Looking at buying IEMs on the highend side
 

I've had quite a few different phones from Sony ex51 to V-moda Vibes. For my next phones I would like perfection below the custom line(yes I know UE 11's but their still to much). I've looked at Qjays, Shure SE530, Sleek SA6, UE triplfi 10 pro, and Atrio M5. Puts me in the $150-$300 range. I'm using a D2 and an i7 but I really want to stay away from an amp at this point. Anyone have any suggestions? Or any personal experience?

How soon are you going to need them?

Stay away from the SE530 if you don't want to use an amp. They hiss with any player, and their treble leaves a lot to be desired. They're the pickiest IEMs to pair with an amp/source I've ever had. Their midrange and precision is awesome, though.

q-Jays have awesome treble and decent mids, not quite enough bass, and a not so great soundstage. Soundstage can be fixed with Comply P-Version foamies, bass can be fixed with M3B/EQ to a certain extent.

The Super/Triple.Fi housing is terrible, the worst IEM housing ever conceived. The designers must never have seen a human ear in their life. Can't get more uncomfortable than that. Other than that, I guess the T.F sound good. I don't think my S.F sound overly good, but the T.F take it a step further in the UE10 direction.

The Sleek I haven't heard, but simple laws of physics tell me that a single armature cannot perform all that hype that surrounds them - no matter if you use "--" or "++++" for bass or treble. "Overpriced" comes to mind, considering the price/parts ratio.

The Atrio bass is excellent, their mids and soundstage too... their treble, clarity, and precision lacks in comparison with the armature stuff. They're probably the least fatiguing of the bunch.

Maybe Livewires or FreqShow would be another option?

I agree with you … I asked him question because freq is closed till January and I was thinking of recommending them, they really sound dam good across the board and have an excellent price/value attribute. I almost bought them over the ue11s only because the price/value. But I do not regret my choice :p as you well know ... The sleeks sounded very good to my ears for a single armature iem and I was impressed with their performance … but imho the sleeks are over priced.

Is that to say lacking in comparison to the multiple armature ones, or even the single armature? o.O

Thanks guys, I know I've beat you up with this question before so I appreciate all the help. Freqs look good but I really don't want to wait for them to quit playing grab ass and start making the donuts. Are the Freqshow custom?

What about the klipsch custom 3, westone um2, and the Senn ie7? Still like the Qjays but like you said live and on the review they have a few fixable issues. I know EnzoTen was looking for something perfect, what did he end up with?

Yes, freq’s are custom and I’m sure you’d be blown away w/the sq ... great price/value/preformance :)

It's kinda a "in the next few days thing" but I saw the FreqShow and they do look nice:) I'm visiting in Lexington, Kentucky or I'd be on IRC about this. It's really amazing that there are this many choices at this price point:D BTW with customs how do you get the molds done?

Armatures in general are "faster" and provide more clarity than dynamic drivers. But the do have their fair share of negative points as well, like not being able to reproduce the whole audible spectrum with just one armature, especially the bass. Good thing the UE11 has 4 armatures. ;)

Future Sonics advertises that their dynamic driver sounds "better" than multi-armature stuff with complicated crossovers... but that's of course not exactly true for all armature IEMs, and for all sound parameters taken into consideration.

Nevertheless, for a dynamic driver IEM I have yet to hear a better one than the Atrio.

Any good audiologist can make your ear impressions, should be between $25 to $40 … if you feel unsafe with any audiologist, ue has a good list of experienced audiologist nationally.

Edit: you might wana check this thread http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/f...t-page-283673/

Back to the work at hand have either of you heard anything about the klipsch custom 3, westone um2, and the Senn ie7? I've heard the Westones are nice but the Klipsch and the Senn's I haven't heard alot about.

Well, I did listen to the klipsch at canjam, I didn’t like the design and cable … so I’d rather not comment on my opinion, but you can read this thread here. I didn’t get a chance to audition the ie7s at the show, all they had were pictures and marketing hype about it and one pair of the ie6. I had to pass on listening to them as I ran out of time. You can read their marketing hype here. I can’t comment on the westone um2s at all :/ ... but would love to hear them.

Welcome back to our show it's a little thing called mod's on parade or trolls in paradise:D You didn't like the Klipsch, what just uncomfortable? What in tarnation is this crazy canjam thing? It sounds awesome(no pun intended):D

I have nothing of value to add

.......I just wanted at least one post to be made by a regular joe and not a mod or admin........:D

Actually, as WalkGood and dfkt can tell anyone, I am at the same position in space and time. I have debated back and forth between the Atrios and the Q Jays and have now taken steps to find an audiologist. I think I will be ordering the Freq shows in the new year.

I may have to get the impressions done when I come to Florida over the xmas break. Walkgood has sent me the adddress of a lady in Orlando that can do the deed...........................er................e m.........er.............fill my ear with silicone. ;)

Comfort wasn't an issue and impossible for me to comment on for the few minutes that I listened but I found the cable a little too thick for me, similar to the se530s and they seemed to have an ire microphonics issue. I am not sure if the microphonics that I heard were due to cable rubbing or something else. It’s been a while and I can not remember more details accurately.

You must have missed the thread o_O ... click here to see pics & read info *^*

I'm leaning towards the westone UM2's, read through about 6 reviews (god, I love ABI other sites have some pretty brutal reviews on headphones:D) Good thing we have trolls:) dfkt have you ever heard them? It's kind of between them and the Qjays, but the qjays don't really excite me all that much. They kind of seem like V-moda Vibes on steriods:D not that there's anything wrong with that.

The q-Jays and Vibes are as different as day and night, they're pretty much polar opposites in sound characteristics.

As for the Westones... better wait for the mythical UM3, which might (or might not) be released sometime this century. ;) Other than that I can't say anything about them - unfortunately they're the one brand that's missing from my IEM stash...

They've been around for quite awile. I hate waiting around for semi-fictional BS :D. Kind of like the D3 I'd still be waiting for. I'm gonna read some more on the UM2's. There's one guy I know who's had a pair and he said they were great. Thanks for all the input. Back to the endless reviews.:D

Sorry but I have to ask, how can you be so sure about the downsides of 1 armature in the SA6's? It would eliminate crossover issues (you can't even try to tell me that every single sound that comes out of SE530's or triple.fi's is coming from the armature inside that would be most ideal for that sound) and who's to say its one armature isn't better than any of the individual drivers in dual or triple (or quadruple but for $1150 it better not leave $180 universal any chance) driver IEMs? I do think it is a huge topic to argue over, and I don't think you should be talking about them when you've never listened to them.