Earphones / Headphones: Where to try, what to buy?

Checked out a friends' B&W P5 today (and compared to AKG K451).
They seem very well made, and they're comfortable (not sure if still comfortable if wearing for a long time, or in summer though).
Flimsy remote / mic is even shittier that the AKG's, not acceptable in my opinion.
Was expecting a much better sound for the price, but was left pretty disappoint.
A bit more detailed they are, but not overwhelming, and they lack punch for my taste.

The only headphones anyone should ever buy are HD-25iis.

Why?

Such neutral. Very modular. Wow.

Also, a lot of music passes through them at some point in the production stage so you're kind of hearing it in a very accurate way. But then I'm a pedantic snob.

HD-25iis - good, very rugged. Solid, if a little boring sound wise. Gotta be careful with source though, can sound bright and scratchy with streamed content due to their neutral and analytical sound. Not so much a criticism, more just something to be aware of.

Got given a pair of £30 Sony in ear buds, and didn't use them much but have been footing it to work for the last week or so, and didn't realise I'd become the irritating tsk tsk tsk headphone wearer beside you in a cramped carriage.
Any suggestions for in ear buds that stop sound leakage?

Used to wear shure's and loved them, especially the two year warranty since the cables went a couple of times and they just sent me a new pair, and had some etymotics but didn't get on with them.

Any suggestions for £70-£150.

The commuters of london thank you in advance...

I have some old phonak earbuds that were recommended by an ear-nerd - they are sold as audeo now. Sealed up like earplugs; I can hear blood rushing in my ears(!). Phonak make hearing aids originally I think- can swap/mod filter to alter the acoustics. 3 years of seldom bouts of commute/travel use they're glued and going strong. squishy foam tips.

Bose in ears dont give anyhiss out Corny

Have an inbuilt distrust of Bose, a bit like my distrust/dislike of bang and olufsen.
Will have a look at them and see if there's one in the range I can bear to wear..

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I can hear blood rushing in my ears(!)

Turn up the volume.

@cornelius_blackfoot I quite like these for budget earphones. No sound leakage at all. Very nicely made and sound pretty good. I still prefer my Klipsch x10i for their better finess but these sonys have a really easy to listen to solid sound.

http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-15643-sony-mdr-ex650apt-earphones.aspx?VariantHid=29810&gclid=COmyj4rUxcICFeLItAod2BMAAg

I bought some E10s based on the rave reviews here and I'm not that impressed. There's very little warmth or bass. Disappointing.

I have also just bought E10 but the E10S version. Theyre alright sound wise. Theres a problem in that the mic housing on the cable to the ear piece catches on my shirt collar and has within days pulled one of the plastic ends off.

Its took about 48 hours for me to have to superglue it back together. Im going to have to do it again to round the end so it doesnt catch.

The plug housing looks cheap and is bulky so a tiny mp3 player suddenly has something hard that catches onto things easily, sticking out.

Im not impressed with the build quality at all. Would i buy them again? NO.

Disappointing.

They're £30 - you can't expect much. In regards to sound, when I used some (for about a week) I found the fit to absolutely critical - in the end only sounded good with some comply foam tips to properly seal them in.

Seriously, cheap earbuds suck.

Ones I have and use a lot are Beyerdynamic MMX 102 iE, Klipsch X10i and Sony MDR ex650 - solid sounding and all of them seem to last. The Klipsch I've had for years, the beyers is use running/gym/work - theyr'e 2 years old and fine and the sonys are 8 months with no issues.

Most importantly with in-ear style earphones is the fit - get it wrong and they will sound awful.

I'd be happy to spend that real money on some if I thought I wouldn't lose or destroy them within six months. They just seemed to get wrecked, I see them as virtually a disposable item.

Ok, I'm going get some of these supercool, superexpensive foam tips that everyone thinks are good, where to get them from? How to choose a size? Ta.

Genuine question, why would you have more than one set?

Various reasons, mostly that I'm always chasing better sound or I'm working somewhere, or I'm overseas and have forgotten headphones so I'll go out and purchase new ones. No real logic behind it!

In regards to foam tips, each manufacturer needs a different size and you need to choose your ear hole size...
Soundmagic E10 use T400 (or TX400) get a mixed S/M/L pack to start with - even if the large is too big they compress quite well and would still be useable, just very firm fitting.

You can also find them on Amazon.

http://www.complyfoam.com/

I don't suppose anyone has any HD25's that they would like to part with?

HAAAAAA!!!!

You said ear hole size!

I got foam ear tips.

If you buy from amazon, it recommends foam ear buds for you

I only wrote my reivew because there was such uber praise which made them sound like super buds!

yeah CB, 'tis cool, I got that. They're OK to a point. It actually annoys me when people waste money on such things - hence why I'm quite happy to give my opinion.

Also, ear hole, ear canal. hehehe ;)

Best in ear headphones sub £30?