[duke91]

Hi there,

I'm looking for an IEM that maximizes comfort, looks, and sound quality in that order. I'm hoping to spend less than $1k but am somewhat flexible.

I've tried out the Sennheiser IE800 and Shure SE535 already. The IE800 was incredibly lightweight and comfortable, but the bass was a little too thumpy for me. It seems to have a V-shaped curve whereas I prefer more balance across the registers. The SE535 had incredible mids and clarity, but it was less comfortable and I couldn't discern much bass at all. I prefer a wider range of bass notes over a strong thumpy bass if that makes sense.

Appearance-wise, I like the relatively low profile look of both the IE800 and Shure.

For reference, I currently own the Bose SoundTrue Ultra. It's super comfortable and attractive, but I'm looking to see if I can spend more for better sound quality.

I'm planning to try out the SE846. Are there any other IEMs that I should consider? No custom IEMs or IEMs that require an amp please.

Thanks!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I'm looking for an IEM that maximizes comfort, looks, and sound quality in that order. I'm hoping to spend less than $1k but am somewhat flexible.
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No custom IEMs

If comfort is your number one priority followed by looks then why not go for a custom IEM? Nothing can be more comfortable than something shaped exactly for each of your ears, and you can have a look that you want regardless of whether you want plain piano black, blue and red on each side, one color on the outer part then use two different colors on the bore side so you can still tell which side is which, or heck, pink or the other colors adorned with gold glitter and Sailor Moon sigils if you're into that kind of stuff.

I mean, sound is last on your list, you might as well gamble on that.

I'm planning to try out the SE846...No...IEMs that require an amp please.

At its very low impedance you're likely to run into problems driving that unless you can find a review with the exact same kind of source and you like what the reviewer hears out of that combo.

And even then, if for example you're using a smartphone, if anything happens to it you're gonna have to buy one that is confirmed to work well with the SE846, which means get a slightly older phone that might have some reviews, and that isn't exactly the best way to buy a phone given all the other usability features that might matter more to you.

 

[duke91]

I didn't want to consider custom IEMs for two reasons: 1) I can't return them if I don't like them. 2) I assume it will be a time consuming process to get a mold made and then get the IEM made. I suppose I'm open to considering custom if there's nothing off-the-shelf that aligns with what I'm looking for.

Maybe i'm misunderstanding impedance, but I thought an amp was only required to drive high impedance headphones like the HD650 at 300 ohms? I'll be using the IEMs 90% of the time with a new, maxed-out 15" MBP, and 10% of the time with an iPhone X.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I didn't want to consider custom IEMs for two reasons: 1) I can't return them if I don't like them. 2) I assume it will be a time consuming process to get a mold made and then get the IEM made. I suppose I'm open to considering custom if there's nothing off-the-shelf that aligns with what I'm looking for.

Yeah but like I said given you have comfort and looks well ahead of sound characteristics then that reduces the likelihood of not liking them, basically boiling down more to whether the mold was properly done and fits right. Otherwise if you live in a large city some stores have universal mold versions of CIEMs on demo and you can order CIEMs through them.

Besides it's not like you're buying totally blind (deaf?). You have two others for reference, one of them generally one of the most comfortable around, so by the looks of it gambling on some of the sound - your third category - on a CIEM isn't going to be that much worse than gambling on the ergonomics - your first concern - on a universal IEM.

Maybe i'm misunderstanding impedance, but I thought an amp was only required to drive high impedance headphones like the HD650 at 300 ohms? I'll be using the IEMs 90% of the time with a new, maxed-out 15" MBP, and 10% of the time with an iPhone X.

Impedance like whatever a doctor will look for in a CBC or prescribe for can be either too low or too high. It depends on amp power delivery and stability. Some amps deliver more power at high impedance or at low impedance (and even then high sensitivity can offset some of the problems), some amp circuits can become unstable at too low loads like how some subwoofers can't just be wired in parallel to a single amp channel if it drops the impedance below 2ohms or how some fullrange speaker amps can't handle even 4ohm loads; bridged car audio amps can't handle anything lower than 4ohms; etc.

Your phone will not necessarily be unstable at 9ohms in the sense that you wouldn't get heat damage but it may result in a lot of distortion. This is also partly why high impedance headphones are a thing (as well as noise; speakers actaully have way more noise vs headphones, except you can't hear that unless you stand next to the speakers, which is why it's very important on headphones since they're right by your ears or eardrums), even if amps tend to deliver more power at lower impedance (usually at 32ohms), though some amps can drop output at very low impedance (ie some amps peak at 16ohms or 32ohms, and drop output below either).

The high levels of harmonic distortion you get will also not likely be obviously bad distortion, ie, crackling, overexcursion, outright funky sound (like the kind of smell you don't want on food, not as in cool funk rock), etc, but enough to distort the sound that what you read about what another person hears (using an amp or a source device with a good amp circuit) which already has some things that do not translate even different from what you might get.

Just for reference my SGS, SGS3, SGS5 all sound different on many 16ohm and lower headphones vs my Note3, Note4, and S7 Edge (much less an amplifier). The first group make the bass bloated on such IEMs.

 

[duke91]

Thanks for the insight on impedance.

What should I look at to get started with custom IEMs? I live in San Francisco -- are there any recommended stores in this area?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

What should I look at to get started with custom IEMs? I live in San Francisco -- are there any recommended stores in this area?

I'm not from San Francisco though so I'm not sure what the stores I can find through Google have, although my brother in SoCal once asked where to buy but he had to buy deaf and I found a store smack behind his community college and he got to try headphones and bought an SR80e.

Best Google "audiophile headphones San Francisco" and call 'em up. Even if they don't have the CIEM universal fit demo units, at the very least they might have some universal IEMs that you can demo, so if you like anything, at least you haven't dropped money on it other than transportation and lunch.

 

[bixby]

Another thing to consider in addition to @ProtegeManiac excellent points is some folks really are uncomfortable with customs that stick as far down the ear canal as most do. I was.

and, just a thought, the $1000 iems are going to react about the same as a $100 iems when you slam your car door on the cable.