What are some affordable IEM's most suitable for Deep/Tech House?

Apr 9, 2010 at 10:37 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 11

Mihai

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Hello, everyone! This is my first post on this forum..

First of all, I would like to let you know that I do not have much knowledge in regards to high end headphones/earphones/IEM's. I purchased my iPod Touch in 2008 (first generation, I believe) and have been using it ever since with the Apple earphones.

After losing my standard iPod earphones today, I made an impulsive and quite stupid decision to purchase the V-moda remix Remote (Nero) for $99 from the Apple retail store--without researching anything about it on the Internet. I am highly disappointed with my purchase and I intend to return this product as soon as possible.

Now, my main question is, what would be the best IEM that would match my "profile", as described below. I am going to give you some music-related information that I believe is crucial to me in choosing the best IEM:

1) I am absolutely devoted to a few particular electronic music sub-genres of house and techno-- Listening to music on average 6-8 hours per day (and probably around 3 hours on my iPod).

This is the order of my music preferences, starting with the most liked style. At least, this order of preference could not be completely accurate since my mood, state of mind and environment play a significant role in what I listen to. For instance, I'll be listening mostly to techno for a whole week and then mostly to deep or tech house in the following month. So here we go:

1) deep house, to be more specific, my musical taste for this particular genre ranges from mellow to high-energy tracks with progressive build-ups--both combined with melodic/ambient/disco/funk elements. On the other hand, I also listen to a lot of the more underground dark and dub sounding deep house with a much more steady bass line.

2) tech house Same preferences as with deep house, ranging from funky and more "housey" to a minimalistic, dark and/or repetitive style

3) techno dark, high quality bumping techno (Guy Gerber, Pan-Pot, etc.)

4) minimal techno Glitchy, I don't listen to it as often on my iPod even though glitchy minimal techno parties are among my favorites (Richie Hawtin, Magda, Troy Pierce, Ricardo Villalobos, to name a few).

I think an IEM that provides a high quality bass even when the volume is maxed.

The only problem is that I can't afford anything more than $100-120-- I live in the US btw. Perhaps my expectations are too high for such a low price. I'd appreciate to hear your suggestions, especially from you guys that are into the same genres. Thanks a lot!

Mihai
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Apr 9, 2010 at 3:03 PM Post #3 of 11
Panasonic HJE900 might do the trick. I also think the $50 Meelec M6's sound great with all subgenres of trance and electronica but they can't roll with the $100 big boys.
 
Apr 9, 2010 at 5:11 PM Post #6 of 11
Yup,

I will agree with Mark - How heavily discounted the older generation Denons are, they are one of the buys of the year...

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Apr 10, 2010 at 3:45 AM Post #7 of 11
I really appreciate all the suggestions. The C751 seems to be definitely what I'm looking for. Any opinions on the v-moda remix remote nero? Like I said, it is my first IEM and I bought yesterday from the Apple Store without thinking what I was doing. Personally, I am disappointed with the sound quality, especially the bass.

If you were to compare the V-Moda Remix Remote (Nero) with the C751, taking into consideration my musical preferences (house, techno, minimal), how much better would the C751 be in terms of sound quality?

Once again, thank you all for the replies!

-mihai
 
Apr 10, 2010 at 6:13 AM Post #8 of 11
The correct choice will depend upon the type of sound you're looking for. For example, are you specifically looking for bass or for treble or both. Do you want a full, enveloping presentation or something that's open, light, and crisp? I mean earphones present sound in many different ways. You have a specific sound presentation you're looking for, and one option will output that type of presentation. 50 other earphones will not, so you have to be careful in what you choose.

So, step one is what kind of sound are you looking for?
 
Apr 11, 2010 at 3:37 AM Post #10 of 11
Quote:

Originally Posted by mvw2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
So, step one is what kind of sound are you looking for?


I'm a huge fan of electronic dance music, but there are a few specific genres that I only listen to, as described in my original post of this thread. Unlike conventional music, house music in particular can stimulate all sorts of emotions in new ways for me, that's why I love it. I'm not gonna go into that subject since that would be off-topic and probably irrelevant to deciding which IEM to get.

To be honest, I am not an expert on the structure and/or the broad elements used in electronic music-- I'm also not very knowledgeable in terms of musical acoustics.

This makes it difficult for me to give you an exact or specific description of the sound I'm looking for. I'd say that a very well defined bass, even when the volume is maxed out is primarily what I want. Bass and treble go hand in hand in many tracks that I listen to, so clear highs are a must as well. I also prefer a combination of a melodious, smooth and at the same time, dissonant sound. Limited or no vocals at all.

So far, I've tried the new V-Moda Remix Remote and the Monster "Beats by Dr. Dre". Both were disappointing. At this point, the price range that I can afford is around $150-160.

Thanks for all the replies!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jajo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Nice to see another Deep House fan. I love it myself...

Anyways, I have been using Sennheiser IE8's for a little while now. They have kept me happy.



Same here!
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I also like tech house a lot. Unfortunately, I can't afford the IE8 even though I've heard great things about it.
 
Apr 13, 2010 at 7:19 AM Post #11 of 11
I'd recommend the Metro.Fi 170 for House. Very inexpensive but IMO sounded a lot better than the Beats Tours. They are also a bit more suited to House than the VModa Vibe -- not sure how the Vibe compares to your Remote. For about $40 this is very risk-free purchase.
 

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