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

Yeah I knew straight away they weren’t going to be good in my ears. If they’re comfortable for you then great, all the reviews are really positive and they seemed really nice to me

I got some cheapo wireless earbuds from AliExpress for under £20 and they're surprisingly good for the price. Sound is average (although I haven't tried different tips with them that may improve them), they stay in my ears well and the connection is solid with no dropouts.

There are loads of different ones but I got these which seem to have a decent reputation https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32985227564.html

So are Bose qc30s a wireless qc20? Very impressed with the qc20s and for the intended purpose of airplane journeys they're are perfectly fine, however, whilst walking around and day to day I do worry about the multiple points of failure along the wire and the battery/control unit is not easily safely placeable

Yes.

Also - if you ever intend to make phone calls, consider the new Bose 700s. They've got multiple mics which make them actually usable for phone conversations. The Qc30s are shit for phone calls...

Nice one, not too fussed about phone call functionality though

The 'can I get close or better than Andromeda's for less money' journey has ended. After being very impressed, but not quite satisfied, with the FiiO FA7, they were returned. I carried on using my Westone W40s for a while. Tried out a balanced cable, which did 'improve things', but I still yearned something subjectively better and funner to listen to.

In the mean-time I'd tried some Final Audio Sonorous III closed back headphones and quickly remembered why I hate wearing headphones. But I liked how they sounded.

With Fiio's IEMs on my radar, the reviews of the FiiO FH7, many of which stated they were as good if not better than Andromeda's, were enough to convince me to buy them. I think I'm done now. I can't bring myself to spend more than Andro money and at $445, I reckon I'll be just as happy with these from a performance but cost perspective also. Usual outstanding FiiO build quality applies here and my goodness do they sound sublime. They have that holographic quality of the Andromeda but still add a nice amount of texture to instruments over the Westones that preceded them. Amazing silver cable, too. I realise I rave every time I get new earphones, but perhaps it's because very pair I buy is more expensive than the last.... Totally wild how far IEMs have come in the last ten years.

Stop hugging the kerb and fully embrace chifi, you'll see how mediocre Fiio really is

Give them a listen then come back and tell me they're medicore :-)

Who should I buy IEMs from then? Cause I've certainly tried a lot of them from: Shure, Beyerdynamoc, Campfire Audio, AAW, Final Audio, Moondrop, Ultimate Ears, Empire Ears, Westone, KZ, Fearless Audio, BGVP...list goes on.

What do I buy at sub $500? Enlighten me. Not sarcasm.

OK whats wrong with moondrop out of interest

Nothing. But the Moondrop's that I have heard, were nowhere close to the FH7s. But I've only heard Kanas Pro's. I'd like to hear the Fearless S8/Pro's but I'm not about to buy something from China for $550 that I can't return.

All my chifis I have blind buys including moondrop A8 and im happy. Not andromedas tho, different

Asked this in the games thread but didn't get an answer so crossposting here; does anyone know of a 3.5mm pass through that has a physical mute switch for a microphone. Got one with a headset a couple of years ago and its actually pretty useful, but the connector has died and can't find a replacement anywhere.

Something like this;
https://www.amazon.com/Mute-Headset-Microphone-Muting-Adapter/dp/B079VVKY53/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

After a set of budget headphones with a mic for my phone.

Is the best value option still the SoundMAGIC E10?

If you get a good set, yes. My old ones were fantastic for the £. But I have had a couple since that were rubbish. Seems their QC is a bit iffy.

Oh.

Maybe I should pony up the extra for the new ones, E11S(?). Kinda wanted to stay close to the £30 mark for something so easily lost and broken.

After some earphones that will be comfortable to wear all day. I gather that comfort is a very personal thing but the current noise cancelling betron ones I've got get uncomfortable quite quickly.

Gimme your recommendations...

My Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear are pretty comfy if I'm not wearing glasses. If I'm wearing glasses I tend to get sore ears where the arms are after a few hours.

Any idea of budget @spenceey ? And just to confirm, earphones?

earphones - yep.

I've got some big headphones at home but they're too big to wear in the office.

In terms of budget so long as they're comfy I could go up to £100, but replaceable cables would be good at that price.

At that price you've got lots of good options, but at that price, I'd be inclined to say there's not much else out there better than these for under 100.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Headphone-Dynamic-Sounding-Earphone-Detachable-Grey/dp/B07QXXTFCH/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=tin+t2&qid=1568207471&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Thank you - they look great.

Is it worth me looking for bluetooth or would they not fit the bill?
I use these to cycle and go to the gym too.

You can get bluetooth cables for these, this kind of thing.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellodigi-Bluetooth-Replacement-Detachable-Microphone-mmcx-jack/dp/B07DQK3BJY

Never tried one though so no idea if they're any good.

Yeah, as @aggi says, any universal MMCX Bluetooth cable will work with these.

I don't have any experience with much wireless stuff and definitely not any sub 100 pound wireless stuff I am afraid so can't offer much advice. I'd also consider something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/FiiO-Bluetooth-Receiver-Built-Support/dp/B07D8K76F4/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=fiio+bluetooth&qid=1568210051&s=gateway&sr=8-2

I recently got a Radsone EarStudio ES100 and it is fantastic. Having no wire attached to my phone whilst still retaining fantastic sound quality is a real luxury.

@aggi @JB Didn't know MMCX Bluetooth cables were a thing. That makes my old Shure 215's a lot more useful. Thanks

A lot of them have poor reviews and I'm not that keen on wires around the back of my neck so I've never bothered.

For bluetooth I use a short MMCX cable like this https://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/Accessories.7/FiiO.406/LC35AS/FiiO_LC-3.5AS_3.5mm_to_MMCX_Short_Earphone_Cable.15309.html and one of the adapters that JB posted https://www.amazon.co.uk/FiiO-Bluetooth-Receiver-Built-Support/dp/B07D8K76F4