I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone here: I seriously need new in-ear monitors, but am also tired of the poor sound quality of the standard iPhone earbuds. Now, I've seen that Shure is offering some earbuds that also have a mic for use with the iPhone.

Can anyone recommend what might be a good purchase for me? My budget is under $200 and durability is a factor as I am very likely to use these every day (as well as in pro audio situations).

Thanks!

I just purchased a set of Etymotic hf3 in ear headphones.  I absolutely love them.  They are extremely accurate and don't color the sound.  The isolation that is achievable with the included earbuds is great, however, I'm planning on getting the custom ear molds that are available for this set.  I've heard and read really good things about them.  They would be a little outside the budget you mentioned, but well worth it in my opinion.

Eric,

I purchased a set of Klipsch earbuds at the Apple Store
and am extremely pleased with them.  However, Etymotics
makes great products, particularly as it relates to quality of
sound and hearing protection.

Another vote for the Etymotics. I have the ER-4S and love them. They're definitely more my ";monitoring"; phones than ";just listening for enjoyment"; phones. While I appreciate a nice fat, colored sound for just enjoying music (like the Bose Quietcomforts), it's not something I'd use for audio production, which I tend to spend a lot of time doing.

One thing I don't like about the Etymotics is how far you have to jam them into your ear to get an accurate sound with a proper seal. It can get a little uncomfortable for long sessions. I used these for a lot of late-night VDL sample editing sessions, and had a constant supply of foam replacements (and itchy ears!). One of these days I'd like to pony up for the custom fit.

Of course, these don't have the iPhone mic thingy by default. I use other headphones if I plan to be talking or doing a lot of audio up/down or pausing (like on a plane, or walking to work). I don't want my higher-end headphones being interrupted by the little iDevice mic/volume thing. It's convenient to have that there, but I've found they tend to be flakey after some usage, and I guess I don't really trust it. If that part is important to you though, you may want to take a look at the conversions provided by [url=http://ultimatebuds.com/store/home.php?cat=3]Ultimate Buds[/url].

I have Etymotic ER-15/25 earplugs, which have custom-fit inserts. Jim, if you think foam inserts can get uncomfortable after a while, the custom-fit is actually less comfortable because it is a much harder material. The custom-fit provides better attenuation because it seals better to the walls of your ear canal, but foam is a better choice for extended listening periods where background noise isn't a concern.

Good to know, Joe. Thanks for the feedback!

If you like Etymotic and need a mic, this company provides the best of both worlds.
http://www.ultimatebuds.com

I have the UB7 with ER6i. They provide some level of customization as well. 

I can say my ";go-to"; earbuds/mic for my iPhone are the [url=http://www.earphonesolutions.com/s4i-iphone-headphones.html?productid=s4i-iphone-headphones&channelid=FROOG][b]Klipsch Image S4 w/ mic[/b][/url] as Neal mentioned in his post.

[url=http://www.earphonesolutions.com/shure-se535-iphone.html?productid=shure-se535-iphone&channelid=NEXTA][glow=orange,2,300][b]HERE[/b][/glow][/url] are those rockin' Shure IEMs you were talkin' about.  The price on these is quite a bit over your proposed budget ($600), but I think you can get this custom inline mic & 3-button control cable upgrade for most of the Shure IEMs.  Below is another link to this website that offers iPhone compatible headsets for any budget:

[url=http://www.earphonesolutions.com/iphone-compatible-headsets.html]http://www.earphonesolutions.com/iphone-compatible-headsets.html[/url]

And for what it's worth, I know that company called [url=http://store.sensaphonics.com/][b]Sensaphonics[/b][/url] creates custom fit ear molds that are compatible with the Shure 535s & 435s respectively.

Hope this helps. :)

Well, after factoring all of the options (including my check book), I decided to order Apple's in-ear earbuds.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA850G/B?fnode=MTY1NDA1MA&mco=MTA4NDA3NTk

They should be in in a day or two, so I'll post an informal review here. Speaking of reviews, they received very good ones in comparison to their price, so I'm excited to see if they will live up to the hype!

My reveiw is mixed: they sound great with the iPhone/iPod app. I had to do a little tweaking to the EQ in the settings to get more bass presence in the sound, but that was easy enough.

As far as the mic function, having my ears fully plugged made the talking experience seem like I had to shout (couldn't hear myself). And the mic iteself doesn't put enough of my voice back into the mix. But, there's a lot less road noise to hear over, so that's a plus.

And finally, these are completely inappropriate for Pro-Audio (and I should've known...). They couldn't even begin to handle my Aviom personal mix last night at church.

So, in a way, I'm back to the drawing board, but now I have all of these great recommendations! So thanks!

Thanks for the review of the apple buds...I was curious to see how they'd sound with two drivers.  I wish apple would just make it standard practice to give people better earbuds when they drop a hefty chunk of change for an apple product.  I cringe every time I see some one listening to their ipod/iphone with those white, stock earphones. :)

One of the things I like about the Klipsch ear buds is that the tips fit
comfortably into the ear, come in different sizes, and are comfortable for longer-duration
listening.  Just as importantly, the buds are designed such that ear wax
does not get into the device.  I had that problem with the Etymotic (Bluetooth phone)
and the Apple buds.  If you experience excessive ear wax build-up like myself,
that's an important consideration. 

Neal ";Earwax"; Flum, everybody! :) Thanks for the tip (no pun intended). Hope you're doing well!