[eltocliousus]

Looking to upgrade my own person pair of IEMs for a truly high-end universal IEM, customs need quite a bit of trouble to get them in your hands, I really enjoyed the IE80, Shure SE353 and the e-Q7s when I reviewed them for AB, however I'm looking for other alternatives that I may not have heard of, any recommendations are very much appreciated, possibly a more mid-centric IEM if possible.
 
Cheers!

 

[jasonb]

Heir Audio 4ai maybe...

 

[eltocliousus]

Jasonb, that looks like a great choice, and they are quite attractive indeed. I wonder how the 3.Ai's sound in comparison being the 4.Ai's younger sibling.

 

[faithguy19]

From my understanding the signature of the 3ai is pretty different from the 4ai.  I believe the 4ai will be closer to the sound signature of the B2.  Then again that is just a guess from what I have read.  I do not own either the 3ai or 4ai.  But I do own the B2.
 
 

 

[jasonb]

I remember reading in a review somebody had said that the 4ai is like the B2/DBA02/DBA02mkII/R-50/GR01/CK10 on steroids. Supposedly its somewhat similar to all the TWFK based dual armature IEM's but on steroids. The 4ai uses the TWFK for mids and highs and uses another different dual armature for bass. Same great mids, same great, but smoother highs, but with a better bass.
 
Honestly I have no desire to upgrade from my GR01, because for what I use it for, it is perfect. I wouldn't want any more or any less of anything. In my opinion it is absolutely perfect for rock, prog rock, and metal, and its even good for some of the electronic music. When I want more bass I just swap out for my dual dynamic driver Brookstones. For rock and metal the GR01 is just what i was looking for. The GR01 may actually be an upgrade from the B2, not a big one, but it's supposedly a slightly milder/warmer B2/DBA02. I've never heard the B2, so I cant say for sure.

 

[ZARIM]

The RE272, Sony EX7550, EX1000, Denon C400, GR10, UM3x, UE900 shows more midrange details in music.

 

[Techno Kid]

I know this is a bit old but I had to through my favorites in the mix which is of course the SM3 V2, BA200, e-Q5/e-Q7, RE262, Heaven IV and W4 in no particular order.  
 
When I first got into IEM's I wasn't big into mid-centric IEM's because I had never heard that signature before and they just didn't sound like what I was used to and that's why I sold my e-Q7 and SE425 (which I could through on the list) but the turning point which lead me to love them was the GR07 and R-50 which isn't even mid-centric.  Both were very balanced with the GR07 have a more forward mid over the R-50 and I really started to appreciate the sound.  So then I got the e-Q5 and RE262 and have never looked back.  Now with the SM3 I'm in mid-centric heaven, and to the people that think mid-centric IEM's aren't good for edm I totally disagree, they're especially good with progressive music that has a lot of melodies.