My final thoughts on an IEM to buy

[lnvisible]

I have looked through this forum ever since I registered trying to find out an IEM to buy. I finally made my purchase a week ago of Monster Turbines, and realized they are no where near as amazing as I thought (I am actually selling them now on this forum if you are interested).

After gathering some more knowledge on lingo, and reading more reviews and opinions that I thought I ever would, I have decided to make one final thread on what IEM I should get.

Here is some info that I probably have mentioned in previous posts, but base suggestions off of this:

- My only source for music is a first gen Zune 30. I have my music set on the "Acoustic" equalizer setting which greatly increases the bass impact, and I ALWAYS keep it on that

- I am a drummer, and I mean I play drums for about 6-8 hours every day. So these IEMs CANNOT fall out, and must not fatigue. I know no IEM is perfect, but this is a must

- My previous ones before the Turbines were Marshmallows. I know some people might hate me for this, but with the "Acoustic" preset on with the Marshmallows, the bass noise and the impact of it was somewhat forced, yet very clear...and I loved it. The Turbines had amazing bass, yet it was too clear for me, haha. As in there was not that much of a boom, or push of it into my ear as I was used too, and loved

- The only music is listen to is metal. Bands such as Whitechapel, As I Lay Dying, and Lamb of God are my most listened to bands, and I want to FEEL the impact of the double bass every hit

- I really don't need anything over $50-60, so that is my budget. I will ONLY, and I literally mean ONLY, when I play drums, and am falling asleep (in which I listen to my Zune 30 to do so). So these things wont see the light of day that much.

Here are some things that I dont really care about:

- The isolation in the Marshmallows on about 7/20 volume was pretty decent for me, and the isolation on the Turbines was too good. As in playing drums, I couldn't even hear myself hit the CHINA cymbal, haha. So a mix between these

- Soundstage. I need to atleast point out the drums in my songs, so I can pick out individual toms and such, but that's about it. Nothing too fancy

I went through three pairs of Marshmallows cause I loved them so much and didn't want to give them up before I just recently bought Turbines. Again, I DO prefer the forced, pushed, and impact of the bass that probably many of you guys dislike since it doesn't seem clean.

I have been seeing many, many, suggestions on NE-7M's with T400 tips. Is this the way to go? Help me guys. Thanks.

 

[lnvisible]

I know you guys are probably tired of "Suggest me an IEM" threads, but you can atleast count out one person from making another one if you help me, haha.

 

[mark2410]

C551

 

[bakhtiar]

NE-7Ms : To my ears, the upper mid or lower-high are a quite forward, and you may find the bass is being masked or sounded thin. Ooops!, the impression a based on the comparison with my other high end IEMs, the UM3Xs + custom sleeves

. But, NE-7Ms still sound nice and a bit bright, IMHO.

Currently I am listening to this ... while writing the impression through my laptop.
KODO | LCD TV 'Bravia' Promotion Video Brings Kodo To The World.
Chesky Record's The Ultimate Demonstration Disk
Metallica : Master of Puppets.

TQ.

 

[lnvisible]

Thanks for the help so far.

Again though, I want $50-$60 IEMs that basically supply a forced and pushed bass, but clear atleast. I'm a bass fanatic since I need to clearly pick out the drums in songs, such as the double bass and heavy toms.

 

[cn11]

The Denon C551's have good deep bass, and detailed treble, but the high end can be a bit harsh. They isolate so-so. But they are a good value for the sound you get.

I've seen tons of great stuff about the Nuforce NE-7M too, and would love to hear them at some point to compare to the Denons.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[mvw2]

You're not exactly going to feel much from an IEM. Don't ask things they can't actually do. The best you can do is buy an IEM that has relatively high energy and dynamics and boost the frequency response to bring out the kick beat to your liking.

Do you know what the Acoustic setting actually does with the frequency resposne? It will be important when picking IEMs, either that or turn it off and then simply buy the right IEM with the right sound.

Falling out will solely depend upon the tip used and how well it holds. A good foam tip should work great given it's appropriately sized for your ear.

Now, the IEM won't need to go terribly low given that you don't really listen to synthesized information. The lowest you'll use is about 40Hz. This does open you up to more options as you're not terribly constrained to finding a IEM that'll dig to 20Hz-30Hz well.

$50-$60 is not a big budget. Wasn't the Turbine around $150? Are you just trying to stay away from spending a good chunk of money simply because you don't want to be disappointed again?

Since you're heavily budgeted and focused on bass, I'm curious if V-Moda is a good route for you. You don't seem to care terribly about accuracy or having a lot of detail, so their Vibe or Bass Freq earphones may work out well. I had the Vibes a couple years ago, and they were my first jump into the IEM world and head-fi in general. I've since used a good range of other products, but I always enjoyed the Vibe for the fun factor. It was always full and enveloping, and the bass information was the dominant presence so you realy got into the bass beat or lower information from a bass guitar or saxophone. I would say the Vibe is a little sloppy though. An amp tightens up the sound some though, but it's not bad enough where I would call them muddy and uncontrolled. If you thought the Turbines were "too clean" and you do want the boom, then you may really like the Vibes. About the only thing the Vibe does terribly is stage presence and location, although this doesn't seem to be a factor you care about either. Look at the Vibe for a good all-around IEM and the Bass Freq if you just want bass.

 

[lnvisible]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvw2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif You're not exactly going to feel much from an IEM. Don't ask things they can't actually do. The best you can do is buy an IEM that has relatively high energy and dynamics and boost the frequency response to bring out the kick beat to your liking. Do you know what the Acoustic setting actually does with the frequency resposne? It will be important when picking IEMs, either that or turn it off and then simply buy the right IEM with the right sound. Falling out will solely depend upon the tip used and how well it holds. A good foam tip should work great given it's appropriately sized for your ear. Now, the IEM won't need to go terribly low given that you don't really listen to synthesized information. The lowest you'll use is about 40Hz. This does open you up to more options as you're not terribly constrained to finding a IEM that'll dig to 20Hz-30Hz well. $50-$60 is not a big budget. Wasn't the Turbine around $150? Are you just trying to stay away from spending a good chunk of money simply because you don't want to be disappointed again? Since you're heavily budgeted and focused on bass, I'm curious if V-Moda is a good route for you. You don't seem to care terribly about accuracy or having a lot of detail, so their Vibe or Bass Freq earphones may work out well. I had the Vibes a couple years ago, and they were my first jump into the IEM world and head-fi in general. I've since used a good range of other products, but I always enjoyed the Vibe for the fun factor. It was always full and enveloping, and the bass information was the dominant presence so you realy got into the bass beat or lower information from a bass guitar or saxophone. I would say the Vibe is a little sloppy though. An amp tightens up the sound some though, but it's not bad enough where I would call them muddy and uncontrolled. If you thought the Turbines were "too clean" and you do want the boom, then you may really like the Vibes. About the only thing the Vibe does terribly is stage presence and location, although this doesn't seem to be a factor you care about either. Look at the Vibe for a good all-around IEM and the Bass Freq if you just want bass.

The Acoustic setting does exactly this. I studied the setting listening to about 10 songs for about 30 minutes and have come to this conclusion:

- It seems to increase the impact of the lows and decrease a bit the audio volume of the highs. The guitar and a tiny bit of the vocals seem to lower in volume, and the volume of the bass and drum pedals are increased

- The impact and push of the bass hitting the drum head is also greatly increased. I can actually it, as in it is pushing into my ears, but not at all in a fatiguing way or hurting. For a more better exactly, it sounds exactly like a sub is in my ear just like are in cars. Just perfect

- The vibration when "breakdowns" or a simultaneous hit of instruments is also VERY present. Whenever a breakdown occurs, or when my techno/house music starts to pick up, I can hear the bass range for a long time. The vibration seems to stick on for about atleast two seconds depending on the song type. I know many of you may not like this music, but for just this observation, would you mind listening to this song. At the breakdown at 1:23, I can hear the boom pad vibration (with my JVC's and the Acoustic preset on), all the way to 1:34. How these little headphones can pump out that much vibration is amazing to me, and I really love it. I almost need that in a new IEM.

I got my Turbines for $107 shipped. And you couldn't have hit the nail on the head more with what you said about lowering my budget due to paranoia. This was my first "big-time" IEM purchase, and it left a pretty bad impression me. I would still use my Marshmallows today and forever actually if only my right bud didn't die out. I would be willing to up my budget a bit, but only if I can find something that atleast meets my bass requirements, feels pretty good (I'll probably get some T400s no matter what IEM I get though), and have pretty good isolation. Also, I know I repeat myself a lot, but I dont see a reason to spend that much money for something I will only use when playing drums and going to sleep.

I have never heard about V-Moda though. The Turbines were also something very different from what I heard. They, now get this right, sounded absolutely phenomenal. The sound quality, clarity of each instrument, was just too good to be true. I heard cymbal hits and other drum stuff that I have never heard before and didn't even realize were there, even after learning how to play the song in its entirety. But the bass was just not was I was used too, it was very clean, but maybe too clean for me. I couldn't really hear it, and since the bass guitar and bass pedal are a lot of times in sync, and help the other band members keep in sync, this is a necessity that I need to clearly hear AND feel it.

Now don't get me wrong, I dont wanna a headphone that ONLY does very well bass. As long as it can keep the bass under control and have a pretty deep impact and feel on my ears, and has atleast decent isolation (I know I already said this, haha), then it's all game for me.

Thanks so much for your help and contribution.

 

[bludragon]

I don't play drums, but I do love to listen to them, and I have to say that if you really want to be able to pick them out, then you really want something with a fast, tight (undistorted) bass and mid. This might give you the impression that there is not so much bass compared to something with more distortion, but once you tune into it, you should find it much easier to follow the timing and pick out individual drums and bass plucks. I have no idea if you will be able to find something in budget, but you may also want to look for some closed, full size cans, as I expect these will be able to give you much more impact than iem's. The fact that you have a zune is good, as it should be just about good enough to achieve a decent bass unamped.

 

[bludragon]

FYI, acoustic equaliser is boosting the lows and highs:
Description of the equalizer on the Zune 30GB device

 

[lnvisible]

I really dont want full sized cans due to the fact I sleep with these in, and they would be quite unconformable to roll around in.

And I just love the fact that IEMs are very small and portable.

 

[mvw2]

Good find.

And to put things into perspective.

Interactive Frequency Chart - Independent Recording Network


Also, you will find nothing sounds the same as hardware you have long listened to and are familiar with. Any other hardware will change the entire presentation. The key is to allow yourself to accept these changes. Try and be unbiased. Then start analyzing the sound and ask yourself how accurate, how realistic is it? What does it do right? What does it do wrong? What's the frequency response of hardware? How are the dynamics and control? How is the attack and decay of each note? Does it have good separation and space?

One thing you should really start doing, albeit not terribly cost effective, is to try out a good variety of earphones. Buy a few of the well known good options. Try them, compare. Get a feel for the types of sounds out there. The problem is that you are so used to one thing that your measuring stick of experience is very skewed and very limited. You need to broaden that.

I'll give you one good example. The Future Sonics Atrilo M5 is regarded as one of the best bass IEMs available but it also sounds good overall. Sleek Audio's SA6 is an adjustable IEM that has filters you can change to reshape the bass and trebble frequency response to your liking. Again, it's a very good sounding IEM. These are two I'd like to try but never have run personally, so I can't really comment in detail. There are reviews here of both though, so you can find other people's comments on them. One I've used personally is Phonak Audio's PFE, an exceptionally clean and dynamic IEM with adjustable filters to bump up/dowm mid and trebble. It is a slightly bass emphasized IEM and goes deep and is crystal clear and detailed.

If you're really willing to get over your fear of higher dollar IEMs, there are a variety of good options out there. You just have to be willing to plop down $150-$200 for them.

The best suggestion I can give is buy used. Try all the potential candidates you can get your hands on, funding allowed, and compare and contrast each. If you can manage to buy and test several at a time, do so. The direct comparisons are invaluable. If you can't, buy one, test and take LOTS of detailed notes, sell, buy the next candidate, and repeat. Buying and selling used lets you run through the gambit of products with very minimal financial loss. Even if you buy new, a relatively new IEM doesn't really depreciate in price. Expect to eat the shipping charges and maybe some small cost simply to compete against brand new, but that's about it.

The whole goal is to give yourself the opportunity to try out a wide variety of good products in order to find that one that you will really fall in love with.

p.s. I have the same laptop.

 

[lnvisible]

The Atrio M5's are way out of my budget, and look like a broken Christmas tree, haha. I KNOW those things would never fit in my ears, and would hurt the crap out of them.

The PFE's are also out of budget. These two IEMs are more than I paid for my Turbines, which I believe is where I will cap my budget, yet I wish to not spend more than $50-70.

 

[lnvisible]

Actually, I just put in a new set of my Marshmallow tips that I never used. Let's just stop there.

It's like I'm listening to different headphones. The bass is just exploding in my ear. Everything I wanted in a headphone is now here. All the vibration and pumping of bass impact in my ear is there just like in my JVC's but without the muddiness. It's perfect.

Also, they NEVER fall out anymore and NEVER hurt.

The only bad thing is that they are a bit too big, and I know I'm not getting a 100% seal, but maybe about a 75% at the moment. If this is just 75%, I can't even imagine what 100% is. I just need some small T400s now.

I think I might just keep these Turbines. They aren't as bad as I thought. All my problems were just related to the tips.

 

[bakhtiar]

Yes, tips are very crucial for isolation, seal and sound signature.

Also, you still need some burn-in time too.

.. Physically and Mentally. Give some time for our brain to adapt to the new sound signature from the new IEMs/earphones.

Anyway, congratulation for REdiscovering your Monster Turbines

.

Thank you.