No problem with you disagreeing, but I was just stating my own personal case, so also no reason to disagree or agree. I guess despite my somewhat insane buying and selling history (I usually recoup 80 percent of my initial cost), all I am saying is I am happy with a single high-end (cost-wise that is) phone, because I seldom used two when I had two in my collection (IE8 and W3).
You can say anything above $50 for portable phones is a luxury, but having two $300+ IEMs, to me, is beyond luxury, it's sort of a waste. Again, personal situation only, didn't mean to speak for anyone else (and I even noted that I understand that POV).
Also, my "beaters" are nowhere near $150 phones based on what I paid (which is part of the fun here, getting the best possible price for gear). I paid $94 for the new PFEs from a private seller via Amazon, and $35 for the ADDIEMs, used (but actually new, without the box). And the primary reason I keep the X10s is my wife, who uses headphones very sparingly, likes their tiny gels, so I agreed to keep them around for her (and use them myself now and again). They are $350 MSRP phones, but I paid $175 for them. I probably would have sold them a long time ago if she didn't like them so much.
Anyway, wasn't even trying to debate anything, just presenting my POV on owning more than a single pair of high-end IEMs. Of course, personal choice rules. But I am the opposite from you, in that I'd rather have one strong high-end pair of IEMs that I love, and a few less expensive sets for messing around. I am also one of those people who really enjoy finding low-budget, high-quality gear (a major fan of Class D amps, like the T-Amp, for example). But I do enjoy owning a single high-end pair of IEMs, which, in my case, were a gift from my wife at Xmas.
Hey, each to his/her own. If I could afford it, I'd have all the great stuff. I just can't. But the UM3X does sound interesting...
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Originally Posted by pdupiano /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'd disagree with tsarn, truth of the matter is if we all followed our budgets with regards to audio.... well lets just say a lot of threads here wouldn't exist.
That guy with the shure fetish, is certainly an example of someone who desperately tried to push too hard and just went onto the absurd. Kind of sad really to believe that you can drastically (note I said DRASTICALLY) change the way an iem sounds. And its very RARE that a mod will improve just one aspect of an iem and not degrade another. In the end, all mods have to deal with trade offs (Trade offs that designers took into account when designing the iems, for example the W3 with a far reaching highend sacrificing other aspects). So if someone claims that a mod will fix everything... well then either some developers and researchers need to get fired or we need to evaluate just how much we should blindly believe certain headfiers.
As far as luxury goes, a good deal of the stuff discussed in this forum is luxury based so I think using the word luxury with highend iems is a bit misleading. Plus Tsarn, you said it yourself you own a few beater pairs... but those beater pairs are approx 150 each. Buying a pair of se530's for 250 on the market or tft pro (do these even sell anymore?) for 250(?) isn't too much of a stretch from having say PFE (150), ne7m (60), koss plugs X 2 (30). I know a lot of headfiers who have spent well over 400 on lower end iems, friend of mine had Q-jays, pfe's, and er4p, and misc crap he's bought from radioshack and bestbuy.
I think having 2 different highend iem's aren't too bad especially if you're content switching back and forth between the two. All I'm saying is I'd rather have my se530 + X, over Se530 + 3 or so lower end iems that I wouldnt normally listen to. I guess you can make the argument that you'd rather use a beater pair while working out... but I mean .. thats a little odd since you buy iem's as portable alternatives to regular headphones. Beater pairs are there because you wanna try some colored sounding iems, or just want something different. At the moment the only lower end iem I have is a pair of monster turbines, I've sold off the others to afford a pair if IE8's which I sold off to buy a pair of hd650s. I also have a UM2 that might end up hitting the market soon so I can try out the Westone UM3X and have 2 highend iems again that I can switch between. But as it stands now, if the UM3x is too close to the se530's (sound sig wise) then I'd probably sell/trade the UM3x to try and recoup some of the losses (restocking fees suck, might as well sell here).
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