[captainlol]

So I listen mostly to R&B and rock on low bitrate mp3s on my Fuze..like 128 and 192 kbps.
After killing a pair of Skullcandy Ink'd buds, I went to pick up some nice CX300s today; great isolation, bass, and sound, could use a little more clarity though.
However, it's now made me wonder if I can do even better, leading me into a possibly endless pursuit of the best IEMs out there
 
I was looking at either the Monster Turbines or the Klipsch Image S4s or maybe just sticking with the CX300s since they seem to be doing their job quite well. But would they even make a difference? I think I'm pretty much screwed because I don't want to run around converting all my mp3s to another higher quality codec, so at what point do the IEMs get bottlenecked by the codec?

 

[Mxmlmn]

Well first of all, converting from a lower codec to a higher one is just a waste of time, and space, as it does nothing for the quality. I'm not too familiar with any of the IEMs you mentioned, but I do know enough about encoding to tell you that it's really only useful one way.

 

[captainlol]

So encoding aside, which of the IEMs would perform best? I've always just been an - if it plays music it's good - kinda guy, but looking for something more now. I also ride a motorcycle so isolation from all the wind is a definite plus

 

[Hero Kid]

I'm not sure but my signature might be of some help to you.

 

[Vash-GR]

I agree with hero kid's signature. You can get better iems for a low price, there are iems that are forgiving of poor source material. That being said cx300 are not good iems, too much bloated bass, too slow and not enough clarity. Take a good, long look at this thread. For starters I would suggest something under 100$. It will also help to say what music you listen to, what player you have and what are you looking for in a sound signature (if you know). As others said before converting is not an option, you will have to re-rip or re-download your material (if you want to pursue this path).

 

[captainlol]

You say CX300s are terrible, but you use them??
 
All your questions can be answered by reading my first post

 

[JosephKim]

Not everyone who knows the cx300s are terrible own them. Many people have heard them or have owned them at one point. That being said I dont think theyre as bad as people make them out to be. However, there are far better alternatives in that price range that really dont give anyone an excuse to stick with the cx300s.

 

[Vash-GR]

I own them, I don't use them, not since I got the RE0 (hence why the RE is bold). As JosephKim said they are not that bad, but at their price there are some far better alternatives. Plus it depends on the sound you like, some people perceive bloated bass as a pro (usually you will see them hanging around cars with huge speakers that deliver a ridiculous amount of bass and nothing else).
 
It seems that somehow my brain forgot your info on the first post. Fuze delivers good music, try rockboxing it too and you will have the best sound available under 150-200$ or so. So you want a good bassy iem with secondary feature a good mid. At least that's my guess from the music you listen to. IMO look at something like VSonic R02ProII, ViSang R02, Thinksound TS01 / Thunder