llcawthorne
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2012
- Posts
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- 10
Hi all! Been a member for a while, but this is probably my first post. My wife gave me $500 to spend on whatever, and I was thinking a new pair of IEM's. I'm leaning towards Sennheiser ie80's, but thought it wouldn't hurt to explain my background, listening preferences, hopes here to get advice.
I used to love my Sennheiser HD 280 pro's, but they're hot in South Carolina. I was quite happy with klipsch s4's after that. Then I got a pair of the mid range single ba ety's with the iphone mic (hf3?) and loved them for a while. I have a hard time going back to them much now that I listen mostly on my M-100's, cause the bass feels lacking by comparison switching back and forth. But it's getting hot, so I want some new in ears for when I am out and about.
I like detail, but I never have been able to tell the difference between flac and the 320 Kbps mp3's I normally carry around from any source with any headphone/amp I've tried. My main sources are my iPhone 5, ipad, and my macbook retina. My ears aren't sensitive enough get much out of a V-Moda Vamp other than the noticeable bass bump, so I returned it a while back. I still have an E17, but seldom consider it worth carrying around. Same for my iPod Classic. Even my almost 40 year old ears with subpar sources manage to hear things with my ety's and m-100's that just weren't in those mp3's with anything I had before though, so I consider good IEM's a worthwhile investment.
So mainly I want solid sound in a portable package that I can drive well unamped from an iPhone 5 and MacBook Pro , and that want feel overly shy of bass compared to V-moda M-100's. I listen to a lot of Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle, Korn, and Disturbed. Some Ellie Goulding, Lindsey Sterling, Metric, Regina Spektor. A decent bit of Tori Amos and The Cure. Soundtracks and instrumental - vitamin string and piano guys, plus some anime tunes when programming. And some musicals... Mostly Doctor Horrible, Les Mis, and Wicked. Ocassionaly a little Eminem and even ICP. Varying by mood, I don't tend to cross mix those groups... I watch movies and shows (Game of a Thrones) fairly regularly at night on the ipad
I value long term comfort, and will probably use comply tips unless I order customs like I had for my ety's since my molds are probably on file still... I like isolation enough to drown out conversations in the same computer lab, but have no bus/subway/train commute and generally find it a plus to hear if a car is honking at me while walking cross campus. I prefer to not leak so much as to bother my wife in bed and as an extra plus would love it if the things were comfortable enough and durable enough that it was no big for me to fall asleep in them without getting rudely woken up if I rolled over on to my side, but I am pretty used to taking out my ety's pre-snooze, do that isn't a deal breaker. I value clarity and clean vocals (often female) over bass, but I like some punch, but need something that responds well to rather fast music also. I don't mind a different feel from the M-100's, but I want something not too cold as while I enjoy noticing new details in music, I am generally listening off fun. Finally, I prefer something with a mic for the phone and controls, at least as an add-on option... It looks like the ie80 can use ie8 compatible mic'd cables. (?)
Do Ie80's sound like a good idea? Can I sleep with some side turning in ie80's? Would I get enough bass and lively sound with faster response from a 4ba like the W4? Or maybe ue 900's or something else? Did I write too much so no one read this far!?
I'ld rather provide too much info than too little, but sometime can be extreme. I've put together partial answers from a lot of separate reading other folks threads, but kind of hoped for some advice addressing my large set of concerns. My $500 budget from the wife is pretty generous and very firm. She'ld scrap the whole idea before offering me even more money. I basically had to trade her offer of "getting a next gen gaming system" (that lacks any good games, applies to both out now) for "getting some IEM's I'ld use every day that would cost roughly the same". She is rather unenthused by my new habit of purchasing audio gear though, so I'ld like something that fits my needs pretty well and won't be replaced anytime soon.
Advice appreciated!
I used to love my Sennheiser HD 280 pro's, but they're hot in South Carolina. I was quite happy with klipsch s4's after that. Then I got a pair of the mid range single ba ety's with the iphone mic (hf3?) and loved them for a while. I have a hard time going back to them much now that I listen mostly on my M-100's, cause the bass feels lacking by comparison switching back and forth. But it's getting hot, so I want some new in ears for when I am out and about.
I like detail, but I never have been able to tell the difference between flac and the 320 Kbps mp3's I normally carry around from any source with any headphone/amp I've tried. My main sources are my iPhone 5, ipad, and my macbook retina. My ears aren't sensitive enough get much out of a V-Moda Vamp other than the noticeable bass bump, so I returned it a while back. I still have an E17, but seldom consider it worth carrying around. Same for my iPod Classic. Even my almost 40 year old ears with subpar sources manage to hear things with my ety's and m-100's that just weren't in those mp3's with anything I had before though, so I consider good IEM's a worthwhile investment.
So mainly I want solid sound in a portable package that I can drive well unamped from an iPhone 5 and MacBook Pro , and that want feel overly shy of bass compared to V-moda M-100's. I listen to a lot of Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle, Korn, and Disturbed. Some Ellie Goulding, Lindsey Sterling, Metric, Regina Spektor. A decent bit of Tori Amos and The Cure. Soundtracks and instrumental - vitamin string and piano guys, plus some anime tunes when programming. And some musicals... Mostly Doctor Horrible, Les Mis, and Wicked. Ocassionaly a little Eminem and even ICP. Varying by mood, I don't tend to cross mix those groups... I watch movies and shows (Game of a Thrones) fairly regularly at night on the ipad
I value long term comfort, and will probably use comply tips unless I order customs like I had for my ety's since my molds are probably on file still... I like isolation enough to drown out conversations in the same computer lab, but have no bus/subway/train commute and generally find it a plus to hear if a car is honking at me while walking cross campus. I prefer to not leak so much as to bother my wife in bed and as an extra plus would love it if the things were comfortable enough and durable enough that it was no big for me to fall asleep in them without getting rudely woken up if I rolled over on to my side, but I am pretty used to taking out my ety's pre-snooze, do that isn't a deal breaker. I value clarity and clean vocals (often female) over bass, but I like some punch, but need something that responds well to rather fast music also. I don't mind a different feel from the M-100's, but I want something not too cold as while I enjoy noticing new details in music, I am generally listening off fun. Finally, I prefer something with a mic for the phone and controls, at least as an add-on option... It looks like the ie80 can use ie8 compatible mic'd cables. (?)
Do Ie80's sound like a good idea? Can I sleep with some side turning in ie80's? Would I get enough bass and lively sound with faster response from a 4ba like the W4? Or maybe ue 900's or something else? Did I write too much so no one read this far!?
I'ld rather provide too much info than too little, but sometime can be extreme. I've put together partial answers from a lot of separate reading other folks threads, but kind of hoped for some advice addressing my large set of concerns. My $500 budget from the wife is pretty generous and very firm. She'ld scrap the whole idea before offering me even more money. I basically had to trade her offer of "getting a next gen gaming system" (that lacks any good games, applies to both out now) for "getting some IEM's I'ld use every day that would cost roughly the same". She is rather unenthused by my new habit of purchasing audio gear though, so I'ld like something that fits my needs pretty well and won't be replaced anytime soon.
Advice appreciated!