Steer clear of Pugz, complaints all over Kickstarter and they backed out of their iPhone charging support. http://observer.com/2015/11/fury-erupts-on-kickstarter-after-creators-cant-deliver-on-1-5-million-pugz-project/

  Ah, your edit makes sense.  I suppose once I get the new IEMs, I can try it with the Hifiman pre-setting and then with another IEM pre-setting and see if I can hear the difference.  That may be a way to verify if they keep the settings hidden (or if I'm supposed to do an in app purchase to...

Thanks guys.  Decided to go with the Hifiman RE 400 and the Accudio equalizer (appears free and works on my old iPod - many new EQs require a more recent iOS).   Can't wait to hear it! 

Another great thread!  I'm about to buy the Hifiman RE-400 and heard of it's low bass.  So I thought I'd add an EQ app to pick it up a bit.  It appears the Accudio app recommended here has a preset which seems great.  And it was free to download.  I wonder though, some people mention paying for...

That's a bummer!  Now I'm confused again.   I understand when something breaks it's hard to assess it - I'd certainly be pissed.  I did a quick re-read of the reviews here: http://www.head-fi.org/products/yamaha-eph-100sl-inner-ear-headphone which showed no durability complaints.  However on...

Amazon has the Yamaha for $100 right now.  I'm looking at it too.  Although all these comments about it not being bright have me worried.  

Such a great thread!  Thank you both for your detail, it is helping me figure out which first IEM to buy :)   After reading many boards and reviews these 2 are certainly some of the highest quality and lowest priced ($99) IEMs available.  I also have been looking at the JVC HA-FXT90, T-PEOS...