ColdWolfSong
Head-Fier
So for as long as I've been in this community, I've lusted after a pair of Custom In-ears. I always thought they'd be so amazing, but I've never bitten the bullet and gotten the impressions. Instead, I've tried quite a few UIEMs. MEE Audio Pinnacle P1, JVC FW01, Noble Audio Trident, and a few lesser models. I've been considering the Alclair Reference, Alclair Dual, UE 4 Pro, Cleartune CTM-200, and 1964 Audio A2e. All of these are dual driver CIEMs in the 400 dollar price range (excluding the Alclair Reference, which is 3 drivers).
But my issue here is that I don't know if I'm going to be getting the audio quality I'm looking for at that price. It seems that CIEMs are inherently more expensive than UIEMs, so a 200 dollar UIEM would be 400 in custom. A 600 dollar UIEM, 800 dollars in custom. Therefore if I spend 400 dollars on a CIEM, it's likely that I'll be getting sound quality that's lesser than UIEMs I already have or have heard. I'm not entirely certain that I want to spend 400 + dollars on just the comfort and cool factor. I read a review that said the UE 4 Pro was "80 percent of what the UE reference remastered is" but that seems hard to believe. I'm quite tempted to skip the CIEMs and just get an HD 600 plus an amp. After having wasted quite a bit of money on other mid-fi offerings that I'm not really happy with, I just want the audio journey to end for awhile so I can get back to enjoying the music.
Does anybody have any thoughts on what I can except from entry level CIEMs, including those I listed? If you're going to recommend other ones, note that the maker has to be in the US and my budget is not higher than 400 USD.
But my issue here is that I don't know if I'm going to be getting the audio quality I'm looking for at that price. It seems that CIEMs are inherently more expensive than UIEMs, so a 200 dollar UIEM would be 400 in custom. A 600 dollar UIEM, 800 dollars in custom. Therefore if I spend 400 dollars on a CIEM, it's likely that I'll be getting sound quality that's lesser than UIEMs I already have or have heard. I'm not entirely certain that I want to spend 400 + dollars on just the comfort and cool factor. I read a review that said the UE 4 Pro was "80 percent of what the UE reference remastered is" but that seems hard to believe. I'm quite tempted to skip the CIEMs and just get an HD 600 plus an amp. After having wasted quite a bit of money on other mid-fi offerings that I'm not really happy with, I just want the audio journey to end for awhile so I can get back to enjoying the music.
Does anybody have any thoughts on what I can except from entry level CIEMs, including those I listed? If you're going to recommend other ones, note that the maker has to be in the US and my budget is not higher than 400 USD.
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