I know some of you guys are very happy with your UE 10's and 11's, but those are well beyond my budget, and I don't think I'll ever be willing to spend that much.

So I've been thinking these days about giving a custom pair of IEMs a shot. I don't know what kind of exposure HC has compared to HF, but I figured I'd ask here first. Of the customs that are moderately priced, I only know of the LiveWires and the FreqShow (their highest model??). I know there's the UE 5 also, but I don't remember hearing much talk about them as everyone seems to just get the 10/11's.

hMm.. I listen to everything, so I'm looking for a good all arounder. As for headphones, I own a pair of AKG K701's (I know how you guys feel about this phone) and Grado RS-2's. The rest aren't worth mentioning. I enjoy the clarity of the K701's, and the speed of the RS-2's. I am not a fan of HD650's as I find no clarity in those phones. It could be the setup I listened to them in, but I much prefer the HD580/600's.

Any help would be appreciated.

Based on limited research and advice from others I don't think the top of the line Freq's are very desirable. Word is that they're simply too sensitive. If/when I sell my stat setup I'll finally be ordering a pair of The Freq of Natures.

Those are the ones most interesting to me, as well

Oh, I forgot to add. I thought the Shure E500's sounded horrible. I enjoy the im716's tremendously, especially at it's price. I also like Etymotic ER-4's.

I guess. =T I do want to try a pair of triple-fi 10 pro's pretty badly.

The Triple fi are very nice at doing bass ("big headphone"-sounding), but I found them too sibilant with almost all my Rock music. They have overemphasized lower treble, one of the reasons that lead me to sell them. The other reason was the terrible comfort I couldn't get used to.

If you want customs, and you like the ER4s, why not get custom tips for them? I may have an old pm somewhere on head-fi that has a detailed list of good choices. I'll check if you're interested.

With Freq being out of the picture for the time being does anyone here have experience with the Livewires product. Their webpage leaves a lot to be desired but they seem to be the next affordable custom IEM after the Freq lineup.

You should ask -=SARN=-

I'm interested in the Livewires as well, but 16 ohm worries me about too much hissssssssss.

I'm interested in the Livewires as well, but 16 ohm worries me about too much hissssssssss.

impedance adapters are easy peasy lemon squeezy

Hard investment considering I've never heard it before. =[

Hard investment considering I've never heard it before. =[

it's custom, how do you expect to hear it?

How much truth lies in the fact that an impedance adapter degrades a IEM's sound quality?

I suppose it would come down to the quality of resistor, but I wouldn't put much stock in it.

I'm not as much concerned about impedance as I am with sensitivity. Where are you guys finding specs for the Livewires? I must have missed them if they're on the site.

I read on several posts on HF, that the sensitivity is something like 125 dB/mW, so the Livewires will pick any hiss the source has.

My mistake, they are 22 ohm impedance, ~118-120 db sensitivity.

I'm not as much concerned about impedance as I am with sensitivity. Where are you guys finding specs for the Livewires? I must have missed them if they're on the site.

Finally someone hit the spot It's not the impedance what makes phones to reproduce electronics hissing, but the sensitivity. By adding a resistor you obvioulsy increase the impedance, but you're also decreasing the power delivered, hence decreasing the sensitivity.

In any case I wouldn't use any custom ear canal molds unless really forced to use hearing aids for becoming deaf.

Finally someone hit the spot It's not the impedance what makes phones to reproduce electronics hissing, but the sensitivity. By adding a resistor you obvioulsy increase the impedance, but you're also decreasing the power delivered, hence decreasing the sensitivity.

In any case I wouldn't use any custom ear canal molds unless really forced to use hearing aids for becoming deaf.

so would you rather I referred to it as a sensitivity adapter?

I know the science, I referred to it as an impedance adapter.

I was referring to Laxx's post saying the livewires would hiss for being 16 Ohms impedance

Oh, the head-case bunch have taught me that much, I just couldn't find an exact spec of the sensitivity. I was only able to find a post where someone posted the impedance of the Livewires.

I suggest the Stax SR-001 MkII with upgraded amp as killer portable solution. It sounds as good as the SR-003 out of my SRM-1, and with less midbass hump.

Oh, the head-case bunch have taught me that much, I just couldn't find an exact spec of the sensitivity. I was only able to find a post where someone posted the impedance of the Livewires.

Yeah, I can't find shit either. But for me it's not that big a deal really since odds are I'll be using them in an environment with so much ambient noise that the hiss will be the least of my worries.

I suggest the Stax SR-001 MkII with upgraded amp as killer portable solution. It sounds as good as the SR-003 out of my SRM-1, and with less midbass hump.

Yeah, that should be great on the tractor.

We're not looking for just any portable solution, the question is about custom IEMs.