[kova4a]

  Look, all I'm saying is that people like ""TheBoss" shouldn't dismiss cheaper lesser known brands simply because they're cheaper and lesser known. If you had told me a few days ago that there were $40 buds that sounded as good as buds that I've listened to that cost hundreds of $$$ more I'd have laughed in your face and told you to go away. I can say that I now see the error in my ways. Again, not saying the Narmoo as necessarily BETTER than an $800 CIEM or anything...but the fact that, to my ears, they sound some what comparable is a big deal. I'm 27 years old and for the LONGEST time I tried all the cheap buds in the book. Nothing I've ever owned for ~$50 in the past 10+ years comes CLOSE to these Narmoo...and yet these are somewhat middle of the road as far as hybrids are concerned (if not the cheapest that exists). That's an astonishing feat and my whole point of the thread. 
 
No longer does one have to spend $1,000 to get that $1,000 sound. 

I'm getting what you're saying but I'm just saying that this is merely a personal preference and not really an argument to prove your point because you haven't heard the current high-end gear. Just like the cheap stuff has improved through the years, so has the higher end gear. So very popular iems from brands like sennheiser, shure, ue etc. that were considered TOTL gear just a few years ago are now kinda obsolete given the advancement in the sub-$200 range. But now there are new $400+ models replacing them and you haven't heard them at all.  I've been very interested in the progress in the sub-$100 range for some time now and there are a bunch of manufacturers that really changed the game. But as I said while some of them can compete with the TOTL stuff from few years ago that doesn't mean that they are ready to compete with the top shelf stuff. 
So how can you say that one doesn't have to spend 1000 bucks to get thousand bucks worth of sound if you haven't heard any of the new TOTL gear?
I personally think that iems like Noble 4 really show that one can get top sound for less than $500 but there are still no iems that cost 10 times less for which I can say the same. 
 

  I understand what TheBoss is getting at, but I think there's a place for studio gear and colored gear and they shouldn't be compared against each other. The thing about audio gear made for studio use is they are supposed to be tuned to be accurate, detailed, or color the sound in a way that allows important things to be well revealed for analysis, while non-studio audiophile gear may be tuned for euphony and exaggerate, color, or hide things in order to achieve the desired sound signature. Although I have listened with neutral headphones most of my audiophile life because faithful reproduction is what I like, I know it's only rarely as exciting and euphonic as colored gear. Also I wouldn't listen to that noise people call modern music with anything but my non-studio speakers and headphones.

Well, technically a lot of the high end gear is not really having a reference sound, so it's not like every single expensive iem has a neutral or analytical sound. Actually, if one believes the reviews most of the TOTL iems and ciems aren't neutral and uncolored. And why in the first place would you listen to that mix of sounds kids consider music these days lol? I only play that stuff to burn-in the new stuff I get. 

 

[goodvibes]

I don't get this ER4 as reference anyway. To me they are a great phone but a touched too etched on top and rolls in the bottom. Great phone but this 'confirmed as' stuff is silly. Here's their phase response which isn't flat as described either.


It's also sounds like it's 6db down in the bass compared to acoustic space.
 
To go a step further, which er4 and with which tips because they all sound somewhat different as well. IEMs, especially universals are tough to widgeon hole. It also means that if you like it and feel it has the best compromises, it does as all products have them.

 

[rawrster]

Although I've never heard it but maybe it's because the er4 is still relevant after so many years? Too many iem's come and go within a few months while the er4 remain.

As far as the topic the high priced iem's are here to stay. However it does not take as much money as in the past to get good quality. Recently there's been the 1k and above universal iem's which was unheard of however they seem to sell well given the popularity of the se846 and other models. There will always be a high end in any hobby and there are always people willing to pay

 

[shockdoc]

There will ALWAYS be people looking for the "ultimate" sound and buying high priced cables or speakers or earphones or rolling high end tubes or whatever. But I've been dabbling in this hobby since I was a kid and have yet to hear ANY speaker sound better than a home built JBL S6 system played off of MacIntosh separates and a Dual turntable...at least as far as hearing/feeling like the sound was live (right there in front of me). Personally I'd love to hear the NarMoo and compare it to the dual driver TDK IE800 that I got for 40 bucks. But I usually use my IEM's to filter out extraneous noise in environments I have no control over. Never really bought one to supplant the speakers on my system or my desktop headphone setup. Great topic as I also feel like lower end IEM's have gotten exponentially better in the past 5 years or so.

 

[Jackson 6]

In my v.limited exp of high end DAP's it tends to be the kbps that counts. I heard the AK 240 with Oppo's and yes the detail was astounding, but it was a CD rate. I also heard the AK 120 on 1400-or so- kbps and I preferred it, through my second tier and v. modest IEM's. The £300 brigade can illuminate budget Walkman's, not to the same standard of course, but to an acceptable daily beater standard. So the AK 240 with a top end kbps would probably be the current standard, and I can afford to go there, I can't justify it. I will always prefer speakers, but don't need high end.