Hi, I have a Cowon J3 which I've long been happy with but since entering the world of high-end custom IEMs, I'm finding the J3 does a woefully inadequate job of driving these. Sure, multi-BA CIEMs are sensitive but they're also low impedance and this might have something to do with how badly the J3 drives them, or there may be some other reason. All I know is that my Sony D-777 discman makes the J3 sound very embarrassing with my CIEMs (and that's not to say that the D-777 pushes the CIEMs to anywhere near their full potential, just that it does an honourable and respectable job with them). I truly never thought I'd look upon my J3 as sounding lame, but with CIEMs, it unfortunately does...
 
 
I'm probably going to save for a DX100 when it is re-released but in the meantime, can anyone here tell me:
 
1) are any of the Sansa players capable of properly driving CIEMs without weak bass and sibilant treble? I realise this might be too much to ask, but there's no harm in asking, is there? The Sansa Clip is well-liked around Head-Fi, and some of you Sansa fans must own CIEMs.
 
2) if (and it is only if) a Sansa can perform properly with a CIEM, then which is the best-sounding Sansa available?
 
 
Thanks for any advice.
 
P.S.: since I'm going for a DX100 within the next month or two, please don't recommend a Pico Slim etc. as I'm neither willing nor rich enough to splash that much cash when it's hard enough to scrape my pennies together for a DX100 which will render the Pico (or similar) redundant when I get it. I also need to remain very portable, so 'transportable' options won't suit me. I need portable!  
 
Also, buying a Sansa is just a stop-gap solution for me, but I'm still not going to spend money on one if it doesn't improve upon the CIEM-driving performance of my J3.
 
 
 

I don't use IEM's, but I've read quite often that the Clip+ and Clip Zip do well with multi-armature IEM's.