[IIMaxII]

I'm looking for an iem that has clear sparkly treble, nice mids, and a punchy bass. I want it to have good instrument separation and sound really good and have good build quality, with low microphonics. I'm upgrading from the Etymotic HF5's and they were wonderful for the music I like. I know I'm asking for a bit much but if an iem like this exists please make suggestions.

 

[Zalithian]

Westone 3 has great sparkly treble and very punchy bass, but the mids aren't as good imo.
GR07 is a good option.

 

[IIMaxII]

Westone 3 has great sparkly treble and very punchy bass, but the mids aren't as good imo.
GR07 is a good option.

Mids need to be good!

 

[ZARIM]

The ER4P/S, CK10, UM3x, FX700 willbe good upgrade....

 

[Deadlovestory]

Well depends on your budget, but if you liked HF5, then ER-4S/P should work just fine.

 

[IIMaxII]

Well depends on your budget, but if you liked HF5, then ER-4S/P should work just fine.

Difference between the 4S and 4P?

 

[wudai_e]

Yamaha EPH-100SL, Yes an odd brand around here but maybe you'd be as shocked as I was. $150 around the interwebs.

 

[Deadlovestory]

Quote:

Difference between the 4S and 4P?

4P is the lower impedance version or 4S and consequently have slightly different FR graph due to the impedance tweak. You can turn 4P into 4S with the help of 75-ohm impedance adapter, but you can't do the opposite.

 

[oldschool]

Earsonics SM3 is awesome if you would stretch your budget a bit or buy used.
 
Unlike other users, I wouldn't recommend the ER4P, it will sound thin with metal.
 

 

[Deadlovestory]

Well OP did say he liked HF5 for his music, so I don't see why ER-4P wouldn't be good.

 

[IIMaxII]

Yeah I'm not much of a bass guy I had the klipsch before my hf5 and I preferred the hf5. I just love crystal clear instruments and harmonious atmosphere.

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

Yamaha EPH-100SL, Yes an odd brand around here but maybe you'd be as shocked as I was. $150 around the interwebs.

 
I had these and HF5s; I sent them back to the store. Ymmv vary, but I found them less exciting than the HF5s (which I'm not wild about but are ok.) My subjective judgement is that they could give very fast transient sounds - like say snare drum hits - the sharpness they needed, which is essential for rock.
 
The absolute Rock God headphone imo is the Sennheiser HD25-1-ii - it does exactly what the Yamahas couldn't do and lets aggressive music sound aggressive and exciting. No, it's not an IEM - but is a portable headphone and has IEM like isolation. They're also fun because they're the black sheep of the Sennheiser family - their other "serious" phones are tilted towards classical.
 
The 25s remind me of the other problem I had with the Yamahas: they were very heavy little lumps of metal on *very* spindly non-repairable cables and so felt likely to be destroyed. (The 25s are super tough and everything is replaceable.)
 
In fact the 25s sound so good for rock that I think I'll ask if anyone knows of IEMs that sound like them...

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

Well OP did say he liked HF5 for his music, so I don't see why ER-4P wouldn't be good.

 
I think the question is whether they'd be enough of an upgrade to justify the hassle?

 

[Deadlovestory]

Quote:

I think the question is whether they'd be enough of an upgrade to justify the hassle?

Why wouldn't it be enough?

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

Why wouldn't it be enough?

 
Because they're often considered pretty much the HF5s but slightly better:
 
 

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/452289/etymotic-er-4p-vs-hf5-opinions
 
One poster commented that the HF5s were 95% of the ER-4P without the microphonics problems.

 
...and if you're looking for a great rock sound, that probably isn't going to do it for you. Don't the ER4p and HF5 even the same driver? I'd really have to see evidence of a serious difference here! Not to mention a radical change in personality, given what the OP wants.
 
My bet is that JVCs might be good to look at - the cheaper pairs I've had have been very rock oriented - they have the tight punchy bass that the Etys don't.