Westone 3 vs. UM3X vs. IE8 vs. RE0

Depends on the type of sound you want. Simply figure out which one has the sound signature you want. That's the one you buy. Simple.

It just takes work on your part to know what you want and to read through the piles of reviews and user comments already available on the forum about each one.

^
That is very good advice. Just because one iem is good (which I'm sure all of them are but I haven't heard them all) doesn't mean its right for you. Find out what kind of sound you want and then you can see if you can take some off your list.

The RE0 is mentioned because it is a good deal for $80+shipping. The rest are sonically superior, but are more expensive.

I can understand his confusion. It's pretty clear that RE0s are the favorite around here in the <$100 IEM market, and maybe even the <$200 market, but it's not clear from any comments I can find how they compete with much higher priced models like the W3 and UM3X. I currently own the W3s, and while I'm very happy with them, I'm quite curious to try the RE0s and see how the clarity and detail and overall sound compare. I love the W3s for rock and trance, but I'm curious if I can find something more like the sound of the DT880/600s in terms of detail and clarity for softer rock and classical and stuff. However, if the clarity of the RE0s doesn't better the W3s, I don't think I'll have found what I'm looking for.

Oh but you didn't notice the e-Q7, CK10, or the Monster Turbine series, which are hot recently. Just giving some other options to the OP.

As mvw2 stated, first figure out what kind of sound siganture you prefer. In my opinion there is no absolute top sound quality, but there should be one or two, or even more sound signatures which one prefer. From the poll, I speculate that you haven't try much headphones/earphones/IEMs, as FWIR those listed in the poll sound different to each other (different sound signature), so you are not sure what kind of sound signature you prefer, are you? This is just my speculation and if you had a certain particular sound signature you prefer, just ignore my sentence.

Reading what people says here definitely give you some idea on how an IEM would sound, but you won't know how exactly it sounds until you try them. So it is better auditioning first before buying. (That being said, most of my purchase is based on reading here in Head-Fi)

Anyways if you like punchy bass, you can cancel out the RE0. If you like sweet mids, the UM3X should do the job better. In my opinion none of the IEMs in the poll you listed give people unpleasant listening because of bad sound quality, but could make people regretting their purchase because of not liking the sound signature.

EDIT: Don't forget the Panny HJE900 too!

e-Q7 is currently my favorite high-end universal fit IEM with the best overall balance, followed by SE530 and RE0. I wholeheartedly recommend the e-Q7 if you can afford them. Also, at only $79 you can easily get RE0 as backup pair - not quite as good as e-Q7 IMO, but very close and I still prefer them to the other high-end IEMs like UM3X, Triple.fi, Westone 3 and IE8 because RE0 is more balanced.

It depends on what type of sound you want out of your headphones. IMO they are going to give you different sounds. I picked the W3 because it would give me the best sound I would want out of the genres of music that I listen to.

Agreed. I own the W3/IE8/SE530 and all are superior to the RE0. But the RE0 can be had for under $100.

I voted for the W3s by the way.

OK, my 2 cents...... I have owned westone 3s and ie8s still have the ie8s , sold the westone 3s. the w3s are a great iem but for me, just didn't have enough bass. they seemed to bottom out at higher volume levels. Get the ie8 it does not disappoint. I have tried alot of iem's but the search ended when I got the ie8s. this is just my 2 cents.... good luck....

Just a quick note that many UM3X users (previously W3 users), have since gone back to the W3.

I think there is a thread on somewhere here on that...

I'd suggest the RE0 as an entry point and from then on, you can figure out where to go.

so... these polls typically mean nothing as I would bet most have not even heard these IEMs. Typical of most polls on head-fi as they are far from controlled or scientific.

Have a read as another input:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/w...ack-w3-424741/

Or another...

As well, HPA is one of the most respected (distinguished) reviewers on Head-fi and he promptly bought the W3 after losing his previous set (not the UM3X). Another data point:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/r...thread-386477/

Ultimately one has to listen to all in order to make the best judgment.