[SoAmusing777]

So, I was looking to get some new headphones. IEM's hit the marks when it comes to portability and being able to listen to in public/working out, but can they match/near match the performance of my AKG k702 annies? I even considered the HE-500's. I prefer a neutral headphone that has great bass extension and some oomph to it as far as music goes. For gaming, of course the soundstage, imaging, and clarity are going to be the biggest things.

 

[SoAmusing777]

Bump.

 

[B9Scrambler]

Good luck!
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad-lust-envys-headphone-gaming-guide-update-4-17-2014-akg-k612-and-k712-pro-added-edits

 

[Billyjoegunrack]

Sony XBAH3

 

[SoAmusing777]

  Good luck!
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad-lust-envys-headphone-gaming-guide-update-4-17-2014-akg-k612-and-k712-pro-added-edits

Mmm, that's not IEM's.

 

 

Sony XBAH3

And how would this compare to the likes of a AKG 712 pro/Annie, HE-500?

 

[B9Scrambler]

Right, but there are a bunch of good ones mentioned throughout....just have to snoop through.

But, on a more helpful note, the JVC T90s are actually quite nice for gaming, so I've found. Since the treble can be a bit much for some, just add small bore tips or Complys to fix that, and you are left with a fairly spacious soundstage, lots of detail for picking out things like footsteps, and solid bass. Plus, in game music sounds awesome

On top of that they are pretty cheap now a days.

While I don't know how they compare to the headphones you mentioned, I do have the AKG 512mkii, and the T90s hold their own against those. Maybe that helps?

 

[SoAmusing777]

Right, but there are a bunch of good ones mentioned throughout....just have to snoop through.

But, on a more helpful note, the JVC T90s are actually quite nice for gaming, so I've found. Since the treble can be a bit much for some, just add small bore tips or Complys to fix that, and you are left with a fairly spacious soundstage, lots of detail for picking out things like footsteps, and solid bass. Plus, in game music sounds awesome

On top of that they are pretty cheap now a days.

While I don't know how they compare to the headphones you mentioned, I do have the AKG 512mkii, and the T90s hold their own against those. Maybe that helps?

It's a start!

 

[ich1ban]

Was in your position 2 years ago, tried quite a few IEMs for gaming.
 
Ended up with the Sennheiser IE80, completely beats everything else I've tried for soundstage, has decent clarity and fairly good bass for a pair of IEMs. 

 

[SoAmusing777]

  Was in your position 2 years ago, tried quite a few IEMs for gaming.
 
Ended up with the Sennheiser IE80, completely beats everything else I've tried for soundstage, has decent clarity and fairly good bass for a pair of IEMs. 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/708427/the-new-jvc-fx850-woodie-perfection-a-review - Check these out. Blowing my mind right now reading it.

What really made me read that review was seeing this - http://www.head-fi.org/t/712769/best-high-end-iem-or-ciem <<< Link to where this comment is.
I am about to try a pair of JVC HA-FX850s based on the early reviews and reports. They are way below the price range you are looking in, but they have some over the top recommendations. Their soundstage has been compared to the K1000 and their bass to the LCD2. It may be a lot of hype, but some of the recommendations were by someone on here who's ears I have come to trust. He says they are among the best sounding headphones he has heard, and they keep up overall with his HE6. I was struck by all of these comparisons to some of the top full sized headphones out there. Even better, they are universals so you can try them and then easily resell if they are not your cup of tea.

I was at one time considering Stax-SR-009 then realized buying an amp combined with the headphone is just way too much damn money, then reverted back to my orthos preferences, then thought, hey, I've always wanted an IEM. Seeing that comment there had me sold, as the k1000 soundstage is the nuts, the LCD2 bass is the nuts, and the HE-6 is just, woo. The latter two are orthos so I was highly surprised. Dsnuts that got them compared them to the Sony H3 (the one the guy just a few up suggested) and others. Said they are similar to IE80's. Huge benefit of these is that they are easy to drive (especially compared to Stax) and are portable.

Then on page 5 -
Played a few rounds of COD Black Ops2 just now.. OH man. Truly kicks..It has the perfect amount of detail, bass and stage for one of the best gaming audio I have heard on anything. Checked out some episodes of Walking dead and some Boardwalk Empire thrown in...Video audio is pure class.  Fantastic low end for movies and atmosphere.. Great sound positioning and cinematic qualities for movies..Dynamic. Truly dynamic.

Page 70 -
Spacial positioning is rather accurate to my ears. Especially in FPS games. It gives you an advantage in game. I've had people call me wall hacker (well not like that hasn't happened before lol). But it is a pretty substantial advantage to have in game IMO.

Yup, pretty sure what I'm gonna get next!

 

[SoAmusing777]

  Was in your position 2 years ago, tried quite a few IEMs for gaming.
 
Ended up with the Sennheiser IE80, completely beats everything else I've tried for soundstage, has decent clarity and fairly good bass for a pair of IEMs. 

Also, forgot to mention, did you read the soundstage/imaging of this thing? Wooooo buddy. Definitely has fantastic bass too. Clarity and neutrality boxes ticked as well. Well, close enough to neutral Man, even thinking about Stax didn't get me this excited. I guess what really does it for me is the price and size of these. Mmm, comes with a sweet high quality silver cable as well.

Taken from page 93 of that review -
Bass doesn't bleed into the mids on the FX850, but they are bass heavy. Hmmm? The 1p2 has better bass than the FX850 (i.e. it is not as thick as the fX850 and seems to be visceral and punchy). That doesn't negate of make the FX850's bass bad to my ears though. As for mids and highs, I think the FX850 wins out over the 1p2. The mids especially seemed to be lacking details compared to the FX850 to my ears.
This is what I heard, and that does make sense as the 1p2 is probably a more u shaped response possibly because of the use of two technologies.

Page 88 from a guy who owns both tralucent audio 1plus2 and FX850 -
I have, and to be honest, overall I wasn't impressed with the 1p2. Let me put it this way: the FX850 has me longing for its sound signature after not hearing it for awhile. I don't think much about the 1p2 sound signature at all now that I don't have it near me anymore. There are some things the 1p2 probably does better (I've said years ago there is no king IEM), but FX850's timbre is hard to beat. The 1p2 does, however, have some wonderful bass, but I don't think its performance matches its price. I think the FX850's performance shoots above its price if you can find it for under $350.

Wow, the 1p2 is a $1200 headphone.

 

[SoAmusing777]

  Was in your position 2 years ago, tried quite a few IEMs for gaming.
 
Ended up with the Sennheiser IE80, completely beats everything else I've tried for soundstage, has decent clarity and fairly good bass for a pair of IEMs. 

Well, after all that research of the JVC ones, I stumbled across the IE800's. Snatched them up for $435.

 

[TenMoonsNorth]

Etymotic HF2/3/5. Bass heavy headphones are more 'fun' but for competitive gaming you want bass light headphones and the same is true for IEMs. Etymotic have sharp imaging, work well with binaural audio and virtual surround sound. The high noise isolation is also an additional benefit to help you focus on the game.

 

[SoAmusing777]

  Etymotic HF2/3/5. Bass heavy headphones are more 'fun' but for competitive gaming you want bass light headphones and the same is true for IEMs. Etymotic have sharp imaging, work well with binaural audio and virtual surround sound. The high noise isolation is also an additional benefit to help you focus on the game.

Nice suggestion, but I already bought the Senn's, as you can see from the post above.

 

[SoAmusing777]

Got the IE800's today. Read mah story! I got the Senn IE800 (need one can for home/gaming/critical listening? and one for portable/convenience use). Had to go out today to get another adapter so I could hookup to my amp. The first song was Drank In My Cup through just my receiver. Holy moly. Amazing. Sonic perfection. Just really clean sound and linear through the bottom up. Treble has lovely sparkle to it. The bass is the Schiit! I heard a few say there is sub-bass emphasis. Great, because that's the frequency we hear the least out of the low notes and my favorite as well. Anyway, when I came back and hooked up through the amp the difference wasn't really much but it did add to the soundstage/air. Still, fantastic headphones. I tried em on BF3 with Dolby Headphone V2 through my receiver outputting 5.1 48khz? PCM. I found it lacking in soundstage and imaging compared to the AKG Annies I had, but still good nonetheless. Makes me happy actually that it doesn't have the soundstage/imaging of the Annies because then why would I have a use for a full size? Yeah, so everyone should go get a pair The microphonics are nowhere near as bad as I've been reading, plus the short cord is great when you wanna workout. Don't like it? Use an extension, easy. I feel everyone should make their cords shorter rather than longer when it comes to IEM's. Full size cans most people need the length. Anyway, that's enough. Lol.