[HiCZoK]

  Koss KTXPRO1. The only headphone under $100 that impresses me more is the vintage STAX SR-30. I like the KTX a lot more than the Porta Pro, UR40, and SHP9500. It also scales with better DAC/amps.

wow that is interesting to me!
I am a big fan of koss porta pro and ktxpro1 looks soooo bad and cheap. I am super interested to try it now.
Fiio e10k is a good source ?... actually I am thinking is it time to change fiio to some other dac or sound card. But it's bass sounds pretty cool on portapro

 

[Music Alchemist]

  wow that is interesting to me!
I am a big fan of koss porta pro and ktxpro1 looks soooo bad and cheap. I am super interested to try it now.
Fiio e10k is a good source ?... actually I am thinking is it time to change fiio to some other dac or sound card. But it's bass sounds pretty cool on portapro

 
Should be good to start with. I remember liking the KTX on the FiiO E11 Kilimanjaro. Oddly, I don't like it so much from the Schiit Fulla 2 or Fulla, and not even that much from the iFi micro iDSD, yet it blew my mind driven from the Mojo. Synergy is weird.

 

[soundhunger]

Update:
 
I recently went ahead and got some VSonic VSD3s IEM's. My curiosity got the best of me. 
 
Initial impression: I tried the large silicone tips first (it's what I'm used to with my super cheap in-ear headphones) and I was really disappointed. Everything sounded really harsh. Bass was almost not there. The highs hurt my ears and there was a very loud and annoying "shhh" sound with the high notes...
 
BUT...
 
I tried the foam tips that came with, and... wow. Very nice. I could hear the sound better than ever. Bass become more believable, the hisssssing highs mellowed out. The mids were so much more smooth. Night and day difference. Makes my PortaPros (which I still love and will never get rid of) sound bland in comparison. 
 
As noted before, I listen to many genres... Jazz (piano, upright bass, drums, sax, trumpet), Hip Hop, Classic Rock, Indy, Alt Rock, and some classical (I'm a sucker for strings). Everything sounds really good. It's like a whole new listening experience for me. 
 
I don't feel the compression like I feared I would. I've listened for 2-3 hours back to back and I'm not fatigued at all. I have to really concentrate to even know I'm wearing headphones. 
 
Down side... some high notes are still a little too much for me. Perhaps I'm just sensitive to treble. 
 
The fix: I had fun playing with the custom tuning sliders like in the Vox media player. I could bring the highs down enough to where it didn't hurt, and even bring up the bass a little in songs where the bass felt a little muted for my taste. Didn't need to mess with the mids at all. 
 
I still don't find any use for the dac/amp's that I got (Schiit Fulla, Creative Sound Blaster E1). 
 
I'm returning the SHP9500's, the KTXPro1s, and the dac/amps.
 
The PortaPros are staying. The VSD3s is staying for a while. Perhaps I'll even upgrade to the VSD5s and sell (or try to return, if that's even possible) the VSD3s's, if I like the 5s better.
 
Next step for me is playing with different tips. Now that I've experienced the magic of a well fit IEM tip, I need to try different types. 
 
Any suggestions?

 

[HiCZoK]

I understand but IEMs in home are not a good idea. They will damage Your hearing quicker than other type of headphones.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  I understand but IEMs in home are not a good idea. They will damage Your hearing quicker than other type of headphones.

 

Using something with a very low noise floor will mean you will need to crank it up a lot less than, say, an open back headphone that has a cover just so your fingers don't poke the drivers every time you touch them. In other words, you are a lot less dependent on high decibels to have the music go louder than the noise around you.

 

It's like the difference between the kind of sound system you will find in an open air stadium concert with thousands of screaming fans vs a a sound-deadened room in the suburb at 10pm. The first one can register at 100dB+ in some areas of the event, the latter sounds loud at just 82dB from your chair.

 

The only for IEMs to be dangerous at home is if:

 

1. You don't hear your smoke alarm.

 

2. You don't hear cops going, 'OPEN THE DOOR!!!' and you're loudly singing something like 'F tha powlice, F tha powlice, F!'

 

3. You don't hear your wife/mother calling your lazy arse out to help her in the kitchen, and next thing you know, you take a slipper or skillet to the face.

 

[bixby]

Originally Posted by soundhunger /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Next step for me is playing with different tips. Now that I've experienced the magic of a well fit IEM tip, I need to try different types. 
 
Any suggestions?

Glad you found something you like.  I enjoyed the VSD1S for a good while.  A tip I like a lot for fit and sound are the spinfit tips.  But I am not sure you would like because they are silicone and tend to emphasize treble and tighten bass.  So, since you like the foamies, you could try the Comply tips.  They seal outside sounds very well and tame the treble.  Their site shows which ones they have tat should fit the VSonics.  Some have posted that the ones meant for exercise fall apart much faster than the others, so keep that in mind.

 

[soundhunger]

 

 

...

 

The only for IEMs to be dangerous at home is if:

 

1. You don't hear your smoke alarm.

 

2. You don't hear cops going, 'OPEN THE DOOR!!!' and you're loudly singing something like 'F tha powlice, F tha powlice, F!'

 

3. You don't hear your wife/mother calling your lazy arse out to help her in the kitchen, and next thing you know, you take a slipper or skillet to the face.

Thanks for this reply. I was thinking of something to say but you took care of it. And I got a chuckle out of it, too.
 
 

  Glad you found something you like.  I enjoyed the VSD1S for a good while.  A tip I like a lot for fit and sound are the spinfit tips.  But I am not sure you would like because they are silicone and tend to emphasize treble and tighten bass.  So, since you like the foamies, you could try the Comply tips.  They seal outside sounds very well and tame the treble.  Their site shows which ones they have tat should fit the VSonics.  Some have posted that the ones meant for exercise fall apart much faster than the others, so keep that in mind.

Would you say that the Spinfit's are better than stock silicone tips? I'm not opposed to silicone, if I can find one that has better isolation that the cheapo stock ones...
 
I did take a look at Comply... I may just get some. Still need to measure the foam tips that came with the VSD3s so I can figure out what size I am. 
 
I haven't given up looking for other headphones. I'm just excited that this quickly in the journey I've already found a couple little gems that have drastically improved my listening experience. Knowing that there's a whole lot higher to go from here makes me excited. 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Thanks for this reply. I was thinking of something to say but you took care of it. And I got a chuckle out of it, too.

 
I just couldn't understand how IEMs would be dangerous at home. You're more likely to get run over using them to drown out street noise than practically any scenario at home, including the smoke alarm, unless you have a bad sinusitis (ie I can smell if my skillet's ready long before the smoke alarm tells me I forgot I was heating it up).

 

[HiCZoK]

 

 

Using something with a very low noise floor will mean you will need to crank it up a lot less than, say, an open back headphone that has a cover just so your fingers don't poke the drivers every time you touch them. In other words, you are a lot less dependent on high decibels to have the music go louder than the noise around you.

 

It's like the difference between the kind of sound system you will find in an open air stadium concert with thousands of screaming fans vs a a sound-deadened room in the suburb at 10pm. The first one can register at 100dB+ in some areas of the event, the latter sounds loud at just 82dB from your chair.

 

The only for IEMs to be dangerous at home is if:

 

1. You don't hear your smoke alarm.

 

2. You don't hear cops going, 'OPEN THE DOOR!!!' and you're loudly singing something like 'F tha powlice, F tha powlice, F!'

 

3. You don't hear your wife/mother calling your lazy arse out to help her in the kitchen, and next thing you know, you take a slipper or skillet to the face.

I am no expert on this but to me it seems that iems create more pressure in ear canal.
You don't have to listen much louder with on ears to have the same laudness as iems, yet with on ears (open) You let ears breathe and to level PSI.
 
Althouh that is all out of my ass

 

[beemerm635]

Really glad you enjoy the Vsonics!! my successful suggestion has inspired even more confidence for me in that brand, they're fantastic value.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  I am no expert on this but to me it seems that iems create more pressure in ear canal.
You don't have to listen much louder with on ears to have the same laudness as iems, yet with on ears (open) You let ears breathe and to level PSI.
 
Althouh that is all out of my ass

 
Or the 64Ears Adel product blurb. If IEMs were totally dangerous in that manner then it won't matter if you're at home or not. Even then, given the lower noise floor at home than on a subway, you're still listening at a lower volume at home, so even with this taken into account, you are still not pounding away at your eardrums at home as much as you would using this in public.

 

[bixby]

  Would you say that the Spinfit's are better than stock silicone tips?

I never tried Spinfits on my VSD1S but used them on my JVCs and preferred them to the stock silicone.  Fit is just a bit more comfortable than the JVC stock.  Isolation was about the same.  I will take a walk today with Spinfits on my new MA-350s and will update this if there is any change of opinion to mys experience with the JVC.

 

[soundhunger]

As expected, I'm itchin' for the next bump.

The VSonic VSDS3s have really opened my ear-eyes to that next level. I'm finally starting to hear certain quality that I've not heard before, and can differentiate between different audio file types. And silicone vs. foam tips (the ones that came with).

Wondering what the next step up would be... especially for Jazz.

I've eyed the LZ A4's and RHA t10's, wondering if the different filters are worth all the extra cash, and if there's something less expensive to get me better sound for what I'm looking for.

Really glad you enjoy the Vsonics!! my successful suggestion has inspired even more confidence for me in that brand, they're fantastic value.

You mentioned the VSonic GR07's being about as good as the LZ A4's? Are you referring to the GR07 Classic, or one of the other iterations?

 

[beemerm635]

As expected, I'm itchin' for the next bump.

The VSonic VSDS3s have really opened my ear-eyes to that next level. I'm finally starting to hear certain quality that I've not heard before, and can differentiate between different audio file types. And silicone vs. foam tips (the ones that came with).

Wondering what the next step up would be... especially for Jazz.

I've eyed the LZ A4's and RHA t10's, wondering if the different filters are worth all the extra cash, and if there's something less expensive to get me better sound for what I'm looking for.



You mentioned the VSonic GR07's being about as good as the LZ A4's? Are you referring to the GR07 Classic, or one of the other iterations?

No I said that the GR07X is in the same price bracket, I have the LZ A4 and it is honestly unbelievable for the price, for the first time ever I feel no inclination to upgrade anything, this is enough for me. I personally have never heard the new vsonic or the t10's for that matter, but I love my LZ's.
You should also consider the Pinnacle P1, iBasso iT03, Shure se535, Sennheiser ie80, really in the mid-fi market there's just so much to choose from it's best to do A LOT of research before purchasing if you can't audition.
Best of luck!

 

[deadrat6]

I've tried a few cheap ones and I'm just not satisfied so far. Perhaps I'm going about it all wrong.

What I want:

- Something better than $20 Sony's, for casual, comfortable, at home listening. I'm new to the whole quality-sound world, but I find that for years now I've been unsatisfied with poor quality sound. I keep thinking that maybe my ears are sensitive.

- Something that can handle, down the road, high-quality sound--haven't gone very deep into hi-fi/hi-def music just yet, but am wanting to, and assume that having headphones that can handle it will help me in this evolution.

- Don't care much about style, It's just me wearing them, while lounging at home, reading, or watching movies.

- Don't care if it's over/on/in ear, open/semi/closed-back, I just don't like the pressure-chamber sensation.

- Loose/well-fitting: I have a big head, so lots of headphones feel really tight on my ears and I hate feeling like my head's in a vice.

What I've tried recently:

- Ausdom M08: super cheap, and just plain crappy. I've had $5 earbuds that were better quality everything and didn't hurt my head.

- August EP650: these showed me that there's a big difference between $25 and $50 headphones. They were very comfortable, but again... the sound annoyed me and I don't know exactly why.

- Lyx-Pro HAS30: can't remember why I went for these, but they were my first attempt at full sized, corded headphones. I thought, after reading a bit, that they would give me better sound than the bluetooth cans I tried, but these are not only uncomfortable and bulky, but sound blah.

I know these are all cheap options, but I'm determined to find something in the <$100 (closer to $50?) range that at least give me a taste for better sound that doesn't hurt my inner or outer ears.

I'm sure it's just the crap quality cheapness of the cans I've tried so far, but I'm starting to think that maybe I should be looking at open/semi-open back headphones, or even on-ear... something that breathes. Most earbuds and closed-back headphones I've tried make me feel like I'm a hundred leagues under the sea.

What I'm eying:

- Koss PortaPro and UR40: I've read a bunch of reviews about the former that make me think I should give them a try. The UR40's, I'm still hoping to find some feedback on these.

- Philips SHP9500: Just browsing Amazon and saw these... any comparison to similar style/priced sets?

Bottom line:

I want a taste for decent sound, with the ability to start appreciating high-quality music, and under $100 is my challenge. If I can find that, and taste what good sound can be, then I could see investing in something more down the road.

I've been driving an old Kia (metaphorically) and I don't need a new Mercedes, just something like... a newer Corolla.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Go for the 1More Triple Driver, but the bass on them is underwhelming.