ive had the monster tour beats for about 3mos (~$150); ultimate ears super5 pros ($250 list, but occasionaly shows up at online for $150) for about a year;bose in ears (~$90)for about 6 mos
quick pro's and con's
-if you cant stand the fit of canal type phones, but want some sound isolation (ie dont like traditional buds)- the bose in ears are your choice - they dontneed a tight seal to get a good bass response, but in turn they do sound kind of muddy, yet still have an ok vibrant soundcape - much better than cheap endsony's bass enhanced buds (~$20) with the similar ear pieces; the only other buds ive seen with this type of ear pieces are altec lansings (~$50)which ivehave not heard much about
-between the ue's and the tour beats - the ue's definitely have the best soundscape ive heard in a canal phone for the price, if you can get them for$150 (dual driver - seperate hi and low freq drivers) and have the VERY UNIQUE advantage of the buds being removable from the cord and hence replaceable parts- overall the best sounding of my 3 pairs and most versatile
-the tour beats cord management is my favorite part of the set - FLAT Cord that doesnt tangle - simple but genius design - it doesnt have the vibrantsoundscape of the ue's but is more bass influenced, overall a good sound but likely more on par with sub $100 canal phones - ie entry level shure's,ue's,etymotics
basicaly my use pattern is this
-if i might need to frequently remove the headphones - ill go with the bose in ears - easy on/easy off, no readjusting really needed
-if i need to put the phones away every now and then - ill go with the tour beats - best cord management system
-if i want the best sound, am not on the move and have time to deal with cord management and care - i go with the ue super fi's - needs to be carefullyhandled