I have been enjoying my current headphone setup for awhile now - Gamma2 -> Millett Hybrid Max -> AKG K701. But I recently got an iPhone and have been doing a lot of listening to it, and obviously, the stock earphones sound like garbage compared to my usual setup. So I'm going the IEM route.
 
Yes, I HAVE used the search option. I've done a ton of searches on this forum (as well as with Google in general). But it's really hard to narrow things down, especially when every thread I find contains polar opposite reactions ("The Klipsch Image S4 has too much muddy bass" / "The S4 are totally anemic on bass"). So I must add yet another thread asking for personal recommendation. I will at least try to define my needs very well.
 
Price: not much more than $100, preferably under $100
Listening: 65% classical (orchestral, piano, chamber in that order), the rest is split between indie rock and jazz
Isolation: I do a fair amount of listening at the gym or in other noisy environments, so I need decent isolation. It is not an overriding factor though, since any IEM will be much quieter than earbuds (right?)
Features: I don't need an extra long cord or anything. I don't care to fuss with buying 3rd party tips, I want something that will sound good with the tips it comes with. Also, something with the Apple-compatible control thing is nice, though not necessary. Since classical recordings often get extremely quiet, these need to be easy to drive with the iPhone alone
 
Sound: I like the sound of my K701s a lot. To me, they have the right amount of bass. It's not a lot, not a little, it's just accurate. And the bass you hear is deep and tight, if not over-emphasized. I would enjoy IEMs with this kind of bass. Since I listen to a lot of classical, I would like good detail and sound stage.  I'm looking for natural, musical reproduction, rather than a lot of excitement or "slam," etc. (though of course I don't want a total lack of those things).
 
Any advice from serious classical music listeners is appreciated. Not to sound snobby but from what I've seen, many people here who say they listen to "classical" and comment on how it sounds, actually just have some random recording of Bolero, a "50 Piano Classics" type CD, and movie soundtracks. There's nothing wrong with that, but that person is not really a classical music listener. If you know what I mean by this, you're probably the kind of person whose opinion I'm looking for.
 
From what I've found so far, these seem like possible contenders, though I'm open to any suggestions:
 
Klipsch Image S4i
Panasonic HJE900
Etymotic MC3 / HF5 / ER6i
 
OK. Any help would be amazingly appreciated!!!

Definitely HiFiMan RE0 if you listen to a lot of classical music and enjoy your K701s.

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projectdenz said:

Definitely HiFiMan RE0 if you listen to a lot of classical music and enjoy your K701s.

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Thanks for the quick reply. My only reservation is that some people say those have build quality issues and break frequently. Also, do you recommend them specifically over the RE-ZERO, which are supposedly the "new and improved" version?

If you could spend about 160USD you could have gotten Radius DDM which are best for classical music and stringed instruments.

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slowpogo said:

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projectdenz said:

Definitely HiFiMan RE0 if you listen to a lot of classical music and enjoy your K701s.

Click to expand...

 
Thanks for the quick reply. My only reservation is that some people say those have build quality issues and break frequently. Also, do you recommend them specifically over the RE-ZERO, which are supposedly the "new and improved" version?

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I wouldn't call them the 'new and improved' version. RE0 vs RE-ZERO comes down to personal preference. Build quality is fine as far iems go but it is not anything to write home about. The newer batches (late 2009 onwards I think?) have a better cable though.

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yello131 said:

If you could spend about 160USD you could have gotten Radius DDM which are best for classical music and stringed instruments.

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In my own experiences warm and bassy iems sound disgusting with classical music. It just sounds so coloured and un-natural. Even my TripleFi 10s barely pass when I play classical music. For me classical music sounds best with a neutral iem, my favorite from the ones I have tried being the RE0.

Classical music requires an IEM to excel in 3 specific areas:
1) Soundstage - orchestra stuffed into a closet?
2) Bass - timpani that sound like tissue paper?
3) Timbre - do you really want your violins to be indistinguishable from your cellos?
 
The RE0 doesn't excel a point 2. And point 1 could be a little better. I personally rather like the panasonic hje900 with classical music. To my ears the V shaped sound benefits the genre. Their biggest caveat is that their tips aren't great...but for $10 you can get a great 10 piece tip set from meelelec, and then you're set. Well worth the asking price.

with that budget expect everything to be a down step to what your used to, your source is a bit crap and wanting controls means you have to pay the apple "i cant think for myself" tax
 
since you do seem willing to forego that the best option would then be the hf5 but be aware your phone wont do them justice but clearly thats a choice you have made.

I would probably vote the re-0 as well. They are one of the most neutral headphones in that price range. Build quality wise, I can't say for certain but it feels solid enough but I only have had it for a month. Though what JxK says is quite true, the re0's do feel slightly lacking in bass, they are there, but just not quite as prominent as I would like it to be. The Hje-900 on the other hand does have a V-shaped curve and a much ermm ompphhh bass? but at times it has a rather harsh treble which is cured by using the foam mod. 

Thanks for all the information. I guess it seems down to the HJE-900, RE0, and HF5, so far anyway.
 
I realize the iPhone is not the best source and will not bring out the best of any of these IEMs. But whatever I end up with, I will surely sometimes enjoy them on the Gamma2/Millett setup, which should go a long way toward revealing their potential.  Yeah, I don't NEED the Apple controls, but they certainly are convenient.
 
I remember about 10-15 years ago when I went through several portable CD players - the headphones included with the Panasonic models were always much better than what came with other brands. So it doesn't surprise me that they came up with something good in the HJE900.  I have some thin foamy material which was meant to be used as a computer fan dust filter; it would probably work perfectly for the foam mod. I guess I'm leaning toward the Panas at the moment and have some reservations about the RE0. The HF5s get great reviews but they're another $30 or so.  Hmm...any more information is welcome, I will continue to ponder.

Man why do you all crap on the iPhone as a source so much. Obviously you haven't heard the newer iTouches/iPhones because they sound a lot better in terms of sq than the older ones and sound pretty much the same as my clip.

Times have changed, Apple is slowly catching up. No need to constantly snob them...

Then again it's not like he's going for top-shelf iems so why would he need a 'premium' source?

Crappy IEMs + crappy source = Twice crappy SQ.
In sound it's not like something "limits" the other. It actually adds up... I think!

I'm going to second the suggestion of the RE0's. You'll get a fantastic IEM which in my experience works well with the iPhone 4 (the amp on that unit is a lot stronger than the 3G and earlier iPods - a lot of the criticism of the iPod lineup by now is a mixture of old information and anti-mass market snootiness.) and you'll have an IEM that if you ever choose to do so, will sound even more amazing once amped.
 
The MC3 is also a decent option, especially if you do want those phone controls. (Particularly voice control of music is very useful.) However, in my experience I found that while the MC3's sound fantastic with violins and stringed instruments because they are a bit aggressive, they are a lot less forgiving than RE0's. I also found the MC3's are less comfortable than the RE0's until I switched to third party tips. Overall the RE0's are smoother and might still even have better treble extension, whereas the MC3's are quite harsh. They are both similar in terms of requirements to drive them out of an iP4. 
 
I'm probably one of the latter classical music listeners that you detail in your original post though heh. Supersleuth is an avid classical listener and he loves his MC3's, so you might wanna have a talk with him.

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jxk said:

Classical music requires an IEM to excel in 3 specific areas:
1) Soundstage - orchestra stuffed into a closet?
2) Bass - timpani that sound like tissue paper?
3) Timbre - do you really want your violins to be indistinguishable from your cellos?
 
The RE0 doesn't excel a point 2. And point 1 could be a little better. I personally rather like the panasonic hje900 with classical music. To my ears the V shaped sound benefits the genre. Their biggest caveat is that their tips aren't great...but for $10 you can get a great 10 piece tip set from meelelec, and then you're set. Well worth the asking price.

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I like this.
 
Along those lines a the $100 price point, I would normally lean someone to the Klipsch Custom 3.  I'd also very much look for old Denon C751 earphones.
 

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projectdenz said:

Man why do you all crap on the iPhone as a source so much. Obviously you haven't heard the newer iTouches/iPhones because they sound a lot better in terms of sq than the older ones and sound pretty much the same as my clip.

Times have changed, Apple is slowly catching up. No need to constantly snob them...

Then again it's not like he's going for top-shelf iems so why would he need a 'premium' source?

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because a they are crap.  oh and its not that apple is catching up if anything the difference is widening.  apple used to care about audio quality from them but now they know that their customers dont give a crap about it so neither will they.  if you use an iphone 4 as a source be aware its compromised