[fluffyberry]

hi guys im kind of knew to the IEM market but i do own a pair of westone um1s, thing is, im looking to upgrade that in the next few years and can't decide if i should get normal IEMs or custom made ones.
i've been looking mainly at things like the westone um3x, 4r, or es3, either that or the jh audio pro10 and i have no idea how any of them sound so can i please get some opinions thanks

 

[chengsta]

I'm just like you, and been looking to upgrade from my xba 40's.  I just pulled the trigger on the jh16 pro's because i just hear too many good reviews about'em.  And as far as I can tell, customer service is responsive and excellent, I bombarded them with tons of emails for about a week and they answered every one of them almost instantly! 
 
It's a general consensus (that's my takeaway anyway) on these forums that custom iems sound better in general.  So if you have 600+ bucks to spend, don't mind some dude putting sticky stuff in your ear, and waiting 4-6 weeks, I'd go with ciems. 
 
My thought is that if you're going to just keep spending a couple hundred here and a couple hundred there, why not just go for the top rated ciems and spend all your money at once?  You might actually save more money in the long run by not buying anything else for a long time if you're satisfied.

 

[fluffyberry]

Thanks that was really helpful!!!

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Haven't  owned customs myself but I would try a variety of different universals before going customs. I'd make sure you really want the custom you have your eyes on due to cost and bad resale value.
 
When I first got the TF10 I thought their sound sig was for me as I had only tried two other IEMs, the S4 and X10. After trying the W4 and EX1000 I realized the TF10 sig was not what I would want in a custom. Going to try a few others before deciding personally. 

 

[kookoo]

Go higher end universals first. Try to attend headfi meets to see if anyone has IEMs you can try out.
As for customs sound signature, sift through headfi, look for the reviews and reviewers of IEMs, understand what sound preference they have so you can gauge the reviews.
 
Asking to compare A IEM vs B IEM is not much help if 2 ppl respond, 1 liking treble and the other bass but you don't know have that information

 

[thegunner100]

I definitely recommend going to head-fi meets to try out CIEMs if possible, even if they're only available in universal form w/ foam tips. Some companies might give you a discount for going to the meet (Ultimate Ears gives a 20% discount and free ear impressions). They will give you a pretty good idea of how a CIEM will sound like. As always, read reviews and pick out the models that will fit your ideal sound signature. 
 
I was pretty content with my gr07s until I went to my first head-fi meet about a week ago. I walked in not knowing anything about CIEMs and decided to give the UERMs a try. I was blown away by how similar they were to the gr07, but at a much more refined level. That being said, I'm sending my impressions out tomorrow and will be getting my pair of UERMs in ~3 weeks
 
Jumping from a $150 universal IEM to a $1k CIEM... /sigh, my poor wallet.

 

[fluffyberry]

thanks guys for all the advice! only problem is i don't live in the States and there are no equivalent conventions here...

 

[kookoo]

Quote:

thanks guys for all the advice! only problem is i don't live in the States and there are no equivalent conventions here...

then head fi is your best source of info