[sbog4215]

+1 YAMAHA EPH100 Headphones.

These were recommended to me by a few big names here (including ljokerl) on the basis of the following crtieria: budget of $150, travel and gym use, emphasis on trance and bass.

They arrived today and I'm extremely happy with them. Definitely more suitable for my music tastes compared to my older VSonic GR06.

Edit: Joker's response to my query on his 'multi-iem review' page. "Great sound doesn't mean much if it's not the sound signature you are looking for. Preference definitely trumps performance at this level. ZapX629 is right - out of those, the GR07 BE is the only one that can be suitable for a bass fan, and even that barely trumps the GR06 when it comes to bass quantity. The EPH-100 is a different story - it's a great earphone for bass - very extended and powerful, but not lacking in other areas. I really like them for EDM and it seems like it would be more the right choice for you."

 

[NawiLlih]

I can now confirm myself that the SM64s are absolutely mind-blowingly gorgeous IEMs for every type of trance I feel no personal need to compare them to anything else, as they are my end of the line

 

[ascension278]

Using a gr07 BE and H3..with proper seal I would prefer the h3 due to better clarity...

 

[NawiLlih]

Using a gr07 BE and H3..with proper seal I would prefer the h3 due to better clarity...

H3?

 

[kameenadesi]

kinda late but from the IEMs i have heard, i would probably put JVC FX850 and audio technica CKR9 as Tier 1 status. Im really interested in some hybrids now...hmmm

 

[jonyoo]

I was going to say Altone200 but I already see it here on the list. Been listening to them with some uplifting and epic trance for the past couple days. Soundstage is presented fairly well and bass punches hit you hard. Love it!

 

[PennStateEDM]

Dropping in to express my appreciation for this most-excellent thread, courtesy of @NawiLlih and of course @HeadFi. 
 
I stumbled across your conversation while scouring the interwebs for the most compatible earbuds in Trance/EDM. While EDM seems to have finally exploded in the US, my interest has been fading the last few years. I suspect this is because city living comes with neighbors on the other side of your bedroom wall, which rendered Klipsch speakers obsolete.
 
Not until very recently did it occur to me that perhaps the music wasn't the problem, but rather the garbage earbuds that've been transporting these sounds into my head. So, this thread was precisely what I was hoping to find.
 
Based on what I've read in this thread, and keeping in mind that I'm placing value above all else, these are the three options I'm currently contemplating.
 
 
 

1. GR07 Bass Edition

List Price: $129.00
Amazon: $129.00
When considering quality AND value, sounds like the VSonic GR07BE is the runaway winner here. Just rave reviews across the board, and at such an attractive price. This is the exact product description that I was looking for.
 
That being said, I'm heading out on budget-breaking a ski trip (which may inevitably turn into an earbud-breaking ski trip ["yardsale"]), so hoping to save a few bucks on a deal today before eventually upgrading into the GR07.
 
So, now I find myself torn between these two choices:
 

2. VSonic VSD1 Dynamic Noise-Isolation Earphones Earbuds

List Price: $99.99
Amazon Sale: $49.00
The VSD1 is being promoted as the GR07's little brother after a real nice haircut.
 

3. NarMoo S1 High-Fidelity Noise Isolation Headphones with Dual Dynamic Drivers

List Price: $74.98
Amazon Sale: $32.27
@B9Scrambler raised his hand to endorse this product. Quality online reviews. 
 
 
-  -  -  -  -
 
Since I'm finding it difficult to choose between these two, I'll go with the B9's recommendation which was made with trance/EDM in mind. I realize that the NarMoo S1 is probably a far cry from the GR07 (and other models), but I'm counting on it to be a radical upgrade from my  [size=24.5699996948242px][size=24.5699996948242px]Samsung 3.5mm Stereo Headset with Volume Key for Galaxy S4[/size].[/size]
 
 
With a little bit of luck, maybe these buds were just what the doctor ordered to reignite my once-burning passion for trance/progressive/EDM. Thanks for the quality insight, everyone.

 

[NawiLlih]

  Dropping in to express my appreciation for this most-excellent thread, courtesy of @NawiLlih and of course @HeadFi. 
 
I stumbled across your conversation while scouring the interwebs for the most compatible earbuds in Trance/EDM. While EDM seems to have finally exploded in the US, my interest has been fading the last few years. I suspect this is because city living comes with neighbors on the other side of your bedroom wall, which rendered Klipsch speakers obsolete.
 
Not until very recently did it occur to me that perhaps the music wasn't the problem, but rather the garbage earbuds that've been transporting these sounds into my head. So, this thread was precisely what I was hoping to find.
 
Based on what I've read in this thread, and keeping in mind that I'm placing value above all else, these are the three options I'm currently contemplating.
 
 
 

1. GR07 Bass Edition

List Price: $129.00
Amazon: $129.00
When considering quality AND value, sounds like the VSonic GR07BE is the runaway winner here. Just rave reviews across the board, and at such an attractive price. This is the exact product description that I was looking for.
 
That being said, I'm heading out on budget-breaking a ski trip (which may inevitably turn into an earbud-breaking ski trip ["yardsale"]), so hoping to save a few bucks on a deal today before eventually upgrading into the GR07.
 
So, now I find myself torn between these two choices:
 

2. VSonic VSD1 Dynamic Noise-Isolation Earphones Earbuds

List Price: $99.99
Amazon Sale: $49.00
The VSD1 is being promoted as the GR07's little brother after a real nice haircut.
 

3. NarMoo S1 High-Fidelity Noise Isolation Headphones with Dual Dynamic Drivers

List Price: $74.98
Amazon Sale: $32.27
@B9Scrambler raised his hand to endorse this product. Quality online reviews. 
 
 
-  -  -  -  -
 
Since I'm finding it difficult to choose between these two, I'll go with the B9's recommendation which was made with trance/EDM in mind. I realize that the NarMoo S1 is probably a far cry from the GR07 (and other models), but I'm counting on it to be a radical upgrade from my  [size=24.5699996948242px][size=24.5699996948242px]Samsung 3.5mm Stereo Headset with Volume Key for Galaxy S4[/size].[/size]
 
 
With a little bit of luck, maybe these buds were just what the doctor ordered to reignite my once-burning passion for trance/progressive/EDM. Thanks for the quality insight, everyone.

Glad to be helpful  
I think the overall recommendation was for either the GR07BE or EPH100, but neither of those strike me as entirely suitable for a skiing trip!
If you want these for active use, it might be a good idea to choose the earphone with the lowest profile (that sits lowest in your ear). You might want to consider on-ear headphones - I know that V-Moda in particular are very popular with many skiiers on HF.

 

[blanemurphy]

I would just buy a cheap IEM for trance. Trance is horribly mastered and mixed and high-end IEM's will expose their bad quality. Something like a Shure SE215 would do fine. 

But if you want to spend big money, the Shure SE846 is very good for trance. (however I don't think trance music is high quality music that deserves high quality IEM's)

Not to be overly judgemental, but I do believe this guy has never heard a good trance tune. The clarity, imaging, width, separation, detail ect ect in good trance is better than any recorded genre in my opinion. It seems he's talking out of his @$$ a little. Or maybe he hasn't heard good trance in the past few years, seeing how the genre has made leaps and bounds on quality is since back in the early 2000s. When I listen to a lot of pop or other genres in general I can't help but notice the lack of separation and detail compared to well made trance tunes...I know this is due to the perfection that can be attained with purely synthesized instruments. Maybe I'm crazy but trance is up there with any genre in quality these days. Maybe it hasn't always been that way but it certainly is now. Check out BT-"Skylarking" or Ferry Tayle-"the way back home original mix". Clarity and depth is just stunning in those tracjs and thats just two off the top of my head to prove a point. If this comment is inappropriate then please let me know...I'm new and don't know how passionate I'm allowed to be about an opinion.

On the other hand I think the RBH EP1/EP2 sounds fantastic with trance. Trance is what I listen to about 80% of the time nowadays, and I'm also a signed producer in the genre though I won't promote myself here. I've really enjoyed both the Yamaha eph100 and the RBH EP1 very much. The eph100 is more lazy and laid back in all areas with a wider soundstage, while the rbh ep1 is more forward and detailed with slightly less width and depth of soundstage, but the detail esp in the treble, vocals, and in the bass makes up for the slight lack of soundstage. I find myself switching back and forth depending on my mood. Both suit the genre extremely well in my opinion, though I do lean for that detail in the ep1 a tad more probably. The ep1 uses a 13mm driver and you can tell it does with the texture and impact of the bass as compared to the 6mm micro driver in the eph100.

 

[blanemurphy]

H3?

I think he means the Sony xba H3 which I've heard is great with edm as well. I tried the xba H1 and it was meh to me. Severely lacking in the high end and much to closed in soundstage. The h3 has a dedicated tweeter though so it should be leagues better. I think now though its the xba Z5 and xba A3 that have replaced the h3 and are better but I believe now since its been replaced the h3 is about 100 bucks cheaper than initial retail. I'm seriously considering the h3 or the Dunu dn1000 as my next pair of iems for trance. Heard both handle the genre really well.

 

[blanemurphy]

Any love for the DUNU DN-2000 around here? From what I've read, the sound sig seems pretty good for trance, and it's a hybrid design. For that matter, what about the Sony H1 or H3?

Save your money on the h1 unless you are really sensitive to high frequencies. I didn't like them compared to my EPH 100 and rbh ep1 because the presentation of soundstage was too in your face and between the ears. They have a peak somewhere in the 5k range that makes vocals and lead synths feel like they are smacking you in the forehead and there is a serious dropoff in the upper treble that kills any sense of space and soundstage. The mids are really good though and the bass is decent. It just sounded weird to me overall and I found that there just wasn't enough energy or space or fun factor in those iems for trance. I know the wirecutter called them vest under 200 but I don't see at all how they could rank them higher than the previous year winner the RBH EP1. And I'm not sure about the h3 but see my previous post. They are very intriguing to me because they are now cheaper since they were replaced by the A3 and Z5, and I'm really interested in the hybrid design. I do think if the H1 had been tuned without that peak at 5k and add a tweeter to fix the highs then it would have been stellar. That's why the h3 is interesting to me and also the Dunu dn 1000...anyone with experience on any hybrid dynamic driver/balance armature iems for trance!!!! I'm dieing to know.

 

[NawiLlih]

Not to be overly judgemental, but I do believe this guy has never heard a good trance tune. The clarity, imaging, width, separation, detail ect ect in good trance is better than any recorded genre in my opinion. It seems he's talking out of his @$$ a little. Or maybe he hasn't heard good trance in the past few years, seeing how the genre has made leaps and bounds on quality is since back in the early 2000s. When I listen to a lot of pop or other genres in general I can't help but notice the lack of separation and detail compared to well made trance tunes...I know this is due to the perfection that can be attained with purely synthesized instruments. Maybe I'm crazy but trance is up there with any genre in quality these days. Maybe it hasn't always been that way but it certainly is now. Check out BT-"Skylarking" or Ferry Tayle-"the way back home original mix". Clarity and depth is just stunning in those tracjs and thats just two off the top of my head to prove a point. If this comment is inappropriate then please let me know...I'm new and don't know how passionate I'm allowed to be about an opinion.

I think that another VERY well produced ced trance track would be Ihor Mihal - Downfall (Original Mix), in fact that's the cleanest, best-produced track I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

 

[blanemurphy]

I think that another VERY well produced ced trance track would be Ihor Mihal - Downfall (Original Mix), in fact that's the cleanest, best-produced track I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

Choon alert!!! Nice find there. It is a very slick track. I have a playlist called "well produced" and this is going in it. I pretty much only listen to trance..progressive or uplifting doesn't matter. Mostly progressive recently as I burnt myself put on uplifting g due to also producing it. But yes half the tunes I hear on the radio don't even come close to a lot of my favorite trance tunes in quality. I dunno what that guy was talking about. Pop music and such just gets pumped out over and over very quickly. While I know myself and some of my other signed producer friends spend weeks and weeks on one tune with literally hundreds of hours involved getting it just right. That's why I took thay comment a little hard. But also its just in fact down right not true. But thanks for the tune suggestion. Would be nice if it were appropriate to have a thread just suggesting trance tunes, but I suppose this isn't the place. What iems are you using?

 

[Hapster]

Choon alert!!! Nice find there. It is a very slick track. I have a playlist called "well produced" and this is going in it. I pretty much only listen to trance..progressive or uplifting doesn't matter. Mostly progressive recently as I burnt myself put on uplifting g due to also producing it. But yes half the tunes I hear on the radio don't even come close to a lot of my favorite trance tunes in quality. I dunno what that guy was talking about. Pop music and such just gets pumped out over and over very quickly. While I know myself and some of my other signed producer friends spend weeks and weeks on one tune with literally hundreds of hours involved getting it just right. That's why I took thay comment a little hard. But also its just in fact down right not true. But thanks for the tune suggestion. Would be nice if it were appropriate to have a thread just suggesting trance tunes, but I suppose this isn't the place. What iems are you using?

Pop is almost always way better produced than Trance. I mean, it's a billion dollar industry with hundreds of people working on each of these popular songs, you think they'd cut corners like that and make it an awful recording? Of course not.
 
Also, this is the thread you're looking for. It's not as much to do with uplifting as it did when it started, but it's the only mildly active trance thread on Head-fi.
 
My choice of IEMs for Trance is my T-Peos H-300.

 

[blanemurphy]

Pop is almost always way better produced than Trance. I mean, it's a billion dollar industry with hundreds of people working on each of these popular songs, you think they'd cut corners like that and make it an awful recording? Of course not.

Also, this is the thread you're looking for. It's not as much to do with uplifting as it did when it started, but it's the only mildly active trance thread on Head-fi.

My choice of IEMs for Trance is my T-Peos H-300.

That's precise the reason why I think the average pop or hip hop record sounds like ****. The producers and mix and master engineers are churning through tons of tracks a day. Whereas a typical trance producer is making one track in a few months. Trance isn't a billion dollar industry that's all about the money. The top mix engineers n the american pop industry are doing multiple mixes a day because the top guys are in such high demand so they don't have two months to work on one track. They may be better engineers but that doesn't matter when they have to do one mix in a few hours so they can get to the next one to meet the deadlines of the labels so that everyone get their dollar. Its that machine that is ruining the quality. This is just my opinion though. I'm not generalizing all pop or hip hop. There is certainly good and bad in any genre. But its very rare for me to hear a pop record that I think"Wow this blows my mind" whereas it happens a lot in genres like trance for me. Its just my opinion. Trance is even beggining to have the same issue lately as its growing so fast worldwide. But amount of money in the particular industry means means jack IMO as to quality.