I've got a pair of Sony MDR-EX35 and i quite like the sound of them but find them a bit lacking on my (not very good) source. I also don't like the noise cancelling function - it WORKS for me and i dont get on with it out in public, they're my first inside the ear buds. I'm all about sound quality generally with my hifi (speakers) but i've always stuck to sonys for outdoors because they're cheap, sound good for the £ and last a reasonable time

so i want to go back to the old earbud style as in Yuin's PK, Sunrise AS etc. I listen to a wide variety of music but mostly metal and other busy music. I like a good strong treble and tight present bass, but i'm not bothered about loud i don't blast my ears out.

been trying to decide what to get.. i want something that sounds at least as good as my EX35s. My source is a sony ericsson W100i spiro walkman phone (16gb). I've looked at the Fiio amp and i could build a decent CMOY (i'm going to anyway, later, they look cool), but i'd rather not have an amp if i can get acceptable sound without it. i just cant decide whether to accept a cheaper earphone and compromised sound or go for some niceness.

my shortlist is:
Sony MDRE10LP - i was recommended these, they're cheap - too cheap? my EX's were x2
Yuin PK2
Yuin PK3
Sunrise Audio AS-Charm.

I could stretch to the PK1 but my wallet would be empty forevermore. The main thing is it has to sound as good as but preferably better than my EX35s. i'd prefer not to run an amp if i dont have to but i will if i can get much better sound out of a 2nd rate source - the fiio e5 looks to have good reviews and is small enough?

i've spent a week JFGI'ing it and every review is contradictory? lol HELP pleaaasseee
Edited by skree - 11/11/11 at 12:35pm

Yeah, I'd wondered about Feeling and yuin's PK3. PK3's cheaper than feeling

the reviews of PK2 and Feeling say they come alive when amped with the likes of the Fiio amp

because i'm a bit noob to this, i don't know what to expect and i'm thinking my spiro will prob need an amp to sound good.. as with my existing phones it struggles with the higher volumes needed for them to give a full sound, i get distortion

i've been considering charm, feeling, or PK2 - charm is the top end of my budget really, how much benefit would i get out of a Fiio E5 on the cheaper models?

Well, i finally replaced the EX-35s - ok, demoted them to PC use. My new on the move earphone - Sennheiser MX-880. The EX-35 is a damn good bud, especially at 10 to 15 pounds. Really really good. I've had them a few years now (RUGGED!.. lol) so they're truely run in and i've got to say the MX-880 isn't that much better (not run in much), on the W100i spiro. Which is a pile of excrement, in my opinion. I'm really starting to hate it and i've always loved my phones

 

Clarity and definition on the 880s is a bit better, but the sheer fullness and.. the way they make the noise sound like you've got a cranked, really good hifi on, is better on the EX-35s. They've got more bass than the senns too. The sound is richer. But the sennheisers aren't yet run in (6 hours or so on the w100i) and i always found the W100i mp3 player to be very harsh and rough after the smoothness of a W810i. I'm really torn as to which earbud i like better, although i'm leaning towards the EX-35s. The 880s are MUCH louder, i'm at least a couple of volumes lower

 

replacing the source though, got a Nokia 101 on its way from malaysia, if the shipping estimates are to be believed, the sennheisers should be run in by the time it arrives lol. 101 is said to be the same as the X1-01 but in a better case, with less speaker, and a better keypad albeit a smaller battery - 850mah or 1020mah, not sure yet although i can always get the 1020 and I'm wondering if the slightly larger X1-01 battery won't fit with a bit of brutalisation of the battery tray. why nokia didn't fit that in the first place i'll never know

 

good times

 

edit: put the 880s in.. might as well they were just sat on the desk playing away. rob zombie - demon speeding. They play this song excellently. I think they're improving.. now playing cypress hill - hits from the bong (t-rays mix) for its bass line and because i played it earlier, one of the first songs as i wanted to listen to the bass, they've been criticised for lack of bass.. they sound more comfortable with the bass than they did earlier. It's  a different type of bass to the ex35s... sounds like an instrument rather than a bit artificial bass note (like a big sub note)

 

i'm used to very forward stuff and these are restrained but seem accurate.. yeah aphex twin really shows the difference between these and the EX35s.. The 880s are just better. bass not as weighty but a superior music reproduction. 28 pounds a pair, bargain. Volume control on the cable is ok as long as you just leave it maxed lol 

Edited by skree - 11/11/11 at 7:15pm

aparently there's some skepticism about burning in earbuds? well lets kill that right here.

 

This is the first time i've done it, first time i'm reading about it, so i have no psychological or placebo effect - except when i'm listening to placebo, of course :D

 

These MX880s sounded tinny when i first played them, hence why i said i was leaning to the EX35s. They just sounded like clear but garbage cheapies

 

even 12-14 hours burn in (my phone crashed again overnight, the pile of poo) random shuffle, at my normal volume, give or take a gnats, they're more powerful, fuller, more bassy. still restrained though

 

burn in - i call it run in(mechanic), works.

Edited by skree - 11/12/11 at 6:10am

Had the new source - Nokia 101 a couple of months now, got a few hundred more hours on the MX-880s.

 

MAN these are sweet earbuds. Not as outright bassy as my previous sonys but i did a back to back the last few days between the sonys and the MX-880s and the MXs make the sonys seem slightly toneless and flat.. bassy, but flat

 

i do need some amping though, and i think i need to crossfeed because at listenable volumes the treble on these buds is starting to make my left ear crackle - i have some damage in the left ear, too much treble = distorted ear. can get quite fatiguing so i'm weighing up my options.. budgetphone rig just did the head-fi thing and got more expensive