Best non-custom IEM?

[legodt]

I am looking for the best possible IEM for chiptunes, indie rock, and light orchestral music that does not require custom molding. Is this goal unattainable?

 

[budgetboy]

Everyone has their own opinions on this one, but here are some of the ones I hear about a lot:
Sennheiser IE8, Westone 3, Shure SE530, Klipsch Image S4.
Depends on the sound your looking for and the other qualities your looking for.
 
I got the IE8s and I love them. Smooth, dark, sexy sound that just surrounds you. Comfortable, durable, discrete. No isolation whatsoever.
 
Search up the iems I lised above and there are a billion threads comparing them.
 
Good luck

 

[dfrost]

I haven't heard anything through my Fischer DBA-02's that didn't sound excellent.

 

[rawrster]

Quote:

Everyone has their own opinions on this one, but here are some of the ones I hear about a lot:
Sennheiser IE8, Westone 3, Shure SE530, Klipsch Image S4.
Depends on the sound your looking for and the other qualities your looking for.
 
I got the IE8s and I love them. Smooth, dark, sexy sound that just surrounds you. Comfortable, durable, discrete. No isolation whatsoever.
 
Search up the iems I lised above and there are a billion threads comparing them.
 
Good luck

S4? really? You are going to be that in the same class as IE8, W3, etc? The S4 isn't even top in it's price range let alone the top tier range.

 

[cn11]

I will throw in a recommendation for the Earsonics SM3. Do some searching to find the threads about them. To my ears in direct comparisons to the IE8 and TF10, they are a sizable step up over both. They're sort of like a combination of both actually (combining the best traits of each earphone) with very well extended treble, great detail and layering, yet with bass which is the best of any triple driver IEM I've heard. Also, I hear a soundstage which is about as wide as the Senns, but with a more 3D and encompassing feel. In contrast, the IE8's stage seems rather limited to a horizontal axis drawn across your ears, wide as it is. The TF10's don't have the bass depth of the SM3's, and their stage is narrower and also is more restricted to that same axis idea. Their mids are quite recessed compared to the SM3's also. 
 
The thing which is most striking to me is the SM3's relaxed and smooth nature, while having more detail and spatial placement than the TF10's. They're quite the paradox, and very addicting, - for me as they say here. And of course, ymmv.

 

[FourierMakesFunk]

I'm a big Etymotics fan, but those tend towards being actual "In-Ear-Monitors", thus the aim is presenting the sound in a technically useful way for monitoring applications, rather than for the best musicality. Some find them harsh, others don't. The price to detail ratio is great.
 
High quality headphones for chiptunes? Permission to laugh at the concept of that? (That being said, check out Tristan Perich's latest work: http://www.1bitsymphony.com/ Takes chiptunes to high classical / experimental awesomeness.)