[Ringmaster]

I've had the HiFiMan RE-400 IEM's for about 6th months now, but I've had to cycle through three different pairs because one of the left or right channels would go out. I took very good care of them, and after my third pair broke, I decided that it would be best to just get some IEM's with better build quality (although the RE-400's sounded really good, don't get me wrong). 
 
I like to listen to extreme metal music like Nile, Meshuggah, Wintersun, Suffocation etc. What would be a reliable IEM that would be around the $200 range? How are the Vsonic GR07's for extreme metal?

 

[TwinQY]

The GR07s are outstandingly nice for metal - but might not be to others. What I mean is that, the bass has oodles of texture, hits nice without being too excessive, the presentation is up-front-ish and presented in a way that really fits nicely with stage music. But the upper-mid/treble connect might be a bit too crisp for some tracks - personally I can stand it but it really would vary from person to person. The build is a lot more rugged than the RE-400s - more with regards to the body, but the cable is a tad bit more reassuring as well (guessing that might be the reason why the channels keep cutting off - unless there's a channel problem with the RE-400 I'm not aware of). 
 
If you're stuck around the $200 mark and really want that holistic all-rounder presentation that manages to be balanced in the best way - you're in tough luck, might want to experiment with some different sound sigs, because the RE-400 truly is exceptional. Are you open to different sound sigs?