REVIEW: Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pro & Sensaphonics ProPhonic 2X-Soft - Page 3

raj, it seems to me that what really attracted you in both the E3 and CD3000 are the clear highs and forward midrange. E5, in comparison to the E3, has a much much more flat overall presentation, so the midrange that tend to be very clear and forward sounding is somewhat recessed. Both E3 and CD3000 has very clear highs, and although somewhat sibilant as well.

Based on these few issues, I would think that you might be happier with the UE-10 Pro, because the way it moves the vocal forward in certain recordings, as well as how it presents the highs in a very sharp and clear fashion.


Welly, the difference in my comfort with both material comes from the material itself. Both IEM's fit perfectly in my ear, and can be worn for hours on end. The Sensa's soft silicone material is just a step above. It's very much like how ER-4 owners gets used to the ER-4 and has no problem with their comfort, but E5c is just that much more comfortable. It's the same thing here, anyone who's got a UE-10 will swear that it is the most comfortable thing they've ever had, 'til they get a 2X-S, and it's just that slight step above.

As far as the durability with the earphones itself. It's hard to say, if you think about it, soft silicone will allow the 2X-S a lot more flexibility, it can be squeezed and bent without breaking. On the other hand, hard acrylic can crack more easily under pressure. From the other point of view, you can slice up soft silicone easier than you can with hard acrylic. Either way, you're dealing with one type of durability issue versus another.

I recommend UE-10 owners to get the hard acrylic for now anyway. Reason being, the full-soft acrylic isn't anywhere near soft enough to really warrant the extra $50. I understand why UE came up with the material, it's basically because they had to compete against the silicone material that Sensaphonics started using. It give to such a small degree, and it really doesn't help all that much with maintaining the seal.

On top of that, I still remember seeing year old UE-7's that had soft acrylic material that's yellowed and shrunken. I've gotten the full-soft myself because I wanted to see exactly how soft is really is, and I want to see after a year of ownership, if the material will stand up to the test of time. Older versions of soft acrylic material definitely yellows and shrinks over time, but UE said their new version wouldn't. I'm hoping that's true.

If any member is waiting to purchase the UE say.. in maybe 6 months to a year, we'll see how that material hold up over time.

In comparison, I've had the silicone custom mold add-on for my E5c for quite a while now, and it's still the same shape, same color... really hasn't changed at all for the past year. I've basically just kept it sitting out on my desk.


Good point, in either scenarios, 2X-S continues to be the warmer headphone, and the UE-10 gets a bit warmer in the HR-2 combination. It gives the bass a little more body, and gives it some warmth that's missing coming directly out of the iPod. Overall though, it doesn't affect the comparison, because both headphone gets affected equally. 2X-S doesn't "leap" to a new level of performance, neither does UE-10.

I'm actually interested in seeing how much amplification matters in either case. I'm thinking about getting one of the cheaper Headsave amps and pairing them up against the HR-2 to see if either headphone really just "tops out" when they're paired with high quality amps. Both sound signature just held up pretty well and steady.


I burned in them for about 40 hours or so... and the sound signature really hasn't changed in my mind too much. I've dealt with way too many canalphones, and psychological burn-in is more than realistic burn-in with them, in my experiences. After 40 hours, nothing's changed.. so I don't think it'll really change for me after 100 or 200 hours either.

The only headphones where I experienced dramatic burn-in, was the Sony CD3000, and Sennheiser's product up and down the line. I didn't feel much of a burn-in with Shure E3c, E5c, Ety ER-4, and certainly not the 2X-S or the UE-10 either. I don't put my headphones through any burn-in exercise either, never did... I just leave it on the music I normally listen to and leave them on for hours and hours.


Hey buster!.. Let's see your ear out there for public display!!! *sob*.. *sob*... now I gotta save up for that ear augmentation surgery... wait, does that mean I'll have to get a new impression?! NO!!!!! Should've thought this one through!!!!


Hehehe.. it also proves that you don't have to like the company behind the product to like their product. After all, I don't like Sony very much.. and I don't like Apple very much either. I have the iPod and CD3000... go figure


Overall, thanks for the praises, and spending however long you had to spend to go through that incredibly exhausting review.

Penbat, your math is really bad. I got the UE-10 Pro late on Thursday afternoon and promptly started listening to it. Just as a rough estimate.. so I've had it for about 12 hours of burn in from Thursday night to morning... another 24 hours by Friday, another 24 by Saturday, and about another 10 by the Sunday when I'm finished with the review.

That gives me about 70 hours of total time to burn them in.. of course they weren't on the whole time.. so in between that there's about 40 hours of burn-in as it stands.

I listened to both headphones over and over again, consistently checking them as I was writing the review to make sure I didn't hear something that's not there. The sound signature of either headphone really didn't change over time.


No, I guess there's some wrongful perception here. All IEM companies wants a full-open mouth impression, it's the same thing that Sensaphonics does with all their customers. The closed-mouth impression is only for hearing aids.

So there isn't much difference between the tightness of the earphones. However, the 2X-S feels "fuller" when it's in your ear, because the soft silicone really "hugs" the inside of your ear. The UE-10 just sits in your ear instead of "hugging" it. Yeah, I feel like I need much lovin' from my earphones.. hehehee..

LOL... no.. I think I still have to hang on to it... Believe it or not, thought has crossed my mind (Not the free gift part, but parting with the CD3000)... then I thought, if my friends come over and they see this headphone rig, but they have no headphone they can try on, they'll never understand...

They barely understand now, but.. you know.. it's okay.. They'll come around one day...

Well, you have to take in account of how individual feel about sibilance. The UE-10 is more sibilant than the 2X-S, but it is on the same level as ER-4. However, I know a few Head-Fi member that has found even ER-4 too sibilant for their taste. I think it's just fine, but I like the sibilance control on the 2X-S more. So for those people who find the ER-4, CD3000, or Grados too sibilant for their taste, UE-10 will probably be as well.

The sibilance is not from the iPod, as it is apparent on my home system as well. It's just a subjective view of how much sibilance is too much


Actually, no, Sensa has always gone with the wide-open mouth philosophy in doing their impressions. It was my own fault. When my audiologist told me to open my mouth wide, I didn't think I had to open them *that* wide... so I opened them half-wide, and thought it would be enough. Luckily, given the soft silicone material, I was able to create a good seal even without a really proper impression.

Truth is, when I open my mouth really wide with the Sensa, for example, as much as yawning or something, the left seal separates. That has a lot to do with me not having opened my mouth fully. I'm too lazy to get it fixed though, as it'll take another set of impressions and another two week wait. It only happens at the very, largest opening of my mouth, so I don't really care about it that much.

In contrast, my UE impression was with my mouth as wide as possible, and the left seal still separates a bit under the same situation. So I guess my left ear is just giving me a lot of trouble. I would imagine if I used my first set of impressions for UE, I might have enough more trouble.


Probably not, because I noted that UE-10 Pro has the same amount of detail as the 2X-S. Unless UE-10 Pro only has the same amount of detail as UE5c, then 2X-S would not be in the same class as UE5c. Given utdeep's experience with UE5c, I say they're closer to the class of E5c rather than UE-10 Pro and 2X-S. Both UE-10 Pro and 2X-S has much more high-level detail.

Also, 2X-S produces more low-bass, it does *not* produce more mid-bass than the UE-10 Pro. The low-bass has more vibration and "rumble" in the sound, like I said, woofer-like. However, the mid-bass is much more punchy and less resonant. UE-10 Pro's midbass still terminates faster, but 2X-S isn't far behind.