[nejog]

As a complete noobie this is probably a stupid question but I am starting from scratch and I would really appreciate any advice I could get.

 

[rxc]

You can get an iMod with dock and a Xin Supermicro IV for that much I think.

 

[darkswordsman17]

What are you looking for exactly? What level of portability do you need, ultraportable (iPod shuffle), portable (nano, regular iPod, most players), or transportable (decent sized player with amp). Want video playback? Does that price include the headphones or just the player or also the amp and interconnect? What capacity do you need?

Knowing those can help a lot with what people recommend.

 

[nejog]

Fair comment!

I want the whole shooting match.

player, amp (if poss) and earphones.

Needs to be portable on a daily commute to and from London.

I listen to all sorts, from classical to rock and pop.

I'm looking for something as high quality as I can get for the money.

Is there any other info I can give to help advise?

 

[EFN]

More importantly, do you want the Kitchen Sink rig?

400 British Pounds is a lot of money and I take it you WILL want to have Kitchen Sink or Lunchbox rig.

If you search and read more in this forum, your choice will be limited to the two listed below - and don't fret over which one is better, ALL three will be utterly satisfying for any Portable Audiophile

The Lunchbox Rig1:
Red Wine Audio iMod 4G -> ALO or Qables IC -> RSA or Xin or Headamp Amps -> Custom IEMs

The Lunchbox Rig2:
Red Wine Audio iMod 5G -> ALO or Qables IC -> RSA or Xin or Headamp Amps -> Custom IEMs

The Kitchen Sink Rig:
iRiver IHP-140 or H140 -> Toslink Optical -> Headroom MicroDAC -> ALO or Qables IC -> HeadRoom MicroAMP -> Custom IEMs

 

[nejog]

Wow thanks, that is a lot more than I thought I could afford!

I guess I would be looking more lunchbox than Kitchen sink.

Could I really get all that for £400?

 

[MiG(TM)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nejog /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow thanks, that is a lot more than I thought I could afford! I guess I would be looking more lunchbox than Kitchen sink. Could I really get all that for £400?

No.

From what i know, the iMod is around £300 - £400 with the cable, the AMP is another £200 for an RSA, and £400 for Custom IEM's easily. The Shure E500's retail alone at £400 and they aren't even custom.

Guessing with £400, you need to be bargin hunting if your after a rig like the mentioned ones.

 

[milkpowder]

I think EFN was a bit overly excited about his lunchbox and kitchen sink rigs. All of them are all-out rigs that will cost you way over 400 quid.

First of all, is 400 quid the absolute maximum? Do you already have some portable audio player? The reason I ask is because at your price range, you're very close to being able to purchase a pair of top-end custom moulded IEMs, yet that would take up at least the whole of your budget.

If the answer to the first question is no and you're interested in custom IEMs, then please do a search on the following currently available IEMs:

Ultimate Ears UE10Pro
~500 quid plus import duties*, impressions and shipping of impressions. Order direct from ultimateears.com and not the UK dealers.

two-way, triple driver, hard acrylic mould


Ultimate Ears UE5c
~275 quid plus import duties*, impressions and shipping of impressions. Order direct from ultimateears.com and not the UK dealers.

two-way, dual driver, hard acrylic mould


Westone ES2
~500 quid (delivery incl.) plus impressions and shipping of impressions. Order from variphone.com the European Westone dealer. Alternatively, have someone order the ES2 (~325 quid plus import duties*, impressions and shipping of impressions) for you in the US since the Westone US will not deal with European customers (I've tried!).

two-way, dual driver, hard acrylic mould


ACS T2
~499 quid (all inclusive). Order from hearingprotection.co.uk

two-way, dual driver, soft silicone mould


Sensaphonics 2X-S
~375 quid plus import duties*, impressions and shipping of impressions. Order from sensaphonics.com

two-way, dual driver, soft silicone mould


Other potential candidates that will be entering the custom IEM stage are the UE11 ($1000) and the Westone Custom 3 (price unknown). If the prices seem a bit intimidating, than perhaps you should consider a universal IEM. There are numerous to choose from. My personal rule of thumb is to buy the best IEM and source you can afford, then spend the rest on amp, cable (in that order). No matter how good the amp/cable is, it is the source and IEM that makes the most difference.


Here are your top-tier universal IEMs:

Shure E500/SE530 $399

two-way, triple driver


Westone 3 $399

three-way, triple driver


Ultimate Ears Triple-Fi 10 Pro $399

two-way, triple driver


Etymotic ER4P/S $299

one-way, single driver


I quote retail prices for them all, but most of them can be had for significantly less (new) if you search hard enough (Head-Fi sponsor vendors, eBay, other vendors, etc...) eg ER4P for 90 quid, E500 for 170 quid. If you don't mind buying used, the prices are even lower. Use the Head-Fi FS forums. Apart from the Westone 3, which has yet to actually reach the hands of customers, the other three have each received numerous glowing reviews which you will easily be able to find using the search tool.


I'll leave the choice of DAP for others to comment on because I'm an Apple fanboy

I love their DAPs because they're gorgeous and so easy to use. Sound quality doesn't suck either (especially when you use the line-out into an amp or do a Red Wine iMod). Woops! See, I'm biased.


Last but not least, amping. Don't bother about amping. 'Nuff said. Spend money on DAP and IEMs first and worry about amping later when you have spare cash.


*[size=xx-small]The import duty rates are variable (can be 0% for certain goods, but I don't think it's 0% for headphones), but expect to pay at least 17.5% VAT calculated from [value + shipping + import duty]. There are ways around it, but I'd rather not discuss them in public.[/size]

 

[nejog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiG™ /img/forum/go_quote.gif No. From what i know, the iMod is around £300 - £400 with the cable, the AMP is another £200 for an RSA, and £400 for Custom IEM's easily. The Shure E500's retail alone at £400 and they aren't even custom. Guessing with £400, you need to be bargin hunting if your after a rig like the mentioned ones.

I thought it sounded a tad ambitious!

So the question remains what can you recommend for £400 or less?

I was thinking that the kenwood HD30GB9 and a set of UE 5Pro's would be about the mark but if anyone can improve on this....

 

[milkpowder]

I'm sorry I calculated incorrectly the price for the UE 5c. It's 275 quid. The UE 5Pro is 350 quid. Please note that you will have to get impressions from an audiologist and ship them over to UE in the US. If you're tight with your budget, you may want to consider these additional costs. My audiologist normally charges 50 quid for impressions, but because I ordered my ACS T2 through them, they waived the charges (in practice, ACS paid for my impressions). The problem with ordering through UK-based audiologists or companies is that the prices will be a lot higher. For example, the UE10Pro costs over 700 quid as opposed to 500 quid if you order through the UK distributor. That said, all the shipping, import duties will be paid for already.

 

[nejog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpowder /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm sorry I calculated incorrectly the price for the UE 5c. It's 275 quid. The UE 5Pro is 350 quid. Please note that you will have to get impressions from an audiologist and ship them over to UE in the US. If you're tight with your budget, you may want to consider these additional costs. My audiologist normally charges 50 quid for impressions, but because I ordered my ACS T2 through them, they waived the charges (in practice, ACS paid for my impressions). The problem with ordering through UK-based audiologists or companies is that the prices will be a lot higher. For example, the UE10Pro costs over 700 quid as opposed to 500 quid if you order through the UK distributor. That said, all the shipping, import duties will be paid for already.

Thanks for the advice but I need to include everything for £400 or less so I think that custom IEM's are a no-no.

 

[nejog]

So am I back to my original choice of:-

kenwood HD30GB9 and a set of UE 5Pro's.

Or can anyone improve on that?

 

[SONGsanmanwah]

For different sound sig you can replace the 5Pro with Etymotic ER4P or FutureSonics Atrio M5.

Added: An Ety fan myself but if you go for the latter, you'll have a case that fits your player like a glove too

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showpo...0&postcount=10

click on the top right link to see full thread

 

[3X0]

I'd suggest the ER4S (maybe the M5 if you can fit it in your budget overseas) as it is least likely to hiss with the Kenwood.

And What at EFN's post.. that's a lot more than £400.

 

[Veggie_Musician]

Westone UM2 plus Sony NW-A808 - should cost you about £320... you will get pretty good soundquallity with that!