best iems for classical music? - Page 2

Proud UM1 owner. Best IEM I've heard under 150 bucks.... past 150 I'm gonna go with UM2's... I'm a huge huge Westone brand and I can't wear IEM's that I can't replace the cable on these days. Westone cable was tough as nails I remember and they guaranteed I wouldn't need to change it.

I've owned Shures, Ety's, and UE's in the 150 dollar and below range, and I preferred UE SF3's and the Westone UM1. The SF3 is discontinued along with the rest of the fragile UE headphones, and earphone solutions says the Shure SE215 is better than the UM1 and they sell these things for a living sooo....

Shure E2C: To me these weren't meant for listening to music, these really are just monitors.... probably the best seal in the business though
Ety ER6: Ear-rape. Detail is superb and most likely unrivaled until you spend serious cash. They specifically cut back bass on this so not a huge groove earphone for me. PROPERLY amazing detail I'm going to have to reiterate
UM1: Seems to be a nice spread on the frequency chart with a little bit extra midrange bass. Probably one of the better buys on the market, the fit is amazing! High end could be cleaned up a bit.... but thats only when you compare to 160+ IEMs... otherwise very good!
UM2: Probably the best earphone I'd heard about two years ago! Nice spread, lots of good clean bass, they really cleaned up the high end, which was the only thing you could even begin to critique on the UM1
UE SF3 Another "Studio" earphone with some good detail, probably was the most balanced earphone at a bargain too! I sold my E2C's once I got this
UE SF5 SF3 that cost about 50 bucks more and gave you about twice the earphone for the money. With a recable, I fell in love and didn't post on this forum for two years... I suspect the UE 700 is more of the same, except cheaper to produce, non replaceable cables and you can wear them easier
IE7 I did not like these at all and I didn't think these were representative of Senn quality when I got them... your mileage may vary

All of these were run through an unamped Zune, then an Ibasso D1 back when that was all the jazz... none of these benefit from the amp except maybe the UM2...


Based on experience, I'd buy Westone again and again and again, BUT based on what the interwebs tells me, I'd have to trust earphone solutions on this one...

The UM1 is made entirely in the USA and you get a 1 year + a 1 year extra registration warranty!

"One of the best earphones in this price range, the UM1 only loses in sound quality and comfort to the new Shure SE215"




Earphone Solutions "We Will Help You Choose"

I don't work for them and I haven't bought from them, but with that tagline you can't exactly go wrong giving them a call and buying from them!

Etymotic + Classical =

The IE7's lack sparkle in the highs so violin sounds a bit dull. They do have decent bass and soundstage though.

 

I would definitely consider Fischer Audio DBA-2. If they fit you fine, you'll find that you get as good sound for classical that you can get from say Earsonics SM3 or much more expensive IEMs. The sound is very balanced - neither mids, highs or bass are recessed - it's hard to go past them at this price range.
Edited by svyr - 4/13/11 at 1:56am

 

+ 2

 

You can pick up a used pair for around 150.00 or so sometimes on the for sale forum.

IDK about higher end etys, but DBA-2 is definitely better than ER-6i. (better detail, highs, bass extension and amount)

They better be at twice the price.

Speaking of Etys, as a classical listener I remain very happy with my MC5s after about 8 months of frequent use. They won't blow anybody away, but they are well-balanced and do very little wrong.

 

A few people might be blown away by them, especially if they're used to Shure-like treble (or lack thereof...)

 

The Etys were made for Classical/Instrumental music. I believe the founder of the company was a jazz musician if that tells you anything. 

they're also 2ce the iems ... well at least drivers and highs/bass extension/amount.

So far I'm not impressed with SE530 for classical or the ER-6i... Both have relatively recessed highs. SM3 and DBA-2 did a lot better 'balanced sound'-wise.