Hello fellow walleteer's..

I am in need of an audiofix, a new gadget I crave, a longing for improved sound plugged into my longing earcanal..
Ok, that may have sounded nasty, I beg pardon.

I, a norwegian male with too much spare time are on the lookout again, this time to exchange my AKG k324p with quality soundquality.

The choices are too many, and people say good things about most models, aswell as bad things about others, which others praise.
Sound preferences are random, and it is hard to recommend products for others, generally it seems that the general idea is that generally people say things to have something to say.

After reading several hundred pages of posts over a few weeks here I have gotten to no conclution on how to choose a new earpiece for myself.
An mp3player I managed to find, with some help from here and other areas, + ofcourse listening to myself.

Enough babble eh? I am sorry to bring up yet another thread full of these questions, but its what the forums are for, to some degree.

I have 400$ USD, they will be spent on something.

Candicates:
Custom-molded earpieces, freqs, livewires, all brands seems to receive somewhat the same comments to me.

Shure se530 - one cannot go without considering this it seems, I have had bad experiences with shure(e3c), but I'm told these problems have been fixed.

UE triple.fi 10 - A tempting model, but seemingly I can get Shure se530 for
almost the same price.. People argue the two last mentioned models up against eachother up and down, in my head they are now tied for quality/performance but have their differences.

Sleek sa6 - My read today for about 70 pages of posts, amongst some googling proves to me that these are a valid choice for me, but some argue for their quality, and I see people who praised them skyhigh early on, have changed them for other models..

Klipsch - I am also looking at these small petite headphones, image 10x I belive would fall under my budget, I actually haven't checked the price at this moment I recall, pardon me if it is higher than 400..

I am sure there are many other valid options, please bring them to my attention and confuse me even more.

I listen to mainly Vocal Trance, Hip-hop, Rnb.. Some rock, and some pop..
My Mp3player is a Sony s639, wich should provide excellent soundquality as far as I've experienced and read.
I also have a fiio amp waiting in the mail somewhere, so I can consider a more resistant headset also.

I would greatly appreciate some input on what to look for, or how to choose a new headset.

Beeing located in norway my options limit themselves to ordering online, as for example a shure se530 set would cost me 650-700$ USD here..

So my question, how do one choose a IEM these days?
It seemed so much easier before I started reading about them..

Thanks for your assistance if I may be worthy of it!

Depending on how big your ear canals are it will limit your choices. Klipsch virtually fits everyone. I cannot comment on the sound quality for the moment. I'm thinking about getting a pair...

Heh Most of these have changeable tips, so thats no big issue.
I normally use the smallest there is.
I have no problem using the mediumsized following the shure e3c plugs, nor the large from my akg k324p set.
its just about your habits I assume..

I prefer the smaller once, as they take shorter time to put in properly. the seal seems ok anyways.
Good luck on your IEMhunting days!

As with most things, thinking there is a "right" answer will likely just lead to frustration. I think you read as much as you can, then order something. It seems with high end earphones there are people willing to buy them on Ebay if you happen to make the wrong choice.

Me, I just couldn't agonize over it. I think the Shure ES530s, Etymotic 4p/4s, and Sleek SA6 were all viable choices, and maybe the Klipsch x10s too. I picked the Shure because it seems to have the most favorable opinions and fewest strongly unfavorable ones. I still find the Sleek's tuning options intriguing.

Unless the fit of the Shures is horrible, I think it would be hard to be disappointed with them, that's why I picked them. But I'm not saying they are the ones you should pick. I'm just saying, when you've read all you can stand to read, then pick a pair and buy them. Hopefully you'll love them.

Thanks Xena, appreciate the input!

Yah, I had some arguments with the fit on my old shure e3c, but we got to an arrangement after a while, so I'm used to the shure fit.
My e3c just got sent into repairs for the second time, so I decided I want some good ones to use wich actually has quality printed on them ;D
The e3c cable has some issues I belive..

Well..

After spending hours reading more about models up and down, I have decided to strike se530 from my list, aswell as klipsch and sa6.. And add sennheiser ie8.

I can get triple.fi 10 for about 380$. Included shipping
sennheiser ie 8 for about 290$ excluded shipping(sweeden)
I also review q-jays, available for around 172$.. excluded shipping(sweeden).

This is abit hard for me

My first hand listening experience is limited to the SA6, Se530's and Triplefi's, however, much like yourself but over a longer period of time, I have read many impressions of much of the IEM market and have a pretty solid idea of most models' frequency distributions and sonic signatures are in my head. Obviously, having listening experience with some models helps me form a better idea of what models I havn't listened to sound like by comparing projected sound signatures against those of the phones I have listened to.

Anyway, from all that preliminary explanation and justification, what advice can I parlay?

Firstly, you comment that you usually use the small tip variety with IEM's. This suggests your ear canals are small. In light of that, you may wish to avoid the triple fi as their nozels/barrels are large in diameter and I have picked up that it is ppl with small ear canals whom generally struggel to get a comfortable fit with these IEM's (you'll notice this IEM recieves most of it's abuse on this front!). Otherwise, it is a fantastic sounding IEM! Wide, deep soundstage- seriously, it's sound is large!-, a very open and airy sound sig with great instruement separation; tremendous, deep, powerful bass response, slightly accentuated in the mid-bass ie with more of a kick in that region; crystaline mids, that are slightly recessed, vocals slightly veiled; highs, very detailed and tremendously extended, no roll-off, truly shining upper register. This, to me, gives the impression, overall, of a distinctly cool and neutral sound. Aside from that, you've got an IEM that apparently has significant room for enhancement with an amp, if you ever go down that road. And, replaceable cables. No cable microphonics I have detected either (but I wear over-the-ear style).

The Senn IE8's I have picked to be considered as a middle-ground between the Shure SE530's and UE Triple fi's, sonically. I'll leave it to ppl with first hand experience to comment on them!

The q-jays I havn't read as much on, but I seem to recall them being considered a rung below the IEM big boys in terms of raw SQ (incorporating qualities such as soundstage and depth, power, dynamics, timbre, definition and resolution to sound, detail and instruement separation).

If you can, you should order a few models you're interested in- e.g. the thre you've currently got shortlisted- try em and keep what you like best, returning the others. A good site for this ie providing an opened box returns policy, is advancedmp3players.com.

Thanks for your reply BloodSugar00, appreciate it!

I already have an amp, thou its the cheap Fiio e3 it feels like its not changing much of the sound on my current iems thou.

I'm not sure how it would work with advancedmp3players.com as im located in Norway.
That is one of my starting problems!
Half of the models I look for is not represented in this cold country

Also, shipping would gradually eat up my funds, if I were to sample IEMS and send them back.

I could try them in norway, those few I find, I think I will try to find the shops which sell them later tomorrow

my vote goes for the tf10's

Tested and owned SA6, UM2 and Triples, but keep my Triples. Eager to test IE8 though

I'd keep the Senn IE8, Triple.Fi 10, and Image X10 on the list. Scratch the SE530, Sleek SA6, and q-JAY.

Looking at your musical preferences, including trance & hip hop, I'd say you need something that does a respectable job with bass. I currently listen mostly with the Senn IE8, and quite enjoy them... they do well with all genres. I also loved the TF10's, but they wouldn't keep a seal sadly. The Images are very very nice too, and may save you a little cash.

Oh, and both the X10 and the IE8 play well with my Sony A829.

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The SE530's have a great bass response though!

i have owned sa6, um2, se530, atrio m5, at ck10. i want to hear the sennheiser ie8 as the sound i really loved came from another dynammic: the atrio and to a lesser extent, the victor fx500 (for bass those two are powerful yet controlled).

but the atrio had the soft plastic housing which caused echoes that i did not like for trance: they are not trance phones: the echo killed it. every phone has had trouble with trance. if too fast, no bass. if bassy enough: too slow or poor echo performance.

im sure the ie8 will do much better

currently among dual armature based phones, ck10 have been my favourite: small, very well designed: strong silent calbe, good stress relief and very pretty. seal is also quite good and the stem instead of anaemic westne, shure, ety or sleek audio type is thick though has the same small sound tube. no way it will break.

im sure sennheiser will design a strong case as well.

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There have been direct comparisons in the IE8 thread that say the Senn's bass is a bit better...... that's why I was suggesting to scratch them.

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Ah, ok. Didn't see that process of elimination there, no worries! Still, if bass quality and quantity is of importance, the shures are one to consider IMO.