ive read much of this thread, and other sources in regards to the ie7
Before my wallet empties … I'd like to know, are they for me?
Auditioning them would be the best way to go, but stores that have ie7's and allow auditioning are non existent here (melbourne).
So ill have to buy based on oppinions. i can get them for 260aud/200usd on minidisc.com, thats about as much money i can dish out at the moment.
Maybe someone can direct me better after knowing what ive come across, (my 'sound descriptions' are pretty layman, so please bear with me)
My earphone/headphone history, and opinions on them:
-Alessandro Ms1, nice and clear, didn’t have the soundstage or 'flavour' I was looking for, sold them eventually, I got the ksc75 for ~25aud$ and ms1's for $100aud, they didn’t turn out to be 4 times better. Which was when I realized that price and sound quality aren't really proportional
-senn hd555, along the same lines as ms1, just bloated in appearance and price ($200aud), but it was a short audition
-Creative ep-630, for $30 id say they do the job, but it is still 30$ sound.
-Senn cx300, really murky sound, similar to ep630's but muddier
-koss ksc75, best value of all time, worth having around, if you were looking for the best price to performace headphones in the 10-75 region, id say buy these
-Re2 - audition, clear and kinda neutral, if I had to a chance to start my search for decent sounding canalphones id start with these, similar to ksc75 but in canalphone form, and 3.5times the price
-Crossroads Mylerone x3i , died on me, probably 2nd best to the re2's in terms of price ratio, nice high's and mid's, build quality was shocking, but the jaben site helped me a lot with the dilema.
-Crossroads Bijou 2 (or 3, don’t know), a downgrade from the x3i, kinda dissapointing, very undetailed, doesn’t really perform very well in anything, they are just a tad bit better, if not then the same, as the ep630's
All unamped, I prefer portability =D, if I get ie7's they'll be going into an ipod touch 2g,
Ideally id like a pair of earphones that would wow me for once
The music I listen to is varied, but mainly rock.
Neutrality to me is ok, but I like a bit of flavour, I like detailed mids/highs and bass with a presence, but not too overpowering.
So are ie7's for me?
edit: oh yes, forgot to mention i like soundstage, the illusion of being in the presence of the instruments/voices is awesome.