's get more into it.

First off this is what 9 pairs of in ear headphones looks like on a table.

From left to right, top to bottom those are the Sol Republic Amps, Sennheiser CX200s, Klipsch X10s, Shure SE-315s, Nuforce NE-770Xs, Klipsch S4i Ruggeds, HiSoundAudio HW2 Wooduo2s, Brainwavz B2s, and Zipbuds Juiceds.

At the top of the standings are the Brainwavz B2s.  I did a review on these a little bit ago so see that for specifics.  The reason they're at the top is that of the 3 top in ears they're the cheapest and provide a good sound.  Each of the top three pairs here have a distinct character.  The B2s are the brightest with the X10s being the bassiest.  The SE-315s have a very dry and analytical sound that while technically good can come off as unemotional in certain contexts in my opinion.

Below the top three are the CX200s, S4i Ruggeds, and Sol Republic Amps.  The reason the CX200s are at the top is actually not because of sound.  Arguably, they have the worst sound quality of the next three.  However they're also half the price, sometimes dropping as low as $14.  In addition, I found them to have the best fit which is important in how comfortable they are.  I imagine that other versions of the Klipsch S4 series are better off than the Ruggeds which are hindered by the stupidly large mic/volume control block.  The Sol Republic Amps would probably rate above the CX200s if i could manage to get a good fit that didn't make me want to fiddle with them, they just never felt really in to me.

The bottom bracket is kind of a sad place.  The Nuforce NE-770Xs were the first in ears I got after coming down to Austin, I had the Klipsch X10s before I came down, and I really did like them when I got them.  They fit well after all.  However they just don't match any of the above headphones in sound.  They end up too bassy with really recessed mids which just kills them for me.  The HiSoundAudios and Zipbuds both fall into the exact same problem.  The Zipbuds being the worst because the zipper cable while a novel idea, is terrible in practice as it's too heavy and makes a lot of noise when touched.

I hope you enjoyed my round up of in ear headphones and I hope you look forward to next year's entries.  If trends continue, I'll have another 8 headphones to add to this list and the competition may just get quite fierce.  Until next time.

--CsMiREK