[trentrosa]

Well, my iems broke, so now I have to put my money towards some new ones...
To put it simply (on my phone) I have narrowed it down to 3 choices. All the choices will come to 160 (my max budget). They are Etymotic hf5 with fiio e11, hifiman re400 with e11, and the tdk ba200, no amp. I listen to mostly rock and country on the go. For the amp on the go (i have the amp) but will need to buy an adapter for my new iPod, so they all come to $160.

Cheers!

 

[trentrosa]

Should I use the bass boost with my e11if I find the bass on the first 2 iems lacking?

 

[soundstige]

While the HF5 (from experience) and RE400 (from reading) have some shared traits, the BA200 (from experience) is a totally different beast. The overall presentation is a huge step up from the HF5, but lacks the same treble clarity. The BA200 also sound great with or without an amp, where the HF5 certainly doesn't need one but sounds best with one. Also, if you're even wondering at all "if I find the bass lacking", then you don't want an HF5. The bass is very light, though it has great speed and texture. It's especially lacking when unamped.

 

[Seekky]

depends on how much bass you want. don't rely on getting massive bass from amp. HF5 is bass light; BA200 is westone-like from what i heard; RE400 is neutral as HF5, i think they are better than HF5, but need an amp to shine. 

 

[trentrosa]

Thanks for the wonderful replies soundstige I think I will purchase the ba200, however I do not want my portable amp to go to waste Do they improve with one and should I completely avoid buying an adapter AND now I need a new LOD, my fiio l1 broke, extremely pissed. I'll try the l3 I suppose.

 

[soundstige]

They improve only a little, it's really not a big difference from an iPod or Sansa.
Quote:

Thanks for the wonderful replies soundstige I think I will purchase the ba200, however I do not want my portable amp to go to waste Do they improve with one and should I completely avoid buying an adapter AND now I need a new LOD, my fiio l1 broke, extremely pissed. I'll try the l3 I suppose.

 

[rimisrandma]

.

 

[Zalithian]

I don't know how similar the HF5 bass is to the ER4P, but the RE-400 has a thicker sound compared to the ER4P in my experience.
 

 

[Origin89]

Quote:

depends on how much bass you want. don't rely on getting massive bass from amp. HF5 is bass light; BA200 is westone-like from what i heard; RE400 is neutral as HF5, i think they are better than HF5, but need an amp to shine.

 
I have a different experience. The RE-400 definitely has a meatier low end than the HF5, and they don't need an amp to shine. The HF5 is much colder and analytic sounding where the RE-400 is on the warmer side of neutral. I like them both, but they're easily discernible. 

 

[lwien]

Quote:

RE400 is neutral as HF5, i think they are better than HF5, but need an amp to shine. 

 
I don't think the RE-400's need an amp to shine.   

 

[lwien]

Quote:

I have found that even a humble Fiio E5 allows my RE-400s to go a step further when playing music through my Samsung Galaxy S3 (international version). But the S3 is EU volume capped so doesnt output much grunt, so that that might explain why.
 

 Ahhh.........never knew about the EU volume cap.