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I'm currently using the Denon C551, which I am currently very happy with, and may fit in with your criteria.
The Denon C560 is this year's generation version of that.
Thanks for the suggestion
Checked the reviews and they say its pretty stressful at the high end.
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Hi, looking at your preference for sound, the new Future Sonics Atrio is perfect (|joker| only had the first version in his review, we are on the third version now with a new driver too so it would have a much higher score). You can get one for $179 and, for you, I would recommend it over the monster turbine pro copper (which also excellently fits your sound preferrence) because the copper has had a few issues with reliability. The copper and atrio both have excellent warranty policies (the copper is the best in the industry), but you don't want to have to ship something back to the U.S., so go with the Atrio. It has the bass and sub-bass, the warm mids and the treble you want. Soundstage with any iem is partly due to recording, fit, etc., and people on head-fi tend not to recognize that. I would say they have about the same soundstage. Comfort and fit should be good either way.
Enoy.
I saw the review. These seemed like more analytical than musical. I am looking at more musical earphones, sorry i did not mention that in my first post. I will add these as well in the consideration list.
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I'm going to give a +1 for the MTPC @ $220 from Amazon. It pretty much hits all your requirements. I got these, and decided to stop looking for my version of "fun" IEMS after living with them for a few weeks. I bought mine refurbished for $100, but if they break out of warranty, I think I'll be getting a new pair. I'm sure I could find something more optimal if I spent more time looking and expand my budget, but I'm starting to get tired of playing the head-fi game. Head-fi is Pokemon. Gotta Catch Em All.
1) I'm a bass hater (especially too much midbass)but I occasionally listen to rap/hiphop (i.e. dead prez)... so these are about the maximum amount of bass I can tolerate. I really like subass > midbass on these.
2) I wouldn't call it wide, but nothing is particularly forward to my ears (possibly the bass? I mean you can't ignore it), so it's not fatiguing. Then again I'm not particularly treble sensitive so YMMV. They're warmer then my Etys in the mids (which is exactly what I wanted) but give 90% the detail retreival and maybe 93% If I strain to hear it. The detail is there, it's just the smooth nature of the sound kind of hides it a bit.
3) I find these remarkably comfortable cable down with small sized Sony Hybrid tips. 4) Build quality should be excellent if you're buying new, they've made a few design improvements. Cable down with the shirt clip I don't get microphonics, but I only use these at home, seated. Isolation is on par with most dynamic IEM. Not enough for public transit (that's Ety territory) but good enough for a Starbucks.
As kunlun says and by the amazon reviews, I see a high failure rate on the turbine series in general(number of reviews to failure ratio). Thats why I put it at the second place in my first post. Waiting for some suggestions on the UM2 as well.
Iam tired of searching tooo. I never read this much for my engineering exams or interviews
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Diminishing returns is a well-established concept when it comes to higher-end audio gear and to many people the difference between a decent $250 in-ear and a very good $100 one will be quite small. Is the difference worth $100+? That's up to you. There are also a few high performers in the $150 range you skipped - namely the VSonic GR07 and Radius DDM. With the ones you've selected you seem to be leaning towards the 'bass monster' side of things. The VB has huge subbass and is also fairly hard to find at the moment. The Eterna and NE-700X are two of the most bass-heavy in-ears in that price range. On paper, that doesn't quite seem like what you want. The Silver Bullet and Xcape IE fall more in the realm of 'enhanced bass'. Both are solid earphones for the money. The Copper (and Gold) has maybe a touch more bass but still not as much as an Eterna. The UM2 - I have no idea. It's quite old but a dual BA can sometimes crank out a lot of bass (see Earsonics SM2).
Joker, thanks for adding the Gr07 to the review list. Only making it more confusing for me to buy
The reason I had removed the DDM from my reason is that they scored less on the other divisions like comfort/microphonics etc.
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After 2 more days of Reading :
Ok, here let me refine it so that you guys can suggest me better and accurately. Here is what I am looking at:
1) Bass of the CX 55 (Review here -
http://realdeepsnow.com/?p=430 Please read this review, just 1st 2 paras.) I own this and I expect this much bass. Please assume the bass LEVEL based on that review. They are not very punchy, but bass is loud and undistorted, rumbles fine at low Hz w/o distortion. Its thicker than finer and does not decay very very fast and I like it that way. Am I a basshead?
2) Add wide sound stage and details to this CX55 mids which it slightly lacks. Mids should be slightly warm and details sud be there. Sounds should not merge at higher volume.
3) Make the highs clear and extended on the CX55 but not straining.
4) Remove the bad microphonics and thin cables from CX55.
5) I have a small ear canal and still the small sized earbuds of the cx55 were a lil tight fit. So big IEMs are a no no. I think I need to get used to this
6) They should be more musical(60%) than analytical(40%) and fun to hear and not boring. (For the sake of getting bored I have ordered the HD595
)
So here is the tuned list, based on suggestions from you guys and reviews from joker and amazon.
1)Sub 100
a) XCape IE - Has good enough bass as cx55?
b) Silver Bullet - Has good enough bass as cx55?
c) Eterna
d) Ne 700X
2)100 to 200
a) GR07 - The Review is wonderful! Are these a little fun to listen. Is the bass strong enough?
b) Future sonic atrios -More analytical?
3) 200+
a) SM2 - IS this still available? I see the V2 is out.
b) Turbine copper - Afraid of high failure rate of turbines
c) UM2 - Any suggestions here?
I have described my preference to the BEST! Now which one do I buy
Please help me out here. Going to a shop and testing out/sending back is not an option for me.
Thanks a ton.