Image S4, 9396, 8320 shootout
Just got my new 9396 in the mail today. I must say, they are impressive for the money. The bass is a little heavy for my liking, by a few hairs, but very decent and compact IEM. That said, the clarity does not compare to the other two. The S4 is much more clear, and my God, the 8320s are by far and away the best.
Quick summary
9396: very powerful bass. Almost too powerful at times. Low end is heavy. That's not to say the mids and highs aren't there, but they get overpowered by the amount of bass there is. Get this IEM if you want a travel friendly IEM with lots of low end punch. Very cheap too. Good amount of isolation. This will sweep away all of the skull candies, stock earbuds, apple earpods, etc. Best part about this package is that they are easy to fit and sound decent.
S4: Clarity is great. Night and day difference with bass compared to 9396. Listening to them back to back it makes me feel as though the S4 bass is lacking. But the mids and highs show much more nicely.
8320: Value king, bar none. Has just the right amount of bass, clarity is unparalleled. I will leave the rest of my praise up to this thread, as you know how good it can be. Fitment is a problem, you will look like a dork, and they don't do well when traveling (although I think the rubber cord model will help this slightly). Isolation is also not as great, but sound is unbeatable.
But if you love music, don't subject yourself to subpar IEMs. Honestly, the S4 and 9396 are blown away by the 8320. That's not to say the other 2 suck. They are decent. But it's like comparing a BMW, Mercedes Benz, and Ferrari. All great cars, but you already know which is the best.
Bottom line: Should've went with my gut feeling and gotten the white 8320s (best sound, best finish, best cord). I've been spoiled by the sound quality and budget mid range IEMs no longer sound impressive to me.
What I've learned:
Not all IEMs sound their best under the same EQ settings. Every IEM has to be tweaked differently to get the best sound. And expect to tweak them. They won't sound great right out of the box.
That being said, it's not about how they sound stock. It's also not about how they sound tweaked. It's about whether or not the IEM can handle the tweaking. Messing around with the 9396 I noticed that the sound got more distorted the more I tried to "perfect" it by changing EQ settings. The 8320 on the other hand handles EQ tweaks very well. Distorting the sound is a little harder. It can handle "higher highs" and "lower lows" if you want them.
Now... how do I trade in my 9396s for the white 8320s again? (rhetorical question)