[Techno Kid]

Earsonics SM2 which you can get through Amazon now for $199 and that's a great price for that IEM.  Great mids with smooth detailed highs and a good amount of bass along with an open soundstage.

 

[djvkool]

I've had the R-50s for over a month now and I'm not quite sure how I feel about them. I'd describe them as bass light, and extremely bright. Trumpets in my jazz songs often make me want to quickly pull my R-50s out of my ears! The highs are piercing! On Paramore's live album "The FInal Riot!" The Ss come through as an almost hissing sound and far too high-pitched. Now, all of what I have said above is in reference to my ATH-M50S, ATH-M35, home theatre system, and big Mackie speakers at school on which the album sounds good unlike the R-50s. The album is in FLAC, so the problem isn't because of lossy compression. I was going to write a full review, but they're already mentioned on Head-Fi and people seem to be slightly aware of them.

I don't think I would buy them again because of their ear-shattering highs.

Have a look at Klipsch X10, fast, tight, and big impact bass, detailed mids, and smooth, non-fatiguing treble

 

[nbohaychuk]

Quote:

That´s why i suggested Shure SE425, better body and less harsh highs.

The SE425 costs $300. The R-50 costs $120.00. I was never interested in the SE425 because of its price.

 

[nbohaychuk]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone, but I'm not looking for another IEM for a while. I'm ok with my R-50 and I now bought the ATH-M35 headphones mainly for portable use. I needed IEMs for in class, but I like full-sized headphones whenever I'm not in class.
 
In the future, I'll probably buy another nice IEM, but if I'm going to spend a considerable amount like $300.00, I don't want to get Shure because of the connector they use. I have read many reports that it will sometimes come disconnected while walking or moving which is why I didn't go with the SE215.

 

[nbohaychuk]

I said a few bad things about the R-50s, and now I am really starting to like them. They are horrible for most female vocals (Paramore), but are perfect for jazz (Miles Davis, John Coltrane, etc.) Their highs are piercing if I listen to Paramore, but their mids are perfect. I have mostly stopped listening to Paramore or any alternative rock because music these days generally isn't mixed well and I have been becoming more and more aware of this. It's quite obvious that the sound tech should have cut off Hayley's highs and it sounds like her mic wasn't even EQd in most of the albums. 
 
So in the end, listen to music that has been mixed well with these, otherwise you won't enjoy them. They are incredibly revealing.