[kckc]

I've gone through 30 pairs of earphones but I have a hard time letting them go - Still currently have 12 with 2 more on the way. Although now that I'm saving up for customs, I feel like I won't need so many pairs in my possession at a time. 

There is only one that I have absolutely no plans on selling: JVC FX700
 
Ones that I intend on keeping but will sell if absolutely necessary: Westone 3 (LE), MDT
 
Cannot wait to get my hands on more earphones!

 

[proedros]

we are all doomed lol
 
No escape from IEM upgraditis

 

[lazuline]

Head-fi is POKEMON.
 
 

 

[Danneq]

I've never been interested in IEM:s. I do not like their intruding design. Instead I'm interested in other portable head-/earphones.
 
Right now I own:
 
Closed portable headphones:
Sennheiser HD25 1:II
Audio Technica ES7
 
Open portable headphones:
Sennheiser PX100 (2 pairs that I got for a really low price)
AKG K420
Jays V-Jays
 
Clip-on earphones:
Pioneer SE-EX9
Yuin G2A
 
Earbuds:
Audio Technica CM700TI
Yuin PK2
Yuin PK3
AKG K319
Sennheiser MX760
Sennheiser MX400
Sunrise AS-Feeling
 
I also own ATH M50, but only use them at home.
 
 
There are some phones that I'm interested in buying, so I am considering selling my V-Jays, a pair of PX100, Sennheiser MX760 and Sunrise AS-Feeling. It wont cover the cost of Audio Technica ES10, but at least I clear up a bit of space...

 

[rawrster]

Actually I think I've finally been able to settle on one and it's been like that for some time. I recently sold my 1964-T customs but i have not used that much in the last 7 months or so. My UM customs is my only earphone really although I do have the brainwavz m2 but i have not used that in 4 months or so and that is not for music but watching videos on my netbook before I sleep.
 
i do want a UE Reference Monitor but i am more focused on my headphone rig so won't be getting that this year or next most likely. My one custom is pretty satisfactory to my ears and pretty happy.

 

[Ultrazino]

I've settled on:
- Westone 4: great comfort, fairly flat, good amount of bass, slightly warm, good enough soundstage
- FX700: superb bass, incredible soundstage, good timbre, luxurious looks, open design
 
I'm missing *the* IEM for voices and "hifi neutrality." I'm hoping it will be the PFE 232. I quite fancy the build and the headset. I'm not interested in customs yet. (I tried UE-4 and JH-5.)

 

[cn11]

I'm not the type to hang onto everything just to have a large earphone collection. I try to be content with just a few on hand at any one time, mainly because I'm strictly after the best sound possible and once I find something new which becomes my favorite, it usually makes most of my other IEM's pretty unnecessary. For instance when I got the GR07's, I knew right away I preferred the sound to the Earsonics SM3. It became my main universal when isolation was needed. No reason to hang onto the SM3 'just because'. Currently I'm using/enjoying my still 'new-ish' FutureSonics MG6Pro customs, so I hardly use the GR07's. But I may keep them as a decent isolating universal for more casual use like in the winter when I ride my road bike indoors on rollers or something.... I really don't understand people who buy every piece of uber-pricey gear under the sun just to have it all, i.e. every custom in existence! I for one can't afford to do that, and it seems rather wasteful IMO. 
 
So my IEM/headphone stable looks like this:
- FutureSonics MG6Pro
- GR07
- EX1000 (actually contemplating selling them since they're not really getting used after getting the customs)
- IE8 (wife's earphone of choice)
- Ultrasone Pro 900

 

[ClieOS]

The truth being told, I am at the point of my life where I don't need the best of headphone to enjoy my music. A simple iBud will do it for me, as I am not looking for the greatest of the greatest to justify music enjoyment. To me, listen to different headphone is to enrich the journey, but not to find a destination. I came to HF with one hobby (to enjoy music with good quality headphone / gear), now I have two (enjoy music, and enjoy good quality headphone / gear).

 

[ZARIM]

I think most audiophiles not setteled on one pair of headphones(universal IEMs) because It's more related to the mood and music genres. But highend custom IEMs like JH13Pro, ES5, UERM, UM Miracle sound so superb and most users will satisfy with one pair.

 

[mvw2]

I do enjoy seeking the next better thing, because I do believe there is likely something more fitting to my tastes than what I already have.  
 
I do tend to see the ability to scale down my ownership to one or just a few comes about from finding products that offer me either the most comprehensive package.  To get to one, I think one needs to be able to accept and settle on the one best fit despite not being perfect everywhere.  For myself, I've found this to be Ortofon's e-Q7.  To my ears it offers enough of the right parts to be very good and work across a broad spectrum of genres.  It offers balance, dynamics, texturing, moderate detail, and all the things I seek.  I certainly don't see it as king though.  I can look at other earphones that offer more in any one area.  It isn't the king of everything.  However, it is a jack of all trades which is something that can allow one to become content with as a solo device.  It's something that does everything well and works well with everything.  I think that is the key to being able to step down to just one.
 
Yet, we always enjoy speciality, products that offer us unique sounds, exceptional capabilities in certain areas, and we always still seek that next better thing.  In this sense, I think we are bound to an ever changing array of personal hardware as we cycle through what's out there.  We certain end up with some particular favorites that at the very least show us some aspects of best or ideal even if the total package isn't perfect.  There are also a slew of holistically very good earphones out there, each just tailored slightly different from each other to suit varying personal needs.  There are certainly many earphones I view as on par with each other, just different, as well as many earphones that are very near my preference that fight in very tough competition.  I tend to keep such close performers unless I can unequivocally pick one over the other.  That's very tough to do unless I can say X is better than Y, and that's hard to do with a lot of these.  You end up with a lot of very good products on equal ground and with gearing quite similar to each other or at least geared very near your preferences.