[Arkham00]

Hi guys,
 
I'm quite new to this world, and I'm reading around this forum since some months. 
I've learned a lot of things and I think I made up a clear idea of what I need.
I came from sleek sa1 and sound magic PL30.
I liked very much the sleek that opened a new world to me, but the more my ears get used with it the more I feel that I need smtg better ... weird.
PL30 didn't impressed me very much and now I use it as a backup iem.
 
So I want to go toward high end monitors and try out an armature phone as well.
 
 
I narrowed my choice based on what I could read and what I need :
 
a detailed and clear sound, without losing naturality
 
I listen to a great variety of genres, mostly heavy metal, jazz, folk/celtic, electronic/techno and classical, so I also need something versatile.
Anyway atm I'm more in a classical/symphonic period and moreover I'm learning how to mix audio recordings, so I need to really listen to the original sound of a piece of music to understand the mixing differencies.
 
I came up with these 3 IEM :
 
- q-jays
- etymotic ER4S
- Audeo PFE 112
 
But it's very hard to choose.
 
My gear is a rockboxed 5 gen Ipod, and a FIIO E5 amp.
 
I'm very attracted by the ER4S since it seems it has the most analytic sound, but sometimes it seems that is too much, and I fear to loose the pleasure to listen my music, moreover it seems it isn't  a very comfortable iem and the cable is quite microphonic and very hard to manage. Is it really difficoult to wear it over the ear ?
I red that with a good setup (amp, lod etc...) we can have a more natural sound from it, in this case what can you suggest me ? 
 
Q-jays seems to be the good compromise, quite versatile but very detailed (men! 2 armatures! ), and very comfortable but I never red about its isolation quality, and this is important to me, I take every day a very noisy train to go to work.
 
Also, I see they are shipped with normal silicon tips and foam tips, I like very much the 2/3 flanged tips, and I don't know if the foam could be good for me, I only experienced the soundmagic foams and are very very bad to me, but maybe is because soundmagic is cheap... can I expect smtg better from different foams?
 
PFE also seems to be quite detailed and confortable, and I can't find any big pro and con for it, so maybe could it be the right choice ?

 
thank you guys 

 

[Pianist]

I would go with ER4 + a decent amp with bass boost, or I would save up a bit for the Hifiman RE252 or the upcoming RE262, or buy used from the forum if you can find one. RE-ZERO should also be considered as it is the cheapest of the bunch (only $99), but will perfectly competent with ER4 and q-jays. The RE252 and 262 should be a step above the others, but their sound is not for everyone - they may sound a bit too neutral and revealing for some people and apparently are very sensitive to source quality.
 
I do not recommend Phonak PFE - I think it seriously lacks micro detail/texture.

 

[sepinho]

Why not upgrade to the SA6? I love mine to death. I've never heard the SA1, but I would expect the SA6 to be a significant update.

 

[Pianist]

I think SA6 is also an excellent choice indeed, although I would personally get RE-ZERO or ER4 instead because I think that they are more technically capable IEMs. For best fit and best sound without requiring an amp/a good source, I would get the RE-ZERO. For the most detailed and accurate sound, but with a deeper, less comfortable fit and a need for a good source, I might choose the ER4 instead.

 

[Marcus_C]

If your budget will cope i'd go with the w2, isolation is high, microphonics don't exist, the sound is like a more realistic ety (to me anyway), it's super comfy and sounds great.

 

[Arkham00]

 
[size=medium]  [/size]
[size=medium] Thank you for your replies.[/size]
[size=medium]  [/size]
So in order, RE252 are not [size=medium]convincing[/size][size=medium] me, I red some not completely positive [/size][size=medium]review[/size][size=medium], and also I really want to try an armature  [/size]IEM
[size=medium]  [/size]
[size=medium] Sleek SA6: although I like the SA1 I had problems with the build quality, in few than  6 months I have had to replace twice the left earphone..[/size]
[size=medium]  [/size]
[size=medium]For [/size]westone[size=medium], I never red a review/description that really captured my interest, and after having read this ([/size][size=medium]http://www.headfonia.com/dual-drivers-q-jays-dba-02-ue700-westone-2-sf5pro-and-jh5pro/4/[/size][size=medium]) I [/size][size=medium]definitely[/size][size=medium] convinced myself to discard w2[/size]
[size=medium]  [/size]
[size=medium]Then, I red more impressions about the [/size]PFE[size=medium] and actually it seems that is not very detailed and also quite [/size][size=medium]sibilant[/size][size=medium] ...[/size]
[size=medium]  [/size]
[size=medium] So atm I have to choose between q-jays and etymotics ER4S[/size]

 

[mark2410]

id take the Q-Jays, they are really enjoyable and have a soul inlike the etys which are acurate but just never really feel alive to me.  the Q's arent as acurate in the highs especially but they are close enough and they are just more enjoyable.