I made the switch to fully portable, geesh…, almost 8 years ago now. I decided that being able to carry my music with me, no muss no fuss, from my upstairs office, to my kitchen island, to my front porch, to the backyard deck, hooking up my dog to his leash and going for a walk, etc., etc. is more important to me that ultimate sound quality.
Yes, even after all this time, I still prefer the sound of headphones (well, speakers in a properly treated room, but that’s an entirely different conversation). However, I just don’t miss the weight, clamping force, hot/sweaty ears. And I just don’t want to worry about buying portable gear that can drive full-size cans in any event.
IEMs have come a long way since I made that move; sold a bunch of stuff, played at ascending to the “summit” of portable, but decided that there were too many tradeoffs in terms of sound quality to price (still believe that, but the piss poor ratio has improved greatly over the years). I don’t play in that realm anymore, and frankly, am very cool with that.
I prefer headphones to IEMs mostly, though in recent times the gap has been closing… I will always prefer headphones for comfort. With my recent purchase of the fourte noir the performance gap has defintely strunk, enjoyment factor is closer than before as well. My headphone rig still inches it out but mostly due to source gear i beleve, as my desktop setup is vastly superior to my portable rig in that regard.
I do enjoy the headphone experience a bit more than the IEM which also attributes to my preference. I enjoy sitting down at my desk and plugging my expensive headphones into my even more expensive tube amp and just getting lost in the music. Likewise i also enjoy having the option to relocate to another part of my house, maybe the couch in the den near the rest of the family and still enjoy music while not being disturbed with whatever else is hapening in the room. Both of these experiences are great to me.
I feel really detached from the music with headphones. They are compromised speakers or compromised IEMs, not providing the saturated experience of either. This is a hug pro for some, but for me it’s more of a compromise of either.
Speakers escape the problem that even though the drivers are the farthest away of all 3 presentations (speakers/headphones/IEMs) the sound they project is so large and natural that the problem of detachment is basically eliminated, for me anyway.
IEMs are on the other extreme of the spectrum where sound just happens immediately inside your brain with virtually no traverse through air. This can be blissfully immersive or annoyingly intrusive depending on who you ask.
I am definitely an IEM person. I have tried many TOTL IEMs and headphones and gravitate towards headphones. Regarding sound, I really like the more immersive and intimate sound of IEMs. I find them to generally be more engaging. Very few headphones I get that wow factor as much as I do with IEMs and I have tried many highly regarded high end headphones.
Another reason others have mentioned is comfort. I have custom IEMs so comfort is great, but even in general with universal IEMs, they are also really comfortable. I care a lot about weight and issue when going higher end with headphones is they generally get heavier. If I were to wear a headphone, I prefer to have <350g, but most high end headphones are >450g. Also being someone who owns glasses, having heavy headphones press up against your glasses is not the best feeling.
Ever since getting into IEM’s, I’ve had a harder time enjoying headphones. I blame the multi-driver hybrids and tribrids for having dedicated drivers for each portion of the frequency range, and their isolation being put directly and snuggly into the ear canal.
There’s generally more opportunities with top IEMs to have clarity across the tuning without sacrificing as a much as many headphones. You have to spend a lot of money to get headphones that feel as good to me on many less expensive IEM’s.
I’ve been using iems exclusively in the warmer months and only pull out my full size cans in the Winter. But there’s something more intimate with the way an iem presents the music and I don’t feel like I’m missing anything with even low price iems vs headphones. Also as mentioned the price to performance ratio with iems DESTROYS headphones.
For me I find iems to be a lot easier to use I terms of powering and location you can use them! But my absolute favorite headphone/Iem
was the Hifiman Arya the had something I haven’t got from any other headphones but they are open so need good conditions for ultimate use! But now I use Fir audio M4 and they are not far of the Arya and beats most other headphones I’ll used in the past and easy to use I’m staying an IEM guy!
It’s nice to see that for many people IEMs and headphones have become almost interchangeable in terms of enjoyment (sound wise). I too have basically been able to accept one over the other depending on the specific iem or specific headphone. The one problem with IEMs that I stil do have however is that most of them still have sus tuning. Mostly v shape or something else. But when you do find stuff that breaks that mold it’s magnificent. And of course headphones have their own issues as well like being in a weird place between speakers and IEMs. But that’s also personal preference. All I know is that in my top 5 sound producing devices I definitely had both IEMs and headphones there. And of course speakers but speakers can’t be compared since they recreate the space mroe accurately while IEMs and headphones do their own thing
I will say tho that IEMs recreate music right where your thoughts usually live which I really really really like
If I had a speaker setup, I would agree with @Ohmboy (speakers>IEMs>headphones)
Otherwise, as is, I prefer IEMs for daily use over headphones. I usually only take headphones for some serious music listening. I just find IEMs much more convenient and cozy. Especially with the standard over-ear design of IEMs, it’s quick & easy to put them in and take them out. Once you are finished, you can just roll them up and put them aside. For headphones it takes a bit more effort. However, for IEMs, you must find a perfect fitting IEM, otherwise you will experience ear irritation, or even worse, ear infections!
I think each one (headphones, speakers, IEMs) has its cons and benefits. Each one is a unique, one-off experience.
That’s honestly a pretty tough one. From a pure comfort point, no. Headphones are just far more comfortable for me to wear for extended periods of time. Sound wise? It depends on what kind of mood I’m in, and what I want to listen to. I’m finding that there are some things that I prefer to listen to with headphones, and other things I prefer with IEMs. Now for convenience, of course IEMs win, no question. It might be a different matter if I could stand on-ears, but I can’t.
HP’s suck, they make my big ears hot and uncomfortable during any extended listening sessions, all of them, see my profile i own 1or2. I can deal w/ them for shorter listening sessions and i really enjoy what they are capable of, i simply have not found anything that i enjoy having wrapped around my ears for too long.
I tried IEM’s to see if they would be more comfortable and find they suck even worse than HP’s for me. Despite having oversized floppy ears i have these tiny little ear canals that prefer small or at best medium earpieces and even then nothing fits particularly well. Then to top it off even during fairly short listening sessions, (<1hr) my ear canals tend to get itchy and very uncomfortable…ugh
So i guess i prefer HP’s over iEM’s but the truth is i just like the cool equipment and put up w/ both for the sake of entertainment value and interest factor…
It wouldn’t matter. It’s not so much a comfort issue…well, I guess it technically is? The problem I have with on-ears is the foam that they all use. I can’t stand touching it. I don’t know what it is about my body’s specific chemical composition, but every time I touch that kind of foam it makes my skin crawl and my teeth ache. So I learned pretty quickly as a kid to stay away from on-ears.
Interesting. I’m on the other end of the spectrum. I find IEMs extremely comfortable.
I like IEMs because you can do anything and they will not fall out your ears. I can look up/down, I can lie in bed with them (once your head is against the pillow, almost all headphones will be pushed by it, and you can also feel this). I also prefer IEMs for extended periods of time — if my ears need a break, I can just quickly take them out and let them rest on my ear.
It’s interesting to see how all of us have different preferences. I would personally say that you need to find the perfect fit IEM. This is no easy task, but once you find it, you will truly understand the heaven you get with them.
I like IEMs but prefer over-ear headphones, for a few reasons.
One, wider soundstage with open-back headphones than IEMs. Two, finding a good tip fit can be tedious. Three, I have pretty severe tinnitus, and shoving the sound deep into my ear canal, directly on my ear drum, isn’t a great idea. Four, I have waxy ears, and using IEMs packs the wax even tighter into my canal.
That said, I agree with posters who say the amount of choice and value for IEMs at a certain price point – especially $200 or less – is FAR better right now than for over-ear cans.
I’ve barely touched my sundaras since I got my FH3’s. Comfort wise they are superior for me as I don’t like have something bulky clamped to my head and I live somewhere hot. So I would say yes.
The issue with head phones and heat is valid for sure. It can get uncomfortable sometimes. It’s on those occasions that I wish I could try some IEMs. Oh well. No IEMS for me!
It’s not so much a comfort issue…well, I guess it technically is? The problem I have with on-ears is the foam that they all use. I can’t stand touching it. I don’t know what it is about my body’s specific chemical composition, but every time I touch that kind of foam it makes my skin crawl and my teeth ache. So I learned pretty quickly as a kid to stay away from on-ears.
