[Zachik]

It would be nice to do something for ~$500, but I wouldn’t want to do it if it meant sacrificing audio quality.

I have the impression I should be more in the ~$1200 - $2000 range based on my initial perusing.

The Custom Empire Ears Bravado wasn't much more than your budget, during canjam with the show discount. Impressions were free and done well. Keep that in mind if you plan on attending any canjam...

 

[Darth Plagueis the Wise]

Shure IEMs are a great choice IMO. Light, high quality, sturdy (somewhat). FiiO, Mojo, there are a bunch of good amps out there.

 

[NovaFlyer]

The Custom Empire Ears Bravado wasn't much more than your budget, during canjam with the show discount. Impressions were free and done well. Keep that in mind if you plan on attending any canjam...

I'll second @Zachik recommendation on the Bravados. In fact I'm flying tomorrow with them, about 8 hrs flight time. Going to a CanJam is a great place to look at your options and talk with many folks about solutions.

 

[surfgeorge]

Sony M7’s arrived. I’ve used them a couple of times. I like how they sound; unfortunately, not how they feel.

After 30 mins my ears are in pain.

I’ve always known that I have unusually shaped/sized ear canals. Anecdotally, I had a hearing aid specialist look at my ears yesterday and he agreed.

I will be returning the M7’s and going back to my XM3’s, for now.

I am interested in CIEM’s but the prices are prohibitive for the time being.

Having looked at a few vendors, online, I am intrigued by 64 Audio. I called and spoke to a rep and was impressed - seems they have some differentiating technology over the competition. Anyone have any experience? Advices or cautions with them?

Did you try larger tips with the M7? I also have high and narrow ear canals and I can’t get a good fit or seal by inserting an IEM directly into the ear canal. But I get good results with larger tips in the concha. I tried the M7 and M9a year ago and found them very comfortable. If you still have them maybe give it a shot.

 

[Zachik]

I'll second @Zachik recommendation on the Bravados.

Of course you do! After all, if not for your "peer pressure" - I might have skipped them...
I am glad I demonstrated weak will power and lack of resistance

 

[U2Joshua]

Can you help me understand, and perhaps debunk the idea that “more is better” when it comes to the number of drivers / balanced armatures?

As prices increase, so too do the number of drivers/BA’s per IEM, to the extent that looking at Bravado’s, and the like, I’m left saying, “Pfft... only TWO drivers per ear?!?”

Some of these higher end models are carrying 12 - 18/ear!

 

[U2Joshua]

Did you try larger tips with the M7? I also have high and narrow ear canals and I can’t get a good fit or seal by inserting an IEM directly into the ear canal. But I get good results with larger tips in the concha. I tried the M7 and M9a year ago and found them very comfortable. If you still have them maybe give it a shot.

I’ll give it a few more goes. I don’t think I’m getting into the canal, even with S and M tips. I’m using M’s in the cochlea, right now, and it forces the shape of the opening to reshape to accommodate the rather round tips, such that the cartilage surrounding becomes sore after 30 mins, and remains tender to the touch even till the following day.

 

[Zachik]

Can you help me understand, and perhaps debunk the idea that “more is better” when it comes to the number of drivers / balanced armatures?

As prices increase, so too do the number of drivers/BA’s per IEM, to the extent that looking at Bravado’s, and the like, I’m left saying, “Pfft... only TWO drivers per ear?!?”

Some of these higher end models are carrying 12 - 18/ear!

Personally, I am NOT a believer of "more drivers is better". The idea is the more drivers you have - each is responsible for producing smaller piece of the audible range.
The theory is that it is good because each driver is "perfectly tuned" to that small range, whereas you cannot tune 1 driver "perfectly" to produce the entire audible range.
I am saying I am not a believer because the proof is in the pudding (or listening in this case). Many times I personally preferred the sound from IEM with less driver over more driver of same manufacturer (or between manufacturers).
As for Bravado "only has 2 drivers" - keep also in mind that most multi-driver IEMs use all-BAs (I said most, so please no stream of people correcting me on that statement):
well, the Bravado has a dynamic driver for the low end. That produces "meatier" bass, which some (me included) just love!

Anyhow, bottom line:
You just have to give it a try. You either fall in love (like I did), or dismiss it.

 

[U2Joshua]

Thanks for sharing your experience @Zachik.

Unfortunately, I don't envision being able to try as many things as others. I don't get to the luxury of traveling to a CanJam, etc...

 

[U2Joshua]

Shure IEMs are a great choice IMO. Light, high quality, sturdy (somewhat). FiiO, Mojo, there are a bunch of good amps out there.

Does Shure do custom? I'm reasonably convinced I need to go custom for IEMs to be a thing for me.

 

[hkpants]

I travel fairly often and I find that NC headphones are the best (I'm traditionally an IEM guy, I don't own headphones other than the Sony XM3 headphones). It blocks out airplane noises very well, making it easier to listen to music/movies/shows (at a lower level too, so better for ears), and it allows me to fall asleep faster. I've tried using IEMs (with custom eartips) but it isn't as effective. The lack of wires also makes it much less of a hassle when doing things in a confined space (like a plane).

A side note, if you do go the Bluetooth route, there's no point in enabling MQA.

 

[NovaFlyer]

Thanks for sharing your experience @Zachik.

Unfortunately, I don't envision being able to try as many things as others. I don't get to the luxury of traveling to a CanJam, etc...

I see Colorado as your location - don't know how far from Denver you are, but The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest is in Denver every Sept. CanJam Denver use to be held in conjunction, but not anymore. However, I'm sure they will have some vendors with IEMs. Just a thought and passing on info for you. Another option is to contact some of the IEM companies and some will send audition units to try out for a week or so - you have to make a deposit of the full cost, but it's refunded once returned. You do have to pay for shipping though. I'm pretty sure Empire Ears has this option, as well as JH Audio.

 

[castleofargh]

Spoiler: off topic about more drivers

Can you help me understand, and perhaps debunk the idea that “more is better” when it comes to the number of drivers / balanced armatures?

As prices increase, so too do the number of drivers/BA’s per IEM, to the extent that looking at Bravado’s, and the like, I’m left saying, “Pfft... only TWO drivers per ear?!?”

Some of these higher end models are carrying 12 - 18/ear!

Short answer: more is probably not better.

Usual long boring rant:
multidriver designs must be separated into 2 types, even if both types can be used at the same time:
1. Multi way designs where one driver is in charge of a limited frequency range, and another driver will deal with the frequencies next to it, and so on. That's the typical crossover design you'd find on speakers where the treble is done by a small tweeter that only has that range to deal with. And maybe the subs are left to a woofer, etc.
2. Stacking several times the same driver in parallel, they all deal with the same signal over the same frequency range. Just X times the same thing.

With 1. It becomes easy to fine tune the signature, which hopefully will be something you like. While the drawback is the mess caused by high pass and low pass filters used to band limit the drivers, and whatever result we get in the overlapping areas between 2 drivers.
With 2. You get many drivers doing the same thing so you can imagine the total as the same but louder. It's the obvious choice when you wish to reach really high SPL that the drivers picked couldn't achieve. That way you keep the distortion figures at a reasonable level by getting something loud thanks to many drivers playing at a quieter level. The drawback is that you will often end up with a very low impedance very high sensitivity IEM, and not all devices will drive that well and without hiss and/or distortions. And obviously, the occupied space and the cost of multiplying the drivers just to get a few dB louder are things worth thinking about.

IMO, multi way IEMs are not necessary, but also not a problem for the listener so long as it's done properly. I just find it hard to justify more than 3 ways but it's not like I'm an expert in designing IEMs. I also don't mind stacking drivers to lower distortion/go louder when that's relevant. So long as the final impedance and sensitivity figures remain within the typical range expected by amplifier designers. An IEM that goes below 10ohm anywhere in the audible range is, and that's only my personal opinion, a bad product. I also tend to avoid crazy high sensitivity nowadays, but that's just so I can keep using my old DAPs with very average SNR figures.
In general, you will find a link between price, perceived quality, and number of drivers in BA IEMs. That's obvious when we're dealing with self fulfilling prophecies. Most people will be biased by the more is better assumption. Then, adding drivers logically increases the cost and most people are biased by the idea that more expensive is better. But the little research available on listeners' preferences when tested only on sound in a blind test, suggests that there is in fact very little correlation between price and perceived sound quality. That correlation only becomes a fact once the listener is informed on the price ^_^. So maybe it's the same for the number of drivers in IEMs? I don't know. Cool stuff are cool. why, doesn't always have to follow strict consistent rules. I get that once more I'm doing the opposite of helping you make a decision, welcome to my worldview .

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Can you help me understand, and perhaps debunk the idea that “more is better” when it comes to the number of drivers / balanced armatures?

As prices increase, so too do the number of drivers/BA’s per IEM, to the extent that looking at Bravado’s, and the like, I’m left saying, “Pfft... only TWO drivers per ear?!?”

Some of these higher end models are carrying 12 - 18/ear!

Pros:
More drivers specializing in each range = wider, potentially flatter response, or add more drivers to emphasize one section (like more bass drivers)

Cons:
If you rely on it to make the sound flatter, the more complex the crossover needs to be since every cut off point isn't one simple chop straight down. Everything above and below a given crossover point will be attenuated by the filter on either side. In short, if the filter slope is wrong, every transition point can mean there's a gap or there's a spike.

You need to design the shape of the bore so that the sound out of each driver still hits your eardrums at the same time, which is why putting something like a Focal Stella Utopia in a small room where you can't sit over 3m away can mean your head is too close to one of the bass drivers relative to how far your head is from the tweeter. This is harder to account for in an IEM since you'll need software as opposed to using a tape measure in a room and when building the speakers.

Having more drivers on one crossover doesn't mean that each driver is getting the kind of power it needs, although barring using a very complex CIEM or one with very inefficient drivers, this is more of a problem with home speakers.

 

[gazzington]

Boring answer but in my opinion you have a great travel set up. Zx300 with X3 job done