[boy2671]

Hi,
I was wondering if i should get new IEM's or a new Mp3 player since i hear that ipods have terrible playback. Anyway what IEM's would you recommend. I Listen to R&B mostly and my budget is about $250.
Thanks

 

[Sitruss]

That depends on which generation of iPod you have. For example, starting with the 2nd generation of iPod touch, the audio was updated and it has a relatively low static floor.

 

[ljokerl]

Always upgrade earphones phones first. The largest gains are to be had from a new set of earphones, followed by an upgrade in source material (e.g. 128kbps to 256/VBR), followed by source quality. A $250 investment in an IEM will do far more for you than a $150 source and $100 earphones. I'm not an Apple person but the iPods I've had (4/5/5.5G classics and a 4G Nano) were all quite competent, if not as full-featured as other players, in terms of playback.

In terms of specific recommendations, you'll probably need to be more specific in terms of what you're looking for and do quite a bit of research on your own. Average joe's top-tier thread may be a good starting point for reading.

 

[Bennyboy71]

iPods are fine and dandy mate, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And as for iems with them, don't think twice just do it - you telling me the producers of a commercial in-earphone are not going to be designing with their market in mind? Given that Apple devices account for a hefty slice of the portable pie, you can rest pretty well assured most iems, even up to the high end and beyond will sound ace on a stick when paired with an ipod of some sort. People who tell you different have elephant sized ears and listen to their music on things made in production runs of less than one. Brick sized things that run on uranium batteries that last 3 nanoseconds. And have displays in braille and instructions in martian. Etc.

 

[mark2410]

ipod hp out is on the whole fine, whats often why they are thought of as being crap is that usually most stuff on them is crappy low bit rate stuff played through even crappyer ibuds

anyway, any idea what kind of sound you want? bassy, V shaped etc etc

 

[Mad Max]

iPods aren't terrible, at least the latest ones aren't, and if you can't decide on some earphones to go with it, try the RE0.

 

[Napilopez]

Just reiterating what other have said. The most recent crop of iDevices I find actually have better audio then a lot of cheapo computers.

 

[Spud of Doom]

Have a look at some of Fischer Audio's product line perhaps. They have some good value for money in there.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/r...a-love-450772/

 

[d.g]

I dont think there is much wrong with an ipod's sound quality at all, whilst it may not be the "best" out there it is more than good enough for most, myself included.

I found my 6g classic drove some HD555's with nice results...

 

[boy2671]

Hmm for IEM's i was thinking something that has a lot of bass, but not overpower the rest of the audio. Are the Monster Turbine Pro Gold any good? The design looks awesome.

 

[Young Spade]

Yes the iPod sound is good. It would be fair though to let the OP know that there is "better" out there. At least something with an actual equalizer for one....

However if you spend some money on an amp and get a LoD cable you can get some adequate sound out of the player. They do sound a little thin though :/

 

[rawrster]

There's a bunch of reviews on the Golds. They could be good depending on what you want out of them. I would suggest looking at joker's iem review thread (in his sig) as well as looking at the link he posted on the top iem thread. There's a bunch of information here to look at.

 

[semisight]

Please, for your sake, don't ask anyone around here whether something is a waste of money. These people lost any sense of frugality a long time ago.

And average joe's top tier thread is a good place to start looking. You'd probably benefit from a strong vocal IEM with good bass.

 

[koonhua90]

^ +1.

 

[Young Spade]

Couple hundred on cables? That's not a lot

300 for a new pair of IEMs? That's not a lot

300 for a new amp? that's not a lot. My mentality is that if I need to get something, all I need to do is sell something that I already have and that x>300$ piece of equipment is in the bag.
For some reason though, I think 50 bucks for a classical set on ebay is too much lol.