The Ideal IEM Hunt

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TheBellJar

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Didn't want to hijack someone else's thread and in any case, dedicated threads get comparatively detailed responses. So would really appreciate some help.

What I need :

  • Should be detailed and be able to showcase all the strands of progressive/classical as they exist
  • At the same time, it should not lose the "fun" factor. Should be VERY engaging. Not recessed.
  • Wide soundstage with good depth, should be spacious
  • Imaging, one of the most important aspects.
  • Ample bass, not at the cost of anything else, not overpowering. But not non-existent either.
  • Negligible sibilance
  • Should have suffiecient quality on the lows to handle Post-Punk music.. Ian Curtis sort of vocals. Tight.

What I listen to:

  • Classical Rock - Led Zeppelin, The Who, Deep Purple
  • Classical Psychedelic Rock - Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, 13th Floor Elevators etc.
  • Progressive Psychedelic Rock - Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree
  • Post Punk - Joy Division, New Order
  • Metal - NOT death metal, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden
  • Grunge - MSP, Pearl Jam, Nirvana
  • Acoustic based Classical

What's the source:

Unamped Cowon D2, not willing to get an amp. Would like to keep it portable.

Budget

Willing to shell out upto 10K if it checks enough number of boxes.

Really impressed with the description of the DDM by esanthosh and looking at the DBA-02 as well but not sure what fits the bill perfectly.

Help from the resident audiophiles needed.
 
YEah, DBA and DDM suits your requirements. DBA02 has better imaging while, DDM has spacious soundstage and more bass quantity

DBA-02 , is more "ideal"...but some might find it bass light , its not bass light , just not for bass heads. where are you from? ..ask amarbir to whoom he has sold the DBA-2, you can audition them( if they are OK with it)

go through both the reviews by esantosh he has covered them nicely.
 
Best thing to do is , read read and just read reviews on IEM's u have narrowed down to .

Point more on the negatives of each , The one which has the least negatives to ur taste , go with that :)
 
And just because you haver a budget upto 10k dont make up your mind on spending the whole amount, I personally believe you can achieve audio nirvana with a decent pair in the less then 5k bracket too. I would recommend, visit treoo.com, try theh Jays or nakamichi. Been told to be very fun-ish with tight bass, nice soundstage and no siblance. If you want to buy something from here, try uditioning the M2, klipsch X 10/S4 and if you do want to buy something in the top league, theres always ie8/7. Peace.
 
anubhav2345 said:
DDM > DBA-02
Click to expand...
WOh ..woh.....wait THATS NOT TRUE!!! ...iits your preference.

just because they are available easily does not make them any thing lower than DDM . its all thakns to amarbir for offering them at a good competitive price.

In fact if i needed a universal , i would have grabbed DBA without a second thought ....even a 10K !! ..at 11K i would have PMed toxicdrift for CK10 (as CK10 has better build , signature is almost same)

IE8,TF10, both are good..but DBA02 , DDM lie in the same category ...its just that fischer audio and Raduis are new companies so they have to offer a better price than the well established firms

Finally if you prefer a balanced sound ...i can not stress enough on the DBA-02, if you want more bass get the DDM.
 
The Brainwavz seem to be a decent pair but nothing more.

Between the DDM and DBA-02, read the reviews of both. DBA-02 seems to be the logical choice but it's the way esanthosh described the listening experience and it seems to be the most engaging set out of the options. But questions about it's soundstage and "big"ness remain so.

TF10/IE8/IE7/UM3X/CK10 I would like to know more about. TF10's and the IE8's are bass centric? No? Think UM3x is the best out of the lot for this kind of music, Where to source it from? How much?

Want good build quality because I want the pair to last a few years so reluctant about anything Head-direct.

From Delhi so if I can audition any of these, please let me know.
 
UM3X/IE8/TF10/SM3/FX700 ...will cost you much more than 10K

IE8 can be said as bass centric but TF10's are not. ( have not listened to the IE8 so cant say for sure)

CK10 is almost the same in signature as DBA-02, about these two , i will ask you how much bass do you prefer...tell us the earphones.HPs that you have used and liked the bass. (to give an idaa how much bass do you want)

UM3X are very good, yeah they have flat frequency response and good build and great imaging. but still cant call them the best as there ae just oo many good IEM. But thats expensive territory, above 10 K.

HJE900 have good sound stage, DDM have as well ...if you are looking for sound stage these are good.
 
Maybe a good black friday deal will crop up? Heard that TF10's were there for 99$ last year.

Bass on the PL50 is enough. It's not about the quantity, it's the accuracy. It shouldn't be lost altogether an should definitely not overpower the finer and more subtle aspects of the music.

Considering the HJE as well. Haven't seen anyone on this forum having tried the CK10 or Ck110(?).

What is the deal with the warranties? What is covered, what isn't? How do you goa bout it? What is the normal lifetime I should be looking at for a 250$+ IEM.
 
DBA-02 will lose out on sound stage. It has a normal width, but good depth. It will not protect you from vocal sibilance present in the recording, unless you want to EQ it. It's presentation requires a bit getting used to. Every time I listen to other IEMs and then go back to DBA-02, I think "what do I see in them?", but it takes about five more minutes to start appreciating it again.

DDM could impress you out of the box or could confuse you with it's blended presentation. You will always think that it is going to be slouch on details; but if you manage to tune your head to it's way of presentation, you will find that it has all of them, just not artificially highlighted as a few others. Too much has been made of it's so called "fit issues" citing head-fi reviews. But, none of the few in India owning it have fit issues as far as I know. It's a shallow fit IEM, which won't allow deep insertion. Find the right tip for your ears. The V-Moda or UE tips from LostEarBuds work fine for me.

RE-252 is not a "fun" or "engaging" IEM. But, apart from it's fit issues, it is one of the best dynamic drivers around (check a few posts on head-fi). If your ears are shaped to fit RE-252, it would be one of the best options.

HJE900 is an engaging IEM. But, it's slightly "hot" treble and sometimes "too much" bass quantity (read my RE1 review post #3 for comparisons) could be a tad problematic at times. It's recessed mids are a dampener. But, I've not done the foam mod yet, which is supposed to take care of both recessed mids and treble. The build quality you seek for long lasting use is available with the Panas though. Besides, it's the only option with detachable cable, one of the first things to go wrong in an IEM.

Of the ones I've only read about.... RE-262 seems like a good bet. But, I'd still wait for the "honeymoon" period in head-fi to be over before judging them based on opinions.

On TF10, I'll buy with eyes closed if it's for $99, but I doubt if it will come up again for that price.

On CK10, DBA-02 is very similar to CK10. CK10 has great build quality, better 3D presentation with pin point imaging... but has a slightly hotter treble from what I read. Benny has auditioned it. So, read his opinion mentioned somewhere too!

@anubhav,

Nopes! DBA-02 is not "lesser" compared to DDM :). But strategy has already replied on that part.
 
Bass on the PL50 is enough.
Click to expand...

:O:O never thought i would hear that line in my life.

Dude IE8 are definately not for you in that case. Out of all my IEM( or i have tried) they(pl-50) had the least quantity of bass.

I suggest you to try TF10
 
Yeah as santosh said the TF10 at 99 was a great deal , once in a life time ..those who baught at that price consider themselves lucky as a god!!

you can wait till black friday , something might POP up!! ...i know i am waiting!
 
LOL i said it will never happen again !!

some other thing might go for 75%off its MRP on the blackfriday ...But not TF10 am 99.999% sure.
 
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