What are the best earphones available on the market?

Help me choose new in-ear earphones (2015 ed.)

• I'm in the market for new sound isolating earphones. I had Shure SE210 earphones for a few years which did really well (and were chosen on a Metafilter recommendation) but now I need a replacement. What I liked about the Shure SE210: - sound isolation was great - this is important as I normally use them on long flights and on rattley Tube journeys - I liked the over-ear loop you have to do to get them to settle in your ear - I liked the sound quality - they were mostly comfortable (see proviso below) What I didn't like about them: - they stuck out of my ears so I couldn't comfortably lie on my side or doze on aeroplane journeys. I'd prefer something a little smaller and less sticky-outy. - they had a weird bulky extension lead point about 15 cm down. - the cable got damaged twice just by the earphones, once in warranty and once (just now) when out of warranty. So something with a replaceable cable would be great but the extension point on the SE210 was really useless. - my ears did feel tired if I'd had them in a while. I'm prepared to compromise on this one since I expect it comes with good sound isolation. Other points: I'm not a mad audiophile, and dedicated audio boards on the internet scare me, but I do appreciate good sound. I'm prepared to go up to £200/ $280 but would rather stay in the £100/ $150 range. I can buy from the UK or from the US, though UK is preferred for ease and speed. I'm old fashioned enough to use them with an ipod nano rather than a phone, so mic and cord controls are not really priorities. I would happily stay with Shure particularly if the size issue was resolved, but welcome other suggestions.

• Answer:

  You are so, so spoiled for choice now. http://www.inearmatters.net/ is my blog of choice for earphone recs without the Head-fi forums modishness or hyperbole. I am a little confused by your request re replaceable cables - the SE210 (at least here in Aus) does have replaceable cables? Indeed. I'm using my pair with an UltimateEars cable, which I find far superior instead. The cable isn't replaceable, and they're kinda old by in-ear standards these days, but they are cheap as chips, tiny, and you can lie comfortable with them (they are also compatible with the shure black foam/olive tips that's a must for me), the SoundMagic PL50s are a lovely little single armature that have good isolation, lay flat nicely etc. Your preferences sound similar to mine; isolation, comfort, nothing massive like UE phones - and if you can tolerate the lack of soundspace you get from a single armature, they are great phones. Can regularly be had for less than fifty bucks.