UE 18+ Pro (gen 2) is the best I’ve used from a subjective standpoint. It has the most life like sound and comprehensively so. It’s faults are mostly a limit of its era of hardware. There’s one below that I use far more often though. This is…less fun…than other options. It’s great for classical music and video games where the realism of the sound benefits the presentation more than others. But for everthing else, it’s oddly a more boring experience, very good, but boring.

I did pick up the Thiele Audio Monarch MKII with the idea that it could dethrone them, but they were mainly a lateral move and just different. There’s good selection of drivers and crossover setup. It covers the spectrum evenly and quite completely. The balance odd this IEM is quite good in body and energy thoroughout. The slightly bassy emphasis can be fun. The quality of sound is technically good. But I find the sound lacks some dynamics and punch (less effortless). It has high total output though, bit it perpetually sounds forever dynamically compressed, even with a lot of amp behind it. The high driver count and skill level of the engineers causes a unique problem of coherency. The blending of the drivers in the time domain is mismatched. They got levels set well but not time, and it messes with the sound some. It also makes for a blurrier sound stage. Both the one above and especially the one below highlight the shortcomings from this lapse in refinement. It’s a product that feels like it needs more polish (and MKIII came out, but I don’t know if any of this was fixed).

However, what I use most is the Shure SE846. This has for some time been my go-to IEM for general use. It has the best construction, most technical refinement, best highs, best level of detail, great imaging, excellent mids, and excellent bass for a BA driver setup, including doing very well for like end extension and especially body of note. This is the IEM I’d keep if I was forced to sell everything else I own. This is THE BRST engineered IEM I own, period, by a mile. There’s some limits of its age and strictly BA design, but it is exceptional for its hardware.

A speaker driver functions best with adequate power driving its magnetic motor. Too little power means poor control, distortion, and a brightening of tone at higher volumes (although all this still happens when ragin reaching the mechanical limits of the driver).

It’s mainly a question of if the source device supplies adequate power.

Power needed is also volume dependent. At quiet volumes you use very little power, but at medium to high volumes the driver motor may want more than the source device can offer.

From what I’ve found, most devices have a surprisingly low power output limit, and it’s rare that headphones get enough. I find this to be true even with small IEMs, let alone full sized cans.

90% IEM

7% amp

2% DAC

1% everything else.

Jing-jangle-wing-dangle

JVC HA-FDX1 when they’re offered again on Drop. That’s my go-to suggestion for something in the $200 range. It isn’t perfect, but it’s good and fun and very well balanced.

Unfortunately it’s been a long while since I’ve played in the budget space, so there’s tons of lower priced products I simply haven’t used.

Most reviews are barely anything. Very few people on this entire planet truly review to a level that’s actually useful.

I can’t say much about the Sennheisers. I haven’t used one since the IE8. I’ve never really been compelled to buy anything newer.

The SE846 is one of my favorite IEMs, and it’s technically brilliant. Age means nothing. Most of my favorite IEMs are a decade old.

Comfort is hit or miss based on ear shape. They’re not perfect for my ears either and rest some on my ear causing discomfort with time. You can play with tips to help adjust relative placement, but there’s only so much you can do.

If you want bass geared, take a look at the Sony IER-M9. It’s a nice IEM for a more drum and bass sound. I find the mids and highs a little recessed personally, and the quality of the treble doesn’t match the SE846. The IER-M9 is impactful and short on note, punchy, clean, but lacks some hefty/body. For example the SE846 has fuller bass notes which make strings sound fuller and more narural. But for drums, the IER-M9 is fun to listen to.

I also have some old UM3X IEMs. They were cool for their time but more for stage use than music and needs a lot of EQing for music. But it is another bass geared IEM that’s actually good for drums.

Tell you what, want to give them a listen? I’ll mail mine over and see what you think.

As an engineer, whatever performs best.

Sleep on something hard and wonder why it hurts???

If you’re looking for magic or medical advice, we have none. It seems…trivial.

15 years of IEMs, never an issue. It can be a lot of things. Climate, hygiene, local microbials of the region, and cleanliness and care of the IEM itself.