Personally, I did not like S4 that hugely. It is a major step up from EP630 though.
The choice of IEMs within India is very restricted. The IEM market under $100 is littered with many choices if one is open to buying online internationally. I am going to try and make one post without a recommendation of Brainwavz (They are very good phones, but I am a bit tired of every thread on IEMs here / TE containing a reference to M2 / M3 as a recommendation. So, let me at least make an attempt)
A few choices:
DUNU Trident ($35 from MP4Nation with a month's wait, $40 from Lendmeurears on eBay not much wait)
I have not heard this personally. But, it is a very decent IEM based on what I've read and personally told by others on head-fi. It's cheap, but the build quality and accessories are said to be very good. Isolation is very decent, but not perfect. I am also told that people with smaller ears could have some trouble with the housing design. Here's what I could gather about them so far - good for the price but not extra-ordinary enough to be compared against $100+ IEMs, musical, good sound stage, good bass but not huge quantity, V-shaped with airy, crisp treble and decent mids. Should be a very nice step-up from the constrained sound stage of EP630. Here's a
review on head-fi. As it happens with all new IEMs, take this review with a pinch of salt - comparisons to the $250 DDM2 and $300 SM3 are to be ignored.
SoundMagic PL50 (About Rs. 1900 shipped from Lynx, if they have it in stock)
If you seek a different flavour from EP-630, PL50 could be it. Unlike Trident, I've heard the PL50. It's housing is very small and comfortable to wear. The build quality is not very great as it's all plastic. Coming to sound, PL50 is bass light for sure. But, what you lose in bass when coming from EP630, you will gain in the other two ranges. Mids of PL50 are lush, crisp and really non-fatiguing to listen to and treble is crisp and sparkling (might be the biggest difference from EP630). Sound stage is good as is imaging. The balanced, neutral, bass light presentation of PL50 is almost opposite to the muddy bass, small sound stage, not so great treble presentation of EP630. However bad I think of EP630's sound, it was my first IEM and for a while, the most comfortable. You won't miss that with PL50 as it would be comfortable due to the tiny housing which disappears into your ear.
Xears XE200Pro (30 Euros + 8 Euros shipping from Xears.com using coupon code KLANGFUZZIS)
Xears is a German based co, a single man operation (as far as I know) that re-brands the Chinese OEM phones (like MEElectronics and countless others do). The build quality of the blackwood XE200 is not great. Xears is always known for it's driver flex, the pressure 'noise' it makes whenever the IEM is inserted into the ear. It's not good for the IEM in the long run, but I have not had any failures apart from one TDIII v1 (which was due to bad cable) out of the 10 models I've owned so far (Don't ask - it's cheap and I am an IEM addict).
XE200 uses what Thomas calls a "textile cable", which is just a fancy translation for cloth sleeved cable. The accessory set is spartan and most times, not up-to the mark, though the quality has been gradually improving from the older sets like Playaz N1 (but only long-time customers know that
). Why the hell would any one recommend a German 'brand' with so-so build quality?
Whatever points Xears loses for external factors, it makes up by gaining brownie points for the sound. XE200 is balanced, but with a wide, "open feel" sound stage. Xears are generally known for the huge, pumped up bass especially the mid-bass hump, but XE200 has just a tad more than the "correct" amount of bass (< TD & XT series). Even with the relatively less quantity of bass, it has enough to beat PL50 by a mile and more. It's mid range is placed a tad distant and treble is a bit sparkly.
While I'd speculate that Trident would be "musical" with enhanced bass and treble, PL50 is an example of slightly dry, neutral signature, XE200 is balanced without being boring.
There are many other interesting IEMs, but I'll stop with three for now.
