Quick Comparison of 63 IEMs (Spreadsheet)
 

I made a preliminary list of all the IEMs I own (or have tested exhaustively), comparing major aspects, quality- and quantity-wise. Sorted in order of my personal current preference (best on top, worst on bottom):

http://img.elektrokrishna.com/images...3036692943.png

The list and ranking may change... but maybe it's useful to some of you guys.

And always remember: This is just my opinion, my experience with these IEMs, and your mileage may vary!

you forgot the price column :)

Added... :) Only the MSRP, you can find most of them cheaper if you look around. (Atrio = $130 on eBay, Vibes = $70 on Amazon, etc.)

We seem to share broadly similar tastes, interesting.

Awesome job as always! :D

dfkt:

Fascinating chart. Thanks a bunch. I'm a little surprised at your good for the Vibes under Microphonics, because I thought that there were a number of complaints about that on Head-Fi. But if you haven't experienced it, that's great.

Also, I don't like the term Bad for Isolation. Low may be better, as some people would prefer an IEM with less isolation (riding a bike, walking in the big city). I live in a small town. No bus/subway/train rides, so I don't give a toot about isolation. Of course, on my twice a year plane ride (round trip), I might like better isolation

I think it makes the MylarOne X3 stand out in price/perf!!

Steve

As always dfkt very useful spreadsheet, thanks! Now I’ll have to find a pair of MylarOne X3’s...;)

Official place to get them is here: http://www.jaben.net/shopping.html - $57, free shipping, marked down price on the parcel, so you're not going to pay customs/duty. ;)

Jaben is the biggest headphone store in Singapore, and "CrossRoads" is their own in-house brand, AFAIK.

I'm wearing the Vibes cables over my ears (like I do with all other IEMs, too), the cables even keep the bent form due to their stiffness. Microphonics certainly are no problem with the Vibes for me.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/image...-up-around.jpg

Yes, you're right - there is no "bad" for low isolating phones in certain surroundings. :)

Reworded the "isolation" and "bass-quantity" columns - and added a "clarity" column.

Nice! An overseas manufacturer who speaks my language! :D

Thanks for all da info dfkt, finally ordered mine this morning :), now I can’t wait to get my hands on them from all the reading I’ve been doing. :cool:

Respect Bredda

Cool Ray, I'm sure you won't regret it - they're in a whole other league, compared to the CX300's. And they have Y-cables, whee! :)

i dont see the E500's on that list of popular IEM's :p

These are just the ones I own in that list... I'm not a fan of the Shure sound, generally speaking. Neither am I a fan of the Etymotics, as you might have seen (got them from a friend). ;)

I might get an SE530 for a review, I'll post my impressions then. ;)

Thank you for the comparison.

I've always used the supplied IEM's or bought the convenient and cheap Sony wind-up headphones.

Then I tried the deluxe Sony ones, about the same price as the the one on your chart, and I was very disappointed (I immediately returned them to the store). I thought maybe spending more on an IEM was not worthwhile. I see now on your chart they are just bad overall, and it's not typical of good IEM's.

All this time I've been listening to good quality music on crappy earbuds! It's about time I upgrade. So I bought two pair of Crossroads MylarOne X3.

I look forward to enjoying them soon. Thanks again for your review!

FYI, Crossroads IEM's will be locally available in Europe starting end of July. The models will be slightly adapted (no more corny blue and red ends on the X3). Prices will be slightly higher though :( Still the best bang for the buck as far as I'm concerned.

Superb workmanship dfkt.

Sadly you have now given me the itch this time instead of JD, although looking above it looks as tho' Ray has already scratched his itch...:D

How do the Mylarone x3 compare with your referrence DT770 pro.

I am going to get one or the other, but I daren't stump for both;)

Mrs Varkie keeps a close eye on the spending, she needs a new bathroom.....is that needs or wants.........

Bathroom? We don't need no stinkin' bathroom! :D

Well, at least the comparison between a full sized can and an IEM is an easy one: you can't compare them. Of course the DT770 is a lot better sounding than the MylarOnes (or any other IEM, I dare to say), but it's the portability that's quite the opposite. They're totally different... but I never heard an IEM that comes close to a full sized can.

Easy choice, if it's between DT770 and MylarOnes. -- But Mrs. Varkie wouldn't notice if you get the £28,6 MylarOnes besides the DT770's, right? ;)

I like your thinking and you certainly speak my language.

I also have my eyes on some Kef Cresta 3 for my second system as I have blown the tweeter in my 25 year old NAD 2 speakers.


http://www.richersounds.com/showprod...KEF-CRESTA3CCH

I also fancy a new tuner and this one looks rather nice for the price

http://www.richersounds.com/showprod...-AZUR-340T-BLK

cool, just FYI E500 = SE530 and if you havent heard them please do, these are just awesome