[gmoore88]

So here are my circumstances:

Im a 20 year old drummer who's been playing for 12 years, and would very much like to turn it into a career after college (although aware that "making it" as a musician sort of just has to happen). Starting out drumming at 8, I havent always taken the best care of my ears, but have tried to in more recent years by wearing Hearos ear plugs or a pair of big sony MDR-7506 headphones that are provided to me at a church where i play regular gigs. I've always hated wearing those big clunky headphones when im playing and have decided that its time to invest in some quality IEM to protect my ears and also get high quality sound to them. However, i also intend to use them as my regular, everyday earphones (Im gonna want to get plenty of use out of this big of an investment).

I've been looking at the Westone ES2's, ES3's, Ultimate Ears UE5's, UE7's, and UE10's, and having done nearly as much research on the Sensaphonics. And i just can't decide on which ones to get. I guess as of now im leaning towards the Westone's because they seem to have a slightly lower price tag, but ive also decided that this isnt something i want to feel the need to upgrade in a year or 2. So id rather spend $900 dollars now than spend $600 now and $900 in 2 years when i decide i want the better ones, if there really is that big of a difference.

Any advice is helpful.
Thanks.

 

[Matteman]

Hi! Welcome to Head-fi, sorry 'bout that wallet of yours!

IMO, the top of the range UE customs seem like they are hard to beat. My recommendation (since you already mentioned preferring to spend the big cash now) would be the UE-10 or the UE-11.

 

[audiomagnate]

I mixed live bands for years with ear plugs and everyone thought I was crazy. I would take them out every once in a while for a "reality check" but I couldn't believe how loud things were.

If you still have ears, I think Westone ES-2s are the way to go.

 

[gmoore88]

yea i think im leaning towards the es2's. It seems like between their $650 price tag and the ue10's $900 price tag, i probably wont ever be enough of an audiophile to notice the difference between the two, also considering the fact that I'll probably never get a chance to listen to the ue10's without paying $900 for them.

 

[gmoore88]

On a related note:
Should over-isolation be a concern?

For instance, in my practice space, which consists of a closet covered in sound panels, i dont have any mic'ing set up. Im intending to use my IEM's to practice with a click, but do i need to worry about over-isolating my ears to where i cant hear myself play?

I would be shocked if custom IEM's could isolate well enough to drown out probably 100 decibels of immediate drum noise, but i'm definitely a noob to the world of custom IEM's.

 

[RoadHazard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmoore88 /img/forum/go_quote.gif On a related note: Should over-isolation be a concern? For instance, in my practice space, which consists of a closet covered in sound panels, i dont have any mic'ing set up. Im intending to use my IEM's to practice with a click, but do i need to worry about over-isolating my ears to where i cant hear myself play? I would be shocked if custom IEM's could isolate well enough to drown out probably 100 decibels of immediate drum noise, but i'm definitely a noob to the world of custom IEM's.

I think you'll be fine. No IEMs that I've ever heard of isolate that well. I believe most isolate about 20-30 dB.

 

[intoflatlines]

There won't be over-isolation. I find IEMs to be perfect for drums and reducing the noise while being able to hear yourself play still. I even feel that it gives unmiked drums a sound that's almost as if they're miked. It's pretty cool.

 

[Lifter59]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmoore88 /img/forum/go_quote.gif On a related note: Should over-isolation be a concern? For instance, in my practice space, which consists of a closet covered in sound panels, i dont have any mic'ing set up. Im intending to use my IEM's to practice with a click, but do i need to worry about over-isolating my ears to where i cant hear myself play? I would be shocked if custom IEM's could isolate well enough to drown out probably 100 decibels of immediate drum noise, but i'm definitely a noob to the world of custom IEM's.

I'm not sure if Westone offers the capability, but UE's can be made with an "ambient" option that allows some of the stage sound to bleed into the IEM's to prevent any isolation issues.

 

[Joelc87]

I'd take a look at the UE 7's. They're supposed to be a little heftier and beefier sounding than the rest of the UE lineup. I think it'd be perfect for a drummer and also would serve you well as personal listening earphones.

 

[Aevum]

before spending such a great ammount on customs, maybe he should try some of UE´s universal products to see if he likes the general signature, burning 800-1200 dollars on customs before even listening to them, not sure its wise, but if you do want customs, check out the freqs or the livewires, might be more economical for you untill you get settled in,

 

[Joelc87]

Yeah livewire's are great and they have replaceable cables too. Something that the Freq's don't have yet. Livewire's get great reviews all the time too. At $250 they're a steal...

 

[gmoore88]

thanks for the all the advice, im still leaning a little more towards the Westone es2's, just cause of the price tag and the general review ive gotten of them, but i might look some more into the UE7's.

For the record, i have used universal fit IEM's before, specifically Shure E5's and Westone UM2's, so that also lends itself to my leaning towards the es2's, because i do know that i like westone's general signature. And the way i see it, it would be less economical for me to burn $200-$400 on some universals to get settled in, and then want to upgrade to customs. If that makes sense to anyone but me...