My brain is fried form reading reviews, yet reviews haven't seem to help me find the perfect IEM, it was from reviews I bought the Shure SE535 which I did not like so I would rather hear from real owners rather than a paid journalist.
So to give you some background I currently own/owned the follwing IEMS. I will add "my opinion" to each to help you understand what I'm looking for.
Denon AH-C751
Denon AH-C710
Didn't like these very much there was just too much mid bass emphasis that just hangs around, I really didn't like these at all. Bought the 751's on recommendation from friend who own AH-C551. I bought the 710's on recommendation from hifiheadphones.co.uk who told me they sounded better than the 751's which in fact they sound the same. In fact you have to listen hard to tell the difference to the 551's. I might even bet that all three use the same driver!
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5vi
These are lovely little things. The treble is a bit too harsh at time and the bass too weak but the midrange and vocals are very clear indeed. The inline mic is crap as if you wear it cables up the mic hangs by your ear! I keep these in my coat pocket as cheap knock around headphones.
Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10
Bought these with how impressed I was by the Super.fi's. The triples give a very nice bass with great depth yet still punch. The highs are very detailed but too prominent and need to be turned down a bit. The midrange is too fluffy, needs more detail in the vocals, also seems recessed. This is why I wish to replace these
Shure SE535
Bought these and returned them after 2 days. The bass is just lovely, I thought the triples were good in this area but the Shures are a step up. The highs are perfect for me. Nice sparkle and detail, I've heard they roll of but I thought it was perfect. However the midrange is not for me at all. Its so artificially in your face, complete opposite of the Triples. The triples need more mod range the Shures need much less! Needs toning down, needs to be more accurate to original recording. On some tracks it get too much and can even become fluffy and my ears can't work out what's going on anymore. In fact because of the artificial mid range I would not have these at half the price. I expect loads of people are going to disagree with me. Is it the case that as people say they are the best then everyone will think that they are? I was quite disappointed and its not a matter of a getting a good seal before anyone mentions it.
I mainly listen to music on my J3. My whole collection is either FLAC or 320 mp3. I mainly use the normal profile with a bit of eq to tone down the triples highs. I'm not a fan of the BBE as it adds hiss into the music (this is my second J3 so can't be a fault with my unit as both the same)
I also like to listen to music on the go with my phone. Its not the J3 but its convient not having 2 devices in my pocket. For this reason an inline remote and mic would be preferred but not essential.
Hopefully this is enough info for some help to choose what I need. Budget isn't really an issue within reason. I could go up to £400. I have though about maybe the Westone 4 or UM3X
Martin
