[Mochan]

I would personally say the best choices for you are the Metro.Fi 170 (very affordable too, you won't get buyer's remorse here) or the Monster Turbines vanilla.

** BTW the edit button doesn't seem to work for me today, is anyone having trouble saving their edited posts?

 

[Mochan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdotfire /img/forum/go_quote.gif vrananswer, so would go with the SE530's over the Westone 3's or TBP golds? With the right seal which is going to be the best bass monster, I want to feel like I have a sub in my head while not completely drowning out the highs. Also, do you know how the Klipsch S4's compare to the image X10's? I called Klipsch and they claimed the X10 were unreal with bass and they have all the iPhone features. But I talked to Shure and was really interested in the SE530 but am wondering if I should wait for the SE535 to come out if there are any substantial upgrades since these phones were originally made in 08 and they will probably be a drastic price drop for the 530s. But not having to invest money into an amp would be nice, along with not making my iPhone any bulkier. I think that these may be a very viable option, once I know how they compare to the W3's, TBP's, and the IE8's I should be good to go. So right now its still between Turbines or TBP golds, SE530 (or wait for newer model), IE8, Westone 3, or the X10's. But Klipsch is obviously going to say they have the best product so I am kind of suspicious of how good they will actually sound and they are just soo small. God I wish I just bought a pair right away, the more research I do the more options I have. I will probably go with either the IE8, TBP gold, SE530, and possibly I'll sack up and buy the expensive W3's if they are really worth it. But the others are still not out of the question.

The X10s sound magnificent, don't let their small size fool you. They really sound good and the bass goes down deep and is very warm. I love it. But for more visceral impact the MF170 slightly edges it out, as does the Turbines.

 

[souperman]

I have the Ultimate Ears MetroFi 200's up for sale. I think they have just the bass you want and won't break the bank. You can always start with that and then work your way up. I personally don't think the Monster Turbine Pros will satisfy you with the bass you are describing.

I really think you should start low and work your way up to see what you want first before going all out.

 

[lucozade]

Hey lucozade, So now you got me really interested in the Westone 3, how do they differ from the UM3X. I noticed that they have a mic option for the iPhone but I can't find them for under $300 I really want to spend under $200 but will spend the extra money if I have to. I've heard on this forum that some websites will hook up head-fi members (the site may have been earphonesolutions.com not sure?). The 3's have three seperate BA drivers and I read that they don't interact with an amp as well as Dynamic drivers do. So for DEEP thumping bass (I want it to sound like the Beats by Dre Studio or a sub in my head) the 3's are my best bet without an amp? (or are the UM3X?)

I read a lot of reviews on the IE8 and it seems like they have thumping bass out of the box but various reviewers referred to them as having a "burn-out" feature as opposed to the supposed burn-in. I really want thumping bass and am wondering what would give me the the deepest and lowest frequency bass when using an amp (I'm under the assumption now that the Westone 3's or Hippo VB will have the best bass without an amp). Will it be the IE8's or the bigger driver VB's or the Shure SE530 or even the TBP gold. Both the Shure and Monster's should be capable of overcoming thier mid-bass hump with an amp and EQing I would hope.

Any suggestions on a good preferably affordable amp? One that would fit very well with my iPhone 3G-S? Do portable amps have EQ setting to play around with


I don't know of any portable amps that have eq settings but several amps like the ibassio p3+ which i use have rollable opamps and buffers,which are little circut boards which provide the amplication, there are ones for bass, midrange ,treble ,soundstage etc.The p3+ has 4 channel arcitecture so you can use various combinations of opamps to get a sound your happy with.By the way its not true that ba drivers dont work well with amps, i use my amp all the time with all my iems

.

The se530 bass does not go down to the lower frequencys,it has plenty of mid and upper bass though if you fit it your ears correctly.

The ie8 has the widest bass frequency ,although it is not the best quality bass or the most detailed and like i said its mid bass hump does colour the vocals,but this can be removed with eq or the right combination of opamps in a portable amp,it just depends how much you value accruate vocals in your music

and the ie8 are the warmest iem i have,and yes the bass does lessen with burn in.To me the ie8s bass sounds like a double bass while most other iems sound like electric bass guitar

Ive not heard the umx3 but from what ive read it has the best locational ques of eny iem but a small intimate soundstage and a bit boring detached sound.

Have you considered the ie7, this has the same type of bass as the ie8 but without the over emphized mid bass and colouring of the vocals ,the treble is not as good as on the ie8 but its not bad either and the midrange is more forward then the ie8 ,also the soundstage is a little smaller but its still one of the biggest of eny iem

 

[sdotfire]

Souperman, you have the Hippo VB's correct? How does the Metro.Fi bass compare? UE claims their Super.fi 5 eb will better suite my needs but I have a feeling they will produce a muddy bass quality. How much for ur Metro's, send me a PM if you don't want to post it.

Lucozade, I'm gonna give Senn. a call and see what they think. Do the IE7's have an adjustable bass knob too? I guess I will have to give it some more research before I decide. Let me know if you want to sell yours too =)...

What are these Turbine Vanillas?! Never heard of them and I've literally called Monster at least 15 times and most of them are all dumfounded with little knowledge on their own products. I have the Beats by Dre Studio team leaders direct line and now and I bug the hell out of them, how do you think I got the Studio's for $200 with no employee discount directly from Monster with a free 3 year warrant extension? But as far as the "Beats by Dre" line goes everything sucks (aside from the Studios IMO). All of their IEM's have a single 9mm dynamic driver. I had a set of SkullCandy's FMJ because they have an 11mm driver but they were absolute ****. Geez, the more research I do the more confused I am as to what to settle on. As you all know I want the Studio's IEM brother, with that being said I'm mainly going to use these for golf (which I do nearly everyday and big headphones may help me keep my head still on the driving range but I need some IEM for the course).

So my options now seem to be IE7/8, W 3, Metro.Fi, X10i, some type of Turbines, or possibly wait for the "Diddy Beats" which will probably suck donkey balls. I originally wanted to get the X10i's but I can't find them for under $300, anyone have a pair they would let go for more around $200? So out of everything it seems the best bang for your buck would definetely be the Hippo VB, so maybe I should just start of their.

I get paid Friday so I will make a decision this weekend, God willing....but anyways, the consensus I'm getting from this forum is that as you go higher up the IEM spectrum in price, the bass becomes more neutral or flat. But are these higher end IEM's going to respond better to an amp because they are built of higher quality? Like comparing the IE8 to the VB or the low-end Turbine when connected to an amp.

While I still feel confused I think I'm getting on the right track, there is no place that let's you try out IEM's in Minnesota. So I guess I'm gonna buy two pairs (IE8/7 and the VB's prob) and return whichever I don't like....I'll do some mOre research and with all your help (which has been a lot), hopefully I can settle on the perfect pair for me. Which would be like a 12" W7 subwoofer by each ear along with some high-end speakers. (basically my car, I've spoiled myself with my system which makes me extremely picky).

 

[dfrost]

This thread has a pretty complete list of IEM's that have iPhone compatibility. The OP hasn't added the Monsters with ControlTalk to his list (yet).

 

[sdotfire]

OK I called Westone and he really sold me on them, and earphonesolutions.com has an exclusive mic option. So I think I'm going to give them a shot, it seems like they will have great bass out of the box without an amp, maybe not as good as the VB's. However, they will have a much much better high/mid-end sound. Westone also claims that they respond really well to portable amps (can anyone please confirm this and recommend one for these phones?). Does anyone know if I will be able to reach the extreme low-end bass I want with an amp, or from previous posts it seems like I may not even need one.

So, WTB Westone 3's with the iPhone mic (should I start a new thread for this? Remember this is my first thread on ANY forum so i'm still new to the game).

 

[FRGus723]

I have a near brand new pair of Shure SE530PTH that maybe have 25-30 hours on them and am willing to sell them cheap (under $200 for sure) as I am receiving my JH16's tomorrow. PM me if interested. I have the box and all the accessories that came with them.

The Push To Talk piece is a mic that you can press and hear people talking to you without having to take them out.

Also Sensaphonics makes a custom shell for them so they will essentially be custom in ears rather than universals.

 

[ZARIM]

The bass will improve more(deep,tight)with AMPs help and i will recoomed these AMPs like XM5, RSA Predator and iBasso D4 Mamba. But cables are most important too and Cryo provide best bass response and i will recommend 18AWG cryo because it's higher end like ALO 18AWG CXS dock, ALO 18AWG Jumbo Cryo dock, ALO new 18AWG Cryo dock. BTW IE8 improve further will AMPs and i think it's your best bet, it can be use without AMPs and they sound loud, clear and bassy(club like experience).

 

[Hentai11]

You're a hip-hop head, and all about the boom. Given that and what I've heard, I would suggest: @$100, sf5EB. @$200(?), MTPG--I'm guessing on the street price, it's moving around. @$250, IE8

I'm thinking just boomworthiness; in an audiophile mood, the IE8 is okay, the MTPG is almost okay, and the 5EB are straight crap.

And ditch the Shures. Solid phones, yes. Boomworthy? No.

P.S.: IMO, the Hippo VB have a bit of FOTM smell about them. They could be good, and I'll get them just because they sound like fairly decent bass phones. But I wouldn't believe the hype until people put then down. hear something else, then pick them back up.

 

[lucozade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdotfire /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK I called Westone and he really sold me on them, and earphonesolutions.com has an exclusive mic option. So I think I'm going to give them a shot, it seems like they will have great bass out of the box without an amp, maybe not as good as the VB's. However, they will have a much much better high/mid-end sound. Westone also claims that they respond really well to portable amps (can anyone please confirm this and recommend one for these phones?). Does anyone know if I will be able to reach the extreme low-end bass I want with an amp, or from previous posts it seems like I may not even need one. So, WTB Westone 3's with the iPhone mic (should I start a new thread for this? Remember this is my first thread on ANY forum so i'm still new to the game).

HI SDOTFIRE, first off,no the ie7 does not have the bass nobb like the ie8

second yes the westone 3 works well with an amp but does not really need one ,it goes plenty loud enough out of the headphone jack of my 7gen ipod classic ,i use the p3+ heron with the westone 3 for two reasons , first the rollable opamps allow me to tame the treble and remove the sibilance(some people hear alot of sibilance with the w3 and other people dont hear eny) and secondly to tame the bass which i find too over powering unamped.

I dont know what the monster vanillias are that you mention

The se530 is a great phone but i dont think it will have the sub bass impact your looking for.

 

[timmyGCSE]

SF5 eb...oh god don't do it, yea it has bass, more than I've heard from anything ever full stop, but it is skull crushing bass and nothing else.

What ever happened to people recommending the Atrio M5/M8 as bass killers? massive thumping hard hitting bass but at the same time layered and textured..

 

[dweaver]

IE8 have big booming bass but alot of it is mid-bass, they have good mids that get better with time, and decent treble that again gets better with time. MTP Gold has big bass that is only present when in the music and did not seem to me to have the mid-bass hump I have iwth my IE8, they have better mids out of the box as well as treble. The IE8 have the biggest sound stage but the MTP Gold have a decent sound stage as well that is just aboyt perfect for rock in my opinion. The IE8 are a bit easier to drive (lower volume). Both take good advantage of an amp.

I listen to a very wide range of music so am starting to appreciate my IE8 more as they continue to break in along with my recently purchased Sansa Fuze 2G which seems to have breathed new life into them for me. If I was just listening almost exclusively to rock and rock based genre's I think the MTP GOld might be a better fit.

 

[FRGus723]

"The se530 is a great phone but i dont think it will have the sub bass impact your looking for"

While I would agree as a universal, with the custom sleeve over the SE530's the bass is more than adequate for a basshead due to isolation.

 

[lucozade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dweaver /img/forum/go_quote.gif IE8 have big booming bass but alot of it is mid-bass, they have good mids that get better with time, and decent treble that again gets better with time. MTP Gold has big bass that is only present when in the music and did not seem to me to have the mid-bass hump I have iwth my IE8, they have better mids out of the box as well as treble. The IE8 have the biggest sound stage but the MTP Gold have a decent sound stage as well that is just aboyt perfect for rock in my opinion. The IE8 are a bit easier to drive (lower volume). Both take good advantage of an amp. I listen to a very wide range of music so am starting to appreciate my IE8 more as they continue to break in along with my recently purchased Sansa Fuze 2G which seems to have breathed new life into them for me. If I was just listening almost exclusively to rock and rock based genre's I think the MTP GOld might be a better fit.

i agree that the mtpg does not have the midd base hump like the ie8,and i also agree that both ie8 and the mtpg/c make good use off an amp, the turbos need one to reach a decent volume and where as the ie8 does not need the extra volume it benifits from amping by feeding them the power they need to make there sound come alive ,and with the right set of opamps in the amp you can reduce the mid bass hump.