For commuting and travel purposes, the Livewires will be a significant upgrade over the UM-1.
I have the Livewires and have auditioned the UM-1. From what I remember, the Livewires will be a big jump in sound quality - you're not going to believe what you've been missing using the UM-1 (even though they are great IEMs to begin with).
On an airplane, the Livewires isolation is great, but the difference in isolation is not as great as the difference in sound quality compared with the UM-1. I find I get slightly better isolation with my Etymotic ER6 than the Livewires on the plane. The Livewires give slightly better isolation than my UE SF5EB with Comply foam tips (same kind of foam tips that come with UM-1s).
Comfort-wise, I think it's a close call, but it's nice to be able to do away with replacing foam tips on the UM-1 - which a custom IEM will allow you to do.
However, the sound signature of the Livewires is very different from the UM-1. Livewires to not have a boomy bass. They have a clean, unexaggerated deep bass, but a bass that's there only if it's in the original recording. Functionally, the Livewires are a significant improvement over your UM-1, but you have to decide what sound signature fits you.
