New and Improved Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 v2.0 - Huge Sound in a Tiny Package. - Page 17

The S.F5v2 do hiss with almost anything due to their way too low impedance and high sensitivity, the PFE and RE0 don't hiss.

Actually PFE do hiss, just checked on few PC's and a laptop before sending it back (because of a defect) to the shop.

Bought HD RE0's, but returned on the next day because of the poor, AWFUL design / stiff, cheapish, heavy cable and a fit issue (sharp edge of the wide sound tube's base painfully "cutting" into ears, any tips). And RE0 does hiss too, but less than phonaks (higher impedance / DC resistance).

I see... never used them on any output like that. But the PFE perform admirably noiseless and "black" on even my noisiest portable sources (Cowon D2, Nintendo DS).

hey,

i love my SF5s but i also have a HISS problem when i plug it in my laptop... i know the dowin cable was suggested earlier in the thread but i can't seem to find them in the UK... tried amazon, ebay and handheld audio...

any idea where i can get them?

if not, should i just settle for the attenuator sold by UE? i've heard that the SQ might be affected with them...

i'm using the Fiio E3 if it makes any difference

thanks in advance!

The UE attenuator is 250 Ohm, way too high for normal use. Better to get one from Awwan on eBay, he makes good quality adapters: eBay Store - AW Audio accessory: Portable Audio accessory

Something around 40-80 Ohm should do it for the hissy SF5.

Dowin cables at head-direct.com.

Hi all, first time poster.

I bought these 'phones just yesterday and..., my initial impression is that I may have made a bad decision.

I am hoping that someone can prove me wrong.

I am good at doing things hastily. I should really have read more than just the 3rd page of this hread. I am currently listening to them now whilst reading that the UE Super Fi 5's bass is lacking. Thus far I must concur.

So, a few questions;

- Should I not be jumping to such a hasty conclusion before they burn in?

- I really do need bass impact. I listen to a lot of trance a la Armin van Buuren/Markus Schulz and techno a la Adam Beyer/Ben Sims, therefore punchy bass impact is hugely important.

I used to own a pair of Future Sonics Atrios which had huge, imposing bass impact. Unfortunately I sold them owing to the fact that I could not find replacement foam tips large enough for my ear canals (which are so large you could fit an Airbus A380 in them...) - I should point out that FS no longer ship accessories to countries outside the US. Another hasty decision gone wrong I guess, because I really do miss their immensely good sound!!

But I digress, will buying an amp help improve said non-existent bass impact and if so, how much should I be looking to spend? The Meier Audio xxs is what I am looking at.

Btw I am using them with my iPhone.

ABI said in their review that the bass was indeed lacking but I didn't think it would be so bright and non-imposin, they also said that an amp might help but nonetheless some more indepth advice would be greatly appreciated.

G-Ray,

I tried out a set of super.fi 5s at macworld and the bass was pretty good. they were, of course, amped. I did not know the type of amp, though. The sound definitely id not seem lacking.

now, i can say from my experience with triple.fi 10s that there is very little bass unless amped. if you're interested in only bass impact, i found that a super cheap FiiO E3 has a big impact on the 10s. it might be similar on the 5s.

it's certainly cheap enough to try out and see. you can get that amp for around 10 bucks.

I'll let others comment on the effect of more midrange and high end amps with your specific phones.

good luck

^ Thanks LCFiner.

Headphonic here in Perth (Australia) have the FiiO F2 for $15 and the F5 for $50 so I'll pop into the shop next payday. Hopefully I can test both of them.

In the meantime, methinks I'll be listening to a lot of Pink Floyd and the Stones over the next week or so. Methinks I should have written to FS....

I don't want to sacrifice too much mid nor high end detail, however if possible I would like it tamed/darkened.

Update:

I have not purchased an amp after doing some extensive homework. Oddly enough, the sound of these 'phones sound absolutely fantastic, what I had expected and more, when played through Mum's iPod nano (3rd gen) but they still sound limp and lifeless (particularly in terms of bass and sub-bass) when played through my iPhone (the very device the vi's were bought for).

So, the conundrum that I face is....., do I sell my iPhone and get another media player??

^Try Sansa Fuze

So any ideas for Super.Fi 5 v2.0 VS Head-Direct RE0? for genres such as Rock, Metal, Electronic, Hip-Hop, some Jazz, Classical. Non-amped and going with the Cowon D2+.

The RE0 seems quite popular on here where as I haven't seen the UE SF (non-pro) mentioned much at all except this thread. And other than bass the RE0 has been compared to the TF10 and such so I guess it must better than SF5 v2 in those areas.

I can also get the SF5 with a resistance adaptor to avoid the hissing and I heard the bass is overall better on them than RE0. Is it worth it to do that over getting the RE0??? which I can for about $60 cheaper here. So overall im leaning towards the RE0.

I currently have a pair of Etymotic ER6i's and have been looking @ the these, the RE0's, and the Klipsch S4's. Has anyone had a chance to compare all 4?

Ok, I just got back from Fry's w/ these. They were only $100 bucks, so I couldn't resist. It's been a long time (2 yrs) since I've made a headphone purchase I must say I forgot the golden rule of upgrade speaker 1st, source 2nd. I've been going through DAP trial after DAP, but listening through these out of my old Sony S616 sounds better than the Sony X + Ety ER6i combo by a long shot. Also, the comply's fit amazingly well for me. They're very comfy too!

The soundstage and low end increase does wonders for sucking me into my music. In light of this I think I'm going to hold off on upgrading the DAP and perhaps research a better IEM such as the UE 700 instead. Perhaps by then Sony would have released an S Master DAP wo/ the WiFi and NC nonsense w/ more buttons.

hey everyone!

i'm not really seasoned with headfi forum but after reading this thread (yes every page) i thought i'd give a short review of them myself.

intro
i am a professional signed audio engineer in Singapore and i've mixed multiple albums as well as live shows. i own the UE11, JH13 pro, used to own super fi. 5, westone um3x and my latest addition would be these babies, sf5.

i'd have to say these phones really are impressive. they stack up well against the um3x and sf5pro, of course we can't expect them to be as good as the 11's or the 13's but for the price i say they're extremely good. the highs are just where i'd like them to be, voices in music regain their human touch, instruments start to get their place on stage, much like using them in a live show.

a few days ago, i mixed a live show and used these instead of the customary UE11 (it gives more kick for live shows than the JH13 to me). i found that although the separation wasn't as good, these did a fabulous job interms of listening separation and giving a live show a life without letting every part of the band deliver individual punches which the UE11 and JH13 pro give at times. it gives the audio engineer room to breathe and a tighter control over the mix without getting over charged with all the different sources.

one thing to note though, i do feel that these phones don't go into comparison with other earphones properly. they shouldn't be compared not because they're completely stellar and out of range, but they simply have their own way of sounding. it's pretty unique and almost simply different in its own ways to the entire line of IEMs out there, making them unique in their own way.

more isolation would be great for live concerts but for normal use they will suffice.

specifics
highs - i feel that these phones handles highs very well, it puts highs up high in the stage(which is really wide), something that many phones seem to ignore. they seem to make highs sparkly but drag them to centre stage which can be annoying at times. the highs on these phones also give interesting sparkles to the music and they handle treble boosts very well. somehow i guess single driver IEMs seem to tune their focus to the higher register more often, and it helps with both mixing and music, especially if it's smoothen and tuned as well as these phone's

mid - well i guess by now it's no surprise that these phones have a recessed mids, and lacks abit of centre stage presence with a punch. well i would agree but at the same time it seems to add to it's interesting mix. it's there, we can't say it isn't, but we also can't say its mids are strong and somehow they're more than enough for songs alright for others and abit lacking for otherothers. these phones will almost change your music liking, but generally it handles mids well though the lower mid range might sound muddy if bumped.

lows - they go low, really low and the lack of a huge bass drum's presence helps smoothen out the entire composition at times but seems abit lacking for rock songs. with that said it'll take most people 2 days max to adapt and start loving these phones. the bass is there you can feel it it's good it just doesn't slap you in the face everytime the drummer does.

soundstage - it's wide. i can't describe it. as a sound engineer i know how wide soundstages can be (real live shows) and these puts you there. it places instruments so precisely on the stage that i use these specially to change each instrument's pan on the stage before swapping over to customs for individual toning. that's why it's weird i guess. the presence makes you think you're at a live show but certain ranges are abit recessed that makes it too peaceful to be a real concert yet you feel like you're in one

that's about it! a really good earphone overall for the average to pro consumer and something you will really not regret getting

note - creating a homemade amp simply to bump the current input to the earphones does help it alot, i have a home made amp that produces the same clean signal while bumping its electrical current input and it performs alot better.