My first steps toward quality

1. How does decreasing the size of the driver avoid compromising sound quality? (As in UE, Etymotic designs.) Is it actually cost-effective for the UE18 to have SIX speakers, and so on...
IMO it helps and hinders the SQ but it all depends on the quality of the drivers that make the sound. You can have a small driver IEM like the ER4Ps or a larger driver like in the Sennheiser IE8s... both sound great but give different sound sigs (RP = Detail IE8 = Bass (but both have great detail and accuracy)).

2. Isn't a broader frequency band (Such as 10Hz-20,000Hz vs. 20Hz-15,000Hz) a cause for superior sound?
Not necessarily. Companies put that on the box to trick consumers who don't know better to make them think the headphones sound better but this isn't the case. The iPod iBuds have a range of 20hz to 20k hz... which is a lot more than MOST IEMs on the market but they sound horrible (just a random example). Although it is good for them to extend higher or lower on the ranges it doesn't mean they are good if they do and visa versa; if they don't extend that far it doesn't mean they sound bad.

3. Will a higher impedance value drain my portable player's power more rapidly?
That means it will take more power to bring them up to a suitable volume, so technically, yes, but "in the field" it won't really affect the battery life of the player. If a phone has such a high impedance that you're not getting enough power to it you're going to have to get a portable amplifier to tack on the DAP to get it enough power.

4. Is it favorable if the sound from an IEM feels like it's coming from "inside my head?" How does this differ (if at all) from "immersion?"
Higher end models give you a sense of soundstage; the perceived size of the sound that you're getting. Open headphones have the best with other closed and semi-open cans coming second.
IEMs on average have the smallest soundstage but they aren't all small. Triple.Fi 10s have a very airy stage along with other IEMs. The IE8 probably has the biggest due to its large diameter and open vent design but there are other large ones as well.
Although you also have to take imaging into consideration as well. A headphone can have a big stage and put the music back OR close but it also has to have good separation of the instruments. Good separation, to me, would be letting me close my eyes and instantly pointing to where a person would be on stage or around the mic and also gauging how far away they are from me.
When you can hear the guitarist cough and then move in his seat and those sounds are in two different places, it gives you a great feeling


I am planning to get Sony's MDR EX300 in April. How can I avoid the issues of wear/tear (especially one-sided failure) that have plagued me with ultra-cheap phones such as those that came with my iPod or standalone IEM's up to $30... I know that this sounds as if I am hoping to get "something in exchange for nothing" to the audiophiles here, but it is the most I can afford. My alternative is the Klipsch S4, but I am impressed with the [relative to price] clarity of a friend's MDR EX500. Durability is my final consideration...

To keep your headphones and cables in good condition, I always put them in the included case (if it comes with one) and I always wrap the cable up around three fingers and make sure to not put any pressure on the plugs. Also when taking them out don’t yank them by the cords but remove them with the housing.


Vocabulary?

Armature (vs. Balanced Armature) – An armature is different form a dynamic driver in… some would say many ways. Generally they are faster but lack the visceral “punch” of bass that dynamic drivers can give because there isn’t a moving part involved.
The difference between balanced and not is that some companies fine tune them to certain frequencies (I think this is how it works) when using more than one in an IEM. For example, Triple.Fi 10s have one driver for lows, mids, and high while Shure SE530s have two for the lower end and one for the mid/high.
Detail – The “detail” of the IEM would be how accurately it portrays the small things in songs. The detail can be affected by everything in your setup from the cables to the DAP you’re using and the songs themselves. Hearing the musician move in his seat is an example of this.

Open-Back (vs. Closed Back) - practical differences - Open back phones leak sound and closed back phones keep the sound in. Because they are open they generally have a larger soundstage (Sennheiser 555-650 phones are prime examples of this having AMAZING levels of sound stage). Sadly they suffer from having a lighter bass impact than closed phones which do a better job of isolating you from outside sounds and keeping the sound in.

Separation – A phone’s ability to place individual sounds accurately on the stage. Hearing the different drum pads at different places along with the location of the various guitarists and singer in relation to the mics (just an example). If it’s a live recording hearing individual audience members yell and clap.

Soundstage – A measure of the level of 3D sound a headphone gives. It can be tall, short, wide, etc. Imagine it being a room in which the players are either cramped in or spread out. The ceiling can change heights as well.

Warmth – A headphone/amp/DAP and even interconnects can have a warmer/colder or neutral sound signature. Warm generally means more emphasis on bass and colder would be more analytical and detail oriented (although these are NOT limiting in the sounds of the phones). Example: Triple.Fi 10s are “warm” but have amazing detail. (Based on other’s observations and my own).

But yea man… that’s just some information in the nutshell, there is tons of information that you can learn from just reading around on here, and although you can’t get on here every day you should take some time and just read around and search for the many topics in which these things are already discussed in much greater detail than I just gave here.
Oh and welcome to Head-Fi, sorry about your wallet! ^_^

Very accurate in the most part though rather misleading in the definition of armature drivers.

A balanced armature driver consists of a moving magnetic armature that is pivoted so it can move in the field of the permanent magnet. When precisely centered in the magnetic field there is no net force on the armature, hence the term 'balanced.' When there is electric current through the coil, it magnetizes the armature one way or the other by flemming's rule causing it to rotate slightly one way or the other about the pivot thus moving the diaphragm to make sound. Higher end models use multiple armature drivers, dividing the frequency ranges between them using a passive crossover network.



Also speaker/headphone drivers have a response curve rather than a definate response range and the range stated is the value at which the freq. response drops below a certain level and some manufacturers use different reference levels for this so some quoted response ranges are incomparable.

1. It is more costly because each of the "speakers" (in this case balanced armatures) must be routed to distribute highs, mids, and lows across more speakers. More tuning is involved, making it more complicated and costly. IE8's use dynamic drivers, which are easy to tune, and offer deeper bass than most IEM, but lack in clarity.

2. NO, not necessarily better sound, but a broader sound contrast. For instance, an IEM that starts at around 10hz will probably be better at handling bass than an IEM that starts at around 20hz. Most of these numbers aren't even correct most of the time, they are just rough estimates.

3.Yes, this can be true in most instances.

4.You pretty much just described immersion. The blending of the IEM with your head = immersion. It should feel like you are "thinking" about the sound, rather than the IEM putting it there. This is where IEM differs from "ear buds" in terms of sound "realism."

I love how people can come here, ask a question, and get awesome responses from a lot of different people.
I"m getting a little off topic here, but I just love this forum; it's filled with great, knowledgeable people who are happy to help.

But yea just giving you a heads up of the awesome time you're gonna have here; and probably expensive too

Welcome to Head-Fi, the wonderful place Young Spade has highlighted, and sorry about your wallet
I planned to spend $50 when joining, now I've easily spent $800 and started a business selling audio equipment, headphones and IEMs and stuff. You're guaranteed to be in for more than you think you are
So if you find something you are happy with, take it and run for your life (and your wallet)! That's my advice to you.

I gave a former gf the Ex300 and she absolutely loved it. She hadn't had a pair of modern earphones and was shocked by the way she could hear where an instrument or sound source was coming from--left or right, even if it was behind or before her.

The ex300s have a warm, bassy sound. If that's what you're looking for, you'll like them a lot.

Looks like you should pay $50 or under for them. Don't pay full price! That's maybe the first rule.

You have a bunch of other options, too, you know.
You could also look at the thinksound rain
http://www.amazon.com/Thinksound-Rai...8714575&sr=1-2
for $60. It's well regarded. Probably less bass than the sony, I haven't heard the rain.


Oh, and I'm going to say that it's important whether or not you like bassy music that has a punch to it. If you do, dynamic driver based earphones are going to be more to your liking. Not that balanced armatures can't reproduce deep and strong bass (some of them), but the dynamics move the air more (which is part of how we "feel" bass). So, the bass has a different signature with dyanmics than with balanced armatures. Not better, necessarily.

You can read about the Er6i, a BA based earphone that should be in your price range ($60 for the white colored ones on amazon.com). It won't have the same bass impact like the sony, but should have a better treble clarity, not as warm or laid back. A bit more physically delicate than the sony or klipsch, though.

Taking care of your earphones: Don't just wrap them around your ipod and throw them in your backpack!!!

Our fearless leader Jude kindly put up a video of how he puts his earphones away after use:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-jude/4326189232/
I started doing it this way.