I'm looking to buy myself a Christmas present - a new pair of IEMs, but I can't figure out which ones fit me best. I was hoping someone here could help. Here's a little detail:
I have the original V-Moda Vibes, and like their sound a lot, but they have a lot of problems. The cord around the plug frayed, and the mesh screens came off causing earwax to get all the way down and plug the holes at the bottom near the drivers. Plus the silicone tips weren't very comfortable, and after a few hours my ears felt bizzare - kind of like wax was oozing out of them (but it wasn't). This lasted for about 30 minutes after the vibes were removed.
I bought a pair of JVC marshmallows to tide me over. The foam tips fit great and felt good. But they sound awful. Muddy and with little detail - just a lot of warmth and bass (mostly higher-range bass like a bass guitar rather than low-range like a bass drum). Even though they're slightly plugged with wax, the Vibes' detail blew them away. More importantly, there's no screen to protect the drivers so they fill up with wax constantly (before you ask - yes, I clean my ears daily and have never had any kind of "wax issue" in the past).
Wife has the newer red Vibes, so I tried them, but they sound totally different from my first-gen versions. Much muddier and overly bassy. I'm not sure they weren't worse than the marshmallows. But they did have much imporved mesh screens.
I'm willing to spend $250 or so on the new IEMs, but I don't want to worry about the wax thing (easily cleanable), and I don't want them to fall apart. I also want a fair bit of clarity, but I do like some bass. Comfort is also somewhat of an issue, but foam tips seem like they will fix that.
I've searched around on the forums, and the Klipsch X10s looked good, but apparently I just missed the 1/2 off sale. I read that the Etys may be too analytical for me, and the Sleeks have build issues. Any ideas?
Thanks for reading this novel.
I have the original V-Moda Vibes, and like their sound a lot, but they have a lot of problems. The cord around the plug frayed, and the mesh screens came off causing earwax to get all the way down and plug the holes at the bottom near the drivers. Plus the silicone tips weren't very comfortable, and after a few hours my ears felt bizzare - kind of like wax was oozing out of them (but it wasn't). This lasted for about 30 minutes after the vibes were removed.
I bought a pair of JVC marshmallows to tide me over. The foam tips fit great and felt good. But they sound awful. Muddy and with little detail - just a lot of warmth and bass (mostly higher-range bass like a bass guitar rather than low-range like a bass drum). Even though they're slightly plugged with wax, the Vibes' detail blew them away. More importantly, there's no screen to protect the drivers so they fill up with wax constantly (before you ask - yes, I clean my ears daily and have never had any kind of "wax issue" in the past).
Wife has the newer red Vibes, so I tried them, but they sound totally different from my first-gen versions. Much muddier and overly bassy. I'm not sure they weren't worse than the marshmallows. But they did have much imporved mesh screens.
I'm willing to spend $250 or so on the new IEMs, but I don't want to worry about the wax thing (easily cleanable), and I don't want them to fall apart. I also want a fair bit of clarity, but I do like some bass. Comfort is also somewhat of an issue, but foam tips seem like they will fix that.
I've searched around on the forums, and the Klipsch X10s looked good, but apparently I just missed the 1/2 off sale. I read that the Etys may be too analytical for me, and the Sleeks have build issues. Any ideas?
Thanks for reading this novel.
