[BST07]

Hi all,

I haven't been very active on these forums for a long time. It's daunting to see all these new IEMs in the market. Back then, it was really just Etymoics, UE, Shure, and Westone...

Because of my new work place I do travel quite a bit further than I use to. I have been content with my E500 for the last few years and has no major complaints about the sound quality. Now that there are extra money flowing... I can fulfill my lust for custom IEMs.

I don't want to spend a whole lot of money (around $400) but I would like to have sound quality at least as good as the E500s. I was checking out the livewires, but couldn't find solid comparisons between the two through searching.

I need your help guys!

 

[intoflatlines]

Why don't you get your E500s reshelled? I think it'd be tough to find any good custom that will rival the sound of a triple driver (E500) for $400 but I could be wrong. You'd get the added bonus of having detachable cables too!

 

[BST07]

Reshelling the E500s? I have never considered that option at all... I was thinking of buying the westone custom tips but thoght I might get another iem instead.

The triple driver livewires are within budget... How do those match up against the E500s?

 

[KLS]

If you lurk around here you will discover that there are in fact many universal IEMs that compete well with E500/SE530. For your information Shure is releasing a new flagship, the SE535 (currently no information on this, so don't know how it compares to E500/SE530 to say it is a new flagship...).

I would like to suggest making some research on the latest IEMs first, before you decide to get into custom. There are discussions on low-end custom vs high-end universal, in my opinion the latter would be a better choice as you can resell them, and avoiding refitting issue (if you are lucky you can get a good fit in-a-go).

I agree with intoflatlines for under $400 custom, reshelling your E500 could be a better option.

That being said, I have yet to try custom or reshelled IEMs.

 

[intoflatlines]

Apparently the SE535 is the same as the SE530, only with detachable cables IIRC.

My custom shelled TF10 are great!