I've browsed this forum for a while now, but I've finally found more reason to become a member and get posting. So to start off...
I'm looking for a new pair of sub-$100 IEM's, and I've looked through quite a lot of reviews. I've previously owned Sony MDR-EX85LP's, Klipsch Image S4's and Bose IEM's (first gen, got them for free), as well as multiple generic Samsung IEM headsets that come with the Samsung Captivate phone. Surprising, but I found the generic Samsung's to have great clarity, great bass and a fairly linear response (very unexpected for free, generic IEM's, albeit some harshness and sibilance, and cheap build quality...which is why I no longer own them >_<) as well as a decently wide soundstage (I found the Klipsch's too narrow and the bass too punchy and mid-oriented for my tastes). I'm not looking for a pure, flat analytical sound, but I am looking for clarity, soundstage (width, depth, positioning) and good, deep bass. I listen to all kinds of music, but most often extreme metal/death metal/metalcore, rock/alternative, instrumental/orchestral, dubstep, trance, techno, etc. (relatively complex songs with driving lows and immersing ambience and highs) /tl;dr
Getting to the point now, the two headphones I'm leaning the most toward are the ECCI PR401 and the MEElectronics CC-51. It's a bit of a tough choice for me: from what I've heard, the PR401's have better soundstage and bass, as well as clarity in the upper ranges (very much what I'm looking for), but the CC-51's are rated at a similar level for overall quality, as well as being very smooth and lacking in harshness. Also affecting my decision is the fact that the PR401's are difficult to obtain outside of Singapore without going through Paypal/eBay, which might make returns or exchanges tricky, and that the CC-51P model has an inline mic+button for $12 more.
I might be more willing to just take the plunge on the CC-51P's, but I've literally only been able to find one review/comparison for it (in that large 140 IEM reviews thread). Any input to help me make my final decision is welcome.
As a sort of side note, I've also considered the Brainwavz M3 and the Hippo VB. From what I read, the PR401 seems to edge out the M3 in a few ways (and M3's are almost impossible to get in the U.S anyway), and the Hippo VB's sound signature may not be to my liking. A month ago, I was leaning toward the Panasonic RP-HJE900 (which I've read are similar to the CC-51's), but they were discontinued =/
. I figured from what I've read about both of them, I'm unlikely to be disappointed either way (also considering that the CC51's sound closer to the timbre of the RP-HJE900's I previously wanted), and I figured it was worth the inline mic+button since I like to change tracks without taking my phone out of my pocket. I can't wait to give them a good test run on my Samsung Captivate (which has a very nice Wolfson WM8987 DAC, and a custom ROM+kernel that gives me direct access to the hardware gain/levels as well as some hardware eq/effects).
