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That is basically what I said, actually... the notes are all there, controlled, deep... but visceral impact comparable to full size headphones are completely missing. That's the type of bass ER-4 offers, you can't say honestly that it's the same bass you'll get from any full size headphone..

It's just a piece of the puzzle, nevertheless if I had to pick between a good representative bass or a muffled crappy but volumetric bass, I would pick the representative bass. With the Shure E5c, I don't have to pick, I get both.

I guess I misunderstood what you said when the ER-4 lacks bass "volume," then.

I do agree that the ER-4 lacks visceral impact. I prefer it that way, actually; I can hear and clearly discern bass notes instead of feeling a whoosh of air against my eardrum.

- Chris

Okay, I seem to have been taken out of context and my point misconstrued.....

Let me elaborate. There are too many people to quote that have picked up on a few things I've said, so I'm going to reply generally.

Firstly, I was specific about pointing out that my comparisons were with poor quality phones, and as such, my dealings with the EX71 were supposed to be viewed in accordance with this experience. My opinions were challenged on this, so let me say again, I have NEVER had the pleasure of comparing EX71s to good quality canalphones. What I was saying was that if you're listening to dance/bass heacy music, these phones provide a lot of fun for comparitively little price. (I'm aware of the fact that I'm comparing price with phones that I've never used.) My opinion remains that, for bass-heavy music, you're going to struggle to find something this fun for this cheap.

Secondly, I think it was lindrone (respect, I've read much of your 'work' on this board, people love you and hate you in equal measure, although the hate is only because of how much you make people spend.) Anyway, I digress, lindone mentioned that my point was valid with the "tight, refined bass" comment with several phones, but not with the E5. Well, this is what I've heard before. But in the UK, the E5 remains vastly out of reach for most. £400 is just too much for phones. How many US readers would buy them at $700? However, lindrone illustrated my point rather well. I'm looking for that deep and dirty feel, I'm getting it for $50 with the EX71s.

Another reader mentioned that he listens to dance/electronica a lot and prefers his ER4s. I have two comments to make about that. Firstly, that's cool, and good to hear they work for you. in fact, it's excellent news, because I seem to struggle to find any good advice on bass heavy music without people resorting to an air of superiority, just because there's some strange misconception that bass orientated = lower class. I don't subscribe to this philosophy. A lot of my other music (I listen to all sorts,) requires very little bass. I never look at any genre and judge it on which has the higher or lower sonic range. It's all just sound, at when you get right down to it. Anyway, if there's any more advice on this type of music and the best way to hear it, I'm all ears.
But another point I'd like to make to this reader (Chris is his name,) is that when I go to a nightclub that plays this music, I love the bass feeling I get, and tight/refined is definitely not the feeling I get when I'm in there. So while I respect your view that you feel it doesn't need the muddy, dirty feel, that is only your view. I like the dirty sound, it reminds me of when I'm having a great time in a club, and that's pretty good for a $50 set of cans.

Please don't take any of this as a sleight on what you prefer, this is my opinion, and it's biased in that I haven't used great phones.

Anyway, I'll have some soon, as I'm about to buy some E3s from iDealSound. I can join the elite and moan at newbies for buying EX71s soon.

Thanks to everyone so far for the input and advice/opinions I've read, both directly to me and indirectly.

This is a very interesting debate going on here.

My two bits are that the EX71's can be modified to sound just fine. Right out of the box they are a bit boomy, but this can be altered. They offer some of the best bang for the buck.

The same can not be said of most of the more expensive canalphones. They are not anywhere near the price they cost. If you spend that much for something like an Ety you should get deep bass. Some discount this as not important but that is probably because of the type of music they listen to.

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*Sigh*.. I'm very aware of this... It's really disappointing to see one product that costs a certain amount here, moving overseas and charging almost twice as much as it is available here. It doesn't make any sense to me.

A lot of current E5 owners on Head-Fi would've probably never picked it up if it wasn't for the price drop on the market now. They were originally $500, but now can be found for $370, sometimes even near the $350 range. That's a pretty dramatic amount of price difference.

Even more to the point, $700 is almost enough to get you a very, very good pair of custom molded canalphones.

HI: I tried again to use my Aiwa VX100 ear phones again but I use them fore my radio show that is all voice and wow way to much bass. Now the VX100 are like the 70-71 but I feel they are a little better but I just could not stand the bass in the voice so I bought the shure E2 again. LOL.

I use the ex51 but with the EQ mod to make them sound like the ety er-4p. I hate to say this but man do they sound good(compared to before anyways). With this mod there is way more detail and way less bass. Actually I find these is to little and I actually have to boost the bass a bit. Whoever has the ex70/51/71, you should really try the ety EQ mod. Works real well!

From what I've collected and read on various forums... of all qualified EX71 owners, half hate it, half like it.

Half of the half that hated it never bothered to screw around with the various earcones.

Half of the half that liked it never bothered to screw around with the various earcones.

What can we derive from this? I have no clue.

Compared to my Koss KSC 50 (35), EX71 have deeper, more buffer bass end, and a very nice treble (with the small cones... small cones, not medium, smaaaaalll). KSC 50 has a slighty better treble section, not the power in the bass, but it's a bit cleaner.

I obviously can't tell the difference between 128 kbps and 160 kbps mp3, so that impression doesn't really mean much to anyone looking for an accurate description..

I will agree, even for the price of the EX71s, the quality offered by them is not sufficient. But what you lose in quality, you gain in functionality and comfort (after you've taken care of the stupid cord)

Some people enjoy their music based on the quality. Some (like me) enjoy music when their ears are more physically happy. You know that feeling? Getting your ears massaged by a girl friend's cool fingers after your ears have been over heated... now, that's a nice feeling. And when that happens, I could care less if I were listening to iPod stock earbuds.

What's the Ety EQ mod?

Do keep in mind that when you're evaluating canal phones-actually any pair of headphones but more so with the canal phones since the fit affects the sound more here - you're talking about a wide variety of different fits in the ears and preferences.. If you look at this page http://www.linkwitzlab.com/reference_earphones.htm the author clearly feels E2 represents the most realistic sound of the earphones represented there and he thinks EX71 is "an attractive low cost alternative" to the Etys.

As usual, just trust your ears and see if they tell you the 'phones are good or bad. Too often we let other people make the judgement for your ears. (or other things for that matter, I guess we human beings are just insecure and need approvals from others )

HI: I just somehow knew that I liked the E2 better than the E3. I find the E2 to have a fun true sound to them and very comfortable because they don't go in my ear canal but just cover it. And the bass is just great as is the clarity and balance. This has nothing to do with money but great sound in a portable ear phone. I do use the super mini amp V 6.2D with them but they sound great in my portable radio at 28 m/w per channel.

28 mW on the Shure E2c? Dear lord man... that hella blow my ears to shreds.

Sczervok
HI: When I put my super mini amp V 6.2D to the radio it is like a full blown stereo system. It don't need to be played loud but sounds very very full and great bass with great detail and clarity. Sometimes I want to stop listing to the radio but on comes another song that I just have to listen to it sounds that good. Oh the radio has 19 pre sets so there seems to always be something great on and its hard to stop listening when I want to listen to my Cd player and some Cd's.

I use my EX71s for listening to spoken word material, audiobooks and so forth. No problems there, and the isolation and price more than make it worthwhile. For music I'd rather stick with my home rig.

The EX71's seem to get a bum rap, IMHO. In all fairness, earbuds do not generally excel at sound quality despite any variant of design. I've found they have relatively short lifespans.

the ety EQ mod for the ex70/51/71 is right here
http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...5&pagenumber=1