[RustA]

Hello everyone,
 
I am thinking about switching from full-size headphones (Senns HD800) to a great pair of IEMs for several reasons:
 
1) IEMs do not require extreme amping to sound their best, AFAIK (feel free to correct me), and I got a little bored with worrying about amps, cables etc.
2) They are very versatile - one can easily use them at home, or outside
3) As I use crossfeed all the time, it emphasises any imperfection regarding the position of each headphone on my head = it's difficult to put full-size headphones on your head correctly in order to get a perfect balance between both channels (to not get the feeling that one channel sounds a bit closer to your head etc.)
 
Sennheiser HD800 is a perfect headphone for me... The soundstage, the neutrality, separation, imaging, bass, mids, treble... It's just flawless.
 
Are there any IEMs that could deliver a quality near to HD800 for similar price (around 1000USD), especially soundstaging? AKG K3003i, IE800, ...? I prefer analytical and technically advanced sound over "fun" phones like Denon D7000. I also don't think I want to go for custom IEMs... I want to be able to resell my gear easily when wanted/needed.
 
Thank you very much and sorry for posting this here instead of in IEMs forum... I just thought it could be more helpful to talk about this with people that are into high-end full-size headphones.
 
Thanks in advance!

 

[jdg0717]

The K3003 has been said to be sonically the same as the HD800 and quite analytical as well.  The only thing the K3003 wont be able to compete with is the soundstage

 

[RustA]

Quote:

The K3003 has been said to be sonically the same as the HD800 and quite analytical as well.  The only thing the K3003 wont be able to compete with is the soundstage

 
Is there any comparison with IE800? Cannot find any at the moment...
 
But thank you very much, I appreciate it!

 

[Greed]

You might find a better response in the IEM/CIEM/Portable Headphones sub-forum. More informed people will reside there. I have heard that the AKG3003i is very neutral sounding and actually quite airy for a IEM. Of coarse you won't find any IEM or CIEM that will rival the soundstage of the HD800, it just isn't possible, but the AKG is in the ball park. I would also look into the Tralucent 1plus2 and FitEAr Togo 334. The 334 is a bit smother though, so if you enjoy a more analytical sound you might want to look into the 1plus2, as they are said to sound that way. 

 

[nickmakp]

What's your budget?
I think RE272 sounds perfect for you. ~$250

 

[Greed]

Quote:

What's your budget?
I think RE272 sounds perfect for you. ~$250

 
Read the first post, might actually having something relevant to the OP's question.

 

[RustA]

Quote:

You might find a better response in the IEM/CIEM/Portable Headphones sub-forum. More informed people will reside there. I have heard that the AKG3003i is very neutral sounding and actually quite airy for a IEM. Of coarse you won't find any IEM or CIEM that will rival the soundstage of the HD800, it just isn't possible, but the AKG is in the ball park. I would also look into the Tralucent 1plus2 and FitEAr Togo 334. The 334 is a bit smother though, so if you enjoy a more analytical sound you might want to look into the 1plus2, as they are said to sound that way. 

 
Thank you very much, really... I need to gather more information but I really appreciate your post as a good guide to start the search!

 

[RustA]

It seems that people have very different opinions about K3003 vs IE800... That said, I can have IE800 for 1/2 of the price of K3003 so it looks like a no-brainer. I could actually get IE800 along with HD800, maybe?
 
EDIT: I see that a lot of people talk about strong bass with IE800 and better balance of K3003... It seems K3003 could be better. That said, their price certainly isn't low.

 

[Kunlun]

The k3003 has some problems, sonically. These issues are coherence between the dynamic driver and balanced armatures and the trade off of either losing some detail or having sibilance when choosing between the filter choices. People have gotten very emotional in trying to defend the k3003 as their favorite, so keep in mind that this post may inspire some heat. You may not even notice them, but I think you should know.
 
 
 
Try the tralucent before buying, it could be a good choice.

 

[dleblanc343]

I've compared the AKG K3003i's and the IE800's and am still in the phase of which I should get. I want a universal as I need the control talk and it's for commuting and longboarding use everyday.
 
I may just get both as I too can get them at good prices. 
 
Now to be fair, the K3003 is better than the IE800's in virtually all aspects besides comfort. The k3003 is definitely more akin to the HD800 than the IE800. I'd say the K3003's are maybe in between my HE6 and HD800's on my McIntosh 225 rig. They're fairly analytical with very snappy but clean highs, but also tighter punchier bass than the HD800's. The vocals are a bit closer than with the HD800's. Now of course you lose out on sense of space (width, depth and height), but it remains impressive and very proportionate.
 
I preferred the K3003's over the TG334! and the IE800's lose out to the TG334's but not by much (the IE800 are also a more versatile and convenient product than the fitear). Through the HM-901, the K3003's is much more pleasant than the 334 to go. The only customs I've tried are the merlin, JH3A and PP6; but none were mine so it's not really a fair comparison. The pp6 are undoubtedly the best, and I can't imagine with proper fit. I also preferred the merlin to the JH3A.
 
I'd take the K3003's as a bargain vs those since my home rig is already superior to the iem's. I may prefer the AKG K3003i's for musical enjoyment through my iphone 5 with Accudio player over my HD800/HE6 +mjolnir/gungnir rig (not a great combo imo); but I'd have to dust out the mjolnir again and compare.
 
As for the driver problems, I agree there were issues with the dynamic bass driver transition to the BA mid driver in the past. This has been rectified as far as I'm concerned and the AKG rep was favorable of that as well. I had first demo'd the K3003's in early 2012 and was not impressed to be honest. The one we currently have in stock, in-store is ~4500 S.N's later; and the driver's crossovers' adjustments definitely seem improved.