[alphaman]

As far has better IEMs, I own IE8s (as well as Shure 530s). The IE8 is pretty much a hands-down winner between the two. The IE8s are about 2.5 yrs old now so methinks newer designs may be better. I'm thinking about Earsonics SM3 v2 (have no experience with Earsonics, but they do seem to have quite a reputation) and/or HiFiman RE262. Any IE8 user do a direct compare/contrast with RE262?
(P.S. The answer to this query may lie in this forums dense archives, so while I contine my search, any links are appreciated).
 
Thanks!
 

 

[DaBomb77766]

While I haven't personally tried either of them, based on what I've read, it's hard to compare the two since they're fairly different.  Still, |joker| has reviewed both of them so he might have your answer.  I'd recommend checking out their respective entries in his thread for now:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/478568/multi-iem-review-167-iems-compared-xears-res
 
Also, just because something's newer it doesn't necessarily mean it's better.  A lot of great designs have been around for years.