[i_don't_know]

My budget is a gray area, but let's just say $150 for now. Exceptions can be made, but I want to stay below $200.

Basically, I want an IEM or headphone that sounds incredibly natural, airy, and dynamic. That is exactly what I want, not something to pick out details while sacrificing the overall "true to life" feeling. I want to feel like the music is just... music, and as natural and lifelike as possible. Not limited or boosted in any way by the earphone, just beautiful and musical in every aspect. Not sounding like, well... sound, but sounding like a true work of art. I hadn't figured out how to word this until just now, but I think I got it. I see music as an emotional experience, and I need to be able to feel every bit of emotion being portrayed in every song. You get what I'm saying? I don't want to just listen, I want to feel!

My source is a Sony S639F (no amp).

Examples of my music (in categories):

The reasons why I want a natural, musical, emotional IEM - acoustic (so focus recommendations mostly on this):
Antoine Dufour – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm
Andrew Gorny – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm
Matthew Santos – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

Same as above, but electronic:
M83 – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

Other acoustic music I listen to frequently (consider this pretty heavily as well, but not as much as the music above):
Jack Johnson – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm

Other electronic music (I'm including Oasis as electronic even though they have sort of an acoustic sound) (as long as it sounds good on the IEM, it's good enough for me. I just don't want to be disappointed by the IEM's lack of ability to cope with this kind of music.):
Oasis – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm
Audioslave – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm
Bush – Listen free and discover music at Last.fm



Please help, I will be very grateful!

 

[i_don't_know]

Bump.

 

[Beyerfan70]

If you want to feel the music a detailed iem/phone wont do the job at all,in fact it will sometimes sound boring.
So a fun musical sound is what you need.
I'm not sure about the american money but
I would say Sa6 or a senn ie6 in an iem and for a portable can the earsuit 7 or creative aurvana live.
All these are musical and will help you feel the music.

 

[jinx20001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beyerfan70 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you want to feel the music a detailed iem/phone wont do the job at all,in fact it will sometimes sound boring. So a fun musical sound is what you need. I'm not sure about the american money but I would say Sa6 or a senn ie6 in an iem and for a portable can the earsuit 7 or creative aurvana live. All these are musical and will help you feel the music.

i can see exactly what you mean but i do have to dissagree to a certain extent, although the majority of emotion filled earphones do tend to be warmer sounding i do think there are some superbly detailed, analytical and emotionally rich earphones...

although thinking of a couple is proving hard, ill get back to you on that one.

 

[Beyerfan70]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinx20001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i can see exactly what you mean but i do have to dissagree to a certain extent, although the majority of emotion filled earphones do tend to be warmer sounding i do think there are some superbly detailed, analytical and emotionally rich earphones... although thinking of a couple is proving hard, ill get back to you on that one.

Oh i agree totally,i mean i would have suggested the se310 or se420 or even ie7 but i think they would be out of the op's price range,although i may be wrong.

 

[Cannabizzz776n99]

idn'tk

I'm nearly in the same situation as you and I think that Sennheiser IE7 will be a perfect choice.

You can also try Head-Direct Re1, they does well with Sony DAPs but are hard to drive (~24/30 volume level to mountain desired effect).

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

Originally Posted by i_don't_know /img/forum/go_quote.gif Basically, I want an IEM or headphone that sounds incredibly natural, airy, and dynamic. That is exactly what I want, not something to pick out details while sacrificing the overall "true to life" feeling. I want to feel like the music is just... music, and as natural and lifelike as possible. Not limited or boosted in any way by the earphone, just beautiful and musical in every aspect. Not sounding like, well... sound, but sounding like a true work of art. I hadn't figured out how to word this until just now, but I think I got it. I see music as an emotional experience, and I need to be able to feel every bit of emotion being portrayed in every song. You get what I'm saying? I don't want to just listen, I want to feel!

There's only one and it's not an IEM nor a headphone.

It's live music played by live musicians.

 

[EFN]

** donning the asbestos suit **

If you want to be immersed and enjoy acoustic music, ETYMOTIC ER-4 will deliver. They trully excel with emotion envoking tunes like Jazz, Blues and Instrumental....oh yes percussion as well.

The ability to hear and enjoy nuances will bring you there with the musician. And yes they are neutral sounding too. Some may call them cold, which I admit yes. This is primarily because most cans out there have been designed to emphasize a bit more on bottom end warmth to cater for the general audience, so going from them to the ER-4 can give you that impression. ER-4 excel in delivering deep and thoughtful bass response (with foamies).

BUT, it all depends on the source. ER-4 is very faithful to the source. A warm sounding source is what you need and since you already have a sony DAP, this may work for you.

To take this further, long time ER-4 users tend to use amplifier support for better dynamics and airiness. ER-4 is nearer to an Electrostatic sound than it is with Dynamic. There's a few portable amp that can do this commendably. To name a few - MiniBox-E+, Xin SuperMini-IV, Lisa III, Decware Zen Head, TTVJ Portable Millet, Meier 3Move etc. Yes I know, they are not exactly convinient to piggy-back an amp, but the refinement is all worth it. ER-4 is one of the few IEM that can really scale up with amplification.


** The asbestos suit remains on **

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EFN /img/forum/go_quote.gif ** donning the asbestos suit ** If you want to be immersed and enjoy acoustic music, ETYMOTIC ER-4 will deliver. They trully excel with emotion envoking tunes like Jazz, Blues and Instrumental....oh yes percussion as well. The ability to hear and enjoy nuances will bring you there with the musician. And yes they are neutral sounding too. Some may call them cold, which I admit yes. This is primarily because most cans out there have been designed to emphasize a bit more on bottom end warmth to cater for the general audience, so going from them to the ER-4 can give you that impression. ER-4 excel in delivering deep and thoughtful bass response (with foamies). BUT, it all depends on the source. ER-4 is very faithful to the source. A warm sounding source is what you need and since you already have a sony DAP, this may work for you. To take this further, long time ER-4 users tend to use amplifier support for better dynamics and airiness. ER-4 is nearer to an Electrostatic sound than it is with Dynamic. There's a few portable amp that can do this commendably. To name a few - MiniBox-E+, Xin SuperMini-IV, Lisa III, Decware Zen Head, TTVJ Portable Millet, Meier 3Move etc. Yes I know, they are not exactly convinient to piggy-back an amp, but the refinement is all worth it. ER-4 is one of the few IEM that can really scale up with amplification. ** The asbestos suit remains on **

However, an ER4S takes it up a notch IMO. I have both ER4S and ER4P and I prefer the S.

 

[ZoNtO]

Press a button, now you have an S. Press it again, now you have a P. Look at the wonders of the computer age now.

 

[ulyses]

I listened that musics with my Phonak Audeo PFE. I can say, it was a nice fit.

 

[pdupiano]

I have to say I agree with a majority of the reviews that the Er4p/s are faithful reproducers theyre really nice and what ever you're listening to will sound good on these. But Based on your desire to "feel" them music, I would be a little concerned that theyre too flat for you. when I was comparing the se530's and W3's to the etys, I quick removed the etys from the line up because they simply did not fare well, they were flat and emotionless. No matter how accurate they may be, I can't see myself getting wrapped up in listening to my etys. at that price range, maybe a used pair of um2's or perhaps even an scl4 if you can grab one for 80 bucks.

 

[i_don't_know]

I was actually thinking about IE7, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to part with that much money, especially without a removable cable.

Does anyone know how the IE6 compares to the IE7?

 

[pdupiano]

y is a removable cable that important?

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdupiano /img/forum/go_quote.gif y is a removable cable that important?

Dunno if you have a pet dog or not, but imagine if it managed to get to your cable. See? The cable may be FUBAR'd, but with a simple purchase (and a few days wait) you have a working 'phone ready to go!