[shawnbeonkey]

I'm looking for a pair of IEMs. I've got the Sennheiser HD600 for home use, but I really have nothing for portable listening, and this is a problem as I spend a lot of time on planes and trains. I do really love the signature of the HD600, though, and so barring the obvious differences between open-backed and IEMs, I'm looking for IEMs that sound as close to the HD600s as possible. I should start off by saying that I'm trying not to spend more than $300, but I'm not going to be buying these immediately so if you have recommendations outside of that price range, feel free to suggest because I'm not against waiting for something that'll make me truly happy.
 
I'll be using them probably exclusively with my PonoPlayer, probably unamped as its balanced output is quite satisfactory, though perhaps I should stray from anything unusually hard to drive. For that reason, though, IEMs with fairly standard cable inputs are important, as I'll need to be able to find/make balanced cables for my PonoPlayer.
 
In terms of isolation, I've never been super concerned with outside sound leaking in. As I'll be using these in public, though, I'm pretty concerned with sound leakage into the outside world, and so isolation should be pretty good if only for that reason. Durability is also a major plus as they'll spend a lot of time in jeans pockets.
 
Most of my headphone experience has come from the HD600 and the ATH-M50x, and those have given me a really good feel for what I like. As similar as possible to the HD600 would be great, as I like its laid-back, but detailed sound signature. I like that the bass is very present, but it isn't emphasized. It's important that these are not fatiguing, as I'll be listening to these on very long flights, train rides, etc., for hours at a time. By comparison, the ATH-M50x has its place, but the V-shaped signature is way too fatiguing for me, and I'm really not looking for sound like that here. The HD600-like lack of fatigue seems really ideal for long trips.
 
Thanks!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I've read before that the Ortofon EQ-7 comes close, barring an HD600 at high volume levels with a very powerful amp, but I haven't listened to those myself. I did however settle with an ASG-1.3, which is a bit like the HD600 with a lot less treble. Since I use NeutronMusicPlayer on my Android (I think they have an iOS version now), I just do a wideband -3dB cut on the bass, plus a wideband +3dB boost to the treble, centered at roughly 160hz and 16khz, respectively.

 

[shawnbeonkey]

Hey ProtegeManiac, thanks for the recommendations. I looked into the ASG-1.3 and that led me down a sort of rabbit hole that ultimately came out at the Shure SE215.
 
Actually, it led to the SE315, as it seemed to have a sort of similar sound signature as the HD600 in terms of the non-fatiguing sound and a not-too-powerful emphasis on the bass, but after looking through my options, it just didn't seem worth double the price of the SE215, at least not for my purposes. I did have some reservations about the bass emphasis of the SE215 as I usually am not one for that sort of signature, but when it came down to it, I was looking for non-fatiguing IEMs with a good seal and durability, and I just couldn't justify the extra hundred bucks for the SE315. I may end up upgrading down the line, but we'll see what happens when I get there.