I But when I switched back to the UM2 and K240S, they sounded flat, lifeless, unexciting. The warmth, the soundstaging, the detail... now how am I supposed to save up for these?
Before you spend your all your savings:
As DoggieHowser and I have mentioned, UE's have a very distinct sound signature and coloration. They don't design their earphones around a flat, neutral curve. There's more to neutrality than a flat frequency response curve, which doesn't show transient response, harmonics, etc.
Therefore, when you get a UE 10/11, you are hearing music they way the UE engineers want to hear it, unlike some other companies that may strive for the most neutral presentation possible. All the detail and nuance in music is there, it's just tuned and colored to the satisfaction of the UE engineers. This may matter for some genres of music than others, to some people more than others.
As such, make sure you want to hear music the same way as the UE engineers for as long as you own the customs. There are other (cheaper) customs that have a more neutral presentation. Go to a few live concerts (especially jazz and classical), and then see if you like the difference in presentation. If you do, then great - spending your savings will be worth it.
In another thread, Uncle Wilson talked about the importance of realistic expectations with customs. UE-11 is the end of the IEM road because it's the best current technology has to offer, not because it is the only and ultimate solution for everybody in every situation.
While I think the UE 11 is worth the money (because nothing else sounds like it), it is still quite a bit of money, so you want to be very sure you know what you're getting. Don't be sucked in by the initial impressive presentation. Be sure that that's the presentation you are willing to live with for a while (until the UE 12 comes out?). When you are sure, the heartache of parting with that much money will be alleviated.
