omvr
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2014
- Posts
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- 0
Hello everyone, before I ask for recommendations, let me give a bit of a back story:
I've been lurking on these threads for a while now, especially |joker|'s posts, looking at his reviews of his vast amount of IEMs. Now, I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile, but I do love music. I love listening to the tiny details in songs. Ever since I was young, I was always picking about the music quality I wanted to listen to, but never had the money to buy my own equipment that would give me the desired quality I was looking for. I used to purchase lower end IEMs, probably those you could pick up at a Walmart or Best Buy for ~$10-15. I also used to listen to very low quality music. 96 kbps mp3s and the such. Granted, I didn't know any of these terms, as I was 10 and my knowledge on sound terminology was very minimal. I got older and by the time I was 14, I became irritated that music off of YouTube always sounded better than the music I used to download, I turned to the internet and started looking at headphones that would improve the quality of the music I listened to.
I think my very first pair of quality IEMs was the Klipsch S4i's. They made my music sound heavenly. I could hear sounds I had never heard before. But still, my music didn't sound "good." I started doing a bit more research and found that if the quality of my music wasn't of a high enough bitrate, that no matter the headphones, I would never be able to fully enjoy my music. So, being 14 and having quite a bit of money from saving my allowance money, I started buying CDs. I also started buying music off of the iTunes Store, which sounded infinitely better than any of the music I used to have. So, I started investing a lot of my money into music, buying CDs and iTunes music whenever I got some money so I could rebuild my entire music library with good quality music. Eventually, my Klipsch S4i's finally broke and I had to resort to my $10 Sony earbuds that sounded mediocre to my S4i's. Eventually, I decided to make an investment and bought a pair of V-MODA Crossfade LPs. They sounded amazing, I loved the bass, but the clarity of the musician's voice was always kind of lacking. Not only that but they also felt uncomfortable for long listening sessions. Eventually, after about a year or so, these also broke down (due to water damage, whoops). I then took it upon myself to only buy IEMs.
Fast forward to July of this year and I bought some Sennheiser CX 300 IIs. I still have them today and their sound is phenomenal. The highs sound good, lows are punch, and mids are meh at least, to me. I got an iPhone a few weeks ago and started using the Earpods to compare them to the 300 IIs. They sounded dull in comparison. They didn't sound nearly as good. Anyways, I lost my Earpods on a trip to Indianapolis and didn't have my 300 IIs with me and I didn't want to get on the plane back home without music. Also, as I stated earlier, I was only buying IEMs. So at the airport, I went to an electronics store and purchased a pair of headphones. urBeats In-Ear Headphones. Big mistake. Beats has a new policy where I have to return the headphones to them directly but I was too lazy to go through the hassle of having to call customer service and being put on hold and all that nonsense. So now I'm stuck with a not too great IEM and I'm out of $100.
So now, my music collection is still growing. I'm still buying CDs, ripping them to FLAC and ALAC and still buying off of iTunes. I now want to try and invent in a pair of IEMs and over the ear headphones that I will use for years to come.
So here is where I ask for your help...
I listen to everything. Rap, Rock, Hip-Hop, Metal, Pop, Alternative, Synth, Acoustic, Dubstep, Electronic, etc etc. Some classical every now and then, but not too much. I like to listen to my music at home, alone in my room, but I would also like to travel with them outside at around 50-65% on my iPhone. Sound leakage to me isn't a big deal, as I said, I won't be listening to them at such an insane volume.
I'm thinking for the IEMs, I might get another pair of CX 300 II's as I loved the first pair I had, but now they are done for because of water damage (water and I just don't mix). As for the over ear pair, I was looking at the HD 598s. Some people say they would sound slow for Electronic and Dubstep music, but exactly how slow? I really love their design and as I've seen from the reviews here, they are adored by everyone and their soundstage seems to be phenomenal. I was also looking at the Fidelio X1's but I haven't done too much research on them.
So, what do you guys recommend? For the IEMs, I'm not looking to spend more than $100 and I am really really leaning towards the CX 300 II's, unless you guys could recommend a pair that has the same sound signature, but with better detail, I guess? If you guys could recommend a better pair than the CX 300 II's, please do! As far as the over ear pair goes, I, again, am leaning towards the HD 598s, but if you could recommend a pair that is better suited for the music I listen to, that would also be great! Anyways, sorry for such the long post, but I felt that maybe it was necessary.
Thanks for everything in advance!
- Omar
I've been lurking on these threads for a while now, especially |joker|'s posts, looking at his reviews of his vast amount of IEMs. Now, I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile, but I do love music. I love listening to the tiny details in songs. Ever since I was young, I was always picking about the music quality I wanted to listen to, but never had the money to buy my own equipment that would give me the desired quality I was looking for. I used to purchase lower end IEMs, probably those you could pick up at a Walmart or Best Buy for ~$10-15. I also used to listen to very low quality music. 96 kbps mp3s and the such. Granted, I didn't know any of these terms, as I was 10 and my knowledge on sound terminology was very minimal. I got older and by the time I was 14, I became irritated that music off of YouTube always sounded better than the music I used to download, I turned to the internet and started looking at headphones that would improve the quality of the music I listened to.
I think my very first pair of quality IEMs was the Klipsch S4i's. They made my music sound heavenly. I could hear sounds I had never heard before. But still, my music didn't sound "good." I started doing a bit more research and found that if the quality of my music wasn't of a high enough bitrate, that no matter the headphones, I would never be able to fully enjoy my music. So, being 14 and having quite a bit of money from saving my allowance money, I started buying CDs. I also started buying music off of the iTunes Store, which sounded infinitely better than any of the music I used to have. So, I started investing a lot of my money into music, buying CDs and iTunes music whenever I got some money so I could rebuild my entire music library with good quality music. Eventually, my Klipsch S4i's finally broke and I had to resort to my $10 Sony earbuds that sounded mediocre to my S4i's. Eventually, I decided to make an investment and bought a pair of V-MODA Crossfade LPs. They sounded amazing, I loved the bass, but the clarity of the musician's voice was always kind of lacking. Not only that but they also felt uncomfortable for long listening sessions. Eventually, after about a year or so, these also broke down (due to water damage, whoops). I then took it upon myself to only buy IEMs.
Fast forward to July of this year and I bought some Sennheiser CX 300 IIs. I still have them today and their sound is phenomenal. The highs sound good, lows are punch, and mids are meh at least, to me. I got an iPhone a few weeks ago and started using the Earpods to compare them to the 300 IIs. They sounded dull in comparison. They didn't sound nearly as good. Anyways, I lost my Earpods on a trip to Indianapolis and didn't have my 300 IIs with me and I didn't want to get on the plane back home without music. Also, as I stated earlier, I was only buying IEMs. So at the airport, I went to an electronics store and purchased a pair of headphones. urBeats In-Ear Headphones. Big mistake. Beats has a new policy where I have to return the headphones to them directly but I was too lazy to go through the hassle of having to call customer service and being put on hold and all that nonsense. So now I'm stuck with a not too great IEM and I'm out of $100.
So now, my music collection is still growing. I'm still buying CDs, ripping them to FLAC and ALAC and still buying off of iTunes. I now want to try and invent in a pair of IEMs and over the ear headphones that I will use for years to come.
So here is where I ask for your help...
I listen to everything. Rap, Rock, Hip-Hop, Metal, Pop, Alternative, Synth, Acoustic, Dubstep, Electronic, etc etc. Some classical every now and then, but not too much. I like to listen to my music at home, alone in my room, but I would also like to travel with them outside at around 50-65% on my iPhone. Sound leakage to me isn't a big deal, as I said, I won't be listening to them at such an insane volume.
I'm thinking for the IEMs, I might get another pair of CX 300 II's as I loved the first pair I had, but now they are done for because of water damage (water and I just don't mix). As for the over ear pair, I was looking at the HD 598s. Some people say they would sound slow for Electronic and Dubstep music, but exactly how slow? I really love their design and as I've seen from the reviews here, they are adored by everyone and their soundstage seems to be phenomenal. I was also looking at the Fidelio X1's but I haven't done too much research on them.
So, what do you guys recommend? For the IEMs, I'm not looking to spend more than $100 and I am really really leaning towards the CX 300 II's, unless you guys could recommend a pair that has the same sound signature, but with better detail, I guess? If you guys could recommend a better pair than the CX 300 II's, please do! As far as the over ear pair goes, I, again, am leaning towards the HD 598s, but if you could recommend a pair that is better suited for the music I listen to, that would also be great! Anyways, sorry for such the long post, but I felt that maybe it was necessary.
Thanks for everything in advance!
- Omar
