I am looking for something better than the HF5, since I sold my JH16. It was a love hate relationship with it, in my case, the build and comfort wasn't terribly good, and the sound was a tad too bassy for my liking.
I had the IE8 and SM3 and sold both of them. The IE8 had too much of a midbass hump and a midrange that is too distant sounding. The SM3 for me, was too thick and lacking air, especially in the midrange. The only iem that I really liked was the FX-700, but the treble would cause fatigue after some time. The lack of isolation was another problem, because it made me turn up the volume, which in turn caused fatigue. If the treble was slightly less tilt up and less grainy, I would have kept the FX-700. I also like the Ety HF5 which I bought 3 years ago, but it's a bit too thin sounding, and the high amount of treble, albeit smooth, can be fatiguing.
So ljokerl, for something less than $300, what would you recommend? I need good isolation and comfort, and in terms of sound I want coherence, balance, and transparency. I see that you rate the CK-10 highly, but some people appear to not like it as much as you. Do you still rate it as high as it was a year ago?
What are some of the best dynamic driver iems, apart from the FX-700? I haven't heard a lot of earphones, but not many have come close to achieving what my headphone can do. I would like to find something that sound as good as it, but it seems that I won't be able to find one easily without spending a lot.
