Headphones

[manav]

WTF??

http://www.shure.com/PersonalAudio/Products/Earphones/ESeries/us_pa_E500_pth_content

500 bucks for that. That sure as hell be better then the BOSE Noise Cancelling ones that I saw. Hey in any case guys please share your gyaan on headphones as my brother sat on my old but excellent Labtec headphones. And I need to buy decent ones for indoor use.

[Thai]

IMHO, the fit for Shures suck.

I had an e4c and promptly returned it the next day.

I own a pair of Bang and Olufson A8s and couldn't be happier.

[manav]

And how much were they for?

[JoN]

its disgusting spending up to and more than 50 (£/$) for headphones, just for casual listening. If one was a DJ, MC, composer or any other job directly involved with music, then i can understand shelling out the odd 100+.

I have a pair of sony fontopia in-ear phones and i couldnt be happier. good bass, clear sounds from all instruments and all for £19.99.

Anyways, i guess if you got the money for it, a lil bit of 10 carat solid gold 3.5mm connetor plug is worth it.

[manav]

I think we all have a bit of audiophile in us.

[Thai]

159USD New. They might have dropped in price a bit. The bass isn't that great, but I'm not one to have thumping eardrums. Where is shines, though, is the crispness of the sound otherwise. All the small details are easily understood, no distortion at all. Also, the fit is superb. Fits in the ear, doesn't slip out, and doesn't feel intrusive.

I absolutely adore the A8s.

I have a pair of DJ headphones for my turntables, but those are waaayyy too big to lug around. Casual listening or not, I'd want the clarity/quality/comfort of "audiophile" headphones at or away from my DJ setup.

[666joe]

I own a pair of Bang and Olufson A8s and couldn't be happier.

Looking for a replacment pair for my Rio - have in the ear currently as like the bass and helps block out tube train noise.....are these good at not leaking sound ?

Also read they can't handle house/hip hop without distortion ? u had any problems ?

[MikeUK]

I use the in-ear Creative EP-630s, cheap at £20 but the audio quality is more than good enough for me, prefer them to Sony Fontopias.

[666joe]

Mike - do they respond well to bass etc ?

Want a well rounded set for MP3s to using with the PSP/DS....

Cheers

[urwurst_nytmayr]

Mike - do they respond well to bass etc ?

Want a well rounded set for MP3s to using with the PSP/DS....

Cheers

Think not of buying any set yet, better borrow a good set and test it on your PSP. Because, if the PSP is not rendering bass well, a good set would be useless.

Anyway, I always trust the sennheiser brand I have tried the in ear ones, but I own the hd-497, no distortion on any range so far..

[ninjabear]

I've just recently received from my father for the price of this earphone

It has 3 drivers inside the earphone to drive the bass .

It's a VERY EXPENSIVE BUT EXTREMELY GOOD EARPHONE

It also won an award in the hong kong magazine.

The response time and the bass is just so EXCELLENT

AHHH!!!It retails at $4320HK in hong kong official stock

I've tried E2c/E3g/E4c .E4c is so good.I just ca't imagine how good this earphone will be

[ninjabear]

The problem with such an expensive earphone is that you would pair it up with an equal piece of electronic

If you were to buy an Ipod or creative player is it worth spending that much on this earphone

Even if you buy it will the creative or ipod player be able to produce the high standard sound quality to suit the earphone?The answer is no

I think its best suitable for people who have a home stereo system

But that earphone is extremely good

[ninjabear]

Bass is powerful but not over the top.The bass is delivered behind the treble so that you hear the voice first then the bass behind.Kinda hard to describe

Shure earphones are quite good actually but E3G kinda disapointed with the lack of space.

E4c has 1 driver which drives the bass.I was able to hear alot of instruments that no other can play.

If your rich buy that one otherwise E4c or E5c is good enough

You could try other earphones like

Super fi 3/Super fi 5pro/Super fi 5eb which is the extended bass version

Then we have Etymotic Er4/Er4s/Er4p
Westome Um1,Um2 which my last buyer said sits quite uncomfortably.

Ive played around with alot of earphones

I've used Sony's Mdr-ex71sl/MDr-ex81sl/mdr-ex51sp/mdrex51lp/mdr-g73 and a bit more

panasonic Rphje50 sounds better than sony's mdrex71sl

haven't tried mdr-ex90lp but should sound the same as panasonic's rphje70

heheh..Im planning to buy a super fi5 eb for my birthday this year if you guys wish to donate a bit for me say $1US I'll be touched.hehhee.:icon_syda:

[666joe]

Ninja which model gets your seal of approval ?

cheers

[manav]

He he even I was confused after reading all that. In my experence philips provides amazing quality for the amount of money you give. Moreover most of the models you mentioned are not even available here so I wont comment.

[666joe]

Lol yeh good posts but so much info...

I'm after in ear bud, good bass, 1.5m-2m cord and ideally black matte finish - ideas peeps ?

[MikeUK]

Mike - do they respond well to bass etc ?

Want a well rounded set for MP3s to using with the PSP/DS....

Cheers
They respond well to bass in my iPod, used them with a cheap mp3 player aswell, small USB one, the difference was still there compared to bundled headphones and the like.

[ninjabear]

Lol yeh good posts but so much info...

I'm after in ear bud, good bass, 1.5m-2m cord and ideally black matte finish - ideas peeps ?


Try Rphje50 panasonic earphone or maybe mdr-ex71sl but the earphone of sony's mdrex71sl lacks treble but powerful bass.E2c is another good choice or probably Supier Fi audio 3

[ninjabear]

Haha let me write it again


I start from the cheapest to the most expensive earphone

MDR-E848Lp was a very earlier model which isn't available anymore but MDR-E888SP is still currently available and rather expensive.Its not an earbud earphone.Just a normal one that is outside the ear canal.The bass and treble is quite balanced not suitable for people who likes heavy bass.The treble is crisp and the bass is moderate weak


Sony's Mdrex71sl/MDR-ex51sp/mdr-ex81sl/mdr-ex51lp has extremely power bass.So powerful that the treble is covered by bass.There's alot of high frequency sound that are cut off

I tried panasonic's RPHJE50.They are equivalent to mdr-ex71sl.Please note that the entire range of MDREX sound the same except mdr-ex90lp which I haven't tried.RPHJe50 bass has the same sound of mdr-ex71sl but the treble is quite clearer.You can actually here more high frequency sound but I do find it sometimes that RPHJE50 and MDREX treble and bass just not balance.Bass seems to overlap one another.

Sony has a noise cancelling earphone called MDR-NC11A.I can hardly hear any difference between that and of mdr-ex71sl.Its twice as expensive and its a waste of money.There's a button which you can press to enable noise cancelling.The earpiece is long with two microphone on both side of the earpiece so it catches incoming sound and the earphone provides some sort of sound inside the earphone to cancel each other out.I hardly hear any difference in terms of noise cancelling.If I switch the music off and enable Noise cancelling I actually hear the noise cancelling come into effect.It cuts off about 1/2 the sound in the background.Good for people who talks bu****** behind your back.lol

Shure E2G is the entry earphone of the shure series.It has one driver like other earphones which drives the sound of the earphone.It is way better than mdr-ex71sl earphones.The bass is produced behind the treble not ontop of the treble so that the words which are produced from the earphone are clearer and you can hear a much wider range of sound.

SHURE E3G is somewhat disapointing.The treble is quite clear and all the high frequency are produced but there's hardly any bass.Like completely little bass and all you hear is tweet tweet sound from that earphone.Its just so disapointing and I've heard comments that Shure E3c is even worse.

I tried Shure E4c in hong kong last year and its gotta be the best earphone I've tried.It is rather expensive but its an improvement over E2C with more bass and clearer treble sound.More balanced between the bass and treble.

Shure E4c is quite expensive around $2000HK I think and it has a single driver while another earphone which I'll be getting soon called Ultimate Ears SuperFI Audio 5eb has twin drivers and less expensive at $1380HK

Every earphone has its own driver.Normal earphone has one single driver.A driver is a thing that produces the sound.IF there's one driver that means High/Low/Medium frequency sound comes from the same driver this is why different earphones are designed specifically to each type of music.

Unless you can spend more than probably $200US?$400NZ$1300HK then you can buy twin drivers where Low and Medium frequency are produced individually providing a more enhanced clearer crisper sound.If each driver does one particular purpose then the sound quality be much higher than a driver.Single driver packed everything into one so the sound becomes a bit muddy.

Shure E500PTH which has 3 drivers and is the first to release 3 drivers so far.It's expensive though not the most expensive

There's another earphone which are more expensive than that one .Its called Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pro.Costs around $8000HK

http://www.ultimateears.com/custom/UE-10-Pro.htm

$900US.Can you afford it?Hahhaha!!You don't go in and just buy it.They make the earphone according to what your ear shape/ear canal are like and form a mould and then make the earphone.This means that no other person either than you can wear it.

I want to try MDR-EX90LP And RPHJ-E70

I heard from my last buyer that he was disapointed with Westome UM1 .The earphones were uncomfortable and the sound quality was good but not so powerful bass.

At the moment I recommend Shure E4c but since its expensive and according to the specs not as good as SuperFI 5EB.I'll be buying that instead.Shure e4c one driver while Superfi5Eb.

There's also a superfi5pro which is more expensive but the Eb has extended bass and less expensive

[ninjabear]

i've also tried other sony headphones like

MDR-G74/MDR-848/MDr-G54 but the sound is rubbish

[666joe]

Ninja, thanks for your input I'm going to go ebay whichever is in my budget now....

Will report back on how it works with my rio/psp/ds etc...

Many thanks

[ninjabear]

Suppose to say Superfi 5Eb is more expensive than Super fi e5pro.

[Shun]

Try audio-technica ATH-CK7, cheap, great sound and good isolation for outdoor usage.

See a review at http://www.podfly.com/review-audio-technica-ath-ck7-in-ear-headphones

About the bass, the review accurately write "The bass is there but it is a tuneful bass not some in your face boom that pretends to be bass". I think it's bass is simple amazing, but you should check out if it is the kind of bass you're looking for, :D

If you want to test the earphone, do not use a new set, it will sound terrible. My set only start to perform after more than 10 hours of usage. Also, test it for 10+ minutes as it seems to take some time to warm up if left unused for a few hours.

[ninjabear]

I have a program if you want it thats design to warm up the earphone for you.It just stimulates the earphone by make the making the earphone play different frequency sounds

[Thai]

My A8s don't distort, no matter what I throw at it. I listen to a lot of underground hip hop, namely midwestern US ones. The mostly are fast lyrical artists, with the beats be secondary. I hear every word loud and clear.

Also, it isolates sound very well. When it's blowing up my eardrums, the guys next to me on the Metro can't hear a peep. And even with it on medium, I can't hear anything around me. That might be a good or bad thing, depending on your viewpoint.

But I'll be honest, the bass wouldn't be up to snuff if you really want it. If you truly need a good bass driver, this wouldn't be it. The clarity is amazing, but the bass is not.

But hey, the ergonomics far surpass any other in ear solution I can think of.

I hated the Shures for the fact that they looped behind and over my ears. Then I would have to stick them in hard to make them suction and stay.

[manav]

Ninjabear can you post it in here?

[ninjabear]

I hated the Shures for the fact that they looped behind and over my ears. Then I would have to stick them in hard to make them suction and stay.


Shure design the earphones so you can wear it both way.One is behind your ear .Curls around into your ear and the other is the earcord hanging down which I use all the time.The behind your ear is the same design as mdr-ex81sl

[ninjabear]

Ninjabear can you post it in here?


post...????

[ninjabear]

Try audio-technica ATH-CK7, cheap, great sound and good isolation for outdoor usage.

See a review at http://www.podfly.com/review-audio-technica-ath-ck7-in-ear-headphones

About the bass, the review accurately write "The bass is there but it is a tuneful bass not some in your face boom that pretends to be bass". I think it's bass is simple amazing, but you should check out if it is the kind of bass you're looking for, :D

If you want to test the earphone, do not use a new set, it will sound terrible. My set only start to perform after more than 10 hours of usage. Also, test it for 10+ minutes as it seems to take some time to warm up if left unused for a few hours.


I've tried a audio technica white back it wasnt that model but man there was like 0 bass at all with that earphone

[ninjabear]

oh and the MDRNX1 sounds the same as MDREX

Sony Mdr-ne1 has less bass than mdr-nx1 and mdr-ne2 the new version should sound similar to mdr-nx1

[mewtwosama]

I have the Panasonic RP-HNJ50
http://www.audiocubes.com/product/Panasonic_RP-HNJ50_Neck_Strap_Earbuds.html

I think its the same as the Sony MDRRNX1. The neckstrap is useful since it carries the weight of my Nokia AD-41 adapter. I was pretty blown away by the quality when I had that combo plugged into my N90.

I had the Mdrex71sl, sounded great but fell apart after a month.

I also have a Grado Sr-80 for home use.

[Thai]

Shure design the earphones so you can wear it both way.One is behind your ear .Curls around into your ear and the other is the earcord hanging down which I use all the time.The behind your ear is the same design as mdr-ex81sl

I see. When I tried the "direct hang" method they would always fall off. I tried all the different sizes and such. Maybe they just weren't meant for me.

[666joe]

en through all the models posted ! impressive and amazed at the price of some but you get what you pay for....

Going to decide mine tonight but I am also looking for a budget/£30 under pair for my son to use with his DS/PSP/MP3 in ear type. Seen the Sony EX71s which have good reviews (not getting them in white before anyone asks) any used these and any views ?

Cheers guys....

[ninjabear]

To me

Been using EX71 for 2 years

EX71 sound quality isn't really good

You hear Constant thumping of the bass.The low frequency is so strong that it blocks out all the mid and high frequency range.

Piano is produced is a blunt kinda sound.

I would go for Shure E2g if you can afford it.It produces sound much clear.

Ex71SL.Piano which is the mid range sound is produced with a blunt kinda sound.It kinda sounds like something is blocking the sound from coming out

People like the earphone because of it strong bass but if you hear expensive earphone you will know that EX71 is kinda rubbish sound quality.

The sound is muffed up .Unbalance.Sounds a mess!!.Not good for people who enjoy listening to music

[ninjabear]

I have the Panasonic RP-HNJ50
http://www.audiocubes.com/product/Panasonic_RP-HNJ50_Neck_Strap_Earbuds.html

I think its the same as the Sony MDRRNX1. The neckstrap is useful since it carries the weight of my Nokia AD-41 adapter. I was pretty blown away by the quality when I had that combo plugged into my N90.

I had the Mdrex71sl, sounded great but fell apart after a month.

I also have a Grado Sr-80 for home use.


RPHNJ50 is I think a Japanese model.Its quite equivalent to panasonic's RPHJE50 model
It sounds a little bit better than mdrnx1.

The MDR series all sound the same except Mdr-ex90LP
The cord of Mdr-ex71sl is very fragile.The earbuds easily falls of.

[carcomptoy]

What do you recommend under 30USD? I asked my parents for the EX71 yesterday when we were at the store, but they thought it was too much to pay $50, even with my $20 gift card. I'm looking for new headphones cause my iPod ones from my friend are suffering the regular curse of iPod headphones, while my Panasonic gummy headphones just hurt my ear for some reason.

[shaheen]

i got the koss plugs and spark plugs. good for bass. love em both.

[ninjabear]

Try the RPHJE50 and RPHNJ50

Sony earphones dont last long.The EX71 if your not careful breaks very easily.Im on my 6th pair for the past 2 years

[666joe]

i got the koss plugs and spark plugs. good for bass. love em both.

Shaheen these appear to be $15-$30 depending on supplier which seems incredibly cheap..

How long have you had/used them ? also looking at the high ohm rating are they quiet with say a PSP or DS ?

[shaheen]

had the koss plugs for 3 years, just bought the spark plugs 2 months ago cause the foam on teh koss plugs got ripped. i love these things.

[666joe]

Shaeen - So (if still availible) which one would you choose if you had to take one ?

[shaheen]

theyre both exactly identical in terms of sound quality, but the koss plugs has a spongey type of material you have to squeeze inside and it gets really out of shape and slowly oozes out of your ear and its a pain to take out and put back in. the spark plug has this memory sorta material that you press it and it keeps that shape, it doesnt go back to its shape yet till you put it in your ears. so it moulds around the inside of your ears and expands and fits it giving full bass response.

[666joe]

Shaheen - think I'll be going for those while I save up for some Shure ones...the Zune will probably kick me into getting them...

Cheers

[Box215]

i use the apple in ear headphones. they work, they fit. blocks out the noise (i cant hear our notoriously loud subway over them, not most of the time anyway), and the bass is good imo`