Westone 3 True-Fit Earphones

Pros: Clear midrange, tight lows, decent highs. Guitars, snares, vocals, horns are primary beneficiaries. Rock, Pop, Jazz, ElectroTech sound best; Classical sounds good, if also lossless encoded.

Cons: Braided wiring comes unbraided. Solved the problem by spraying liquid rubber electrical insulation over the whole thing (available at any hardware store). Gotta have bigger than average ears to fit these babies in.

Summary: Lossless encoding (in my case, Apple Lossless) is a must if you're going to shell out big time dough for these IEM's. I went with the optional custom eartips (add $120), and they really helped improve the overall sound. Custom and lossless is a little like listening to someone through a blanket, then removing the blanket. Although it's a struggle to extract the custom eartips, even with the aid of the little "pull tab" molded into each tip, I figure that's a small price to pay for audiophile sound. My Shure E4's are a half-step down in quality, but a better buy for the money, even without the custom stuff added.