In-Ear Headphone Recommendations

did Hilter use in-ear phones?

I've got these, really like them:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Etymotic-Research-Portable-iPhone-Earphones-/dp/B000XPG2QI/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1296998452&sr=1-9

I've been using Shure SE210's over the past 2 years. Very good. I use them every workday while traveling to and back from work so I'm surprised they still work. I especially like the foam sleeves. Perfect isolation without making my ears itch.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I should mention that the rubbery part came off after a year or so (and I read this in the reviews too), but a bit of glue fixed that permanently.

I had some amazing Sennheisers once but they broke after only about a month. I have some generic Skullcandys at the moment and they're pretty good, actually make decent bass etc.

i can vouch for breaking in headphones, it does really work and can be quite effective. i'm not sure if it works for in ears though, might as well try if you feel the treble is too high....

I've had the cx300's, etymotic er6i's, and for the past 2 years I've been using Shure e420's. The Etymotic were pretty weak in the bass department (not to mention uncomfortable) and the Shure's being good all round. I do fancy a pair of B&W p5's but I bet they're style over substance, that and I'm skint.

  On 2/6/2011 at 2:03 PM, ET said:

dude just dont fuck around with this shit and go buy some real headphones

Soundmagic PL30's. Easily the best in ear headphones I've had and I've owned 2 pairs of cx300's and sony equivalent.

  On 2/7/2011 at 5:04 AM, Richy said:

Soundmagic PL30's. Easily the best in ear headphones I've had and I've owned 2 pairs of cx300's and sony equivalent.

*jots it down*

i've tried the etymotic er-4p and the shure e3c. the e3c is marketed as a flat-response type; the er-4p is supposed to be flat with a bass bump for music listening.

et's concerns are not invalid. even closed-ear headphones provide a more natural environment for sound to reverberate in. the shures i found best in the vocal range. both are lacking in the upper range, the shure a little moreso.

the etymotics sounded better and more detailed to my ears, and i prefer the triple-flange earbuds they supply. however, the e3c buds overcame a major design issue - on the etymotics, the cable (even when clipped to your clothing) bumps and rattles when you move, causing lots of interference to travel directly to your eardrum. not what you want when you're monitoring. (or listening to music.) the e3c phones wrap around your ear, eliminating this problem. they also offer a triple flange earbud . . separately. so annoying to have to order something specially because the product they supply isn't right for your ear.

maus recommended some really interesting ones with 3 drivers (?) maybe he can chime in.

I have these for on the go they are pretty ok for €80:

If I had the money I would buy these:

  On 2/6/2011 at 1:05 PM, oscillik said:

  On 2/6/2011 at 1:00 PM, Xyrofen said:

I totally understand EQing for preference though.

i don't. as has already been said, the musician and the sound engineers have gone through painstaking hours to get their art sounding the way they intend it to be listened to.

 

by applying EQ at the listening stage, the listener is effectively taking a shit on Mona Lisa's face.

 

elitist that may sound, but i'm obviously not the only one that feels that way. and i do understand that you're not the only person that feels that EQing as a listening preference should be an option.

totally agreed

  On 2/6/2011 at 10:09 PM, yek said:

i can vouch for breaking in headphones, it does really work and can be quite effective. i'm not sure if it works for in ears though, might as well try if you feel the treble is too high....

just bought the MDR-EX500s and tried them - way too shrill and not enough low end on them, so i'm gonna be burning them in over the course of the next week. it's a noticeable difference from the MDR-EX300s that i have owned for almost 2 years now, and they've obviously been well burned-in

All good info guys, thanks...

Has anyone tried Beyerdynamic DTX50 (or any other Beyerdynamic IEH's for that matter...?)

These SE-535s are excellent triple drivers. Best universal fits for listening and not straight monitoring, IMO. I've had the Shure SE-310s for maybe 4 years now, and they're pretty good but definitely can be improved upon, and they aren't at the best price-point in the Shure line. As it stands I hope to upgrade to the 535s eventually.

I've heard too many stories about custom mold IEMs never quite fitting right, requiring multiple trips to the audiologist for re-moldings, etc. Seems like too much hassle and too much cost (for a non-permanent solution: your ears keep growing throughout your life, so a custom job will only fit right for so long, and exact fit is necessary for both sound quality and isolation). I'm sure there's a real improvement over universal fits, but custom jobs are definitely luxury purchases.

edit: fuck EQ

edit: also, Shure has awesome customer support and I'm a fan 4 lyfe on that basis alone.

much cheaper in america

http://www.bose.co.uk/GB/en/home-and-personal-audio/headphones-and-headsets/bose-audio-headphones/bose-in-ear-headphones/

This thread sorta died down last year, but this is definitely the best place to describe my recent purchase.

Like a couple of you, I've had a set of Shure e3c earbuds since 2004. That's a long fucking time, right? The equivalent of them these days is the Shure SE210, and I'll be honest. I didn't like the SE210 nearly as much as the e3c. I bought the SE210 two years ago and returned them the next day. I went right back to the e3c, but they recently died a horrible and sad death. I loved them. I went through at least a dozen tips over the years because of frequent use.

After much research and with a budget of $100, I decided on the Thinksound ts02 and so far, they're great. The housing is wood, which ostensibly creates a warmer, more accurate sound stage. So far, that's been my experience.

http://amzn.to/QPlHBJ

I picked them up off Amazon's Black Friday for $63, but I think they're worth the full retail. They're not as harsh as my old e3c, which provided tons of punchy mids and highs, but could fatigue your ears after a couple hours of listening.

I guess you didn't like the SE210 because of the harshness? Initially my ears had trouble with high treble too. Got used to it though.

I recently upgraded from SE210s to SE425s which have 2 drivers so they have a larger range. The build quality of this generation of the Shure line is pretty damn nice. Enforced, detachable cable and extra cable protection at the ends.

Does a triple driver in-ear headphone make much of a difference? I considered it for a while but couldn't justify the price.

  On 2/8/2011 at 7:44 PM, baph said:

As it stands I hope to upgrade to the 535s eventually.

 

 

I forgot about this post. Probably a few weeks after this I actually did upgrade to the SE-535s. They are amazing. I got the clear ones. The only slight problem I've had is the clear cable oxidizes naturally and starts to look a bit greenish. Would be an easy fix to replace the cable since Shure has dramatically improved things by making it detachable and replaceable, but I am lazy and disgusting and they sound too good to take out of my ear holes.

Some of the best "way too much money" I've ever spent. The 425s are really nice too (but I've only checked out a friend's pair for a few minutes, so I can't really compare.) The 535s seemed a bit more tonally balanced, spacious, and detailed, but whether it's worth the price increase is sort of subjective.

There's a red special edition version of the 535s out now which people are saying are even better than the standard 535s, with more detail and extension in the highs, but the people saying that are probably engaging in standard audiophile magical thinking. The new ones do look really cool, though.

To be honest, I don't have any experience with multi-driver earbuds and I doubt I'd notice an exceptional difference. If the dynamic range of the higher quality single-driver buds is substantial enough, that's all I ask.

I thought the SE210 was a step back in quality from the E3C, and guys at HeadRoom said the same thing. That's why I kept my E3C. The word from HeadRoom was that the E3C was underpriced even at $180. They seemed to think Shure was loss-leading with their earlier buds.

Nonetheless, I think all this tech has dramatically improved and I'm just boggled by how anybody continues to use the headphones that come with their iPod.

I've read really positive shit about the Ultimate Ears buds, too. The company was started by Jerry Harvey, a big time audio engineer / geek, who later sold the company to Logitech. His new company, JH Audio, apparently makes like the best buds in the business.

I think, for the most part, a single driver/ single balanced armature design gets you most of the way there. (And of course, if it's a dynamic driver, one is all you need, and more than one is going to sound shitty). With balanced armatures, the multi-driver design with good crossovers allows for a bit more extension and clarity in the highs and lower bass, but all of that is just tweaking to get a "pleasant" sound signature. If you buy into Etymotic's marketing, one armature alone might actually yield a more "accurate" and flat response. Headphone design is all about compromises and the results are so subjective... but everyone I know who has had the E3Cs loves the E3Cs, and that says a lot!

I have to admit, against all better judgement I was really surprised at the sound quality and comfort of the Apple Earpods:

I've heard the same, but they're still garden variety ear-killing cheapies.