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EarPods - Apples newest entry into IEM - Page 5

post #61 of 159
9/19/12 at 6:57am

The biggest difference with the transducer seems to be the utilization of a paper cone.  Can anybody well-versed in diaphragm materials perhaps give some reasons as to why Apple went with paper as opposed to plastic/mylar?  I know iFixit mentioned it may have something to due with durability, but I've never blown an earbud driver before so I'm not entirely convinced that this is the main reason for the change.

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post #62 of 159
9/19/12 at 7:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kjk1281 View Post

The biggest difference with the transducer seems to be the utilization of a paper cone.  Can anybody well-versed in diaphragm materials perhaps give some reasons as to why Apple went with paper as opposed to plastic/mylar?  I know iFixit mentioned it may have something to due with durability, but I've never blown an earbud driver before so I'm not entirely convinced that this is the main reason for the change.

Not sure if you also read, but iFixit also stated that they may have implemented it for better bass & mid-range response 

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post #63 of 159
9/19/12 at 7:06am

Thanks. That seems to makes sense.  I'm reading it now but as usual with teardowns I skipped to the pictures first. redface.gif

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post #64 of 159
9/19/12 at 9:46pm

I'm listening to the EarPods and frankly, I was VERY pleasantly surprised by the sound quality. It's a gigantic leap over the old Apple earbuds, and bass to midrange is actually decent for a change. And efficiency is not bad--I only needed a tad more volume level to get the same volume level I get with a Klipsch Image S4i IEM.

 

For US$29, it's actually a bit of a steal for portable headphones. And Apple will include them as standard with the 7G iPod nano, 5G iPod touch, and the iPhone 5.

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post #65 of 159
9/21/12 at 9:15am

Got these in today, have been listening for a good hour.

 

First impressions:

Midbass is pretty boosted and a little muddy, subbass drops off pretty quickly. Mids are fairly neutral but they lack some detail. Treble is a little bit peaky but that doesnt really bother me. Fit is also really nice for an earbud and they can go in pretty deep actually.

 

Also these wouldnt be good when used with a hat or something that goes over your ears because if you cover the back vents the sound becomes even more muddy.

 

Soundstage and imaging are pretty good for something this cheap.

 

All in all id say this is a win for apple very good for the money.

 

All this listening was done on O2+ODAC and keep in mind to take this with a grain of salt :)

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post #66 of 159
9/21/12 at 10:01am
Got these with my 5. Very impressive.
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post #67 of 159
9/21/12 at 10:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kjk1281 View Post

The biggest difference with the transducer seems to be the utilization of a paper cone.  Can anybody well-versed in diaphragm materials perhaps give some reasons as to why Apple went with paper as opposed to plastic/mylar?  I know iFixit mentioned it may have something to due with durability, but I've never blown an earbud driver before so I'm not entirely convinced that this is the main reason for the change.


It's probably paper reinforcement on a mylar diaphragm. Now I'm not well-versed at all, but I think Apple might have added the paper dome to prevent modal break-up at large volumes. Some extra paper (on the center of the driver) would help handle more energy. 

It's not exactly about durability, but lenience on larger amounts of energy, methinks. Just like speaker tweeters!

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post #68 of 159
9/21/12 at 10:07am

Im getting the highs are a bit rolled of now...

They sound a lot like my friends Beats Solo.

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post #69 of 159
9/21/12 at 12:23pm

In the teardown, they describe the driver as paper, but I believe it might be bio-celluose. If we assume that they still use fostex as their OEM and that fostex used bio-celluose in the Denon D1000, Creative Auravana Live and etc. The earpod drivers diaphragm looks like it might use the same material as the d1000 drivers diaphragm.

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post #70 of 159
9/21/12 at 12:51pm

Great seeing everybody's impressions on these.  Just a note: it appears the EarPods get really bassy if you stick these to far in the ear.  Apparently it covers one of the ports.  See Sonove's graph below:

 

 

 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by sunjigglet View Post

It's probably paper reinforcement on a mylar diaphragm. Now I'm not well-versed at all, but I think Apple might have added the paper dome to prevent modal break-up at large volumes. Some extra paper (on the center of the driver) would help handle more energy. 

It's not exactly about durability, but lenience on larger amounts of energy, methinks. Just like speaker tweeters!

 

Thanks for the input!  I'll have to look up half of what you wrote but at least I'll learn something new. redface.gif

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nagasaki_Kid View Post

In the teardown, they describe the driver as paper, but I believe it might be bio-celluose. If we assume that they still use fostex as their OEM and that fostex used bio-celluose in the Denon D1000, Creative Auravana Live and etc. The earpod drivers diaphragm looks like it might use the same material as the d1000 drivers diaphragm.

 

That would be very interesting indeed.  If there's even semi-confirmation of these being Foster bio-cellulose drivers, then my wallet will be $30 lighter!

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post #71 of 159
9/21/12 at 1:54pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjk1281 View Post

That would be very interesting indeed.  If there's even semi-confirmation of these being Foster bio-cellulose drivers, then my wallet will be $30 lighter!

 

 

 

I just did some research and apparently Apple might have dumped Foster for Foxconn for earphone, but I still think they are some type of biocellulose (as paper is bio cellulose). The Taiwan manufacture also aquired some patents from fostex.

 

 

 

Quote:
 

According to Taiwan media, Taiwan's four electronics manufacturers (http://www.mrdigitalcn.com/)Apple has recently been increased to be launched this summer iPhone5 product list list of suppliers of components, parts suppliers iPhone5 marked shift from Japan to Taiwan.
This four Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn Electronics, respectively, Cheng Uei Precision (Foxlink), gold wafer as electronic and optical). Foxconn Electronics will become the latest Apple iPhone5 headset suppliers. Earlier, Japan's Foster iPhone headset supplier of Apple, but Apple has led to appreciation of the yen has had to find new suppliers cost-effective. Reported that the value of the relevant orders are expected at 50 billion Taiwan dollars (about 171.7 million U.S. dollars). Cheng Uei Precision will offer Apple's iPhone5 headphone jack.

HDI board as inadequate supply of apple for new products such as electronic payment provider. The original supplier of the product in Taiwan and Taiwan Compeq Unimicron is still Apple's suppliers. Epistar LED manufacturer LED manufacturer in Japan with the establishment of strategic alliances after ToyodaGosei may be added, Apple's supply chain.

Apple turned to suppliers in Taiwan from Japan for the next generation of iPhone, this may be necessary. Apple has been forced to raise the price of the iPhone4 and other fees may also push for the product price. Biography Qualcomm dual-core mobile chip set manufacturing costs may increase. Apple may be using a dual-core chips, the other to upgrade storage capacity may also lead to similar price increases.

Reported that Apple's iPhone component suppliers after the transfer from Japan to Taiwan, one of the obstacles may be the supplier of Taiwan patent issues. Epistar recently reached an agreement with the ToyodaGosei will make Epistar the right to use the Japanese supplier of the patent.

http://www.mrdigitalcn.com/

 

 

 

Source: macrumors forum


Edited by Nagasaki_Kid - 9/21/12 at 2:02pm
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post #72 of 159
9/21/12 at 2:04pm

These will seriously be enjoyed by the masses because most average ppl just want bass and these deliver some serious bass when stuck in to far.

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post #73 of 159
9/21/12 at 4:51pm

I just got my iP5. The earpods shocked me. They sound great, and the soundstage is ridiculous for an in ear (though it's an open design). Their only downfall is the slight lack of fullness, and early sub-bass roll off. Otherwise, Apple has a winner.

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post #74 of 159
9/21/12 at 7:51pm

I picked up my iPhone5 this morning (woohoo! No wait or lines!), and just now got around to trying the free earpods. (I still think it's a pretty terribad name). Much, much, much improved over the previous crappy white buds, and they promised more bass, and they sure got it. A fair bit bloated to my ears, but then again, I am not a bass-head.

 

There's actual instrument separation, which is a pleasant surprise. I had pretty low expectations for these, and for that, they exceeded my expectations, but do they "compete with high-end headphones" as Jony Ive claims? ... no...

 

Still, they are absolutely great for the price of free! I will have to test them while running to see if they can stay in my ears. Will report on that later! Until then, I'm still waiting for my phone to sync over wifi (my kingdom for syncing over LTE)

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post #75 of 159
9/21/12 at 8:00pm

Seems to me that fit is a very significant variable! Maybe rinchoi's pair of earpods were measured fit loose? Or Sonove's pair inserted unusually deep?

 

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