[rdaneel]

Serious question - I'm not trolling.  I'm trying to find a music system that fits in my current lifestyle.  Once upon a time, I had a digitally room corrected 2-channel speaker system that sounded sublime.  Now I have kids, and a reference-level stereo isn't realistic.  I'm really enjoying my pair of HiFiMan HE-400i, and have my first set of CIEMs on order (AAWs).  I'm very curious if anyone in the Summit-Fi forum feels that a top of the line CIEM can match a top on-hear headphone.  If so, that might help make my search for the ultimate home and portable headphone that much simpler...  Any thoughts?  For purposes of this question, let's assume that anything under $2k is fair game (no Orpheus!).
 
Thanks!

 

[seanwee]

  Serious question - I'm not trolling.  I'm trying to find a music system that fits in my current lifestyle.  Once upon a time, I had a digitally room corrected 2-channel speaker system that sounded sublime.  Now I have kids, and a reference-level stereo isn't realistic.  I'm really enjoying my pair of HiFiMan HE-400i, and have my first set of CIEMs on order (AAWs).  I'm very curious if anyone in the Summit-Fi forum feels that a top of the line CIEM can match a top on-hear headphone.  If so, that might help make my search for the ultimate home and portable headphone that much simpler...  Any thoughts?  For purposes of this question, let's assume that anything under $2k is fair game (no Orpheus!).
 
Thanks!

Are you talking about On-Ears (Example :Grado Sr80) or Over-Ears (Example :Sennheiser HD 800)?
Please clarify.

 

[rdaneel]

Are you talking about On-Ears (Example :Grado Sr80) or Over-Ears (Example :Sennheiser HD 800)?
Please clarify.

Any of the above, sorry.

 

[seanwee]

Any of the above, sorry.

No need to be sorry , i was just asking for some clarification so there would be any confusion as that tends to be messy.
 
Personally i have not tried any CIEMs but i have tried Electrostatic Headphones and Planar headphones under the 2K price bracket and i would be genuinely surprised if there are any CIEMs that can match their speed and precision.

 

[knopi]

Good thread but at the same time it is hard to tell judgement. There are much more experienced people here with highend CIEMs and HP than me so I am curious on their experience too. 
Firstly before I will write my opinion I like most planars Ether, HE560, LCDX/3 etc. because it is quality sweet spot, universal across many genres and I believe it can be finish headphone for most people. Regarding ciem I had JH13 and universal UM3X and borrowed Jupiter for 5 days. 
 
My experience in past when I bought LCD2 I quickly sold JH13, maybe I had seal problem maybe not.
But now after experience with Jupiter I change my opinion a little.
I still think quality on-ear headphones for example mentioned planars is better we get more information but I can also say that quality ciem/iem are different and also quality enough that can be better in some things like localization, perfect sound even from iPhone on spotify, overal system is cheaper, you can take it everywhere etc. so I am sure if people had to decide which one if ciem or on-ear most would be undecided and they will want both.  

 

[seanwee]

  Good thread but at the same time it is hard to tell judgement. There are much more experienced people here with highend CIEMs and HP than me so I am curious on their experience too. 
Firstly before I will write my opinion I like most planars Ether, HE560, LCDX/3 etc. because it is quality sweet spot, universal across many genres and I believe it can be finish headphone for most people. Regarding ciem I had JH13 and universal UM3X and borrowed Jupiter for 5 days. 
 
My experience in past when I bought LCD2 I quickly sold JH13, maybe I had seal problem maybe not.
But now after experience with Jupiter I change my opinion a little.
I still think quality on-ear headphones for example mentioned planars is better we get more information but I can also say that quality ciem/iem are different and also quality enough that can be better in some things like localization, perfect sound even from iPhone on spotify, overal system is cheaper, you can take it everywhere etc. so I am sure if people had to decide which one if ciem or on-ear most would be undecided and they will want both.  

The JH13 sounds muddy and lacks coherency in comparison to the planars. But then again it might be because the CIEMs dont fit perfectly in my ears as they are not mine.
 
Personally i would choose a CIEM for portable use and a planar for home use if possible but if i could only have one of them i would just get a planar. An Etymotic ER4SR fits the bill for portable use quite well.

 

[jstachowski]

Hi---
 
  I've got a set of JH Audio Custom Angie's that sound pretty good.  Years ago I listened to a set of Stax 009 through a custom amp from Ray Samuels (10K+) that I think sounded better, but it's been years, (and in any case way out of my budget.)
 
  The one comment I will make about properly fitted customs is that you should give up any hope of hearing anything but the music when they're playing.
 
Take Care---
Jerry