[Musicboy]

I have been using my Head-Direct RE-0 for three years now and I like their detailed and clear sound, but I have grown tired of their flat soundstage. Moreover, the RE-0's housing keeps breaking. To find a replacement, I auditioned the sennheiser IE8 and I instantly fell in love with the headphone-like soundstage they produce. I ended up not buying them, because they had too much overshadowing mid-bass for my taste. According to the reviews I have read, the JVC "Victor" FX700 has a deep soundstage and an out-of-the-head feel. The realistic timbre is also a nice quality, but what I don't like is that they lack isolation.  
 
To sum it up, what I am looking for is an universal IEM with:
 
 
- Deep, layered and wide soundstage  
   
- An out-of-the-head/ 3D feeling to it
 
- (if possible) Transparent and detailed sound
 
- (if possible) A realistic timbre.  
 
 
I am not into monstrous bass, but otherwise I don't care too much about the signature.  
 
 
Thanks

 

[Lukalop]

Have you looked into the IE800? I do not personally own them but in reviews it has been stated a number of times that the soundstage rivals a lot of high end headphones.

Like you, I am also looking for the same thing and so far the IE800 have ticked the box, however I do not deem them to be worthy of buying due to the non-detachable cable, where as the IE8 and additionally IE80 have this feature which really is a shame, the reasoning behind this being, and I quote directly from Sennheiser's CEO, 'the removal of the detachable cable allows for a much smaller earphone size.'

Although critics have said the IE800 lives up to its claims, it uses a dynamic driver. For better detail balanced armature drivers can provide pinpoint accuracy (although multiple may be required). It goes without saying the sound present is much faster than dynamic, purely meaning more detail can be extracted and actually presented rather than lost.

IEM's & CIEM's from the likes of Westone, Ultimate Ears, Unique Melody, JH Audio and many more provide these and the feedback on their flagship speakers has been astounding in terms of sound quality. In terms of soundstage though I am unsure of how these types perform, nonetheless rest assured they can produce astounding audio quality.