Apologies if something like this has been posted before, couldn't find an appropriate thread to put it in!

I'm looking to work on music outside the home studio to get some space from family stuff here, at the library in the evenings to be precise.
I live in a noisy urban environment, so have been perfectly happy to edit and mix records at home on my dependable Sony MDR-7506s instead of monitors, though I have decent ones.

The closed over-the-ear headphones don't work great at the library though. Starting to look for in-ear alternatives here. Does anyone have any recommendations for a pair that could be a reliable workhorse like the Sonys, in the 0-200€ range (though I'd love to find some that do the job for around 100€ if possible)? Thanks in advance for any tips!

I've been using Shure SE215 as in-ears for years now and really happy with them for both reliability and sound. I actually prefer them for tracking my drum parts vs conventional cans too as I can put shooters/heavy machinery headphones over them to dampen the drums out more. This means that I don't end up having to crank the guitar/vocal mix as much. I have heard too many folks casting some suspicion about hearing loss with in-ears actually being worse and coming on quicker/more severity than stage monitors...so I keep the volume as low as absolutely possible. That's just anecdotal though and not science.

That all being said, I'd be terrified to actually mix on them. But if you can reference frequently and then double/triple check your work later when you have the opportunity to listen on monitors + studio cans/whatever then maybe. I generally subscribe to the theory that familiarity of a system is more important than quality/expense anyway so this does seem to align with that.

Garth wrote: Fri Nov 03, 2023 2:56 pm I've been using Shure SE215 as in-ears for years now and really happy with them for both reliability and sound. I actually prefer them for tracking my drum parts vs conventional cans too as I can put shooters/heavy machinery headphones over them to dampen the drums out more.

These buds and this method is really the only way I can truly lock in with rhythmic tracks while drumming. Just the buds alone or normal headphones (even so called 'drum headphones') don't attenuate the outside drums enough. And yes: the less you have to crank the guide tracks the safer it is.

As far as headphone mixing, it works best for me with more 'natural' sounds and basic level adjustments and without much compression or distortion. Starting with the drum overheads and gradually blending in close mics, that sort of mix. Distortion and compression are tough for me to gauge with headphones. I'll attempt a mix like that and listen to it on a system and the levels come out way off..

Thanks, guys. I picked up a pair of the Shures, on your recommendations and in part as they seem to be the only ones in this price range, and am now writing from the dame library and they work extremely well for my purposes combined with shooter earmuffs. Cheers!