[Wingnut198244]

Well first off I want to say what an incredible forum you all have here. I can't begin to wrap my head around the wealth of information on here! Now I'll say I'm sorry now for the rambling I'm about to do as I tend to carry on.
 
Lets just say I've always been a fan of quality sounding music, but never considered myself anything close to an "audiophile". I could never stand standard tv or car audio and had always upgraded to decent equipment (at least by my standards). As far as portable audio goes, I used to have an Ipod touch, but sold it for a netbook. As the recent recession set in I started walking to work to help save a few bucks and picked up a Zen MX. The features that attracted me to it being the standard mini usb connection the sd card slot in a fairly cheap package. When I bought it (used on ebay) it came with a new pair of skullcandy ink'd IEMs and compared to the standard apple IEMs I was used it I was quite content. I even picked up a fiio e5 and I thought I had quite the package.
 
However I recently won an auction on one of those "penny auction" sites for a pair of PX-100 ii headphones and well, things have changed. Oh have they changed! I've had these for almost a week and I can't take them off, So I figured I'd do a little more research and that led me here to this honey hole of information.
 
Now where my problem lies is that I do prefer IEMs to headphones, sure they're nice to have around for some occasions but on my walk home the roads are quite noisy and I'd prefer some noise isolation. And the amount I've been listening to these my ears have been getting a little sore. So I'd like to find some nice IEMs equal to or better than these but I don't even know where to start. I love the sound of these but I have nothing to compare them to so I can't say I'd like them to sound a little more "XXXXX".
 
Budget is another thing to consider, I have noticed the sennheiser cx300,400.500 etc seen fairly cheap but have read bad things, should these be avoided? I've tried checking the for sale section here but there are so many choices. I wouldn't mind at all buying used so if someone has something they could part with for a fair price let me know.
 
My taste in music ranges from rock, classic rock, metal. country and a bit of hip hop and top 40. So whatever I buy has to be very versatile. And no, I'm not a "Basshead" but if the song calls for it I do like a nice kick.
 
Again, I'm sorry for rambling and thank you so much for reading it all.

 

[lucozade]

klipsch custom 3 is a great all rounder and has good quality drivers and isolates very well

 

[ROCKOQATSI]

I've been reading good things about the Head Direct RE0, which I've never listened to but ask/search around. Seems a steal for under $200.
 
I'm a big fan of the Etymotic sound; (vide the HF2, HF5, the new and less expensive MC3/5 which promises to be their equal if not better, and even their top of the line ER4P/S could be had for $179) The isolation is peerless, though microphonics (sound of cord jangling as you walk, run) may be a problem depending on how you wear them. I listen to pretty much the same things you listen to, as well as classical, modern orchestral, and jazz. The Etymotic line is known for being all-round well balanced, clean and deep bass, and the best high-end of any IEMs I've listened to (with the possible exception of the RE0, which again I've only read about.) The soundstage is small, but it may be helped out with a source or even a cable upgrade (only possible with the ER4P/S.) Great bang for the buck IMO.
 
Ramble on.

 

[Wingnut198244]

I could go back to driving my truck to work for a few years for what those klipsch custom-3s cost. I'm not quite ready to spend that kind of change. Yet. As for the mc3/5s that might be an option, I've never heard of them but then I've never heard of 1/2 these brands before. I'll look into the REOs as well, maybe if I could find a sale somewhere.
 
In short my goal is to find something with as good or slightly better SQ than the px-100s. Thats why I thought the Senn "CX" series might be right. I'd much rather spend 50$ on my first pair because I'd rather buy a few cheaper sets to find out what I like.

 

[yello131]

look into the review thread of at Radius DDM in OEM version. Can get it for around $100 US today

 

[Wingnut198244]

Ok as I mentioned I wanted to start buy buying a few pairs of fairly cheap 'phones just to figure out what I like in an IEM. I've got a pair of soundmagic pl-30s and klipsch image s2s on the way. Can anyone throw out a reco for another good set in the <50$ range? I'm thinking about the Altec Lansing UHP336. Reason being I wouldn't mind trying a balanced armature set out, and the only fairly cheap ones I found were the Altecs, PL-50s and the apples(bleh!). Am I missing anything?
 
Another quick question, whats the cheapest quality armature IEM that uses 2 drivers? The thought of having a dedicated high/low driver in an IEM really seems pretty awesome. The fact you can fit 8 drivers in an IEM blows my mind!

 

[ljokerl]

I think the PL50 is significantly better than either the UHP336 or ADDIEM but for under $50 dynamic is still the way to go IMO. Brainwavz M1, ViSang R02, ECCI PR300, etc etc. 
 
Cheapest good dual-driver is probably the Klipsch Custom 3 at around $100. 

 

[Wingnut198244]

So really it seems for this price range a person is better off going with one of these lesser known companies, from china, that makes a decent 'phone but has to sell them a bit cheaper than a more well known brand that can charge more because they have that brand name...
 
Edit: You know its really hard to sift through reviews on this site because its apparent SOME of the reviewers got the set for review purposes from somewhere, so they obviously won't be giving a bad review. And farther down the review and in other threads there are always nay-sayers. So they only real basis is to go with the review or what sounds like something you'd like and has the fewest negative comments. I would also guess going off the number of random recommendations would also be a way to judge.
 
There I go rambling again! Dangit!

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

So really it seems for this price range a person is better off going with one of these lesser known companies, from china, that makes a decent 'phone but has to sell them a bit cheaper than a more well known brand that can charge more because they have that brand name...
 
Edit: You know its really hard to sift through reviews on this site because its apparent SOME of the reviewers got the set for review purposes from somewhere, so they obviously won't be giving a bad review. And farther down the review and in other threads there are always nay-sayers. So they only real basis is to go with the review or what sounds like something you'd like and has the fewest negative comments. I would also guess going off the number of random recommendations would also be a way to judge.
 
There I go rambling again! Dangit!

Yep, small companies don't have the heavy marketing and operational costs. They've got to appeal somehow, and price is it.
 
Never seen any negative comments about the three dynamic earphones I mentioned. They may not be to everyone's liking signature-wise but for the money the technical proficiency is off the charts.

 

[rawrster]

At a lesser budget the lesser known companies assuming you choose correctly will typically give you surprising quality at not much money. The Meelectronics M9 I have which can be had for $20 is surprisingly good and so is the Sound Magic PL30 which is in the same price range.
 
Also smaller companies tend to not have the luxury that some of the bigger companies have. Some of the bigger companies can depend on their name and make some poorly sounding earphones and charge a hefty amount for it. The smaller companies can't do that if they want to stay in business for a long time. 
 
I'm not sure if the sale is still going on but the PL50 is around $40 shipped or so on houseofdap. I probably would have bought it if I needed another earphone which I don't.

 

[Wingnut198244]

Quote:

Never seen any negative comments about the three dynamic earphones I mentioned. They may not be to everyone's liking signature-wise but for the money the technical proficiency is off the charts.

I was not refering to any of the any specific 'phones that you listed.

 
Quote:

 
I'm not sure if the sale is still going on but the PL50 is around $40 shipped or so on houseofdap. I probably would have bought it if I needed another earphone which I don't.

I saw that a couple days ago, before I figured out they were of decent quality. Alas, the sale now seems to be over.
 
 
But anyways, I just picked up a sansa fuse to replace the zen, now I can at least play flac and make sure I'm getting good sound from the dap. I'll have to do for now till the budget for a cowon or s:flo becomes available. I think my wish list now would be the PL50s, Image s4s(depending on how I like the s2s) or maybe the custom 3s, and the senn ie6s. Should give me a good selection and maybe satisfy me for a few months.
 

 

[Wingnut198244]

Just got home from work to see a couple packages for me! My Pl-30s and Image s-2s came in. I must say I am much more impressed with the Pl-30 than the Klipschs. The Klipsch seem to have a weak midrange and the music just seems plain. The Pl-30s on the other hand just sound great, the bass, midrange and treble is all there with great balance. I'll work on burning in both pair and hopefully things get better for the klipsch and even better for the Soundmagic!
 
I'm still waiting on my fuse and a pair of IE-6s I picked up as well.

 

[stevenswall]

Etymotic Mc5... I own it, it has a more natural frequency response than any other brand of earphones, Etymotic does their research to match their earphones to the perceived FR of the ear. Isolation is also the best, measured and tested numerous times, and from a forum member I asked, bass is better than the RE0. Use them for a week and return them if you find the bass to be lacking... It's there, but often not enough if you are used colored bassy headphones. From reading and looking at frequency response graphs the S4 is a bit more bassy and less clear if that it what you want.
 
Buy and return until you find something amazing... My first upgrade went through 5 pairs of 'phones before I landed on my KDE/250.