Ummm, good summary. I'm in dilemma too. My UM2 broke down and I need new pair of IEM (using my back up, UE superFi.5pro, for now). I was aiming to get a pair of Westone 3, but feel that it is a bit pricey. I heard that the price of IE8 in Europe is a lot cheaper than Westone 3. Seems like...

I had used Creative but it was Zen V Plus, not Stone, and did not impress with its sound quality. I guess the Fuze might be a good choice for now.

Been Westone fan since UM1. At the time, I was not so serious about IEM and thought that buying such expensive IEM was an overspending on toy. However, I ended up buying UM2 6 months later. Look like it is time to empty out my wallet again.

iBasso D3 when used as DAC only, its powered by USB. Don't even need to put battery in it. It works great in that manner, good sound through the line out function (however, the amp part of it is terrible, a lot of RF interference). Go-vive also has DAC only version, a tiny piece of equipment...