shotgunshane’s IEM (custom and universal) recommendations, favorites and classics

I heard them at RMAF and was actually impressed. They were really solid for the price.

And they literally were the thing I thought sounded best regardless of price at the Final booth. Not because they're that amazing but because I thought the other stuff was horrible.

This thing: http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2016/10/tokyos-final-audio-in-house-and-out-of-time/

Was like 4000 dollars and terrible, the soundstage was large but nothing else was positive about it... They don't have tips either you just stick that metal in your ear.

Then their 4000 dollar planar magnetic over ear flagship was there too... Really just a joke compared to the other contenders in that price range. There was detail retrieval maybe on pay with like HD600 if that... The only possible excuse would be if the DAVE wasn't strong enough to power it, but I have no idea why the only amp they'd bring is a DAVE if that was true. To be honest I don't remember much else about it, just that I thought it sounded way too muddy for 4,000 dollars.

/rant
Those 50 dollar ones were seriously good though.

Edit:
@DigMe Yes those I'll update my link

 

That link is broken for me but I assume you’re talking about these things:

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2016/10/tokyos-final-audio-in-house-and-out-of-time/

 

Strange how they're not distinguishing them from their other iems except in price.

 

final e3000 and e2k are really good vfm e3k being more porta-pro like in as much its warm and downtilted but musical (coherent and tonally dense in the lower mids-mid bass), e2k is more tonally light, more U shaped but nothing extreme.

both are rather spacious but that's because they are semi open which makes them good office iems but less suited for the outside world.

 

Here's Lachlan's video review, in which he compares the Final E2000 and E3000 to the Zero Audio Tenores:



Made me order an E3000, to see whether the bass level can be lowered with a front vent mod. The rest of the FR seems very nice, so it's worth a try.
The stock E2000 has an overall flatter FR, but with a mid-bass hump. Unfortunately, the latter is almost impossible to get rid of via modding.

 

Anyone here bought the ety er3 series yet? looks interesting at $179

 

Anyone can kindly recommend an iEM for sleeping? I have gone through whole recommended list at 1st page on this thread snd not sure which one might be ideal for a nap....Preferably IEM with wire down instead of around the ear which irritate my skin behind the ear since ear gets pressed on pillow.

 

Great. I am not sure why I missed that. I will check it out. Thank you

 

Honestly as much asI love the best possible sound I just sleep with Monk+. I don’t want to block out sounds when I’m sleeping and they’re pretty unobtrusive.

 

I was just reading about the small size of the AAW Q, you might want to take a loook at that. Warning: I just came across it.


Meanwhile I'm still looking for a pair of IEMs that can replace my trusty TF10

 

Great idea. I do not have monk but have earbud made of steel and found that shaft part from driver cause pain when pressed on pillow. My daughter has monk earbud so I will try that. Thanks

 

I do sleep on my back mostly but there have been some times when I rolled on my side and it didn’t bother me.

 

I haven't had any issues with my Tenores which I've use on my daily commute for over a year now. They really don't do much if anything wrong considering their price.

 

Haven't tried them, but from the impressions available online, it seems that the Massdrop Plus might be good for sleeping. @shotgunshane should be able to comment on that...

 

i am actually keen to get one not for sleeping purpose but outdoor listening. It seems having a great fit and isolation on top of great sound... And it is one of IEM in your recommended list. Hope Massdrop do another drop soon. Thank you.

 

I just grabbed a pair of AAW Q as they are on sale like at - 70% for BF.

OH wait I think that's sold out.

 

HiFiMan RE400 might be another to consider - among the shortest of the cylinder-type cable-down format. I'm a sidie too and have fallen asleep with these, but despite the pinna-vs-cable thing I find the lower profile of over-the-top styles less obtrusive on the pillow.

If you're willing to give the latter type a try, something like the Mee Audio M6 would be a cheap experiment that reportedly sounds decent. But if you're going to buy the MD Plus anyway...