Can IEMs be as good as full sized headphones? Options

[odigg]

I've been using full sized headphones for a long time. Lately (over the last few years), it seems like just about everybody and their brother is releasing IEMs. I realize there is a large profit motive to do so because of the explosion of portable media devices. For a long time I've simply dismissed them as devices that sacrificed sound quality for size and portability.

However, it seems like IEMs are changing and improving by leaps and bounds. It's quite easy to find multiple driver IEMS, and one new device even has 6 balanced armatures! Considering the size of the drivers, I assume they have physics (less inertia) in their favor in comparison to the large diaphragms of full sized headphones.

Certainly, it seems there is a lot more actual technological changes in the IEM world than in the full sized headphone world.

Does anybody have any person experiences comparing IEMs to full size headphones? Would your replace your full sized headphone with an IEM? How is the sound in terms "in your head?" What other comments do you have?

It really intrigues me to think that an IEM could best a full sized headphone. I think I'd gladly ditch my full sized cans if IEMs did this with the comfort of a full sized headphone.

I realize I should ask these questions on one particular website that is more inclined to this topic. But that site has way too much fantasy and it's hard to separate truth from placebo.

[udauda]

If you really believe IEMs with multiple drivers perform better(wider freq range, lower distortion, etc) than IEMs with a single driver, you are quite wrong.



Do UE-11Pro(3-way) & SE530(2-way) perform better than ER4(1-way)?

What you get from multiple drivers are bass boost & more distortion.

According to D.Wilson from Etymotic Research:

Do you need a dual driver IEM, or did some marketing genius convince you that two drivers are better than one? The argument for multiple drivers holds water when there are physical limitations to filling a large room with sound, and not a 1.4cc volume in your ear canal.
What do you plan to gain from dual driver?