[DaMavs]

Given your budget stretches up to $400, I'd look seriously at the ATH-ESW9's. They're closed, portable & sound great plus do well w/o amplification. Only issue MAY be comfort depending on you as they're supra-aural and some folks have trouble wearing them forever.

I find them more comfortable than my Senn 580s, but less than my Sony MDR-V7's.

 

[G-man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TopPop /img/forum/go_quote.gif you for the understand point, but not you for the use complete sentence

lol yea, I was in a hurry, it happens.

 

[TopPop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gautam /img/forum/go_quote.gif lol yea, I was in a hurry, it happens.

It made me laugh, though!

 

[Dutchess of York]

I like my SE530s, but would never reach for them over my other headphones. Depending on my mood, I would probably reach for something like the koss portapro over a highend IEM. If you have the time, Id order a custom like the Livewires, thats what I wish Id done. I never feel like I can casually listen to my IEMs; if they go in, they need to stay there for at least an hour or its just too much of a hassle (with adjustment, fit, seal and whatnot).

 

[Equus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutchess of York /img/forum/go_quote.gif I never feel like I can casually listen to my IEMs; if they go in, they need to stay there for at least an hour or its just too much of a hassle (with adjustment, fit, seal and whatnot).

Agree whole heartedly. I love my UM1's for travel and sometimes when I need to tune out completely, but I ended up also purchasing closed headphones for things like work or at home. Especially at work, it always seems like such a hassle to pull the IEMs out when someone needed to get my attention or tell me something then put them back in again so I could ignore them until something else became an issue. Sure, doesn't take THAT long, but I'm lazy like that.

 

[Nocturnal310]

I guess iPod can power HD280 decently?

 

[jinp6301]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutchess of York /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like my SE530s, but would never reach for them over my other headphones. Depending on my mood, I would probably reach for something like the koss portapro over a highend IEM. If you have the time, Id order a custom like the Livewires, thats what I wish Id done. I never feel like I can casually listen to my IEMs; if they go in, they need to stay there for at least an hour or its just too much of a hassle (with adjustment, fit, seal and whatnot).

x2

I definitely prefer my PX-100 over every IEM I've ever tried

 

[FaRKle]

Quote:

If you have the time, Id order a custom like the Livewires, thats what I wish Id done. I never feel like I can casually listen to my IEMs; if they go in, they need to stay there for at least an hour or its just too much of a hassle (with adjustment, fit, seal and whatnot).

X3 haha. I love my Livewires. I can pop'em in and out in less than .5 seconds.

 

[jmht]

I personally would go for the E530s, but there's a couple of precautions......the Shures are extremely sensitive and so you have to be careful with what you plug in. If I plug my Shures into my XPS1210 laptop, I get a ton of hissing and I can hear it whenever my CDROM starts up etc etc etc. It's not as bad from my desktop, but the artifacts and hissing is still there.

If you're going to be primarily using a portable device of some sort (ie ipod or something similar), you're golden.

If the laptop thing bothers you, you might want to avoid the IEMs.

 

[FallenAngel]

Another vote for Denon D2000. I wear mine at work for 6+ hours a day (I can't listen the entire time

), they're very comfy, sound great and have good isolation. Grados and higher-end AKG are a definite not, former for isolation, latter for requiring an amp.

 

[jmht]

One thing about the Denon D2000 though...I have the D5000, so I'll assume they're designed in a similar sense. The way it's done, the cups are swiveling and pivot off 1 screw and the overall build quality feels shaky at best.......it's safe to say that I'd never hold those cans with 1 hand.

Now, while this is perfectly fine for most people, I was NOT very disciplined at being careful when I was in college....more often than not, I'd toss things all over and things would get smashed here and there.

So with that said, I'd have some concerns about the Denons because of that. (They do sound pretty nice though)

 

[p_hp_fan]

Hey, I've been taking some advice and have looked into some custom IEM's. What would be the best value considering I'm not a giant audiophile but just want something solid that can run well UNAMPed?

Right now I'm looking at around $250 so:
- FreQ of Nature
- Super Freq
- Tour de Freq
- Livewires

Any more recommendations?

Thanks.