[benyovszki4]

Unleash your creativity guys, I need the best In-Ear stuff and a portable DAC to match it's performance, the budget is €1000.

Thanks

 

[benyovszki4]

Bumping up the thread

 

[Niouke]

I personally rock a FiiO X5-3 with Westone UM PRO 30 or Sony XBA-300 IEMs depending on the mood. The westones are relaxed with and emphasis on mids, the sonys are aggressive and treble oriented. My experience is not wide enough to say it's the best, but it fits your bill. If I had 1000€ I would take the same DAP, but buy the westones W60 or um pro 50, used if needed.

 

[cocolinho]

it depends on the signature you're looking for. flat? V shaped? mid centric?

 

[benyovszki4]

I personally rock a FiiO X5-3 with Westone UM PRO 30 or Sony XBA-300 IEMs depending on the mood. The westones are relaxed with and emphasis on mids, the sonys are aggressive and treble oriented. My experience is not wide enough to say it's the best, but it fits your bill. If I had 1000€ I would take the same DAP, but buy the westones W60 or um pro 50, used if needed.

The budget indicates new prices, so a used one would be cool if I found one thats a great buy. I'm gonna look into the ones you highlighted, for a DAP it looks like Fiio is a highly suggested brand so I will probably go with one of their products. Thank you for the answer

 

[benyovszki4]

it depends on the signature you're looking for. flat? V shaped? mid centric?

I generally like a balanced sound, cuz I listen to everything from classic rock through indie folk to dubstep.

 

[benyovszki4]

I have found a great deal on a used Grado GR10. Any opinions about them? Also, the Westone UM Pro 30 is on a massive sale at https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UMPro30Smk for you US residents, unfortunately I live in Europe so after VAT it's not that great of a deal.

 

[Niouke]

Never heard Grado's, I've been reading great things about the brand tho. If you can, don't do like me and try the IEM's before buying them if possible, or give it time. Westones are not to everyone's taste. What you can do is buy the DAP with 100€ "value" IEMs like 1more Triple Drivers (I own them, great IEMs with no real drawback) and work from there. You will know what you like or dislike with the IEM's and that will orientate your search better.

 

[benyovszki4]

Never heard Grado's, I've been reading great things about the brand tho. If you can, don't do like me and try the IEM's before buying them if possible, or give it time. Westones are not to everyone's taste. What you can do is buy the DAP with 100€ "value" IEMs like 1more Triple Drivers (I own them, great IEMs with no real drawback) and work from there. You will know what you like or dislike with the IEM's and that will orientate your search better.

Are IEMs really that hard to choose? I only had over ears so far, currently using an SRH1540 from Shure, I love their sound so I'm lookingfor something similar.
I wouldn't like to buy several ones, it would be a pain in the ass to sell all the ones that I don't use anymore.

 

[cocolinho]

I have GR10e, I think they are nice, really small, light & comfortable. Sound wise they are good (better than RE600 being the same form factor) but not great. They cannot compete with higher end models.
If you are looking for a flat signature, it will be different than your 1540 which are pretty warm sounding (I owned them in the past).
Maybe you can find a set of SE846 from Shure in your price.

 

[Niouke]

well in the IEM realm there is no really "flat" IEM, every model is colored to a point. A lot of different technologies are employed, combined with how your ear canal is shaped, making the combinations almost limitless. And I didn't mention fit issue, widely varying impedance across frequencies etc...a lot of people end up keeping their previous IEMs or buy different models by curiosity.

The westones I cited are balanced armature, so are my sony's. The 1more Triple are hybrid armature/dynamics, and I'm considering buying high end single dynamics like the Sony Z5 to experience the massive sub bass armatures can't offer...

 

[benyovszki4]

well in the IEM realm there is no really "flat" IEM, every model is colored to a point. A lot of different technologies are employed, combined with how your ear canal is shaped, making the combinations almost limitless. And I didn't mention fit issue, widely varying impedance across frequencies etc...a lot of people end up keeping their previous IEMs or buy different models by curiosity.

The westones I cited are balanced armature, so are my sony's. The 1more Triple are hybrid armature/dynamics, and I'm considering buying high end single dynamics like the Sony Z5 to experience the massive sub bass armatures can't offer...

The thing is, I want an IEM that is the closest to a full sized over ear in terms of sound, but without the obvious drawback of the size. I need at least moderately good isolation and a balanced but full sound. I would like them to be fun rather than analytic, but staying away from the extremes on both side. It should be as close to flat as possible but approaching from the warm side.

 

[Niouke]

I don't have enough reference points to help you more, but what you can do is see what you can get in your country, and work from there. I do favor balanced armatures because of their great isolation they offer for commuting (they don't have a vent hole at the exterior). A lot of models cited on head-fi are sold in the US and cost a kidney to import in europe, not to mention support issues. If you like your shure headset, their signature sound is probably present in their IEM's aswell, maybe you can ask in a SRH1540 thread what IEM sound the closest?

 

[larsv]

My own set is a AK70 + InEar stagediver sd-2

Because you mention 'fun sounding', check out reviews of Earsonics es-3 (was looking at these before I found a deal for Stagedivers).

 

[buke9]

The thing is, I want an IEM that is the closest to a full sized over ear in terms of sound, but without the obvious drawback of the size. I need at least moderately good isolation and a balanced but full sound. I would like them to be fun rather than analytic, but staying away from the extremes on both side. It should be as close to flat as possible but approaching from the warm side.

For $200 usd the 1More Quad Drivers are a great IEM it has good bass and soundstage and detail. Is there better sure for the price not sure if any . As far as Daps there are many that are pretty good but you could probably get a used QP1R and if you don’t mind the UI is a Great sounding dap that can run just about any headphone but have heard that super sensitive iems do give a bit of his but those were under 12 ohms that did.