re: Decent Budget Ear Buds for Under $150?
I ended up returning the Westone UM1s, and I picked up a pair of Etymotic Research ER-4S. What a difference! They sound phenomenal out of the box. In general, I don't feel the need to add any EQ, though depending on the material, I may want to add some high end.
Etymotic was great to deal with as well. I ordered these directly from them over the phone. The sales representative was extremely courteous, and put up with me asking a ton of questions. Since there aren't really any specs published for the ER-4B, I mainly was interested in more comparison between that and the ER-4S. Ultimately what it comes down to is that the ER-4S is attenuated about -5dB at 10kHz. Additionally, Etymotic mentioned that I could return these with no-questions-asked™ within 30 days.
Etymotic mentioned that outside of speech / audiology centers, there's very little interest in the ER-4B; it wasn't it to throw together public documentation for that specific version of the product.
I tried the triple flange eartip first, but I found the disposable foam eartips to have a better fit. While these weren't uncomfortable, I liked the feel of the UM1s more. My only real complaint about these is the handling noise. That's the one area where the UM1s were superior. On deck as an engineer, that's not so much of an issue, but it may get a bit annoying for musician who's moving around a lot or someone trying to use these while going for a run.
Outside of that, the ER-4S earphones sound spectacular. For in-ears without much of a budget, I highly recommend shelling out the extra bit of cash for these.
Thanks all!
