[MusicallySilent]

I want clear mids and highs and tight punchy bass, I would also like good transparency

I listen to almost everything but metal and rap and especially love Electronic/Dance/Trance, Female Vocals, Classical, Instrumentals

Please only select from the following
Sennheiser CX300
Etymotic ER6
Etymotic ER6i
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3
Westone UM1
Shure E2 (not modded)

 

[Solodarn]

Mostly running from your shuffle or use in a variety of situations? In any case I like the sound of my ER6i, easy to drive with the shuffle, clear highs and mids and the bass is enough for me. Some claim that it is lacking, but I find it more then adequate, and accurate. I listen exclusively to vocal trance which is almost all female vocals and I find them to be great for it. I haven't heard the greatest of things of the super fi.3 and thats why I chose my etys when I bought them. You may want to check out the posts on the UM1 though. From the little bit I've seen around it might be a candidate for you, but I don't know anything of its sound signature.

 

[Funk-O-Meter]

IEM's are tough cause they all seem to lacking in some department to me until you get up to the real expensive ones (which I haven't heard cause they cost $600+) unlike headphones. But I'm an IEM guy all the way for portable listening. Check out my sig to see which ones I've heard. Right now I'm really diggin' on my Future Sonics Atrio's. Lots of others around here are as well. Strong super punchy bass, decent mids and OK highs unamped with no EQ. They don't really do it for me right out of the box without EQ but they respond very well to EQ and amping however so you can really get them sounding fan-farking-tastic if you have the right rig. Even with my 5gen iPod with it's horrible mostly useless EQ I found a setting that compliments them (lounge) and I'm pretty happy with them which has not been the case with any other IEM I've owned even at twice the price (UM-2 I'm looking at you). Honestly I'm not happy with any IEM without EQ. They all lack something to me.

So that's my current recommendation. Sorry to say it's not on your list. If you can give up the punchy bass then look no further than the Ety ER4's. They've got the best high end around and good mids but arn't punchy although they do have good bass extension. If you need mo' cheaper then I'd look into the Crossroads X3's.

 

[tstarn06]

x2 on the Atrios and/or the X3s. Two good choices, though far apart $$$-wise.

 

[Nandro]

I like the superfi myself. Having had the E2's the superfi's were in a different league. I now have the superfi 5's and love them. I had the 3's, and they were still better. I don't know if they have an EB version, but the 5's arent that expensive. Look around the classifieds. How much were you looking to spend?

 

[MusicallySilent]

I am sort of trying to keep it under 100 dollars...

The super.fi 5 is around 150 dollars 135 for white EBs
Shure e3s are around the same 135 dollar price point
ER4s are around 170 so they are completely out of question

Will i see a great improvment over say the Er6i or Super.fi 3 if i pay an extra 50 bucks for the EB or E3

 

[Claus-DK]

maybe you schould add d-JAYS to your list, but I am not totally sure because you taste in music are not the same as mine, I am more into rock and classic-rock...
But they are great with the likes of Dido and other female vocalist..

 

[Nandro]

I think the super fi EB's would be well worth the price. You'll get that tight bass. Heck, I am looking to dump mine as i use my SR-60's. I dont care how silly I look.