I haven't heard neither of Phonak PFE232, UE900 or Heir Audio 3.Ai. However I have owned the W3 for many years now and I can recommend them for all kinds of metal and rock and electronic. The W3 is quite dark and bassy to my ears.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trentino 

I haven't heard neither of Phonak PFE232, UE900 or Heir Audio 3.Ai. However I have owned the W3 for many years now and I can recommend them for all kinds of metal and rock and electronic. The W3 is quite dark and bassy to my ears.

That's also what graphs say about the W3...  Based on the graphs, the W3 looks very similar to the 3.Ai's sonic nature.  But I can't know for sure. 

I´m about to buy the W3 or the PFE232. However, I have read a few reviews of the UE900, and reviewers say that it has a very good bass punch for electronic, but enough balance for classical and instrumental. Even so I listen to more electronic and metal music, I still listen to acoustic, classical and orchestrated music. I really want a multipurpose earphone that could handle the bass of electronic and the highs and mids of the acoustic/classic/Orchestra. 

^ I have the PFE 232 in my ears right now. I can definitely recommend them for your purposes. The UE900 is closer to neutrality and has better resolution. I can hear details in bass with the UE that I can't hear with the Phonak, and also bass has more body and slam although it's less elevated.

However, these are nuances, the bass of the PFE is hella fun - it can definitely give you some dancefloor feeling!

I prefer the treble balance of the PFE over the recession of the UE900. It's slightly tinny pronounced highs vs. muffled highs and slightly veiled mids. Pick your poison. ;)

Soundstage is better on the PFE and although resolution is inferior, it appears to be cleaner due to better treble. It's a little thin sounding for my taste, though. Maybe it's not apparent if you don't do A/B comparisons.

Still, no matter how much the PFE 232 does right, it is overpriced at MSRP for sure! W4 and UE900 have better value.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ultrazino 

^ I have the PFE 232 in my ears right now. I can definitely recommend them for your purposes. The UE900 is closer to neutrality and has better resolution. I can hear details in bass with the UE that I can't hear with the Phonak, and also bass has more body and slam although it's less elevated.

 

However, these are nuances, the bass of the PFE is hella fun - it can definitely give you some dancefloor feeling!

I prefer the treble balance of the PFE over the recession of the UE900. It's slightly tinny pronounced highs vs. muffled highs and slightly veiled mids. Pick your poison. ;)

 

Soundstage is better on the PFE and although resolution is inferior, it appears to be cleaner due to better treble. It's a little thin sounding for my taste, though. Maybe it's not apparent if you don't do A/B comparisons.

 

Still, no matter how much the PFE 232 does right, it is overpriced at MSRP for sure! W4 and UE900 have better value.

I agree with you the PFE232 It´s extremely expensive.... So that´s why I´m REALLY thinking about it. The UE900 has great value for me, But, I´m still scared the UE900  doesn´t have the punchy bass I´m looking for. Even so It´s not a good comparison, I want a bass similar to my sennheiser Amperior, It´s not overwhelming but it still has that punchy bass I really love!! 

My other alternatives are the Westone 3 and the Heir Audio 3.Ai.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwonberry 

Now I'm a complete wreck about my next purchase. I have m-100's on pre-order, which was solidified after buying some secondhand m-80's. As much as I love the sound on these on-ears, IEM's just have flat better isolation and long term comfort. NYC is all subways and wind, and the m-80's have suffered a bit from those conditions and some mild microphonics. This is leading me to consider cancelling my m-100's (oh I want that bass purr so bad...) and put my faith in 4ba IEMs. UE900 vs Heir 4ai seems to be the real battle, as I already have Westone Um2's and am curious for a diff sig. Thoughts?

The m-100 is very good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey 

 

The m-100 is very good.

ermmmph... I guess I'll have to wait for some sort of ultimate shootout review of 4 armature IEMs and have some faith that whatever over-sized pads Val develops work for those of us with ears that aren't tiny. 

Yeah, I also am blessed with non-tiny ears. : )

If anyone hates their UE900's and wants a sweeter sound, I'm now trading my SM3 v2's with some goodies for a pair.

You know you hate them ;)

they are quite expensive...but good news is Black Friday is coming!

i really dont expect amazon to do anything special with BF, but i do wish logitech.com will at least offer some sort of discount sitewide.  although UE products seem to be excluded from many of their sales...  perhaps BF will be different.

i will buy these regardless of what happens, but do have the patience to at least wait til BF to see what happens.

However, I think it's hardly will be discounted on Black Friday since it's just came out. 

Can any of you compare the UE900 to the ATH-CKM/CKW1000, ATH-CK10 or DBA-02?

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiobot   Can any of you compare the UE900 to the ATH-CKM/CKW1000, ATH-CK10 or DBA-02?

That's an amusing comparison. Three super-bright IEMs vs. a very controlled, non-offensive IEM. That's pretty much the comparison in a nutshell. You're going to get a lot of overt detail Audio-Technicas and the Fischer. The UE900 is a lot more subtle with that. It's not incredibly airy, nor is it going to be in-your-face with detail. However, I feel that the UE900 has excellent imaging, and that is its piece de resistance. My problem with the UE900 is that it has that signature "clogged mids" sound of Ultimate Ears. That's just a personal gripe. Others probably don't have much of an issue with it.

Have you tried it with the resonator closed? That should help those "clogged mids"