Suggestion: Good, travel-friendly portable gear

[jerr 0]

Hi, I'm quite new in this forum. I've rediscovered portable audio recently --have been more intent in home and car audio during the past year. As i find myself travelling a lot more now, I'm contemplating on getting some quality, travel-friendly portable gear. I've set aside my next weekend to audition a couple of stuffs from friends and shops:

IEMs:

-Shure E530

-Shure E500

-UE Triple.Fi pro

-Westone UM2

Amps:

-Xin Supermacro IV & Supermicro IV

-RS Hornet & Tomahawk (hoping to find an SR-71)

-Meier Corda Move

 

Given this, I'd like to get your impressions and suggestions which best gears to secure --that is, of which you've own/ed or listen to. Just want to get your take on the mentioned gears and probably some suggestions if I have missed any in my list --that I should give good consideration to.

 

To provide some perspective, I listen to mostly to jazz & blues (the likes of Jane Monheit, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Natalie Merchant). My current portable rig consists of: a Modded Ipod, Stax SR001MKII and Cardas 2x21 IC. From time to time, I switch the Stax set with a Meier Porta Corda-Grado SR225 combination. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy with how my rig sounds, my concern has been more of the bulkiness of the rig during my travels.

 

Looking forwards to your thoughts and responses. Thanks in advance!

 

Regards,

Jerry

 

PS. I may also be open to trade or sell my gears (except the Ipod & Cardas IC) for those items I've listed. You may just PM me directly if you have some deals in mind.

[loop_ 0]

If bulkiness is an issue you can consider the supermini IV. It's bigger than the supermicro IV but still credit card size, and it is considerably thinner. (the new Xin reference amp is also thin worth a listen I'd think)

 

I have mine with a modded ipod also and an ER4S. Sounds ok I still prefer my home rig by some distance but i'm happy considering the size. My supermini isn't the latest upgrade though so I expect it to sound better now.

 

In any case I don't know much about portable amps. This page should be useful hope it helps: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.p...portable+review

[tbln 0]

Of the IEMS that you have mentioned, the UM2 is the warmest sounding with full bass. Very forgiving of lesser recordings. Comfortable.

 

The Shure E500/530 improves on that with greater detail and more articulate bass. Also very comfortable.

 

The UE TF Pro has a livelier sound signature with less impactful bass than Shures. I found them the least comfortable to keep in my ears and wear. Your ears might be shaped differently.

 

If your criteria is sound quality, portability & convenience, this combination gets my vote:

 

Ipod -> Tomahawk -> Shure E500/530

 

There is great synergy between the E500 and Tomahawk and the small size coupled with long battery life makes it an obvious choice for me. The ability to run the amp with AAA batts is a bonus!

 

If you plan to run full sized headphones off the rig, the SR-71 and Xin SM get my vote. I have only experience with the earlier versions of the SM amps and base my recommendation on that.

 

With the SR-71, the rig becomes transportable rather than portable and the 9v battery consumption can be taxing. But the sound! That really lights my fire.

 

Try if you can before planting your hard earned money as not all ears hear the same way.

 

 

[gene83 0]

if you say that money is no object.

these are what i would recommend.

 

Triple.fi 10 pro - extremely well suited for jazz and classical or anything vocal, with adequate bass.

 

E530 - well rounded iem. more bass then the triple.fi but the mids and highs are not as pronounced. the highs are a little rolled off which you may or may not catch.

 

Hornet M - extremely versatile amp. able to drive low to high cans very well. but doesnt deal with hip hop or rap that well imho. very small, super portable battery life is good.

 

Tomahawk - sound signature very similar to hornet m. smaller then hornet. longer battery life than hornet. if you want to take long haul flights. get this 400 hours on a single battery. INSANE. only problem is that it is used to drive mainly iems and will struggle with higher impedance cans.

 

Meier MOVE - i heard this is the FOTM at head-fi. its a little big. and heavy. havent heard it but if what they say is true then it sounds better then the porta corda which is an amazing amp. i'd say this is a very big contender.

 

Xin Supermicro & Supermini - 4 or more months wait. get something else first and order this at the same time

[warsurferX 0]

The Meier Porta's a pretty decent amp. Can I suggest just buying a pair of IEMs? IEMs give you clarity but it's (IMHO) too linear sounding, unlike full size headphones.

[[J]-ohn 0]

The triple10pro comfort is a problem to me too but I've talk to some who are very comfortable with them, so maybe you should try them? Then based on the choice of IEM decide which amp to go for.

[jerr 0]

Many thanks for your responses. I completely agree that, at the end of the day, my decision should be based on how I'd enjoy the gear with the music I listen to.

 

@loop

I'm as well very interested with the Xin amps --small footprint, Huge Sound as they say. Very excited to hear a friend's supermacro & supermicro over the weekend. Not so excited though is the alleged waiting period to secure one.

 

@tbln

I will have a chance to try both RS Tomahawk with a Shure E500 this weekend. I will post my impressions then.

 

@gene83

Battery life is definitely a huge plus-factor during travels; that'll definitely play a factor in my decision process. As for the Meier Corda Move, interesting to hear how much better it can be as compared to the Porta Corda.

 

@warsurferX

Yup, I'll be bringing my Porta Corda along on my tests. Will take your advice, 'Won't fix what aint broke!"

 

@[J]-ohn

I'm getting mixed feedback in the comfort of the Triple.Fi pros. Will definitly give it a shot before I pass my own judgement.

 

Keep your responses coming. Really apprecite the kind words & the possible options.