[jyle_t]

i like his enthusiasm, that's all.

anyways, i'd get IE8 after SE530.

 

[shi.natsu]

I own the SE530 at the moment and my next step is going to be UE Triple.Fi + Westone ES Custom Cable + Custom Earmolds.

After that I'll be thinking about Ultimate Ears Customs.

 

[ipodlover77]

i went w3 after 1 month of 530's..

 

[hypoicon]

Hmm, I've had mine for 3 months and I've gone nowhere. I like them. I listen to 530s all the time and have no upgradeitus. They may not be the end of the line for me, but I'm stopping here for a long while.

 

[Nosoupforyou]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hypoicon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, I've had mine for 3 months and I've gone nowhere. I like them. I listen to 530s all the time and have no upgradeitus. They may not be the end of the line for me, but I'm stopping here for a long while.

Good to hear

I love their laid-back sound signature and use 'em sometimes eight hours a day.

 

[bonem]

Hi Nosoupforyou,
I will send my SE530 to a guy in China who will put them in custom shells with a detacheable UE-11 cable. That's supposed to improve highs and give a much wider soundstage. I'll keep you briefed.

 

[Nosoupforyou]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonem /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi Nosoupforyou, I will send my SE530 to a guy in China who will put them in custom shells with a detacheable UE-11 cable. That's supposed to improve highs and give a much wider soundstage. I'll keep you briefed.

DAMN. Looking forward to hearing about it!

 

[VoLTaG3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nosoupforyou /img/forum/go_quote.gif DAMN. Looking forward to hearing about it!

I want to hear about this too.

 

[nycrob515]

I, for one, purchased the se530's and returned them a day later. The lows were just completely muffled while the highs were like a constant SCREAMING IN MY EAR. Sort of like looking at something over and over and over again until it becomes so artificial its unworthy of glance from not even one of my optic nerves. I had to take them out of my ears immediatly and fight the hesitation to stomp them as to still be eligible for my refund.
metaphoricle satire.....anyone?

 

[jleewach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nycrob515 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I, for one, purchased the se530's and returned them a day later. The lows were just completely muffled while the highs were like a constant SCREAMING IN MY EAR. Sort of like looking at something over and over and over again until it becomes so artificial its unworthy of glance from not even one of my optic nerves. I had to take them out of my ears immediatly and fight the hesitation to stomp them as to still be eligible for my refund. metaphoricle satire.....anyone?

it sounds like you share the EXACT same sentiment as me. The more I listen to the 530's, and compare them to my scl4's, it just makes me better appreciate the more nautral & smooth sound of the scl4's. I love many of Shure's products, but I think they just totally got it wrong w/ the entire SE series. The E/SCL series just had it so much better. A rep from Shure told me the entire SE line has been modified to fit a more "consumer-oriented" taste, (slightly stronger emphasis on highs & lows) while the E/SCL line has a more accurate sound sig. Honestly, I just cant help but think the 530's sound like a cleaner version of the higher end Skullcandy's or V-modas, which completely turns me off. I'm sure others (cough... Voltag3...) will disagree.

 

[bonem]

When I first bought the SE530, I was so frustrated that I wanted to cut the wires near the huge roast chicken Y-splitter, which by some unusual patience I didn't.
But the rest is another story...

 

[theitchybeard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoLTaG3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Westone ES3X has more midrange presence while the UE-11 has more BASS presence. Both sound amazing.

Just out of interest have you actually heard both of those phones.

Anyways, I had the se 530's for around a year and was generally quite happy with them, IMO they are not entirely worth the money and I was never blown away by them. I really like them for comfort, fit and isolation. The mids are superb on them but I always found them lacking bass extension and the highs were pretty rolled off as most people agree. I tried lots of tips and double flanged mod but it never really made them significantly better (Double flange really uncomfortable for me)

So about 1 month ago i bought a pair of Sen IE8's, initially I hated them, no isolation compared to the 530's, didn't sound too good and I found them pretty uncomfortable going over the ear, couldn't get a good seal either. I was about to send them back but just thought I'd give them another few days. After around 100 hours burn in, plus using sony hybrid over de-cored shure foamies tips, and wearing them cable down they are a completely different phone. They just opened up a lot more, the treble had started to come out, bass was more punchy with real good extension and the mids whilst not as forward as the 530's sounded pretty sweet.

They're just a lot more fun to listen to IMO, which for me, listening primarily to Drum and Bass is perfect. They've got a few hundred hours on them now and have continued to improve in their sound. Still use the 530's occasionally, but only when I'm at the gym

So basically what I'm saying is IMO IE8's are a good direction to go in after 530's for something totally different and exciting. Wouldn't want to put anybody off the 530's because they are still an awsome phone, it just depends on your tastes and musical preferences.

 

[Jewmeister]

So I got my SE530 about a month or two ago after shredding one of the buds on my beloved sf5p's uncarefully trying to remove an unmodified westone cable from it. So for about a hundred bucks I figured I would upgrade to the SE530 and when they came I was giddy.
The olives were by far the best tips I'd ever experienced the mids were perfect and detailed and the bass was accurate and smooth if somewhat recessed and the highs contrasted in delivery but were not outshone by the MS-woodthousands. Various tip mods and Voltages nozzle mod subtly change the sig and soundstage etc.
So a friend of mine gave me a pair of Ultimate Ears Super fi 5 pros for my birthday, on monday... I was putting them head to head with the SE530 (given I dont have an amp, but these are not for home use, and Im not keen on adding even a Pa2v2, and ive heard the fiio makes the SE530 worse)
I will not go in to detail but suffice to say i tried every tip cable combo on both pairs head to head on many tracks covering a dozen genres and even using the foobar EQ for an hour or two.
My current opinion on IEM's is this: 100-150 +/- 20 USD is the sweet spot. For those of us on a semi-budget ie. student who's income is 100% discretionary but not that large. I do not see a reason to pay as much for top teir universal iems, as for full-size cans like HD600, AKG701 etc. even if you already had the full array of f-s cans.
I say this because top tiers offer no benefits beyond SQ, which is the weakest point of iems. Comfort, fit, isolation, customization, looks, build quality, warranty, or no greater than the most valuable 100-150 iems.
I plan on returning/selling the SE530 and will not miss them (unless my ue5's break again, but they seem better made than the '99 pair). I plan on buying a high-end custom iem in the not-to-distant future, as these are undoubtedly better fit, IMO are cooler looking, and I am sure offer many magnitudes greater increase in SQ than the ~130 to ~300 switch.