[Entreri]

Hey all! Been researching a new pair of IEMs the last few weeks on here and I love the community on these forums.

Basically, I'm kinda new to this but after being brought up listening to my dads crazy home set up (naim mono set up with kef speakers). Hours and hours with my dad listening to the Eagles, Eric Clapton etc. made me want to have something for my own. Nothing I've had so far kinda stacks up or sounds anything near to what it's like at my dad's. I'm currently using bose ae2,and they don't sound as great after listening to other costlier sets, so I wanted to upgrade, and upgrade properly. I travel a lot because of university so would prefer something that's portable, I'd rather iem rather than headphones.

I have my birthday coming up and after a lot of reading on these forums, I'm looking to get a pair of Shure SE535 special edition. My cousin had an older pair of the SE530 I think or se4-- something and they sounded incredible. He recommended getting a portable amp if I was to go ahead with the se535.

I know it's quite a lot of money to drop on a first set of high end IEMs but after trying out various different headphones (bose qc15, grado sr125 sounded great but wasn't practical to travel with, also a couple of denon and senns),and IEMs (only b+w c5 and the shure pair of my cousins) nothing really compared to the shure pair my cousin had. I loved the sound of the shures. I listen to most genres, leaning more towards bassier tracks. I'd love for something to improve the bass and make it more punchier without being detrimental to any other aspect of the sound.

Can anyone advise me on a decent amp? Also, I have a nexus 4 but would be looking to use a new source too, my old ipod video just died recently. Any recommendations on that front too? Being a student, my budget isn't crazy high, something reasonable like £100 for each? Also, I'm from the UK!

Sorry, I'm very new to all this and don't really know the right vocabulary to express everything properly, but the way music sounds in my ears is very important to me! Any advice, suggestions or help generally would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Chris.

 

[warrenzn]

I will just say in response instead of writing a long paragraph about sound characteristics; that I've had the Shure SE210 and SE420 and last month I was in Thailand I auditioned and bought the SE535 LTD-J Asian Red special edition. I was blown away by their sound quality. This was even more apparent after listening with the high quality upgrade cable (Oyaide HPC-SE for SE 535) that the reseller was using on their demo model I auditioned. I then bought the JDS Labs C5 (Red) amp to complete the setup along with the ALO Audio CRYO SXC 18 line out dock to use from my iPod classic / iPhone 4S. Put it this way, I don't see how an experience from an IEM can get any better than this. After 4 years of looking for the perfect setup (for me) I am happy to say I am in the rarefied land of aural nirvana


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[Entreri]

Thanks for the prompt reply! Exactly what I was looking for. I've been reading and leaning towards the c5 and after looking at the reviews for them, it's hard to resist! Just a drawback is that living in the UK, I can't seem to find one for sale. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong places?
Also, the LOD you bought was crazy expensive! Will I see a lot of difference from a cheaper one? Say a FiiO one? Could you suggest a cheaper alternative to your LOD?
I don't think I have the right funding to be looking at upgrading my cables just yet! Maybe after I graduate in two years! Your set sounds amazing! But that'll be something to look forward to. I'm afraid to look too much into it now, other wise as a result, temptation may come out victorious and I'll be eating beans from a can for months whilst listening to beautiful music!

Thanks again!

 

[warrenzn]

I think it's not necessary for you to go for everything at once; the only reason I did was because I live in South Africa and we get hardly anything here of what I was able to get in the Far East. I went with the intention of buying the SE535 Red limited edition and the iBasso D-Zero. The JDS C5 Amp was an impulse buy; as was the ALO line out dock.

I bought them because knew if i didn't get them there and then, I would have to wait for at least another year to do so because none of this stuff is available where I live; and importing things like that into SA is crazy expensive. I still haven't bought the upgrade cable yet, am waiting a few months for that. And luckily for me there is a distributor for Oyaide cables where I live, so I can wait till I have enough spare cash to get one.

My point is that you could get the Red 535 (Asian version) and an amp if your budget can go that far; if not then just get the earphones for now, until you decide on / can afford the amp. Line outs and cables can come later. But I would highly recommend the JDS C5 from experience.


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[Entreri]

Brilliant, thanks so much for your reply! Pretty much answered all my questions and reaffirmed what I was looking at before. I'll work on slowly building my own portable set!
Thanks, Chris

 

[warrenzn]

You're welcome


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