[VinegarBoy]

Hello,
I've been a member here for quite a while but never have posted (I think).

Definitely I'm not in the Audiophile category with tons of stuff. I am wanting to take it up a step or do from where I am.

I use a Sony XBA-H1, my Ety HF-5 is out of commission, and I have a set of Shure 215's with a bad cable. My source is iPhone 6, and my owned collection is not very big. 95% of the time I'm streaming Spotify.

I'm itching to move it up a notch and have decided a hybrid is the way I want to go. This Sony has really served me well, personally I prefer them over the Ety and the Shure.

I like the Sony XBA series, Dunu, T-Peos, and Fidue and have read about them extensively.

Here's my dilemma. Should I shoot for a flagship of one of the manufacturers above or buy a step or so down from the flagship and add a DAC/Amp?

I've seen the Cozoy Astrapi and it is supposed to blend well with iOS.

My other option would be send the HF-5 back to Ety, get my coupon code and buy the ER4 from them? The clarity from the Etys is legendary,

Somebody throw out opinions to me. Tired of beating myself to death over it and I want it to be over and done with.

Thanks

 

[cel4145]

I am not an Apple person, but I understand iPhone 6 should have decent sound. Put your money into IEMs. Get a dac/amp on down the road

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Get the best IEM that you can afford with as much money as you can muster, and just drive it with the iPhone6. IEMs have such a high sensitivity you won't squeeze out enough power to get into audible distortion range on an iDevice. My SGS3 just sucks and makes bass-boosted IEMs sound worse, but I just reduce the bass response using EQ rather than add an amp to clean it up (on the go anyway).