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Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 EB vs UE Super.fi 5 Pro?

post #1 of 36
9/2/08 at 12:57pm
Thread Starter 
Sorry if this is a double post, if it is please redirect me to a previous thread..

I am thinking about purchasing a pair of Ultimate Ears Earphones.

Question? Which are better:

Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro Earphones
or
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Extra Bass

They are to be used with my iPod Nano. Mainly pop-music.

I understand there's enhanced bass in the extra bass but I could do with some objective comments regarding the sound quality, etc.

(I currently own Grado's RS-1 and an EarMax headphone amp).

Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 36
9/2/08 at 1:22pm
I believe the Super.fi EB are too "much"
I would take the normal version

The EB is only for people who likes the sound of a club
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post #3 of 36
9/2/08 at 3:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bidoux View Post
I believe the Super.fi EB are too "much"
have you have tried the EB's? have made a side by side comparison?
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post #4 of 36
9/13/08 at 8:03pm
I've read that the EB's are far from too much. Most reviews say they sound very good, balanced and fit to all kinds of music. But as we all know, this is for every ear to decide.

I bought the EB's myself but haven't got them yet though so can't tell how they are from personal experience yet.
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post #5 of 36
9/13/08 at 8:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by thegen View Post
I've read that the EB's are far from too much. Most reviews say they sound very good, balanced and fit to all kinds of music. But as we all know, this is for every ear to decide.
I've read reviews to the contrary several times.

I think the EBs are more or less for bassheads.
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post #6 of 36
9/14/08 at 1:05am
I've had the EBs for awhile and have listened to a borrowed SF5 side by side. Other than having a UE logo, the SF5 and SF5EB have very little in common - completely different sound signatures. SF5 is more balanced and detailed. The SF5EB is for that In-Da-Club effect on the go.

Straight out of an iPod, I think the SF5EB works great for pop music given the iPod's lack of bass emphasis. In fact, the SF5EB works great even with a Sony NWZ-A728 with Clear Bass on. If you're looking for a bass-prominent IEM, also consider the Atrio M5/8 (see other thread). I compared the EB and M8 in this post:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/4700875-post1734.html


A few points:
  • A long burn-in is needed to tame the bass on the EB - about 100 to 200 hours. The first 50 hrs or so, the bass is boomy and they SF5EB sounds muddy as well. At this point, many people consider returning the SF5EB.
  • After awhile, the sound signature settles, and IMHO, both the Bass and Treble appear boosted. At this point, people who don't like too much bass will complain about the boosted midbass, and those who don't like too bright a sound will complain about the boosted treble.
  • The treble in the SF5EB sounds boosted primarily because the midrange is relatively 'flat' - the SF5EB seems to have a significantly emphasized mid to upper bass, the midrange dips, then it tries to emphasize the mid to low treble range again. Looking at the frequency response graph, I kind of see why:

  • Straight out of an iPod, the emphasized bass is very helpful, especially for pop/hip-hop. If you are really into acoustic vocal music, the midrange/vocal of the SF5EB will not thrill you.
  • My experience - the SF5EB is fun, but is not ideal for critical listening. The SF5EB provides great sonic gratification for certain genres of music, but is not ideal for a detailed evaluation of hardware/software.

Finally, find a place you can try them out. If it sounds good to you, it sounds good.
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post #7 of 36
9/14/08 at 3:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by trickywombat View Post
I've had the EBs for awhile and have listened to a borrowed SF5 side by side. Other than having a UE logo, the SF5 and SF5EB have very little in common - completely different sound signatures. SF5 is more balanced and detailed. The SF5EB is for that In-Da-Club effect on the go.

Straight out of an iPod, I think the SF5EB works great for pop music given the iPod's lack of bass emphasis. In fact, the SF5EB works great even with a Sony NWZ-A728 with Clear Bass on. If you're looking for a bass-prominent IEM, also consider the Atrio M5/8 (see other thread). I compared the EB and M8 in this post:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/4700875-post1734.html


A few points:
  • A long burn-in is needed to tame the bass on the EB - about 100 to 200 hours. The first 50 hrs or so, the bass is boomy and they SF5EB sounds muddy as well. At this point, many people consider returning the SF5EB.
  • After awhile, the sound signature settles, and IMHO, both the Bass and Treble appear boosted. At this point, people who don't like too much bass will complain about the boosted midbass, and those who don't like too bright a sound will complain about the boosted treble.
  • The treble in the SF5EB sounds boosted primarily because the midrange is relatively 'flat' - the SF5EB seems to have a significantly emphasized mid to upper bass, the midrange dips, then it tries to emphasize the mid to low treble range again. Looking at the frequency response graph, I kind of see why:

  • Straight out of an iPod, the emphasized bass is very helpful, especially for pop/hip-hop. If you are really into acoustic vocal music, the midrange/vocal of the SF5EB will not thrill you.
  • My experience - the SF5EB is fun, but is not ideal for critical listening. The SF5EB provides great sonic gratification for certain genres of music, but is not ideal for a detailed evaluation of hardware/software.

Finally, find a place you can try them out. If it sounds good to you, it sounds good.
Now, that's what I call an excellent reply to the thread question!
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post #8 of 36
9/14/08 at 4:04am
ooh, trickywombat, did you just sing? ooh man yes you did. it was like music to my ears with my beloved ue super fi 5 pro/eb. sf 5 pro and speically eb got bad rep around here and more and more lately.

one more thing, i think 5 pro really doesn't need an amp(it'll improve) but eb sound a lot better with an amp.
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post #9 of 36
9/18/08 at 7:07am
I have both.

SF UE 5 Pro - more clinical, neutral presentation. I never found them to be much fun and they lacked bass. No, eqing, processing, and other tricks didn't solve this issue. As a result I finally bought the EBs.

SF UE 5 EBs - Sufficient bass and good bass slam, and if its too much you just EQ down. They're a lifesaver for sources that simply lack bass output. And they sound more like actual speakers than headphones, which is something I look for. Highs are piercing to my ears. Less detail than the 5 Pro.

I found myself listening to the EBs much more often than the Pros. And as a comparison, I'd say that the EBs are more similar to my Beyer 770-80s while the 5 Pros are more similar to the iM716s.
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post #10 of 36
9/18/08 at 1:10pm
^yup the eb's really come close to the dt770-80ohm
they sound really great with my poundingpounding technomusic :d

and,gorillaz,metal,hiphop,drumandbass,gaming.....a ll in one i think
but many people just love to bash products they dont know about

+club bass fealing
+fun to listen to
+highs are good enough
+dt770 sound....
-big
-the UE cord

srry about the english..
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post #11 of 36
9/19/08 at 2:15pm
since im using atm shure se210 and i want more basses what should i buy EB or normal ones?
I know shure sounds flat and equilibrated and i rly need more basses
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post #12 of 36
9/19/08 at 3:17pm
Super Fi Pros already have MUCH more bass than SE210. EB's have too much for most people.
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post #13 of 36
9/19/08 at 6:33pm
I had the super fi 5 eb before and I really enjoyed them a lot and I really loved the bass. Not that i am bass head but I enjoyed listening to it. I compared it with Shure e500, shure e4g, shure e2cs and ety er6i and if i were to get either one of those I would go for Super fi eb personally. The only reason why I dont have them anymore is becuase they stick out too much and I didnt want to wear them in public and I used to travel a lot and didnt want to look like an idiot . I am not buying the atrio m5 and am hoping for similar sound from it.
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post #14 of 36
9/20/08 at 9:22am
I have the EB's, and I love them. Though I can't offer you a side by side comparison, I can tell you that the EB's are extremely under rated.
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post #15 of 36
9/24/08 at 9:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by trickywombat View Post
I've had the EBs for awhile and have listened to a borrowed SF5 side by side. Other than having a UE logo, the SF5 and SF5EB have very little in common - completely different sound signatures. SF5 is more balanced and detailed. The SF5EB is for that In-Da-Club effect on the go.

Straight out of an iPod, I think the SF5EB works great for pop music given the iPod's lack of bass emphasis. In fact, the SF5EB works great even with a Sony NWZ-A728 with Clear Bass on. If you're looking for a bass-prominent IEM, also consider the Atrio M5/8 (see other thread). I compared the EB and M8 in this post:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/4700875-post1734.html


A few points:
  • A long burn-in is needed to tame the bass on the EB - about 100 to 200 hours. The first 50 hrs or so, the bass is boomy and they SF5EB sounds muddy as well. At this point, many people consider returning the SF5EB.
  • After awhile, the sound signature settles, and IMHO, both the Bass and Treble appear boosted. At this point, people who don't like too much bass will complain about the boosted midbass, and those who don't like too bright a sound will complain about the boosted treble.
  • The treble in the SF5EB sounds boosted primarily because the midrange is relatively 'flat' - the SF5EB seems to have a significantly emphasized mid to upper bass, the midrange dips, then it tries to emphasize the mid to low treble range again. Looking at the frequency response graph, I kind of see why:

  • Straight out of an iPod, the emphasized bass is very helpful, especially for pop/hip-hop. If you are really into acoustic vocal music, the midrange/vocal of the SF5EB will not thrill you.
  • My experience - the SF5EB is fun, but is not ideal for critical listening. The SF5EB provides great sonic gratification for certain genres of music, but is not ideal for a detailed evaluation of hardware/software.

Finally, find a place you can try them out. If it sounds good to you, it sounds good.
Thanks for that great post
Reply
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