Best high end custom IEM?

If you raise your budget a bit then JH16Pro+JH3a willbe amazing CIEMs setup for all genres music and bass is rich, deep, punchy on these and overall fuller sounding with wider soundstage. But under your current budget Westone ES5, UM Miracle, JH13Pro/JH16Pro are great buy and they all sound fuller and offers wide soundstage.
Edited by ZARIM - 2/7/12 at 1:09pm

I'm a long time dubstep/DnB-addict and I love my JH16's. 

JH16's or UE18's

How about Hieraudio 8A? 

For me, my choice would be JH Audio.

Definitely not the UE18Pro from my own experience.
 

 

Dubstep?  MG6Pro - For electronic I have NEVER heard any earphone or headphone render the bass with such authority. That includes my full-sized Ultrasone Pro 900, which the MG6Pro takes out back and crucifies. 

 

Be sure to check out the comparison to the JH16. The bass on the 16 sounds lifeless and artificial in comparison. Not to mention JH Audio has some serious QC issues they are dealing with. 

 

The Merlin might do you well. That's a dynamic driver for the bass. Look for dynamic drivers for great bass, not Balanced Armature drivers. Problem is, the Merlin is made in Australia. That's a massive problem if you have fit/QC issues. That's expensive and time consuming to ship to. Future Sonics is in the USA. 

Edited by SoundFreaq - 2/7/12 at 3:14pm

The Heir 8.A is a fine choice. I'm sure Kunlun will pipe up soon, he's the resident expert on both the MG6Pro and the Heir 8.A. Reach out to him with questions if he doesn't pipe up soon, I'm sure he'll be happy to answer them for you. 

If you like sibilance and a lack of coherency (music sounds like each musician was pasted in artificially), then choose the JH16.  The 8.A is better in every way.

You can see Project86's comparison between the 8.A and the merlin--he finds the 8.A has better coherency with the merlin sounding like different parts of the music are artificially separate. Other people who have the merlin (but not the 8.A) disagree and feel that it's quite coherent. I find in direct comparison between customs, you might notice something that you never would as a reasonable person with only one custom iem.

 

Between the 8.A and the MG6Pro, you really can't go wrong. I'd say the difference is that of a ba-custom versus a dynamic driver. The 8.A is more close sounding (with an excellent soundstage for a closed shell custom), with detail and clarity added to the warm mids, punchy mid-bass (likely the best bass of any ba-based custom) and liquid smooth treble that's never fatiguing and soars beautifully. It's an awesome sound that just keeps sounding better. The MG6Pro sounds more like a headphone--the sound is further out from one's head, where you get much more of a total sense of the sound played in its own space. The detail is not the emphasis as a dynamic tends to focus on the coherency of the sound. The sound is warm, but more natural in the mids, a bit more treble energy and more balanced mid-bass. The sub-bass is incredible. The bass overall has a live energy no ba-earphone can match and you get the overall presence of live music--actually when you're in a space with live people playing music.You can read my reviews for more about the two customs and comparisons between them, but they are both excellent, you just should pick what suits you best.

 

Future Sonics is in the U.S. That really is an advantage. I sent my pair in a little while back for a free tune and test when I had a question about them (FS has excellent customer service). It was cheap, quick and easy to send them over. I couldn't do that with my 8.A without it being A Big Deal. Also, re-fits can happen with any custom company (depending on your audiologist and your ears--even the best audiologists sometimes make a set of earmolds that just don't work). Any re-fits with an overseas custom company is a hassle and imagine having to do it multiple times.

 

Heir Audio has an awesome re-sell policy that allows you to transfer ownership and the new owner can get the customs molded to their ears by Heir Audio for a relatively small fee.

 

Meanwhile, you can't sell the MG6Pro--it can't be remolded by other companies because of the special proprietary material it uses inside the acrylic shell. Not that you'd want to!

The special thing about the MG6Pro, other than being more reliable than other customs (no armatures or crossovers to fail) is that you can upgrade it. When the next generation driver comes out, just send it in and get back your next-gen custom for a fraction of the price of buying a new one! It's the perfect cure for the head-fi syndrome of having to spend $$$$$$$ for the next new thing.

 

Anyway, hope that helps.

 

Edited by Kunlun - 2/7/12 at 8:36pm

Thanks for the info.  Any IEM that would make the JH16 bass sound lifeless is one I will certainly avoid.

 

I think calling the JH16 siblant with a lack of coherency is almost irresponsible.

 

OKay we get it.  You like dynamics and hate BA's and all companies that make them.

Wrong! The MG6Pro has a special quality to its bass that gives it a better sound. It's also beautifully controlled and a question of bass energy, NOT bass quantity. The bass quantity is adjustable on the MG6Pro, you can have just a little or a lot as you like.

 

Many, many other people have found the jh16 sibilant. You may disagree with all the other people, but I think you're going to have to deal with the fact that many people had this problem with the jh16.

 

People have also tried to use cable upgrades to help the jh16 with its coherency problem. Again, not just me.

 

Wrong about BAs, they can sound great. Heir Audio is awesome! Did you even read my post?

 

I'm going to pm you about it.

 

Edited by Kunlun - 2/7/12 at 8:46pm