[zlobby]

I am looking for a portable that has a flat response and good isolation.  I am used to my hd600s and dt880s, but i dont want to use those in public.  I listen to a wide variety of music, anything from jazz, electro, rock, r&b etc...  I have to take the subway to work every morning and dont want to be competing with the ambient noise and have to turn up my music too loud as a result.  Something that doesnt require an amplifier would be preferred.  My price range is $150ish. 

 

[zlobby]

bump. Anyone?

 

[kanuka]

for that price you can get a etymotic hf. best isolation, definetly for subway use

 

[meyameya]

Sorry to purposely go out of your budget but I have to recommend the Westone UM3X. 

Isolation - check
No amp - check
 
The genres you mentioned would go well with them as well. From my time spent lurking here in head-fi, I've learned that spending big in a high-end piece of gear is almost always better than slowly upgrading.

 

[FullCircle]

The UM3X uses the CI Driver for bass, I don't think the curve would be very flat.
 
I vote for the ER4P if u can find one on the cheap.
 
 
 

 

[ZARIM]

HF5, DBA-02, SA6, RE0, ER4P, RE262, GR8 and RE_ZERO.

 

[meyameya]

Yup I find the bass in the UM3X a bit more than normal but it's so nicely controlled that it doesn't bleed in to the mids. I think they really hit the absolute peak of the bass where just a little bit more and it would be considered a basshead IEM. But you've got to appreciate all that detail it brings
 
As for the RE0s, they are good but lack bass. Honestly, when I was using the RE0s, I found the bass to be just right but when I switched to the UM3X I realized how much fun the bass can bring to some songs the isolation of the RE0s are pretty good too but I don't recommend the RE0s too much because of my bad experience with them. The cables easily break. Hence the change to the UM3X that has replaceable cables =p

 

[kanuka]

Quote:

Yup I find the bass in the UM3X a bit more than normal but it's so nicely controlled that it doesn't bleed in to the mids. I think they really hit the absolute peak of the bass where just a little bit more and it would be considered a basshead IEM. But you've got to appreciate all that detail it brings
 
As for the RE0s, they are good but lack bass. Honestly, when I was using the RE0s, I found the bass to be just right but when I switched to the UM3X I realized how much fun the bass can bring to some songs the isolation of the RE0s are pretty good too but I don't recommend the RE0s too much because of my bad experience with them. The cables easily break. Hence the change to the UM3X that has replaceable cables =p

x2. mine , the housing split in 2 . a common issue with the RE0, though
 

 

[meyameya]

I can live with the lack of bass because the detail of the 0s are incredible.. but i can't live with that build quality *sigh* 
 
RE0s with replaceable cable and better build quality, even if it means raising the price, is something i'd definitely go for. 
 
back to the thread though, I don't want to recommend any other IEMs i haven't personally owned but if you'd consider going over the budget you mentioned, I seriously recommend the UM3X

 

[FullCircle]

I have to chime in again.  I have a 3 driver CIEM that I designed, with a CI and a TWFK, which I think is essentially the same speaker combination as the UM3X.  I placed a 10ohm resisitor on the CI and that made the response curve essentially flat. just a hair more bass than the ER4P, with a very flat response out to about 4K, then a nice peak around the 5K+ region
 
The ER4P is very flat until around 1.5K it starts to climb and peaks around 5-6K region.
 
In other words, the CI + TWFK design very well could be a flat design pending on how the caps and resisitors are set...