[Semiregular]

When i first bought these IEMs they sounded well balanced and nice, but now they sound very bright and harsh (have been using these very extensively for a week now). I have very sensitive ears and listening these for long will make my ears hurt, which makes me want to upgrade.
 
By the way i use an iPod touch gen2 as my source and the worst quality i have in my library is mp3 320kbps (most of my library are ALAC), if that info has any relevance with this (could this harshness be the iPods fault?)
 
So yeah i suppose i'm looking for a new set of IEMs that aren't as bright/harsh, have similar bass or a little less than the SE 215s, have more detail and are more flat. I'm also open for recommendations for open (full sized) headphones with the described sound signature.
(even though this forum is for portable cans, IEMs and such.)
 
My budget is about 300€, but may be able to stretch a little further than that.

 

[VirtualMan]

Westone UM3X. Nice amount of bass with non-fatiguing mids and highs. Not as bright. A little dark sounding but once your ears adjust, you can listen all day to them. Plenty of detail.

 

[Techno Kid]

Well the HiFiMan RE262 is a very chill sounding IEM but it doesn't have a flat response as they are more mid forward.
 
You might want to checkout the EPH-100, they're very balanced with highs that are detailed but never harsh and have a good amount of bass impact and depth along with a nice soundstage.

 

[Inks]

lol EPH-100 balanced? I hope you mean balanced as in v-shaped. 

 

[Techno Kid]

Um no, I never heard them as V-shaped at all and the mids were very balanced with the lowed and the highs were more laid back if anything. Everyone hears thing different but I've never heard someone call the EPH-100 V-shaped.

 

[Inks]

Well I will call it closer to v-shaped than balanced, neutral. Much more. It's generous in the bass, subdues in the midhighs and lower treble and a spike at the very high end. Very colored IEM. It's very high treble (8-20k) is probably the best, most balanced and extended I've heard though, I'll give it that, but it's the most fundamental frequency regions that matter more. Due to it's low acoustic impedance, most will hear it about the same as insertion isn't a big issue and tips don't change it much. Isn't a matter of hearing it differently, but having different guidelines it seems.

 

[Techno Kid]

I hear no spike in the highs anywhere and you can't call an IEM V-shaped if the mids are balanced with the lowed and they have relaxed highs.
 
Heres something joker said in his review of the EPH-100, "The mids of the EPH-100 are balanced very well with the low end – not recessed, but not quite forward" and that's how I hear them.

 

[Techno Kid]

Quote:

Well I will call it closer to v-shaped than balanced, neutral. Much more. It's generous in the bass, subdues in the midhighs and lower treble and a spike at the very high end. Very colored IEM. It's very high treble (8-20k) is probably the best, most balanced and extended I've heard though, I'll give it that, but it's the most fundamental frequency regions that matter more. Due to it's low acoustic impedance, most will hear it about the same as insertion isn't a big issue and tips don't change it much. Isn't a matter of hearing it differently, but having different guidelines it seems.

 
I see what you saying.

 

[Inks]

The spike isn't huge, it actually stays in balanced and is only offensive very few times, but it's there and it's at a nice spot  (8-10k), honestly that's not the issue with the treble. I's sucked-out midhighs are, which is why some people such as shotgunshane had an issue with the treble's tonality. It's spike is still in balance, but it's midhighs/lower treble color the higher regions a lot. The mids can't be in balanced with such a boosted bass and subdued midhighs. 
 
joker's reviews are usually relative to IEMs with a similar signature, for that kind of colored sound, it is more balanced than most of it's poor competition.
 
Really, calling the EPH-100 balanced is just wrong IME. EQ-5 is much much more closer to neutral. 

 

[Techno Kid]

Quote:

The spike isn't huge, but it's there and it's at a nice spot (8-10k), honestly that's not the issue with the treble, it's sucked-out midhighs are which is why some people such as shotgunshane had an issue with the treble's tonality. It's spike is still in balance, but it's midhighs color the treble a lot. The mids can't be in balanced with such a boosted bass and subdued midhighs. 
 
joker's reviews are usually relative to IEMs with a similar signature, for that kind of colored sound, it is more balanced than most of it's poor competition.
 
Really, calling the EPH-100 balanced is just wrong IMO. EQ-5 is much much more closer to neutral. 

 
I get what your talking about with the way they're colored and yes the e-Q5 does have a more neutral sound.

 

[glac1er]

EPH-100 sounds n-shaped to my ears if there is anything like that, it's a very bassy IEM. I agree with Inks, I do wish the upper mids can be flatter. I don't really hear a spike at the very top end, but I'm getting old so it's probably above my hearing range...
 
As for the OP, Westone 2 and TDK BA200 fit the bill from what I've listened to. Haven't had much experience with headphones lately.

 

[Semiregular]

Thanks for all the replies. I did take a look at all of the recommendations and is teems that only the yamaha EPH-100 is available where i live, and to me they seem too much like entry-fi monitors.
 
I don't want to buy many sets of cheap monitors, I want 1 set of great ones (from mid to hi-fi) So more recommendations would be appreciated.
 
How about the higher end Shures? Are they harsh as well? And Sennheiser IE 80 and others. Now i'm not quite sure about the sound signature of these, but for me the most important thing is that the treble isn't harsh.

 

[FieldingMellish]

Search this site to read a wealth of reviews.

 

[davisxu]

Stepping back a generation to the Shure SE210/115 helps a lot with the harshness.. much more neutral. Otherwise, monster miles davis tributes are the way to go -- opposite of shure, very warm, and you can probably get them cheap used cause monstercable just had a huge sale
 

 

[CantScareMe]

Which music are you listening to?
 
Which artists, genre?
 
Everything else comes in second place to this. If it's popular music, x-factor stuff, popular rock then you should hear that bump in the 8k range as that's where the vocals are. For playback on radios, car steroes, TV's, standard HI-FI's and ipods, that's how it should be just so that the vocals can be heard properly amongst the mess of everything else.