UE 11 Pro

This is my very first pair of custom IEMs after trying almost all of the high end universal IEMs -- SE530,  UE Super Fi 10, Etymotics etc.  The sound of these UE11 Pros is superior in every way to all of the universal ones I had, but even more important they stay in my ear and provide a proper seal.  Since my ear canals get very narrow, I found it very difficult to get any of my universals to stay in my ear and maintain a proper seal.  As you all know, a proper seal is crucial to achieve good full sound with an IEM.  I found UE to be an easy and helpful company to order from.  The fit is great, although it took me a while to figure out how to get these into my ears, and then I hurt myself the first few times I pulled them out.  I suspect this is again partly due to my narrow ear canals.  The build quality is excellent.  I've had these UE11Pros for almost two years now and they have held up extremely well, even though I bang them around, drop them on concrete, wrap them around my various DAPs.  I did have to order a new cable from UE after a year, the old cable suffered for my rough treatment -- however it was quite easy to plug the new cable in. I am not much of an audiophile, but I do love good sound. I do love my bass and I listen to lots of rock, reggae and alternative music. I do appreciate clarity but I'd rather have good full sounding bass over a neutral sound -- and I think the UE11Pro provides this very nicely. I find this sounds really good on my various DAPs -- Archos 5, iPod Touch 4G, Zune HD, Sony Walkman X1050. With my old headphones I often had to do something to pump up the bass, now I find I can play my DAPs flat and the sound is perfectly to my liking -- a nice warm sound which doesn't get shrill when you pump up the volume. And it can handle lots of volume without distortion, and the bass just keeps coming.

this is a super high quality IEM, very comfortable and isolating, with sparkly and punchy sound that lends itself best to bass-intensive recordings - whether this means reggae or rock, church organ or rhythm&blues is up to you to decide. it's a little less dependent on amplification in my opinion than the UERM. you'll be surprised to listen to a piano, for instance, on this one: it acquires bigger stomp without being thrown off balance completely. really good also with some classical recordings of big orchestras. watch the volume control, this is a very dynamic IEM!

Previous IEM was the Shure 530, which I'd thought was good. The UE11 Pro was a revelation. Music sounded clearer with a better sound stage. I listen to loss-less digital off my Mac thru an off-board DAC. Base does seem to be heavy directly off of iPad or the Mac.  This goes away with the Off-board DAC revealing deep solid base with tone and pitch. The supplied cables tend to oxidize over time. This tends to muffle the high-end and loses detail. I replace the cables every 6 to 8 months (or when I  realize it needs new cables). I am very happy with these.

I've owned E2cs then e4cs, then E500's (Se530's), and then moved to UE-11's. I have to say I was unhappy with the sound moving up from my E500's. They were clearly better, but not as much better as I hoped. The UE-11's had a sharper sound to them and I guess I like the warmer sound signature if that means anything. But after listening for a while and trying the E500's again, I couldn't listen to them. Regardless of how I liked the type of signature, the UE-11's were just that much better. 

I'd say they're worth the price for sure but definitely not a value headphone.