UnderTheHill
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2016
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Hi all,
Looking on advice for what I may consider as my next IEM purchase. A little bit of background:
I originally started on IEMs over 10 years ago when I bought my first pair of IEMs, Etymotic ER4S. Back then, I was still using a Sony Portable CD player, then started using smartphones, first with a Palm Treo, then with HTC Tilt then Fuze on MP3s (both Windows Mobile OS devices). Once I moved to smartphones, I realized that they were not powerful enough to drive the ER4S without the use of a portable DAC.
At this point, I decided it's time to upgrade to a new pair of IEM since I've had the ER4S for at least 6 years by that point. I then went ahead with a purchase of a pair of FutureSonics Atrio M5. Decided on buying them because FutureSonics had a 2-for-1 special going on. Absolutely loved the Atrios, the sound was beautiful to my ears. After about 1 1/2 years, one pair started to fray. The wires were falling apart with slices. Then the second pair started to do the same thing a few months later. I contacted FutureSonics, by that time, both pairs were out of warranty. To my surprise, FutureSonics contacted me back and upgraded me to a pair of Atrio m6 at no charge. Talk about customer support. I was once again super happy, but then, within 9 months, these too started to fray. At that point, I decided that my next IEM purchase must have detachable cables.
Enter the Westone W4R. I enjoyed the sound of the W4R, but it just wasn't as "punchy" as the Atrios, but they still met my needs. Went with a pair of Effect Audio cables, Comply tips (also Star tips), and so on and so on. Rocking these for about 3-4 years when a few months ago, both of the shells came apart at the seam. No biggie, I was able to pop them back together and put a thin bead of glue to seal them back together. About a month ago, the right ear shell once again popped open, but this time, when it did and fell, the green cable (there is a red and green cable) inside broke from the epic 2-pic connector. It is so tiny that there is no way that I can solder it back on. (link to image at http://imgur.com/a/HeEdI)
So now, I am once again in the market for a set of IEMs. Looked at the FutureSonics Spectum G10, would have bought these if it wasn't for the non-replaceable cables.
I enjoy the Westones, but the FutureSonics were just so much better at that time in terms of sound quality to my ears. I didn't hear a significant jump in quality to justify the additional cost, but kept them anyway.
Therefore, any recommendations for IEMs for someone who prefer FutureSonics sound, but would prefer detachable cables?
At the moment, I was able to obtain some very inexpensive earphones that I'm using for the time being (Klipsch X4i for $30, Westone TS1 for $40, NVX IEWR2/IE2GR/IE3RC for $15 all three combined).
Price range would be upwards of $400 for a pair, mainly listen to heavy metal, switching between an iPod Nano and a ZTE Axon 7 smartphone. The ZTE has two built-in DACs (though it can only be accessed via it's built-in music app, which also supports Dolby Atmos), but I also use a FiiO portable DAC at times.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Looking on advice for what I may consider as my next IEM purchase. A little bit of background:
I originally started on IEMs over 10 years ago when I bought my first pair of IEMs, Etymotic ER4S. Back then, I was still using a Sony Portable CD player, then started using smartphones, first with a Palm Treo, then with HTC Tilt then Fuze on MP3s (both Windows Mobile OS devices). Once I moved to smartphones, I realized that they were not powerful enough to drive the ER4S without the use of a portable DAC.
At this point, I decided it's time to upgrade to a new pair of IEM since I've had the ER4S for at least 6 years by that point. I then went ahead with a purchase of a pair of FutureSonics Atrio M5. Decided on buying them because FutureSonics had a 2-for-1 special going on. Absolutely loved the Atrios, the sound was beautiful to my ears. After about 1 1/2 years, one pair started to fray. The wires were falling apart with slices. Then the second pair started to do the same thing a few months later. I contacted FutureSonics, by that time, both pairs were out of warranty. To my surprise, FutureSonics contacted me back and upgraded me to a pair of Atrio m6 at no charge. Talk about customer support. I was once again super happy, but then, within 9 months, these too started to fray. At that point, I decided that my next IEM purchase must have detachable cables.
Enter the Westone W4R. I enjoyed the sound of the W4R, but it just wasn't as "punchy" as the Atrios, but they still met my needs. Went with a pair of Effect Audio cables, Comply tips (also Star tips), and so on and so on. Rocking these for about 3-4 years when a few months ago, both of the shells came apart at the seam. No biggie, I was able to pop them back together and put a thin bead of glue to seal them back together. About a month ago, the right ear shell once again popped open, but this time, when it did and fell, the green cable (there is a red and green cable) inside broke from the epic 2-pic connector. It is so tiny that there is no way that I can solder it back on. (link to image at http://imgur.com/a/HeEdI)
So now, I am once again in the market for a set of IEMs. Looked at the FutureSonics Spectum G10, would have bought these if it wasn't for the non-replaceable cables.
I enjoy the Westones, but the FutureSonics were just so much better at that time in terms of sound quality to my ears. I didn't hear a significant jump in quality to justify the additional cost, but kept them anyway.
Therefore, any recommendations for IEMs for someone who prefer FutureSonics sound, but would prefer detachable cables?
At the moment, I was able to obtain some very inexpensive earphones that I'm using for the time being (Klipsch X4i for $30, Westone TS1 for $40, NVX IEWR2/IE2GR/IE3RC for $15 all three combined).
Price range would be upwards of $400 for a pair, mainly listen to heavy metal, switching between an iPod Nano and a ZTE Axon 7 smartphone. The ZTE has two built-in DACs (though it can only be accessed via it's built-in music app, which also supports Dolby Atmos), but I also use a FiiO portable DAC at times.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
