Shure - SE535 (Pro)

Schiit stack (amp+dac) and my headphones are Hifiman Sundara. Good for tarkov but if you want better directional audio I think IEMs are better. Shure has a good pair called SE535 pro that I recommend but they are about $450 CAD.

My first (for me) very expensive IEM's were Shure SE535's. I was amazed by the details I never heard before in songs i've listened to for years.

I use the shure SE535 in ear monitors everything sounds great on them I hear things in my music ive never heard before I started using them I use them along with a Sony NW-A105 the Walkman features high quality audio components for hogh quality sound I also run Qobuz streaming app as the Walkman runs android And qobuz is cd quality and hi res audio minimum CD Quality I use this set up in the gym too as the shure se535 are heavy sweat resistant

I mean yea of course that's not a hot take or anything, headphones or iems or even speakers can all sound better then one another within a similar price range. now will they definitively? Absolutely not but they have the possibility to and can. That said U say 1000$ iems are beating 1500$ headphones but u list a bunch of headphones that are nowhere near 1500$ as ur examples.....That seems a bit odd. I'd much rather listen to my he1000se if I'm looking for sound quality rather than my Kaiser 10 even if both sound good for example. Anyway I was a big iem fan in the early 2010s started with an old kilpsch model I forgot the name of that used to sell for 50$ at futureshop before moving on to the kilpsch x10. Then the Weston 3umx to the Weston 4 and then Shure 535. Then moved up to shit outside my local area and was popular on the headfi forums back then in the fitear 334 and aurisonics asg 2 (later updated to the 2.5 when sent in for repair one time) before finally settling on the Noble Kaiser 10. What I learned from that is iems can sound amazing and despite me thinking that sound quality was what I cared about most, what actually matters most is comfort and that's why nowadays I use the non insertion version of airpods 90% of the time instead of reaching for one.

Shure SE846. They aren't perfect but pretty good even though more on the pricy side. They have a fairly neutral sound and clear even when a lot of sounds are played at once. I had the Shure SE535 before. They are not as good and need a little bit of equalizer tweaking but have a better worth to price ratio. SE846 are heavier than the SE535 and your ears may need a bit longer to adjust to them. Since you don't seem to listen to a lot of technical music the SE846 are probably overkill but the SE535 may hit the mark.

I'm rolling an XVive system for wireless IEM (small, cheap, rechargeable - not the best sound, range) with Shure SE-535 (triple driver = Awesome)

I have the Shure SE535 myself, which I like, but they're relatively flat, tuning wise. Most manufacturers try to follow stuff like Harman or IEF tuning.

I've also had a number of different Shure earphones. I personally think there's a fairly big drop off in bang for buck so even though I like my SE535s, I think the SE215s are plenty good enough.

I do own Shure SE-535 as well, which sound amazing but they do disconnect you a little too much from the environment, so if you are expected to take requests, they are not the greatest choice. The HD-25s are by far the most practical for general DJing.

My first experience with expensive IEM was in 2011 - Shure 535. It was one of the most expensive IEM on the market back then and it was responsible for bringing niche IEM to the mainstream. My first reaction after buying it and listening to it: meh. It sounds boring, like listening to an old gramophone - there's no bass and treble, just plain mids. Even today, when hearing expensive IEM, the expectation is high and it's always disappointment later. Having a budget IEM sounding phenomenal is still the best experience.