[justcurious]

I need some advice on which IEMs should I purchase..It would actually be my first IEM purchase btw. At the moment, I wouldn't say that I'm low on budget. I'm willing to dive into the world of high-end IEMs. So far, I've searched high and low and found a few that I liked. 
 
1) Shure SE425
2) Westone UM2 (old?)
3) Phonak Audeo PFE 132
4) Ortofon e-Q5 (not a fan of the design, but I heard from some supremus that it sounds awesome)
5) Anymore similarly priced suggestions? But I prefer the previous 4 though...
 
FYI, I have jazz, acoustics, covers, and lots and lots of instrumentals in my playlist... And a whole collection of Deadmau5.. I was told that these IEMs do not need portable amplifiers? Is that true? I'm looking for balance and accurate sounds, but without compromising fun as well.. Hope you guys can help me pick one of these four IEMs, and quickly.. Thanks!!

 

[FlatNine]

Quote:

I need some advice on which IEMs should I purchase..It would actually be my first IEM purchase btw. At the moment, I wouldn't say that I'm low on budget. I'm willing to dive into the world of high-end IEMs. So far, I've searched high and low and found a few that I liked. 
 
1) Shure SE425
2) Westone UM2 (old?)
3) Phonak Audeo PFE 132
4) Ortofon e-Q5 (not a fan of the design, but I heard from some supremus that it sounds awesome)
5) Anymore similarly priced suggestions? But I prefer the previous 4 though...
 
FYI, I have jazz, acoustics, covers, and lots and lots of instrumentals in my playlist... And a whole collection of Deadmau5.. I was told that these IEMs do not need portable amplifiers? Is that true? I'm looking for balance and accurate sounds, but without compromising fun as well.. Hope you guys can help me pick one of these four IEMs, and quickly.. Thanks!!

 
 
I've had a few IEM's, including the Westone 4R's, TF10's, Etymotic ER-4P's, and more. The Westone's were perfectly balanced, smooth and accurate, and to me, kind of boring. My favorites for the past 9 months or so have been my Klipsch X10i's. But then I tried my friends Shure SE535's. Wow! (using my Cowon C2) For jazz, these things were just great. Smooth, warm, and FUN. Do yourself a favor and at least give them a listen, if that is possible.

 

[Deadlovestory]

First of all, I highly suggest going to a proper brick-and-mortar earphone/headphone store that carry demo units in-store. Listen to some demo IEMs and see for yourself which one fits your taste best, since only you can tell what sounds good for you; it's your ears and brain after all. Head-fiers like me can only give you the general idea of what might be good for you, we can't tell which one sounds best for you. In the end it's still your call.
 
Secondly, no, generally those IEMs won't need amp, but amp could unleash the full potential of an IEM. I'm not saying all amps can (in fact some amps will only make things worse); amp matching is a really complex and subjective matter. A decent portable player is usually good enough to drive most IEMs.
 
Lastly, and most importantly, make sure your music collection consists of good quality stuff; 90% of what you're hearing comes from the music files; equipments are only 10% of the equation. Even a state-of-the-art flagship IEM will sound like crap if the quality of your music files are less-that-decent.
 
Hope this helps and cheers! *_*