Just auditioned three very different earphones, the momentum in ear, the Sphear, and the m4u 4 at the headphone bar during the weekend. My goal was to get one that's relatively balanced and natural sounding. For example, the other two earphones I currently have are either, for me, too V shaped (JVC FRD-60) or too mid centric (Aurisonic Rockets). It would also be nice if it sounds not too different from the OPPO PM3.
The momentum was nice but to me it is like a better and more refined FRD-60. The m4u 4 was very clean sounding overall with clear high and bass, but vocals, while again clear and distortion free,somehow sounded a bit cooler than I am used to.
By now you might have already figured out that I came out with the Sphear. The bass is slightly lifted but not over done. The vocals have the warmth that I am used to on the PM3 while not lacking bite. The treble is not as clear sounding as the m4u 4 but still quite present and natural sounding. Its major shortcoming is the relatively weak sound isolation, but this might have contributed to the spaciousness that I hear.
The ability to audition them together in one place greatly helped my purchase. If you are in Vancouver, the headphone bar is definitely worth checking out.
At this moment (honeymoon period so I am biased
), I would say that except for the lack of isolation, the Sphear is the most satisfying in-ear phone that I've owned so far (klipsh s2m, phonak audeo pfe122, thinksound ts02, Jvc frd60, klipsh x7i, Aurisonic rockets, focal Sphear).