"B. Peg" wrote:
You said "crisp?" These fit the bill, although tad more money than you
specified.
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6i.asp
Mine are great! I also own one of their ER-6 models as well. The ER-6i
seals off ambient noise a bit better than the ER-6 does.

Same here. I retired my Sennheiser Pro (I cannot remember the number of
them but they had a really stiff cord). They required a headphone amp to
get the low power Pod's output up to something that I could live with though
so the cost of a better in-ear phone would be offset by requiring an
additional amp for a quality headset. I am not talking about the $25
Boost-a-Roo thing either. It had way too much distortion for me. That
said, every phone has a different affect on the user (i.e. more bass, more
treble, less whatever, transparency, etc). Better if you could borrow a
pair from someone or visit a dealer who has a line like a good music shop.

Here is a site with a bunch of audiophile headphone info:
http://headwize.com/ubb/forumdisplay.php?fnum=1

Also, the Etymotic's customer service can't be beat. The newish 6i's tips
kept coming off in my ear. They admitted their was a molding problem and
replaced the whole set. They do take some time to get use to if you never
wore in-ear phones though.

Mack