[Janni]

Hi everyone,

I am new here and have read many posts over the last few days. I currently run with an 5th gen Ipod 30g into Shure e4c's. I listen to a wide variety of music, from Alternative to all types of Jazz to Classical. Mostly the latter two though. Overall I am reasonably happy with the sound, but it is not great (weaker on bass, spatial, decay/details and naturalness of instruments like piano). I rip with EAC and compress with highest qual var. bitrate mp3.

What should I do first for better sound:
- a dedicated portable amp (I understand Supermicro IV or Tomahawk/Hornet or Porta are good options)
- get custom ear moulds done (I do not have problem with them falling out, but they need some pushing back into place every 20min or so)
- change my IEMs?

Having my Ipod modd'ed is not an option as I am might well change away from it anytime soon (30g is just too little as I want to keep it all and synch with pc only every now and then).

Many thanks for your advice!
Johannes

 

[stewtheking]

I say get an amp. It gives you the most flexible upgrade for your current rig. Any of the amps you mention would be good choices.

 

[That dude]

For me I'd say get custom IEMs.
If you can't get a good seal on your earphones, they would sound bad. Custom moulds would be a waste of money since you'd end up using a custom IEM anyway.
Amps are a great upgrade but I think you should get your earphones sorted first.

That's my 2 cents worth.