[thwood3]

Hey, I've got a bunch of dynamic IEMs but they all seem to muddle the sound when things get busy (where there is a lot of simultaneous instruments playing). I don't really hear where my IE6s or S4s are any less prone to blurring sound than my marshmallows. Actually, I sometimes think the marshmallows are better on this score!
 
Anyone have recommendations for anything > $100 that doesn't muddle busy music passages? I like warm, laidback, bassy sound signature for mostly jazz. Does the Shure SE215 do a good job of keeping the instruments distinct? The Fisher Eterna? Is "warm" and "laid-back" incompatible with instrument separation? Do I need to encode at higher than 160kbps VBR WMA (Rhapsody subscription tracks) or 160kbps VBR MP3 (e-music downloads)?
 
That's a lot of questions. Just thought I'd pre-empt all of the "you need to specify"s.

 Thx for any input.

 

[mvw2]

Version 1 Fischer Eterna comes to mind, so yeah, you're on the right track there.  Fischer has brought back the popular version 1 and Bugdenaudio sells it for under $70.  If you want something warm yet well balanced with a dominant bass drive, it's an outstanding option.  At the $100 price point, products like the Sunrise Xcape and Hifiman RE-Zero come in as alternatives, but their gearing is more balanced, colder without that warm and bassy signature you're looking for.  This makes the Eterna the better option, and it is a very, very good option.  I'm a big fan.  Don't fool warm and laid back with a muddy sound.  It can be muddy if the driver is poorly controlled, the note too thick, etc.  The Eterna is not.  The Eterna sounds more like a BA based earphone than a dynamic, very clean, excellent separation but still giving a warm and bass driven signature.  Like Bugdenaudio's site says, it has a sound signature like the UM3X in terms of a bass dominant presentation, but it reminds me most of the SE530 more than anything else in terms of how it presents notes, very clean, separated.  If the Eterna had a downside, it would be clarity and overall level of detail.  It is laid back and doesn't focus on presenting a lot of micro detail.  At the same time, it's not overly smoothed, muddied, or anything either.  It's just really, really good, and it's just $70.

 

[henrylee]

RE0

 

[thwood3]

mvw2: Thanks for the input. I am on the hunt for the Eterna, the Eterna(l) hunt it seems... Where are these new rev.1 Eternas? Neither BugdenAudio nor GDAudioBase has them in stock. But thanks for your input. You describe just what I'm looking for. I just have to hope it comes back around at some point...
 
henrylee: I've owned the REO. It is indeed uncongested but its not warm at all. It reminds me of a good dinner entre that has been oversalted, in this case with too much treble. You can tell it would be really good if only all the elements were just in better balance. Too much of a good thing wrecks it (for me). Obviously, YMMV.