[juman231]

Hello Head-Fi forum.
 
This is my first time creating a new thread here...I became a member yesterday although I've found this forum very helpful in deciding on my first headphone:Audio Technica ath-m50...
 
Just as I'm becoming more and more addicted to listening to music constantly, It's also becoming noticeable that ath-50 isn't the most portable thing to carry around. 
 
So, I am thinking about buying an IEM for under 200 dollars, and I was wondering if the forum can again provide any advises in this.
 
I'll be using the cowon J3 to play my music.
 
Thanks
 
 
 

 

[dragonfyra]

What kinda music do you listen to usually?
 
What'd you like/dislike about your Ath-50's?
 
Do you mind wrapping the wire over and around your ear to wear'em or do you need to wear them straight down?
 
Several considerations when picking new iems~
 
You should also definitely check out the iem shootout threads.

 

[blur510]

I am selling my TF 10  they are great but I can't get a comfortable fit. lots of bass, a little recessed on the mids the highs are good too.. 

 

[yello131]

RE252,
Radius DDM
DBA-02
HJE90
 
all above  are in your price range. What kind of sound are you looking for?

 

[ZARIM]

SM2, IE7, DBA-02, SF5Pro, Custom 3 and SA6...........

 

[TheGame21x]

Well, a bunch of people are flipping Triple.Fi 10s from the Amazon deal on Amazon for less than $200 so you might want to look into that.
 
Mine still haven't been shipped yet though. Argh! This wait is killing me.

 

[juman231]

Wow! thanks for the quick replies!
 
Well I think I like the sound of ath-m50 in general. I'm just hoping to get a portable IEM version of it...
 
Some things I like about ath-m50: I really like the naturalness it can reproduce. A little extra bass is also a plus.
 
dislike: I'm still an audio-term noop so I don't know how to describe it corrrectly..but I feel like I hear a little too much of "sssssssssssssss" sound in the vocals especially during the high-pitch climax of the songs and would like less of it...
 
It also seems to be lacking in soundstage. It always sounds like the band/singer is singing right next to me. No sense of place.
 
Some of the things that I am looking for:
 
Fit: I have unequally-sized ear canals. Usually my right ear poses no problem, but my left ear always has problems. This was actually one of the reasons I turned to over the year headphone. Preferably, an earphone that comes with a lot of tip choices would be good...Or I can order different sizes separately, that would be good as well. And with good fit, I'm hoping I'll be getting some sort of isolation.
 
Microphonics: The first "investment" that I made on IEM before this was CX300, which turned out to be fake with EXTREMELY loud microphonics with slightest movements! The real ones, according to the owners didn't have such loud microphonics but... I really hope my next IEM does not have that loud of microphonics. If this is possible, I wouldn't mind wearing over and around my ears. 
 
Thank you so much for replying!

 

[yello131]

 
Quote:

Wow! thanks for the quick replies!
 
Well I think I like the sound of ath-m50 in general. I'm just hoping to get a portable IEM version of it...
 
Some things I like about ath-m50: I really like the naturalness it can reproduce. A little extra bass is also a plus.
 
dislike: I'm still an audio-term noop so I don't know how to describe it corrrectly..but I feel like I hear a little too much of "sssssssssssssss" sound in the vocals especially during the high-pitch climax of the songs and would like less of it...
 
It also seems to be lacking in soundstage. It always sounds like the band/singer is singing right next to me. No sense of place.
 
Some of the things that I am looking for:
 
Fit: I have unequally-sized ear canals. Usually my right ear poses no problem, but my left ear always has problems. This was actually one of the reasons I turned to over the year headphone. Preferably, an earphone that comes with a lot of tip choices would be good...Or I can order different sizes separately, that would be good as well. And with good fit, I'm hoping I'll be getting some sort of isolation.
 
Microphonics: The first "investment" that I made on IEM before this was CX300, which turned out to be fake with EXTREMELY loud microphonics with slightest movements! The real ones, according to the owners didn't have such loud microphonics but... I really hope my next IEM does not have that loud of microphonics. If this is possible, I wouldn't mind wearing over and around my ears. 
 
Thank you so much for replying!

OK  so you do not like "ssssss" we call it "sibilance" here. Dynamic driver earphones is what you might like since you are used to headphones..
I think your best bet is Radius DDM. This one offer less sibilance among all other I listed above..
Soundstage is also among best one I heard in within 200USD price range IEMs.
This phones also have amazing bass and mids.
 
DDM does have some microphonics but you can void that if worn over the ear and use a shirt clip. It does not bother me much thus I use Rdius primarily at home. Keep in mind, DDM were designed for home use, not so much for outdoors. Nevertheless I commute and walk with it outside.. it does not bother me at all.
 
price wise DDM are very well priced as they are often placed along the line with top-tiers earphones such as IE8, HA-FX700, Monster Turbine Pro Copper. All those priced double the cost of DDM.
Great IEMs. 
 
 
 
 

 

[xXFallenAngelXx]

If I am not mistaken, I believe I've heard that the dbas sound very natural with a touch of warmth in the mids

 

[Oggranak]

I hate sibilance. I find it's a severe problem in a LOT of headphones. This is way below the top of your range, but a good starting place is the ViSang R03s. They have ZERO sibilance, nice ample bass, and what I find to be a very warm and pleasant but fun sound signature. They work for whatever you throw at them. The build quality is pretty good and the cord seems durable. I HIGHLY recommend them as a starting point. And you can't possibly regret a $60 purchase that much. It would suck to spend $200 and realize you don't like what you got. Portables generally break anyway (the life of a portable headphone is a rough one), it's best to invest in something where you're only slightly miffed when it breaks.

My biggest issue with them is a slight peak around 300 Hz but I found it easy to EQ out (about -4 db does the trick).

 

[juman231]

Quote:

 
Quote:

Wow! thanks for the quick replies!
 
Well I think I like the sound of ath-m50 in general. I'm just hoping to get a portable IEM version of it...
 
Some things I like about ath-m50: I really like the naturalness it can reproduce. A little extra bass is also a plus.
 
dislike: I'm still an audio-term noop so I don't know how to describe it corrrectly..but I feel like I hear a little too much of "sssssssssssssss" sound in the vocals especially during the high-pitch climax of the songs and would like less of it...
 
It also seems to be lacking in soundstage. It always sounds like the band/singer is singing right next to me. No sense of place.
 
Some of the things that I am looking for:
 
Fit: I have unequally-sized ear canals. Usually my right ear poses no problem, but my left ear always has problems. This was actually one of the reasons I turned to over the year headphone. Preferably, an earphone that comes with a lot of tip choices would be good...Or I can order different sizes separately, that would be good as well. And with good fit, I'm hoping I'll be getting some sort of isolation.
 
Microphonics: The first "investment" that I made on IEM before this was CX300, which turned out to be fake with EXTREMELY loud microphonics with slightest movements! The real ones, according to the owners didn't have such loud microphonics but... I really hope my next IEM does not have that loud of microphonics. If this is possible, I wouldn't mind wearing over and around my ears. 
 
Thank you so much for replying!

OK  so you do not like "ssssss" we call it "sibilance" here. Dynamic driver earphones is what you might like since you are used to headphones..
I think your best bet is Radius DDM. This one offer less sibilance among all other I listed above..
Soundstage is also among best one I heard in within 200USD price range IEMs.
This phones also have amazing bass and mids.
 
DDM does have some microphonics but you can void that if worn over the ear and use a shirt clip. It does not bother me much thus I use Rdius primarily at home. Keep in mind, DDM were designed for home use, not so much for outdoors. Nevertheless I commute and walk with it outside.. it does not bother me at all.
 
price wise DDM are very well priced as they are often placed along the line with top-tiers earphones such as IE8, HA-FX700, Monster Turbine Pro Copper. All those priced double the cost of DDM.
Great IEMs. 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for your suggestion. I looked into ljokerl's 125 IEM shootout thread, it seems like a very good IEM sound-quality-wise. But I'm a bit worried about the fit, the isolation and the microphonics. Like I mentioned in the previous comment, my left side ear canal has some fitting problems, so espefially after reading from the thread that the seal is the only thing that's holding it in the ear, especially for someone like me, it seems pretty slim that it would fit my ear and stay on there.
 
Also, ljokerl mentioned that DDM is hard to wear around the ear. What is your view on this?  
 
 
 
And I guess my question to everyone would be if you guys know of any IEM's that sort of conforms to the outer-ear shape like the westones?
 
What do you guys say about westone 1's? That seems to be the only one I can buy in my budget....  
 

 

[dragonfyra]

Westone 1's or their UM1's are both fine iems to be had.  The Westone line will give you more of an edgy sound with more dynamics, where as the UM line gives more of a balanced and smoother sound overall.  
 
You could also check out some of the Etymotic's stuff, like MC5 (never tried it myself) and HF5 that's on sale in places (under$100), much colder sounds than Westone's, but those tri-flanges might actually help your fit.  

 

[shane55]

^^ Good points. I love my UM2's and some of the Ety's are great and a great value.

 

[kondor-11]

+1 for Etymotic. Loved my er6i's and can't wait for my HF5s to get here

 

[juman231]

A question for you guys that have experience with etymotics. I just went to amazon to read some of the reviews there, and I think the general problems people get are the microphonics, bass and smaller soundstage. Would you guys agree? I also think the tri-flanges would help with the fit, but my only worry is the microphonics mostly... A little less bass and smaller sound stage I could get along with, but microphonics really make it hard for me to enjoy music, so....