Newbie's IEM?

[Neusdoorn]

So, one of the main reasons I finally joined Head-Case (after reading here and the other place for ages) was that my friend asked me to help him find an IEM.

He's got a Christmas bonus and wants to spend a portion on an IEM that'll improve his bus ride into work. I'm wholly ignorant to portable audio (Barring my PX100 and XM5, which I only have because they're "transportable" with my laptop.) and thusly can't really make any good recommendations.

I came here because I don't want to be recommended whatever the flavor of the month is and then be told it's junk a month later.

As far as what I think he'd like:

Comfort's a must, as his bus ride isn't short.

Isolation's pretty important - For both shutting out ambient noise, and thusly not prompting him to turn up his iPod and damage his hearing.

Sound quality is important more to me than him, I think. He's coming from iBuds.

It needs to do well without an amplifier - Not exactly difficult to find in IEM-land, I imagine. This isn't actually set in stone, I may tell him to pick up one of those teeny Fiio amplifiers.

Lastly, price. The cheaper the better, but paying extra for durability beats buying a new pair in six months. Cheaply replaceable tips are a plus.

[Dusty Chalk]

Etymotic ER-6i meet everything but the comfort factor. True IEM's -- the kind you stick into the canal, rather than buds -- take some getting used to. I have had them in for an hour or so at a time, but yeah my ear feels kind of violated after that. But they excel in all the other areas so well -- isolation, sound quality, without an amp -- that I still recommend them. And you should be able to land them for less than $100 new, so if he decides to move on, it won't hurt too much.

[ojnihs]

I'd probably go with the er-6i as well. have to say, though, that my ears begin to feel shitty after about an hour and that's pretty much all i can take with IEMs. these days i heavily prefer my px100s.

[jinp6301]

Head-Direct RE-02

I much prefer these over the er-6is.

[Neusdoorn]

Nifty. Seems it's possible to land either for around $80 plus shipping.

I neglected to think about one criteria, but both meet it - They're not white. Ought to lower his chances of being mugged by crackheads looking to fence some iPods.

It's nice that both come with an assortment of tips, as well.

I guess deeper insertion means better isolation in many cases - It's likely a trade-off he's willing to make.

[catscratch]

The ER-6 isn't white only. There's a black model and there may be other colors. It's one of the smallest IEMs you can get your hands on, and is very low-profile if getting mugged is an issue.

It doesn't have gigantic bass though, so if that's the type of sound your friend is looking for, you should probably keep looking.

[Neusdoorn]

The ER-6 isn't white only. There's a black model and there may be other colors. It's one of the smallest IEMs you can get your hands on, and is very low-profile if getting mugged is an issue.

It doesn't have gigantic bass though, so if that's the type of sound your friend is looking for, you should probably keep looking.

I think you've misread a bit - I said both meet the criteria of being available in colors other than white.

I'm honestly not sure how important that is. I keep seeing alarmist reports when I check the morning news about people being mugged at bus stops, etcetera, simply because their white headphone cable was a give-away to the expensive DAP sitting in their pocket.

If I wanted to steal things to feed my crack addiction, I'd be mugging people regardless of their brand preference. Admittedly, black IEMs are tougher to spot, especially in the evening.

My friend's a bassist, so I'm fairly sure he's wanting realistic lower frequencies.

[Sherwood]

Flavor of the month or not, the westones are really comfy. If sound quality isn't a high priority, the um1 are a great set. I too am a bassist, and I loved my um1 before I left them on a plane and cheaped out on their replacement. I got mine used for $100 and that's pretty common. The um2 sound worlds better, and I haven't heard a production um3 to compare.

[Neusdoorn]

Sound quality's not a huge issue. He's got different audio priorities than I. He's got a $1600 Warwick bass, $1000 split between amp/cab, yet he's usually happy to listen to his 192 kbps MP3s through laptop speakers.

I checked out Westone's online store, UM1s presently retail for $110, so I gather they can be had for well under $100 used.

I've got a second conundrum: Do I shock him with how good headphones can sound, prompting him to begin collecting, buying amps and DACs, or merely present him with something a few tiers above iPod earbuds?

Angel versus devil indeed.

[catscratch]

Definitely go for shock therapy. The way I see it: how many of us actually regret spending this much on audio and would want to undo that first fateful moment when we heard really good sound?

Sure, it's an expensive road, but very worth it in my opinion.

[Dusty Chalk]

He probably already knows he can get better sound, and is opting not to. I mean, c'mon, he's a musician. What you're showing him is that one can get good sound relatively inexpensively, and that's the real gift.