Shure se530's, its been 2 weeks and I need more oomph

[gokalper]

Well after reading and lurking on this forum for a good 2-3 months i finally gave i and went afterthe high end shures. I really like them but i am guess i was expecting more out of them. I know that i can either imod or amp or both. Right now however what i am specifically looking for is more of a presence of bass and wider soundstage. Which route should i take. I really do not want to spend more than 150 for the amp. Please let mw know what i should be doing?

 

[mthrsuperior]

Headroom's Airhead is 100 bucks. It beefs up my Ety Er4Ps nicely.
The little Dot Micro ( I forget what it's actually called) runs about $120 plus shipping. It's a nice little amp too =)

 

[Kees]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gokalper /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...Right now however what i am specifically looking for is more of a presence of bass and wider soundstage. Which route should i take. I really do not want to spend more than 150 for the amp. Please let mw know what i should be doing?

IEMs are notoriously lacking in soundstage.
It's inherent in the design.
An amp won't help I'm afraid.

 

[gokalper]

Well how much of a difference does the imod make for iems? Is there anyone in New Jersey or the New York City that i can test my shures on their imod or amp?

I have this mp3 that allows you to hear the depth of the soundstage. It comes close to some headphones but then again i never heard the hd595's or 650's to compare to.

Maybe i am just looking for more of a coloring to the music. Like when i toss on the bose triports, yes they do not have much quality, but i enjoy it although the bass is not tight and is really muddy. Then again with the bose i can not fall asleep with and listen to more than 40 minutes, due to its head vibrating bass.

 

[mrdeadfolx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kees /img/forum/go_quote.gif IEMs are notoriously lacking in soundstage. It's inherent in the design. An amp won't help I'm afraid.

..unless youre listening to a binaural recording, then IEMs are the ultimate in soundstage

 

[gokalper]

ok anyone who actually has these shures and amped them? whats your take?

 

[Assorted]

I don't think IEMs are for you. The SE530 is considered very bassy for its class. No amp/iMod is going to help you alter the sound as you like.

I haven't heard a UM2 for very long, but it's been reported that they have more bass.

 

[ILikeMusic]

Quote:

what i am specifically looking for is more of a presence of bass and wider soundstage.

You're not going to find any IEM that has a significantly greater bass presence than the E530, and they are among the better with regard to soundstage as well (although as mentioned no IEM really excels in this area.)

Since you're not going to improve much on the E530 in these areas (or at least not without spending a lot more money) I would agree that IEMs may not be for you. If you have $150 or so to spend there are several headphones in that price range that would probably better satisfy you than adding an amp to the E530 (or any IEM for that matter.)

 

[bozebuttons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gokalper /img/forum/go_quote.gif ok anyone who actually has these shures and amped them? whats your take?

I have the e500s ,I use the portaphile maxed V2^2 with the 5.5 gen Imod.
The amp delivers the goods with the e500s with excellant control of the bass & damn good size soundstage for Iems,almosts fool you that you are listening to full size phones.
The portaphile also worked extremely well with the iriver h120.The portaphile is a great match for the shures.Only downside is the battery life.

 

[gokalper]

i understand the limitations of the iems but i know there is more to the shures. I tested them on other mp3 players like the zune and the samsung k5. IS this what i would expect from the imod?

I think im leaning towards an amp. maybe to go vibe's or a used rsa?

I really use the iems for the portability and thus far i love them. had the shure e3g's, returned them, and i am happy with the se530's just want something more. I know i will end up getting some headphones later...either that or some high end polk speakers. In that regard maybe i should get the pico amp so i can amp from usb to other headphones as well.....idk.

suggestions?

 

[davidr2287]

Ultimate Ears IEMS are known to have a good soundstage

 

[chef8489]

I am a RSA fanboy but from what I hear about the Pico it would be the way to go.

 

[Illidan]

I think unamp the SE530's are just fine. I haven't got a chance to try the SE530/Predator combo cuz i sold those iems before new amps out. All i can tell you is that the Hornet can definitely present a much better lows than unamped with SE530's but soundstage improvement are not quite noticeable imho.

 

[MD1032]

UM2's + amp

Phenomenal combination, IMO. And IME, amps make IEM's sound much better. My E3's in particular exhibit a night/day difference when I amp them. They just seem to come alive.

 

[stefanus]

I also has just bought se530 last week. It still in the "burned in" period right now. The bass is tighter everyday but this phone is "absolutely" not boomy. From what I know and feel fr$om se530 is, this is an analytical phone, rather "fun" means with just a little coloration in mid and bass, but its has not much "fun" for the type of people who prefers house music or trance or the boomy type of music.