[oldschool]

I am thinking of selling my ER4P. Looking to select a similar quality IEM for listening to metal / rock. I will be using it with my HiFiMAN 602.
 
My requirements are:
 

• No more than $300. And that's a stretch.
• Comparable in detail to ER4P
• More bass quantity, but don't want to compromise on quality, too. ER4P had awesome bass quality and I liked that.
• Not too high impedance, not too low sensitivity. Some of my recording are pretty old and low in recorded volume, so I need high volume output.
• Fit is important. Would prefer ear-down wear. Never tried over the ear, seems a bit of a hassle to me. I could still try it, though.

 
I was recently looking at CK10 / DBA-02 / SM3 / UM3X. Suggestions are welcome

 

[oldschool]

anyone?

 

[buffalowings]

 over the ear is practically the only way to go when using IEMs on the go, also, some of the phones you listed are really designed to be solely worn that way (sm3, um3x) anywho, ck10's are very treble oriented phones, and the DBA-02's are hailed as a bassier version of the ck10's (though they are out of stock virtually everywhere) I would wait until the brainwavz version comes out

 

[Bennyboy71]

That's complete nonsense. Wearing down is easy and I much prefer it to over the ear. I commute by combination of train and walking and never had any problems with wearing iems down.
 
to the OP - In terms of upgrades to ER4P, you'll struggle to find an iem with the same levels of detail retrieval, but if you are prepared to sacrifice that a little, I'll throw you a curveball and suggest the dynamic driver RE252.  It is neutral, low impedence (unlike the better but 150ohm RE262) and easily within your budget, especially if bought used. It offer more bass than the Etys, a much bigger soundstage and is a supremely capable iem that I preferred to the CK10 and SM3.
 
Just a thought.
 
Quote:

 over the ear is practically the only way to go when using IEMs on the go

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

That's complete nonsense. Wearing down is easy and I much prefer it to over the ear. I commute by combination of train and walking and never had any problems with wearing iems down.
 
to the OP - In terms of upgrades to ER4P, you'll struggle to find an iem with the same levels of detail retrieval, but if you are prepared to sacrifice that a little, I'll throw you a curveball and suggest the dynamic driver RE252.  It is neutral, low impedence (unlike the better but 150ohm RE262) and easily within your budget, especially if bought used. It offer more bass than the Etys, a much bigger soundstage and is a supremely capable iem that I preferred to the CK10 and SM3.
 
Just a thought.
 
Quote:

 over the ear is practically the only way to go when using IEMs on the go

 

that depends on the cable as well, personally, I can't stand microphonics

 

[Bennyboy71]

People who moan about microphonics are too sensitive for this world.
Quote:

Quote:

That's complete nonsense. Wearing down is easy and I much prefer it to over the ear. I commute by combination of train and walking and never had any problems with wearing iems down.
 
to the OP - In terms of upgrades to ER4P, you'll struggle to find an iem with the same levels of detail retrieval, but if you are prepared to sacrifice that a little, I'll throw you a curveball and suggest the dynamic driver RE252.  It is neutral, low impedence (unlike the better but 150ohm RE262) and easily within your budget, especially if bought used. It offer more bass than the Etys, a much bigger soundstage and is a supremely capable iem that I preferred to the CK10 and SM3.
 
Just a thought.
 
Quote:

 over the ear is practically the only way to go when using IEMs on the go

 

that depends on the cable as well, personally, I can't stand microphonics

 

[oldschool]

Hm, haven't considered the 252. I had the 262 for a while and liked the sound, but sold it because of its high impedance. Didn't try it with the HiFiMAN 602, though, so not sure if it can power it adequately.

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

People who moan about microphonics are too sensitive for this world.
Quote:

Quote:

That's complete nonsense. Wearing down is easy and I much prefer it to over the ear. I commute by combination of train and walking and never had any problems with wearing iems down.
 
to the OP - In terms of upgrades to ER4P, you'll struggle to find an iem with the same levels of detail retrieval, but if you are prepared to sacrifice that a little, I'll throw you a curveball and suggest the dynamic driver RE252.  It is neutral, low impedence (unlike the better but 150ohm RE262) and easily within your budget, especially if bought used. It offer more bass than the Etys, a much bigger soundstage and is a supremely capable iem that I preferred to the CK10 and SM3.
 
Just a thought.
 
Quote:

 over the ear is practically the only way to go when using IEMs on the go

 

that depends on the cable as well, personally, I can't stand microphonics

 

sorry, I wasn't moaning...just groaning

 

[Chime Bells]

As far as I know, Hifiman can drive all sorts of big over-the-ear headphones with as much as 300ohms. Impedence won't be an issue.
 
I would suggest TF10, a good bargain with awesome performance.

 

[oldschool]

Quote:

As far as I know, Hifiman can drive all sorts of big over-the-ear headphones with as much as 300ohms. Impedence won't be an issue.
 
I would suggest TF10, a good bargain with awesome performance.

TF10 seemed to be the big thing back in 2008, but I wonder how they fare today.. The fit is also something that concerns me.

 

[rroseperry]

Quote:

Quote:

As far as I know, Hifiman can drive all sorts of big over-the-ear headphones with as much as 300ohms. Impedence won't be an issue.
 
I would suggest TF10, a good bargain with awesome performance.

TF10 seemed to be the big thing back in 2008, but I wonder how they fare today.. The fit is also something that concerns me.

If you prefer the ER4P (or any ety sound), you may not like the TF10s. 
 
I love them myself, and I sold my ER4Ps.

 

[mvw2]

Quote:

and the DBA-02's are hailed as a bassier version of the ck10's

Rather the opposite.  The DBA-02 is quite lean on the low end and does so even in the lower midrange.  The CK10 is significantly better filled out on the low end, not only in sensitivity but also note presence.  The DBA-02 has a very aggressive treble range, although the frequency response is flat.  The CK10's treble isn't specifically more aggressive than the lower end, but the sensitive does have a rather large peak that needs to be addressed (at the very least with foam tips like Comply T-400/T-500).  The DBA-02 and CK10 are moderately different sounding earphones.  I could say they have different goals in mind.  Once EQed, the CK10 is probably one of the most "correct" earphones I've used.  When looking at all aspects of sound, the CK10 does a lot of things right.  It isn't exactly my favorite earphone though, but it does a heck of a lot of things right.  I was a bit less impressed with the DBA-02.  At the end of the day, there's a wide slew of products I'd rather use, the $100 RE-ZERO or Custom 3 for example.
 
I'm just going to toss out the RE252 as an option.  Aside from the ER4S, it's one of the few other earphones I've used that I view as a "reference" product.  It is extremely good, one of the more balanced earphones on the market, and is priced well to boot, especially on the used market($140 is a pretty common price point).  I do heavily suggest investing in Comply T-500 tips for it though.  Fitment is...hard...with the stock tips since you're both placing the tip in the canal AND the earphone housing into the outer ear area.  You need the compliance with the tip to get the housing to fit comfortably.  The Comply tip makes this a lot easier.  I typically squish the foam back to the nozzle and It ends up being more about having the tip seal over the entrance of the canal then actually in the canal.  The foam could be trimmed back towards the plastic core of the Comply too as needed, as long as it still makes a seal.  The seal is important for bass response, as with any IEM.  The RE252 is a low ohm earphone and easy to drive. 
 
With most wear down earphones, microphonics are so-so at best.  This is why over-ear is very popular.

 

[Young Spade]

Westone 3?

 

[Color Theory]

I'm guessing you've tried the adapter to "convert" the 4P into the 4S? Looking at the charts, it's not technically more bass, but it sounds SO much better!