IEMs

Fritz Frigursson

Senior Member
Hey my dudes. I realized I really do not like my Bose/Beats/AudioTechnica/AKG/Sennheiser headphones while practising because the cables get in my way and BT headphones don't have as much volume as I'd like. I have tried out these headphones until now:

-AKG Earbuds (Came with Samsung S8)
-Audio Technica ATH M50X
-Beats Solo3 Wireless (My favourite pick)
-Bose QC25
-Sennheiser HD600 (Open Back)

I do not really enjoy playing with these on because either the sound is crap or the cable is too short for my phone. I think the solution here are not so expensive IEMs because they have longer cables, go behind the head so it doesn't mess up your sticks and are noise isolating (more volume and better ears).

So I have a budget of around 400 dollars max. I'd like to keep it a bit under 350 because I don't want to go full out, so if you've had experience with relatively cheap IEMs, please recommend me some because I haven't tried many.

I've done some research and some testing, here are some of them:

-Shure Se215
-Shure Se315
-Shure Se425
-Fender FXA 2

I like the look of the FXA2 the best since they are metallic blue (one of my faves). I do enjoy the sound of them but want something a bit better. I wouldn't get the SE215 since they don't sound very good nor the SE315 since they are too similar to the 215s.

Are there other brands or products I should try out?

Thanks in advance, Fritz_F
 
I've had the SE215s for a couple of years now and I'm quite happy with them. Even in a loud jam space I can hear everything in the mix that I need to, and if I need more isolation (only when recording) I'll throw a set of industrial ear defenders over top of them.

From what I understand the higher end Shures use the exact same design, but have better drivers in them.
 
If you go IEM you should have molds made for you. In my experience the isolation is more important than the drivers. If you don't want to spend the money on that then grab some Mee Audio M6 Pro and Comply tips for $50 and call it a day. They are every bit as good as my 215 and I ordered a second set for cycling.
 
Shure 215s are great. Use them weekly at church.

Don't really need much more unless you use them to mix tracks.
 
If you go IEM you should have molds made for you. In my experience the isolation is more important than the drivers. If you don't want to spend the money on that then grab some Mee Audio M6 Pro and Comply tips for $50 and call it a day. They are every bit as good as my 215 and I ordered a second set for cycling.

+1 for the cycling part. Ride on!


I guess I'll go try out the 215s a bit more.
 
+1 for the cycling part. Ride on!


I guess I'll go try out the 215s a bit more.

2 wheels for life man.

Do yourself a favor. Get the M6 Pros. I toured with the 215s, then custom fit iems, and then I grabbed some M6 for home use. The best way to go is custom iems. The level of isolation will be 10x better than any Shure product. If you are not willing to do that then grab the M6.
 
For $399 you can the UE4's from Ultimate ears, which is what I did. They even do the fitting for you. Best investment I ever made. I love those things.

I agree, the mold is more important than the amount of drivers and audio quality - which is the gateway to spending an obscene amount for these. In my case, I use it to monitor what's going on. These do sound good, but apparently, I don't need supersonic audio quality. I just need to know if I'm in tune with the rest of the band and I need to be able to hear the mix. The only downside with In-Ears: you can't hear anything from the outside. So in a band situation, everybody needs to be going into the mixing console so you can get an accurate picture of what's playing! That was surprising.
 
The Shures come with a number of different rubbery bits (olives?), in different sizes and textures of material. I was able to find a less isolating one amongs the several supplied which lets me hear the ambient sounds somewhat.
 
+1 for UE. I still use mine that I purchased in 2006.

The only downside with In-Ears: you can't hear anything from the outside. So in a band situation, everybody needs to be going into the mixing console so you can get an accurate picture of what's playing! That was surprising.

UE offers the ambient vent option for an extra $50, so that you can hear a bit of the sound around you. It's an extra hole in each bud, that you can close with plastic inserts, if you want, for really loud gigs. On a small club gig, I can usually just mix in vocals and kick to the IEMs. Snare, cymbals, guitar, and bass are usually loud enough on stage, that I can hear them through the ambient vent. The volume in my ears is much lower, overall, compared to using a floor monitor.

And the IEMs are my headphones for everyday use as well. I would encourage you to get a dual driver model for more balanced audio quality. The single drivers are fine for the stage, but the dual drivers will sound just as nice as quality, over-the-ear headphones, and you'll spend, what a hundred bucks more?

This is out of budget, but really you should wait until your budget grows a little. "Buy once, cry once."

Has anyone ever heard of anyone regretting their quality IEMs?
 
I've been using the 215's for years. I think they sound good. I had to change out the soft, foamy earpieces for the gray, more firm rubber-ish ones, they they isolate really well.
 
Alclair makes a custom fit 2 driver for $299. I have the 5 driver model and they are so nice. Like Bo said do yourself a favor and get a custom set. There is absolutely no comparison to a universal fit. I've used Shure and Westone universals. The soundstage, protection and isolation a custom fit gives makes music come alive!
 
Another one to consider is the iBasso IT01. Single multi layered graphene driver. The sound is awesome, very detailed resolution, excellent mids, nice treble and deep bass. High build quality and comes with a really high quality and strong detachable cable. This is all under 100 euros. If you're interested, you can find a 168 page thread on them at head-fi, they're very popular at the moment. They're comparable with iems at your maximum budget and some say beyond that. I'll be doing my future recordings using these. Here's some pics of mine. You could also consider their latest offering, the IT04.



 
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If you go IEM you should have molds made for you. In my experience the isolation is more important than the drivers. If you don't want to spend the money on that then grab some Mee Audio M6 Pro and Comply tips for $50 and call it a day. They are every bit as good as my 215 and I ordered a second set for cycling.

I've been using the standard M6's for a few years now. I started using them playing at church because I needed something right away that would block out enough sound while playing in the drum cage/booth. Now I continue to use them to practice at home and record. I'm sure I'll be blown away when I try something else, but it doesn't surprise me that someone else here recommends them.
 
+1 for UE. I still use mine that I purchased in 2006.



UE offers the ambient vent option for an extra $50, so that you can hear a bit of the sound around you. It's an extra hole in each bud, that you can close with plastic inserts, if you want, for really loud gigs. On a small club gig, I can usually just mix in vocals and kick to the IEMs. Snare, cymbals, guitar, and bass are usually loud enough on stage, that I can hear them through the ambient vent. The volume in my ears is much lower, overall, compared to using a floor monitor.

And the IEMs are my headphones for everyday use as well. I would encourage you to get a dual driver model for more balanced audio quality. The single drivers are fine for the stage, but the dual drivers will sound just as nice as quality, over-the-ear headphones, and you'll spend, what a hundred bucks more?

This is out of budget, but really you should wait until your budget grows a little. "Buy once, cry once."

Has anyone ever heard of anyone regretting their quality IEMs?

I should call UE and ask if I can have the vent's installed on my existing IEM's. They offered it to me in the beginning but I was thinking "no, I need the whole system sealed" - not knowing how sealed off you really are.
 
I should call UE and ask if I can have the vent's installed on my existing IEM's. They offered it to me in the beginning but I was thinking "no, I need the whole system sealed" - not knowing how sealed off you really are.

I don't think it's a possibility after the fact. They need to arrange the path inside the plastic molds beforehand. Couldn't hurt to ask, though.

I once asked if I could get new molds, because a piece had chipped off, but with the same electronics, and this was not possible, either. They did repair the molds, but this was possible because the damage was on the exterior.
 
I don't think it's a possibility after the fact. They need to arrange the path inside the plastic molds beforehand. Couldn't hurt to ask, though.

I once asked if I could get new molds, because a piece had chipped off, but with the same electronics, and this was not possible, either. They did repair the molds, but this was possible because the damage was on the exterior.

Yep, you’re right! UE sent me an email saying they couldn’t do it. They did use it as an opportunity to sell me a new set though ;)
 
Count me among the group satisfied using 215's. To be fair, I haven't tried any other, but I get what I need from my 215's.

In the original post, you mentioned that some of the models you weren't satisfied with due to the short cords. You can buy short headphone extension cables (6') for about $5 or so online. I use one for my on stage setup, as I don't want to get tied down too closely to the interface. I loop the cord from the monitors around my belt loop in back, and bring the extension cord to it. Keeps things better managed, at least for me.
 
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