[zedane]

Hi all

Just joined this forum moments ago and here is my first qns!

Which IEM would you guys/gals recc? Personally, i've thought of the PFE after much reading on it but then again felt that it needs amp to make it sound great? On its own with the headphone out, it sounded "soft", perhaps due to its low impedance. (Personally auditioned it before)

My mp3s are mostly in 320kbps, with some old ones in 192kbps. Listen to a wide variety of music (metal, rock, pop, jazz, instrumental)

How bout atrios/quattro/customs? Any other recc? Don't really mind amping it but bear in mind that it mustn't be too costly(poor student) & it must be portable!

Any suggestion is welcome!
However if it is worthy of a long term investment, who knows...I may just pull the trigger!

 

[LONZO]

I have the touch and my Shure SE530's sound great. I use those when I am into serious listening. I have a set of V-Modas that I use for walking the mall and casual listening. They dont block out as much background noise as the SE530's so I can remain attached to the environment. (Somewhat) Dont get me wrong- There's no comparison in the sound quality between the 2 the SE530's by far overshadow the Moda's especially spatially and sound stage. Honestly though for like 30.00 at Costco the Moda's do darn good!

 

[zedane]

Alright man thanks for ur opinion!!!

Honestly speaking, i feel that the SE530 is overpriced compared to other triple driver iems. I have not tried them though but their technology seems to be pretty old?(it has been in the market for almost 3 years?). With the current technology, i feel that there should be better IEMS available at a lesser price tag

Well, all this boils down to personal preference tho....

Anyway i was just wondering how come these custom triple drivers like the UE10 and the ES3x cost way more than their counterparts (W3, SE530, TF10pro etc)? I know the UE10 and ES3x have custom shells and provide better isolation but is that all there is to justify for that hefty price tag?

All feedbacks / suggestions are welcome. Theres no need to be shy now

 

[Bigburger]

If you're a "poor student" then maybe stick with good universals for now. That's my opinion anyway, because the technology seems to keep changing eg. JH13 just recently came out and is supposed to be superb. So rather than spend a lot of cash on customs now, maybe better to get some good universals for now, and then check out the customs in future when you start working and have the money coming in! Just how I see it though.

Btw...x2 on the SE530 with the touch, though I am using mine with a 2nd gen touch - they sound great. Just because its a year or two older than the other others doesn't mean that it sounds worse...new technology doesn't necessarily sound better. All depends on your preference. That said, Westone 3 and Senn IE8 have become really popular and very much talked about here. SE530 is said to be less fatiguing for long periods of listening, but most people say W3 and IE8 are more "fun" to listen to.

Remember with the customs, you will have to pay for ear impressions as well as the IEM.

 

[K_19]

Do note that unless you plan to bypass the Ipod Touch 1st gen's internal amp with a portable amp+LOD, IEM's like SE530 and W3 (low impedence, high sensitivity stuff, basically) will hiss quite a bit with it. Usually it's not a big factor once the music starts playing for most people, but some out there are sensitive to hiss so I just wanted to let that be known.

Either way I do recommend an IEM which is slightly on a bassy side with the Touch since otherwise you may find them lacking in it (Touch 1st gen has a really neutral/flat sound signature). Most of the top IEM's (SE530, W3, IE8 etc) should fit that bill very well but if you are looking more mid tier, then do research to make sure it'll have enough bass for your needs.

 

[zedane]

Alright, all your opinions are noted =)

Yeah anyway i have a pretty good bundle on hand: a um3x + vulcan mini amp for ard S$600, sounds pretty awesome

I read up on the forum and heard that um3x is more of a neutral iem as well, but with high clarity? Wondering how it would fare with the 1g itouch with or without amp

gonna try it out tml