[Capardio]

Hi all,
I'm looking for some new portable headphones or IEMS and I need advice. Price range is about max 350$. I listen primarily to (psy)trance, hiphop, house and other electronic genres, so I need bass. However, I prefer a V shaped sound signature, are there any headphones that have such a signature?
To start off, im not sure to go for IEM's or portables. As I understand, portables are usually superior in sound quality whereas IEM's are of course more portable and isolate better. I will be playing from flac->imod->corda move amp  so the source isn't really a problem i guess. So far I have been looking at HD 25-1 II, Audio Technica CK10, Westone 4.
 
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[Ubijza]

Hey there imod user!
 
Just saw your thread and thought I'd chime in as I had a very memorable experience with a pair V shape sounding phones that really amazed me when listening to my favourite techno-trance act Infected Mushroom. I prefer flat SQ signature myself, so I ended up selling them, but boy, they really amazed me and ... I can wholehartedly recommend them to anybody who likes V shaped sound. Westone 3 of course! 
 
I had fitting problems with them that manifested in sibilant treble on some vocal tracks, but my beloved IM (which is 90% instrumental) sounded supreme on them. Treble had great resolution, very nice decay and lots of energy; bass was tight and so punchy that its slam was almost painful on some tracks.
 
The negatives, apart from the fitting issue, W3 do not have much bass below 50Hz. Having said that, I have not heard a balanced armature IEM that does not have that problem. Apparently UE TF10 have more subwoofer type bass, but I have not heard them personally. I f you dont need isolation, Senn IE8 iems also have V shaped sound and have better sub bass to boot (they are dynamic drivers after all, not BA) but at a cost of lower resolution in treble when compared to W3.
 
Westone 4, from what little I've read about them sound like follow ups to Westone UM3X (which I had for a long time). UM3X does not have Vshaped sound curve, sound VERY different to W3- much more polite, less treble and less bass. 
Summatively, if you love V shaped sound and would like good isolation to listen in noisy places - you SHOULD, MUST try Westone 3s!
 
My uncensored thoughts about them as it happened:
post #1349
post #17
post #1449
post #1459
 
I never heard them through iMod though  I regret that.
 

 

[Capardio]

Hey hello there !
I have to say I was very happily surprised to find all the infected mushroom music on your iMod, thats just the music I like - along with progressive trance. I love good treble with trance music, on my previous headphones I always had to equalize (boost) the treble as it was a bit muffled. I will be sure to check out the Westone 3 then, they also look very nice . Do you know of any website where they aren't that expensive? Amazon sells them for 250 pounds which is 280 euros, thats doable- but can they be had for cheaper then that?

Oh and by the way, what tips would you reccomend for these earphones? Also I can't really find any place where I can buy tips for IEM's, which website sells them?
 
I'm sorry if I'm asking too much

 

[Ubijza]

Hey,
Sorry for late reply.
 
I personally would recommend buying used from these very forums. I bought mine from some dutch girl here hehe, paid about 220 euro- should be cheaper still by now. 
 
Sleeves/tips - I was buying mine on ebay.com (the american version, not .co.uk) There were several sellers with cheap interantional postage rates. Comply tips sound awesome and are very comfortable, but need frequent replacement. I was mostly using them, Shure yellow foamies and shure (i.e. longer than Etymotic) triflanges. 
 
I cant imagine you equalising treble on W3- there is plenty of it and its great quality too. 
 
Infected Mushroom- imho the best pop music composers in the world right now and among the best pop composers of all time. It really shows (for me) that they are both Conservatory educated, their composition is not just talented but has great founding and structure - phrasing, masterly use of pauses, dynamics, musical articulation (staccato, marcato, etc). All waay beyond what an average garage self taught pop/rock "star" was/is capable of. And of course IM's melodies are awesomly non cliche- longer than average pop melodies, and have unexpected harmony shifts... They are not Mozart/Beethoven or even Prokofiev (not even close), but I am quite happy to put them in line with Beatles music.