[David58117]

IEM's are pure value in comparison to full sized. A decent CIEM will blow most, if not 99% of full sized out of the water in terms of SQ.
$40 IEM's will blow $200 full sized out of the water.
 
But then, Some fullsized can be pretty glorious also, like T50RP's.
 
 
But I have to point out one thing Scuttle said:
 
 
Nothing has changed since the Nazi created Hi-Fi to record Hitler. It's the same technology, just different ways of using it.

 
 
You have it backwards. Money tossed in the full sized arena generally gets you better sq for the same price. Iems are just limited in terms of size/placement. Its not a knock against them, just recognizing obvious differences between them. Personally, I paid more for iems with a similar signature to my full sized cans, and even then the iems aren't their equal. They do well for portability, but its not even a contest. They're apples to oranges and really can't be compared.

 

[BotByte]

Quote:

 
Money tossed in the full sized arena generally gets you better sq for the same price.
They're apples to oranges and really can't be compared.

 
This first sentence contradicts itself, sorry it doesn't make sense.
More money can't equal the same money.
 
And I know IEM's aren't like fullsized, just like headphones aren't like speakers.
 
The entire fight over difference is still being waged, so I'm not going to touch it to relieve the stress.
 
 
In terms of pure SQ, the most direct and separated sound will come from IEM's. But the feeling of difference is really tested when you hit the highest of quality of fullsized. I'm also stating that there are more headphones that you know of, saying that there is a massive difference between the IEM market which is relatively small compared to the fullsized market. 
In all honesty, I can't see fullsized ever evolving faster than IEM's. It's just the change and adaptation of the technology that's amazing.
 
One thing I don't like about the IEM market, is that there is almost no room for "giant beaters". Fullsized market has dozens of headphones which can rival many, many higher priced headphones. T50RP, 940, HD650. But the IEM market barely makes a few that can pass by the higher priced ones. 
 
 
Sorry, but I don't want to write out a essay to state all the references I can to fulfill this argument.
Value wise: IEM's are king. And I'm a advocate for fullsized 

 

[marioman94]

get a sunrise aodia i100. reviews around say they're real good for $22 and they have an iphone mic. I don't know if bass monsters are your thing considering the choices you had in mind, but if you're happy with tight punchy bass at medium quantity you might like these even better than the klipsch. my two cents.
 
and if you do, you could write your own review of it here

 

[jaibautista]

I've seen a Westone TS1 (it's a Westone 1 with talk controls for iPhone use) in a local retailer here in Manila (Digital Hub V-Mall). I believe it's less than USD200. You may also want to consider that.

 

[David58117]

Quote:

 
This first sentence contradicts itself, sorry it doesn't make sense.
More money can't equal the same money.
 
And I know IEM's aren't like fullsized, just like headphones aren't like speakers.
 
The entire fight over difference is still being waged, so I'm not going to touch it to relieve the stress.
 
 
In terms of pure SQ, the most direct and separated sound will come from IEM's. But the feeling of difference is really tested when you hit the highest of quality of fullsized. I'm also stating that there are more headphones that you know of, saying that there is a massive difference between the IEM market which is relatively small compared to the fullsized market. 
In all honesty, I can't see fullsized ever evolving faster than IEM's. It's just the change and adaptation of the technology that's amazing.
 
One thing I don't like about the IEM market, is that there is almost no room for "giant beaters". Fullsized market has dozens of headphones which can rival many, many higher priced headphones. T50RP, 940, HD650. But the IEM market barely makes a few that can pass by the higher priced ones. 
 
 
Sorry, but I don't want to write out a essay to state all the references I can to fulfill this argument.
Value wise: IEM's are king. And I'm a advocate for fullsized 

 
It doesn't contradict itself - if you take the same amount of money (lets say $200) and must decide to either get full sized headphones, or IEMs - generally speaking your $200 will get you better SQ if you spend it on full sized headphones.  
 
It's not an IEM vs full sized debate.  And there's nothing to really debate about..the differences in drivers, placement are pretty obvious.  
 
For example, find me an IEM that has the naturalness, clarity, instrument separation, timbre quality, speed, and sound stage as the K701s.  
 
I paid $250 for mine, and then about $300 for my ER4S's.  
 
Don't get me wrong - the RE0s and HF5's aren't bad (in fact those are my "out and about" pairs) - but they pale in comparison to what my full sized cans can do.  You're asking a tiny little driver to compete with something that's pushing much more air, and that doesn't rely on an in ear seal.  That's not a fair competition at all.  
 
I love my IEMs, but by design they just naturally have built in limitations.  It's not a negative for them either..    

 

[ChristmaSFnatic]

Quote:

get a sunrise aodia i100. reviews around say they're real good for $22 and they have an iphone mic. I don't know if bass monsters are your thing considering the choices you had in mind, but if you're happy with tight punchy bass at medium quantity you might like these even better than the klipsch. my two cents.
 
and if you do, you could write your own review of it here

I checked and its not in Amazon or JandR. Other sites, either it wont accept a non-US billing address or I just cant risk.


Quote:

I've seen a Westone TS1 (it's a Westone 1 with talk controls for iPhone use) in a local retailer here in Manila (Digital Hub V-Mall). I believe it's less than USD200. You may also want to consider that.

Ill check the reviews. Its $129 at Amazon.
 

 

[ZMeshign]

In my humble opinion, nothing beats full-sized cans except full-sized cans.
 
I think what people are discussing in this topic isn't really related to the topic's title that much. As far as I'm aware, the topic was about "Can an untrained ear distinguish between £60 and £200 IEMs", but people are more oriented towards discussing how full-sized cans compare to IEMs. I, personally, haven't got an answer for the topic's title question!

 

[Fimbulvetr]

If you're going for higher end IEMs first, I would get the Triple fi 10. Monster Pro Gold/Copper IEMs seem to have a high failure rate. The TF10 is an inexpensive top tier IEM (triple balanced armature) that is also durable (you can customize it with custom cables). Probably a better initial investment IMO.
 
For a lower priced IEM I strongly discourage buying a S4 for anything more than 40$. Its extremely bassy and I would go for something else in this thread. http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-221-iems-compared-monoprice-mep-933-8320-added-02-12-12/3195 .
 
From the above thread I've tried the Brainwavz M1 and Proalpha which all have more enjoyable sound signatures unless you're a basshead.
Hell if you're paying the full price for the S4, the RE0 costs the same (80$) and has 100x more clarity and way better highs/mids. It does lack in bass quantity though.

 

[ChristmaSFnatic]

What if I buy something "bassy", and something balanced/analytic soon after? So I have an idea to which sound really is good for me? So if thats the case, S4i and Ety MC3?

That said, cant find a sub $40 S4i.

 

[snowshoe]

The answer is yes, you can hear the difference, but the quality of the sound will also depend on the quality of the source (the default 128 kbps for music from iTunes is obscenely poor IMHO) and the quality of the equipment you are playing it through. 
 
If you can afford $200 monitors, then go for it. 

 

[mbamg]

Quote:

I checked and its not in Amazon or JandR. Other sites, either it wont accept a non-US billing address or I just cant risk.


Ill check the reviews. Its $129 at Amazon.
 

http://lendmeurears.com/index.php?cPath=18&osCsid=839800ed6b2f1f57a31eeb0b7e3b7c9e
 
They ship from Singapore for relatively cheap prices.
 

 

[David58117]

Quote:

What if I buy something "bassy", and something balanced/analytic soon after? So I have an idea to which sound really is good for me? So if thats the case, S4i and Ety MC3?

That said, cant find a sub $40 S4i.

Yes - this is what you want to do.
 
You're only going to find fake S4is for $40, unless you hit the jackpot and stumble upon some clearance or something from a reputable site (which I doubt).
 
However, rather than the MC3, get the HF3.  The HF3 will better represent what higher end IEMs can do - they will give you an example of a balanced armature driver, which work differently than dynamics (ie, the S4).
 
You hear people mention higher end IEMs like the Westone 4, and talk about fitting multiple drivers in IEMs right?  Those are balanced armature drivers they're talking about (although there are some hybrids now I believe), and as a beginning audiophile it would be beneficial for you to have a representative of both types of drivers.  There are distinct characteristics between the two,..
 
In the US the list price for HF3 is about $180, although you can usually find it around $100,..if US amazon ships to you: 
 
 
http://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-ER23-HF3-BLACK-Headsetwith-3-Button-Control/dp/B003YTROIU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1329699366&sr=1-1
  

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Just FYI, Balanced does not always mean analytical. If you get an Ety, know that they are quite bass light, even for an analytical IEM.

 

[mdyoung216]

Well I 'm also new to this stuff and I just bought a set Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 and a FiiO E11 to use with my Insignia Pilot and it is nothing like I have ever heard through what I call earbuds.  Like listening to my home stereo.  I think up until now the most I had ever paid was $35.00 for a Denon AH-C551K.  So in my case, I would say, yes you can tell the difference.

 

[marioman94]

Quote:

I checked and its not in Amazon or JandR. Other sites, either it wont accept a non-US billing address or I just cant risk.

I know lendmeurears.com has em. pretty sure they ship anywhere. if you're not comfortable buying overseas I can understand, but guys at head-fi will easily recommend them. gl with your purchase btw