Worth spending on headphones for my phone MP3 player??

[joeinit]

Hello!

I like my music but also like the convenience of only having one thing in my pocket, so bought the Sony Ericsson W950i phone and sold my Cowon PMP.

I have Sony earbuds but as they're knackering I'm looking to buy some more in ear headphones. I could spend the moolah, and have been contemplating some E4Cs or UM2s, though the reality is I'm using my phone to listen to music, so is it really worth it?

Should I just get some Senn CX300(?)s and keep my money, or pay for some E3Cs or equivalent? Or balls to it, should I just go for the E4Cs/UM2s?

Or even some others that I'm ignorantly over looking cos I like Shure microphones?!

I listen to lots of guitar based music, but also like a good beat if that helps.

Please advise!

[GreatDane]

UM2 & E4 are very good. If you want to go lower cost I recommend the etymotic ER6/ER6i for $80 instead of the lower end Shures.

[joeinit]

thanks for the reply! so you think it's still worth paying for top end headphones even though i'll be using a phone MP3 player and often MP3s at 128mbps?

i'm worried that i won't hear the benefits of such headphones as the quality of the output wouldn't be up to them? or should i not worry?

i've heard bad things about the bass on shures - is it better on the etymotics?

so many questions!

[mminutel]

I would personally not spend a lot of money on higher end phones with that kind of compressions. I am not sure what kind of SQ your MP3 Phone would have but I couldn't imagine it being that great. You could pick up a pair of JVC Marshmallows for ~20$ at Best Buy. They are almost on par with the Shure e2cs for a fraction of the price.

[GreatDane]

I've never used a phone that plays mp3 but I'm sure the SQ is not amazing. Even still, if you listen with a cheap, bad sounding IEM the available SQ will only suffer further.

I only have experience with the Shure E4 which have very good bass. I use etymotic ER4P and my brand new ER6 which I'm finding has quite good bass, better than I expected.

If I believed there was a better IEM in the under $100 I would not have bought the ER6. I've tried it with my less than stellar iPod shuffle and the pair sounds nice for $160.

[joeinit]

yeah i'm figuring it's hardly a top end player. that said it is a top end phone MP3 player. and what's SQ?!

the etymotics look very flimsy - one wrong tug out the ear and they look like they'd fall apart!? How come you have so many pairs of IEMs?!

any advice on the Sennheisers?

[kasba22]

You could check out the Shure i series, they have an inline mic and appear to be made for cell phones. I have not used them, so I don't know how they sound or work.

[radioactive28]

Originally Posted by joeinit

yeah i'm figuring it's hardly a top end player. that said it is a top end phone MP3 player. and what's SQ?!

the etymotics look very flimsy - one wrong tug out the ear and they look like they'd fall apart!? How come you have so many pairs of IEMs?!

any advice on the Sennheisers?

SQ - sound quality.
Normally, that it's a top end MP3 phone means nothing. These devices may offer a 2-in-1 package, but it need not excel at any of them. The only thing they really offer, IMHO, is convenience and miniaturisation.

The Etys *look* flimsy. Proper use and care ensure a long life. Chuck them around and stuff them in a pocket, I'll give a month before expiry.

If you want to go for E4c or UM2, I suggest you up the MP3 bitrates. These IEMs are quite detailed and may not be forgiving on bad quality. Plus we haven't heard too much about the SQ of the MP3 phones - so, no guarantees there either.

[ywd]

From what i've heard, etys are the most accurate IEMs, and the least forgiving of bad sources. I had some er6is breifly, but returned them (I didn't like the complete seal, and i found them uncomfortable) and i can tell you that they do not feel flimsy, but the cord is very thin, and i would not toss them around.

[joeinit]

yeah i'm aware it's not the top ranking MP3 player in the world, so that's really the point of this post - is it worth forking out for E4Cs or UM2s, bearing in mind the sound quality (or SQ as i now say!!) coming from the phone won't be on the same par?

I'm presuming not after what i've now read. thanks for the advice about Etys too ywd.

i'm figuring the Sennheiser CX300s will do me fine as i've read great things about them and they're dirty cheap! although nobody's mentioned them yet in this post and i'd still happily spend well over their price!!

E3Cs or V Modas maybe? or would it still be the case of buying phones that are beyond the quality and wasted on my player?