[Walbaum]

I'm currently in the process of modding an old iPod mini into a serious 32GB player with line-out, and when I'm finished I'd like to pair it with some decent IEMs.

The music I listen to splits into two basic groups: “acoustic” (mainly classical and jazz) and “rock” (probably all major sub-genres, including metal). Therefore I decided to buy two pairs of earbuds to accompany my differing musical taste rather than one “universal” pair.

My budget for each pair can reach about $150 (since these will be my first IEMs, I would like to first get familiar with this type of phones before spending more money), but I would like to keep it as low as possible.

Which IEMs you think will suit me best? I'd greatly appreciate if you could provide me with recommendations of sets of two - I've already read the reviews of individual phones. What I'd like to know now is which of them will form the best dynamic duo. Thanks for help!

 

[navmau]

Acoustic - Etymotic ER-6i (<$70) or ER-4P (~$150)
Rock - Future Sonics Atrio (~$150).

 

[Spyro]

I think you are compromising your sound going that way. I listen to slower acoustic jazz guitar music, avant garde jazz, jazz fusion and rock and I find SE530 does it better than ANY IEM under $200 by a wide margin including Etys.

But if you were using a warm amp with a ER4S, the difference would be much closer.