Here's what I'm using now:         This is for my 4G touch + Shure SE530s.  Wonderfully clear (thanks to eliminating ipod's reedy mids at 250Hz), with a nice rounded bass from the bump at 100Hz, and a bit of de-essing applied at 7500 Hz because I'm sensitive to sibilance.

I just wanted to post to encourage folks to try both apps if they're not happy with one or the other.  Based on the many glowing reviews here and elsewhere, I picked up eQu with my new 4th gen ipod touch.  And there's no question that it sounds very good (especially relative to the base apple...

For the past 3 years or so, my portable rig has consisted of an iAudio X5 -> Shure SE530 IEMs.  I have been so satisfied with this rig that I stopped posting (and reading) head-fi -- it's been just the ideal setup for me and I felt no need to change it.   Unfortunately, while in the process...

All IEMs are sibilant to some extent...I think it has to do with the fact that the outer ear is taken out of the equation (the folds of the pinna have a lot to do with softening the sibilant sound). This is a big part of the reason why I think that IEMs *should* be rolled off in the...

Quote: Originally Posted by Sanooj Wow, great help from everybody. As asked above, I listen to a lot of indie, dance/electronica, hip hop, rap, rock, and folk music. I need a versatile pair of phones for all that. I'm really interested in the atrio m5's now and possibly the super.5...

Quote: Originally Posted by eightbitpotion Not really bs man. Extreme hearing loss is because you break the threshold of pain (roughly 95-100 db). It's said that 85+ CAN cause hearing loss....which is about the same db as a hairdryer- and that's pretty loud. It takes 8 hours of constant...

Yeah...as mentioned above, the E4s might not be a bad choice either, if you want to stay on-budget. Should be able to get those for around $160 or so. I think they're great IEMs...almost as good as the E500s in many respects. But in terms of your criteria (detail, strong bass, good isolation...

Piece of cake. If you like the E2Cs, want one of the best universal-fit IEMs out there, and can stretch your budget just a little bit, the Shure E500 (aka SE530) is what you want. They're a big step up, although I've gotta be honest, you may still like your E2Cs even after you hear them...I also...

Haven't heard the 595's, but a couple thoughts on the 770-80s, which I used to own...they really have a pretty ridiculously V-shaped sound signature. Tons of bass, good treble, practically no mids. Also, you absolutely do need an amp to make them sound good. They'll work out of a...

Actually, as I just mentioned on another thread, the first album I usually throw on is Neutral Milk Hotel's _In the Aeroplane Over the Sea_. Why? Because it's one of my favorite albums and it's recorded *terribly*. Every medium-to-high end headphone I've ever listened to makes it sound like...

My musical taste is pretty similar to yours (although perhaps a bit more psychy)...a lot of prog/post rock, especially. For my money, the er4p is pretty terrible for rock. I owned them for about a month and eventually decided that I preferred my E2Cs (!) to them. So uhh yeah. That being said...

Owned the E3 for a looong time, heard the er6i a couple of times, and I thought it was noticeably better -- closer to the E4 than the E3 in terms of sound quality. This is coming from a Shure fanboy of sorts, so you can take it to the bank. And the er6i actually has pretty decent (although...

Although I can certainly understand that the sound may not be everyone's cup of tea, they certainly shouldn't sound *that* bad. It took me a few weeks to really get into my E500s...now I think they sound phenomenal, but at first I would have only decribed them as "fairly good". That said, the...

I haven't heard the newer IEMs (several of the models folks have recommended have come out in the past 6 months or so), but for under $200 Canadian, I've heard the Shure E2Cs, Shure E3Cs, Etymotic er6is, Etymotic Er4p, and Shure E4C. I've spent quite a bit of time with all of those except the...

Quote: Originally Posted by vilg Either way, spending $1500 in one go on CD's to listen to from a $500 rig may be the sickest suggestion I have ever seen on an audio forum. I for one would like to see someone that has a source, amp and headphones at a total value of $500 that even has...