Member Reviews: Ultimate Ears 500

Why another iem?   The Creative EP630 was my 'beater' pair of iems- ie, a pair I used for casual and rough use. It was no SQ king, but it served me very well- it was more than 5 years old (IIRC) and it was still working when I gave it away to a friend. Now I didn't have a beater pair to use. I use the W4-s during my long commute and while studying, the Grado SR60-s when I don't feel like using an iem and my bro uses the Pana HJE900-s. I had my eye on the UE 500 while I had been shopping for an iem earlier. I saw that it was going really cheap on ebay and upon seeing that the seller was legit, I pulled the trigger on those.   Packaging, Build quality, Accessories ...

I'd just like to say the audio jack on these are of a very smart design; the cable goes into the jack at a 90 degree angle and doesn't shoot straight out. My last pair of earbuds died because of my hand accidentally smooshing the standard jack. I can already tell that these UE500s will last a very long time. That said, they sound fantastic. I prefer these over my mothers UE600s because the 600s sound...flat? The 500s sound more rich than the 600s. The only thing the 600s are better at are fitting in your ear. But, the overall value you get from the 500s is, in my opinion, better in terms of sound and isolation. If you get these brand new, they include a little box to carry them in...

These are some of the very best earbuds that I have ever owned. The sound quality is very very good, clear and crisp along all frequencies. Very good good highs too. I got some free UE-350's and put them in to compare them and they sounded offensive! I threw them in the trash. I also got some free 150's and they sounded surprisingly good compared to the 500's. If you don't care about the goofy design of the 150's you can save 30 bucks and get those instead. These are also very good to fall asleep with. I can lay on my side with it in my ear and have no discomfort, which is very important to me and I couldn't seem to find anyone mention when I was reading reviews. The cords do transfer A...

I'm not too experienced of an audiophile, but out of the IEMs that I've tried, the UE 500s are the most balanced that I have heard to date. Compared to the Klipsch Image S4 (to which they seem to be compared most often, due to availability), the Ultimate Ears are more detailed and balanced. Whereas the S4s seem to have more of a v-shaped (Bass/treble-heavy) sound, the UEs have a more balanced (some might say bass-light) sound. However, though the bass is not as heavy on the UEs, it is very nicely textured and is less boomy than that of the Klipsches. In addition, the UEs provide a very good seal and isolation, and can be comfortable worn over-the-ear or straight down. The only caveats...