ER6 died after 1.5 years of service. need new buds.

So I bought my ER6 a while back, about 18 months they served me, longer than any other pair of headphones i ever head. Awkwardly enough they were also the most COMFORTABLE pair of buds i ever had (while i could wear "regular" buds for up to 2 hours, ipod buds only 20 minutes in comfort, these lasted me upwards to 6 hours of non-stop tunnage). In any case, due to cable damage, and seeing as I am out of warranty, I need new phones.

Here are the requirements:
-buds (or small / light to carry with mp3 player)
-lets try to keep it around $100. i know there are some nice ones for $400, but i just don't have that much $ right now.
- black would be nice since my iriver is black (dont wanna color clash)
- comfort would also be pretty nice i figure.

otherwise i am open to suggestions... any brand is welcome (except KOSS.. )

well, first it would help to know where the damange occured exactly. its not like its a clear rip. furthermore i believe its actually where the bud joins the cable at what i guess you'd call a base, perhaps even just inside the outter shell of the headphone. if

its not the connector seablade. like i said, i have no idea exactly where they are damaged. that said, took a look at www.headphone.com yesterday and kinda liking Ultimate Ear 5EB... however they are $200, on eBay roughly $150 so i think i can manage is they are worth it, if they are not, should i get just replacement ER6....they are something like $80 now :-\

i listed to dance music mostly (trance, house, progressive, acid, etc etc.... mostly trance/vocal trance and house though) so i'd say bass is important, but not overly so.

whats the big difference between er6 and er6i?

and i guess the 5EB are out, i have kinda small ear canals so even the er6 pose a challenge sometime....

one thing that absolutely ticks me off about the ER6 is the fact that you can hear the cable rubbing against the shirt.... or hell, just about against anything. and that uber-thin cable ... gotta be careful with it.

i really wouldn't object to trying the Shure EC3 or whatnot, maybe even the ER EP4 (if i can find another $50), but if all is crap then ER6i it is.... rubbing shirt or not.


edit:
after some searching and reading (especially on misticriver to see if the er6i make any favor to the irivier), this pretty much sums it up.

ER6 - good detail, a bit low on bass, flimsy wire. probably the best deal for the money (~$80)
ER6i - was ment to fix the high rolloff on the ipod, doesn't do any favor to the iriver, just butchers the detail that ER6 offers.
Shure E2 - bargain basement IEMs. will do the job, but rolls off the highs, and adds some fake sounding bass.
Shure E3 - well-rounded IEMs. About on par with ER6, except for a thicker cable (yey!) and more bass. Does tend to roll of highs a little more.
ER4 - detail detail detail! probably the most expensive of the bunch, might be weak bass, small wire.

Ultimate Ears are out of the equation for being quite large.
More higher-end IEMs are out because of $$$.

so i guess at this point i have to make up my mind between

Shure E3 (blacK)
ER6 (just replace my old one)
ER4 -- more expensive, but great detail, look pretty comfortable too.


and just so you guys know, i am not bent on IEMs. I am willing to ponder other designs. But lets be honest here, buds are horrible when it comes to highs, anything beyond midrange is just ungodly poor. "street" style are acceptable i suppose, but there are very few with ok sound. then we have the huge cans, but lets be honest, nobody likes to carry around headphones 3x bigger than your player.

i think i am liking the ER-4P ... now to find the best price. so far $180 is best i can find on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Etymotic-ER4...hippingPayment

the shipping charge is $20, but there is a $20 coupon to make up for it.

....if you see a better price within the next day or 2, let me know!

from what i am reading, the over-the-ear design and a thicker cable on the shure plugs get rid of the annoying rubbing on the shirt make noise deal..... also makes it a bit sturdier i suppose, but well, thats what ya gonna get. the E2 are bargain basement, not even worth talking about really. The E3, my friend ahs a set he uses with his ipod, i didn't actually try them out (though now i think i should have) but just looking at them, the design looked not very comfortable compared to my ER6.

In terms of E4, better headphone than the ER6 and E3, sure it is. The price i am finding on that one is in the $150 range... the ER-4P is in the $180 range. Benefits to the Shure... better cable, better build, more bass. The downside... rolls off the highs. The ER4.... better detail, less bass, thinner cables... perhaps more easily damaged.

jmmm... i think where the er6 and er6i have a noticable change in performance depends on the player. the iriver has a much more powerful amp than the ipod, thus it played just well on the er6. once you boost the sensitivity to the er6i apperantly that does kill some detail in favor of a more beefy bass. so perhaps because of its weaker amp the er6i do sound better on an ipod, but not on something with a better amp.

as for the er-4p .... i am liking them (except i dont know how comfort is....whereas i've never seen a pair in person), but at $180 vs er6 for $90 thats 200%.....they better be 200% the headphone er6 is.