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czqdtc said:

After trying all the good IEMs out there, including JH13, ES5, even togo 334. I still can't find something that represent the W4R signature but with improvements overall.
JH13 almost did the job there but the vocal is too thin and too transparent, lack the solid imaging of the voice.
ES5 doesn't have the fluffy highs up top, actually I think they don't extend as well as the W4.
334 is amazing but there is a hotspot in the treble that annoys me sometimes and the bass is a bit loose for my taste.
 
Jesus, I really don't know what to do now. How about the 1964 V6? Does this one has the magical mids of W4?
How about... maybe the fitear MH335?
Or, does it mean W4 is the ideal/perfect IEM for me ?

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I suggest you try the MH335. Its bass is more controlled than the MH334. For me, im okay with the treble of MH334 but the bass should have a bit of control for a BA iem. Its not that loose but if you compare to SM3 or W4, you can hear it.

Just want to say thanks for the awesome and comprehensive review IjokerI.  It's been a huge help to me in my quest for some solid IEM's.

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suman134 said:

wait for the xba30 , xba-3 has J cord and xba30 has Y cord . i have tried the tf10 and i would not say that xba-3 beats the tf10 , but has a bit better highs , mids are a bit lean and bass has lesser impact . if i were you , i would have gone for tf10 any day , not for anything but for its beautiful presentation , softer and solid bass , yes it has some mid bass hump but not bothering at all .

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Thanks buddy, yeah I own both TF10 and W3, I love my BA-based IEM and XBA-3 is cheap here locally at the moment, so yeah have been thinking about it

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djvkool said:

 
Thanks buddy, yeah I own both TF10 and W3, I love my BA-based IEM and XBA-3 is cheap here locally at the moment, so yeah have been thinking about it

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if its going for $150 or 160 , its good . any thing over $180-200 is over priced .

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suman134 said:

if its going for $150 or 160 , its good . any thing over $180-200 is over priced .

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Yep it is going for $147 here in Australia currently for clearance, not the remote/mic version, just straight up XBA-3, and $196 for XBA-4

ljokerl said:

The RE272 would probably be my top pick for what you seem to be after.

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Thanks joker will start reading into them.

Hi joker...thanks for your awesome roundup!  I got myself the DBA-02 MKII's based on your roundup sorted by SQ and filtered by price and they're my favourite IEMs so far.  I love their precision, clarity and ability to reproduce details.  While these are my first quality IEMs, since then I've auditioned some others and I agree with your high SQ rating in comparison - ie, I would pick these over a pair of XBA-4's which are twice as expensive here.  
 
My only complaint about them is that occasionally, mid to treble instruments (strings, alto sax, etc) lack a bit of substance and can sound smaller than they should.  Is this a characteristic of IEMs in general that I can expect with other IEMs or is it just the nature of single balanced armatures?  
 
For an upgrade, I'm considering the Clear Tune Monitors CTM-200...if there are any other worthy alternatives I will not go higher than $400.  Should I just stick with the MKII's or will the CTM-200 and/or other >9.2 SQ phones at $400 and below make a worthwhile difference?

kingice10 said:

I suggest you try the MH335. Its bass is more controlled than the MH334. For me, im okay with the treble of MH334 but the bass should have a bit of control for a BA iem. Its not that loose but if you compare to SM3 or W4, you can hear it.

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yeah, I'm thinking of 335, but it cost 2200 dollars!!! What!!! No!!!
I'm actually looking into much cheaper ones like the 1964 v6 or UM miracle.

Hi, joker.
How does the UM miracles or 1964 v6's mids(vocal) compare to westone 4?

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ljokerl said:

If you want a bump in the bass, you probably don't want the RE262 or R-50. While perhaps not completely flat, they do not have emphasized bass. The rest are all solid options depending on the requirements (except the BA200, can't say anything about that as I haven't heard it yet). I personally think the EPH-100 or FXT90 would maybe have more of a "wow factor" for the casual listener.
 

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Just want to echo everyone else on this thread and say thanks for helping narrowing down my possible choices joker. Thanks!

Hello boys,
 
 
Need an IE headphone thats durable preferably less than ~$60. Using it strictly for working out

I run about 5mi everyday and hit the gym 5days/week

I listen to mainly orchestra type music along with some trance music with the occasional rap music for my workout
 
How are the Meelectionrics S6?
 
Suggestions? Thanks!

Haven't tried the S6 but I'm pretty happy with the cheaper/older M6P, been running a few miles with them every few days and I no longer need to adjust them frequently like I had to with my JVC Marshmallow.

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wild said:

Just want to say thanks for the awesome and comprehensive review IjokerI.  It's been a huge help to me in my quest for some solid IEM's.

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Thanks, glad to hear that.
 
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exsomnis said:

Hi joker...thanks for your awesome roundup!  I got myself the DBA-02 MKII's based on your roundup sorted by SQ and filtered by price and they're my favourite IEMs so far.  I love their precision, clarity and ability to reproduce details.  While these are my first quality IEMs, since then I've auditioned some others and I agree with your high SQ rating in comparison - ie, I would pick these over a pair of XBA-4's which are twice as expensive here.  
 
My only complaint about them is that occasionally, mid to treble instruments (strings, alto sax, etc) lack a bit of substance and can sound smaller than they should.  Is this a characteristic of IEMs in general that I can expect with other IEMs or is it just the nature of single balanced armatures?  
 
For an upgrade, I'm considering the Clear Tune Monitors CTM-200...if there are any other worthy alternatives I will not go higher than $400.  Should I just stick with the MKII's or will the CTM-200 and/or other >9.2 SQ phones at $400 and below make a worthwhile difference?

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There are BA-based earphones that sound much thicker/fuller than the DBA-02  (which is a dual armature, by the way), That said, the CTM-200 is not very thick-sounding either, though slightly more so than the DBA-02. The Alclair Reference might be a better option if you can swing the price. If you wanted to try a solid, balanced-sounding dynamic-driver set just to see if you like the note presentation better, you could do so without spending a lot, for example with the HiFiMan RE272 or even Sony EX600 or MDR-7550. 
 
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czqdtc said:

Hi, joker.
How does the UM miracles or 1964 v6's mids(vocal) compare to westone 4?

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I haven't heard the V6. The midrange of the Miracle is, if anything, a little laid-back. I don't think it's exactly what you're after. 
 
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azninvasion138 said:

 
Just want to echo everyone else on this thread and say thanks for helping narrowing down my possible choices joker. Thanks!

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lilkhmerkid4u said:

Hello boys,
 
 
Need an IE headphone thats durable preferably less than ~$60. Using it strictly for working out

I run about 5mi everyday and hit the gym 5days/week

I listen to mainly orchestra type music along with some trance music with the occasional rap music for my workout
 
How are the Meelectionrics S6?
 
Suggestions? Thanks!

Click to expand...

I personally wouldn't risk anything that wasn't designed for sports for running/heavy gym use unless it was priced as a disposable item. I used an H2O Audio Flex until recently. The M6 worked well before that, just had a bit more bass than I like. Haven't tried the S6 but from what I understand it's pretty similar to the M6. 

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ljokerl said:

 
If you want a bump in the bass, you probably don't want the RE262 or R-50. While perhaps not completely flat, they do not have emphasized bass. The rest are all solid options depending on the requirements (except the BA200, can't say anything about that as I haven't heard it yet). I personally think the EPH-100 or FXT90 would maybe have more of a "wow factor" for the casual listener.
 

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Sorry to keep bothering you joker but I just found out that my brother (the guy im buying these IEMs for) doesn't really care for an extra emphasize of bass, so that basically screwed up my selection of headphones lol. The important aspects to him would probably be isolation and comfort since he will be using them on transits everyday. He listens to mostly alternative stuff like Lana Del Ray and Ed Sheeran with a mix of hip hop like J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean so what would be a best all-rounder I guess. The GR07 looks good at this point but don't know anymore haha. Thanks again for the help!

Quote:

azninvasion138 said:

 
Sorry to keep bothering you joker but I just found out that my brother (the guy im buying these IEMs for) doesn't really care for an extra emphasize of bass, so that basically screwed up my selection of headphones lol. The important aspects to him would probably be isolation and comfort since he will be using them on transits everyday. He listens to mostly alternative stuff like Lana Del Ray and Ed Sheeran with a mix of hip hop like J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean so what would be a best all-rounder I guess. The GR07 looks good at this point but don't know anymore haha. Thanks again for the help!

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get the er4p .