[lewislink]

V-Moda Vibe canalphones

I'veread a number of threads that suggest the Vides to be a not-so-good phone but, really, I don't see any reason for the disdain. These are quite lovely and seem to be built very well. As said, the connector end of the cord has an abrupt end where the cord meets the connector but there is a small rubber guard that seems the suffice.

Sound wise, these are quite acceptable. The bass is pronounced and the presence is right on. They aren't as detailed as the UE 3's but they are an acceptable choice. I always love a canalphone that doesn't require me to fully insert the phone into my ear canal. With these and most right-side-up canalphones, I can simply choose the large sleeve and insert the phone to the entrance of my ear canal and receive an excellent seal. With the inverted type, like most Shures and the UE 3's, I have to press the phone into the canal to maintain a decent seal. These Vibes are so small that the whole phone, with the large seal, sit into my ear without being fully inserted into the canal.

So far, these are great phones but they aren't broken-in yet.

 

[lewislink]

Sennheiser CX300 canalphones

Finally! I finally have a set of real Sennheiser canalphones. The last set of Senns I bought were fakes and very poor quality fakes, at that. These phones are superb quality in comparison. They also sound so much better than the fakes. They are so small, though, that I'm having a very hard time getting them to seal in the ear canal. They are too small to just put in the ear and have the wall of the ear keep them sealed, like i do with most phones of this style. I have to press these into the canal for a secure fit.

They certainly need a break-in period. Right now the highs are way too bright and the upper midrange is very grainy. The bass is powerful, though. On an unfortunate note, these buds use unequal length cords. I hate unequal length cords because it's so difficult managing the cords. I suppose I'm a very anal person but I detest disorder and these buds feel disorderly to me. The very best set of earbuds I've ever come across for having a highly ordered cord and quality build are the JVCs. Especially the cord on the HA-FX300. Perfect length and superb material that allows the cord to be straight and lithe.

The cord on this set of buds is the opposite of the JVCs.

 

[lewislink]

Sennheiser CX300 canalphones continued...

Hmmm...isn't this a fine how do you do. It looks like I'm preferring the sound of these Senns to that of the UE 3. I switched to a different player, my E100, and, because it is set up differently in the audio tweaks, it made the Senns shine like white hot light. I connected the UE 3s and they delivered a muddy sound quality. The Senns are free of distortion...well mostly, anyway, and have an outstanding tonality that is very pleasing. Warm sounding and clear as crystal...almost. The overall balance of the audio is spot on. The highs are much better, the midrange is dynamic but not overly so. The lows are integrated well with the rest of the audio spectrum.

Very, very lovely. I could listen to these non-stop and rediscover my library of jazz.

 

[nickdawg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lewislink /img/forum/go_quote.gif http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...slink2/015.jpg

Is that a Skullcandy ear sleeve on that Crossroads? I saw the little "skull" logo on it.

 

[lewislink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickdawg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is that a Skullcandy ear sleeve on that Crossroads? I saw the little "skull" logo on it.

LOL..yes it is. I was wondering who would prove to have the eagle eye.

Those seals came from an Ink'd. They are soft sided and are a little longer than all the others I have and felt they helped with a proper seal on the those types of canalphones.

 

[lewislink]

Sennheiser CX300 canalphones continued...

Unfortunately, unless there is such a thing as a seal stem extension for these type of canalphones that will extend the stem of each phone about 3 to 5mm, I will have to put these CX300s away.

I can't keep a good seal because the phones just aren't long enough and I don't like fiddling with them, having to keep pushing them back into my ear canal.

Back to the Vibes. They pretty much sound about the same as the CX300s but are longer and do seal reliably. Who knows, once they are broke-in, I might like these Vibes better than the Senns. I'm just glad I didn't give any more for the Senns than I did.

 

[nickdawg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lewislink /img/forum/go_quote.gif LOL..yes it is. I was wondering who would prove to have the eagle eye. Those seals came from an Ink'd. They are soft sided and are a little longer than all the others I have and felt they helped with a proper seal on the those types of canalphones.

I guess it's me. I too like the fit and seal of the Skullcandy ear sleeves. The mediums work best for me. When I put them in right I get a crazy tight seal and excellent isolation. Yeah, they are very soft. I've found them to be more comfortable than foam tips I've used. I can wear them for hours and they're still comfortable. Plus IMO the sound is better with sillicone than foam. The sound is generally punchier and the bass is deeper.

Plus, Skullcandy sells more seals at their website(if you want more)!!

Inkd Ear Gels [INK-Gels] : Skullcandy

 

[lewislink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickdawg /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess it's me. I too like the fit and seal of the Skullcandy ear sleeves. The mediums work best for me. When I put them in right I get a crazy tight seal and excellent isolation. Yeah, they are very soft. I've found them to be more comfortable than foam tips I've used. I can wear them for hours and they're still comfortable. Plus IMO the sound is better with sillicone than foam. The sound is generally punchier and the bass is deeper. Plus, Skullcandy sells more seals at their website(if you want more)!! Inkd Ear Gels [INK-Gels] : Skullcandy

Cool, thanks for the link.

I generally don't need to press these types of phones into the ear canal. I can get by with an excellent seal by resting the phones in my ears and the ear wall, or bowl wall, will keep them secure, provided the phone is long enough, to begin with. Most are but the new Senns I have aren't long enough and they won't press far enough into the ear for a secure fit. I had to shelve them until such time as I can come up with either a seal stem extension or a seal that is about 2mm longer than these SC ones.

I'm currently giving my new Etys a try. I'm, so far, not too terribly impressed with them. They don't seem to sound any better than the UEs, Vibes or Senns. Of course, I am still new to them, time will tell.

 

[lewislink]

Ultimate Ears Super fi-3 canalphones continued...

I have been having trouble maintaining a good enough seal with these phones and have tried nearly every viable sleeve in my inventory. I finally settled...for now, anyway...on a couple Creative Labs Zen Aurvana large sleeves because of their half football (the American type) shape. They seem to stay in place much better than any of the others, including foams. However, these, too, will migrate out to an insufficient seal and will need pushing back in, a maintenance very similar to that of correcting one's eyeglasses by pushing them back up on the nose.

I think I've come across a reliable means for keeping a good, bass producing, seal for a much longer period of time. Witch Hazzle extract. I take an ear swab, douse it with Witch Hazzle and swab one ear. I then take the dry end of the swab and remove any excess moisture from the Witch Hazzle. Then I take the wet end of the swab and wipe the sleeve of the phone down and, while it is still wet, insert it. I then do the other...one at a time rather than doing both because the Witch Hazzle will dry fast.

I had to do it twice for one ear but I did have a non-moving seal and beautiful bass for quite a while till I removed them to put the Etys in. They were tight enough for the sleeves to turn inside out upon removal.

This may not work for everyone needing a solution but it seems to be helping for myself. I don't know how well it will work with other silicone sleeves besides the Aurvanas I use.

 

[babya]

Sony MDR-EX85
Bought my pair for about A$90 when it was on sale at a store a few months back.


It has a unusual design with 2 drivers-a angled small one where the tips go on and a 13.5mm one on the outer part.

Sony says it's studio monitor quality-which I really like.

Bass and mid-range are very nice if listening to pop and classical.

Low-range isn't bad either and I always like Sony's sound qualities.

Isolation was fine for my uses (mostly iPod and Walkman listening in a quiet room).

 

[babya]

Sennheiser MXL51 lanyard-style
These ones are suprisingly good value-for a lanyard style.
That means it can be worn around your neck, similar to Sony MDR-NE1.

Sennheiser's basswind technology makes for nice bass-very well-done.

Listened to pop and rock with these and it's well-balanced across all areas.

For $30, the MXL51's were a good buy.

 

[lewislink]

JBL Reference 220 continued...

I have to say, I'm thoroughly impressed with these canalphones. I let them break-in for 24 hours straight at a high volume level...but not headbanger high...and, as long as the seal is tight, they will sound almost as well as the Ety 6s. For just $26 these will satisfy the hunger for audiophile desire on a budget.

The main thing is how they are inserted into the ear. I tried the press-in method where I pressed them into the ear canal and wasn't liking what I heard. The bass was extreme, though. I, then, put my usual Skullcandy Ink'd large sleeves on because of their deepness and wet the sleeves and and just let them sit in the ear like an earbud where the cord stem lines up with the notch at the bottom of the ear. With the SK sleeves, they are deep enough to maintain a sufficient seal on the canal entrance and the phones are angled at the ear canal much better than being pressed in. This provides an awesome sound quality. The bass isn't as extreme but it is at about a normal level.

They are extremely comfortable this way and produce a beautiful, dynamic, detailed sound. An all-around winner.

EDIT - Thanks to Yoloni for the suggestion of these JBLs

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yoloni /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, man. My brother was about to get those, but I was afraid he was about to get a fake, so I told him to get a JBL Reference 220. He didn't want to pay that much for earphones.

 

[lewislink]

iFrogs Earpollution D33 canalphones

So far these sound a little like Skullcandy canalphones but these aren't as good. They have incredible bass output but there's just something about the overall sound...erm...like an out of phase thing going on. There isn't detail or clarity going on with them. They sound dynamic but just not quality sounding.

 

[trickywombat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lewislink /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ultimate Ears Super fi-3 canalphones continued... I have been having trouble maintaining a good enough seal with these phones and have tried nearly every viable sleeve in my inventory...

Try the Comply foam tips (T500 is made for UE)
Comply™ foam fittings for UE, Ultimate Ears : Triple.fi 10 pro, Super.fi 3 studio, Super.fi 5 pro, Super.fi 5 extended bass, Metro.fi 2
They're very comfortable and isolate great, but are not washable and will need to be replace a few times a year depending on wear/dirt.

 

[lewislink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trickywombat /img/forum/go_quote.gif Try the Comply foam tips (T500 is made for UE) Comply™ foam fittings for UE, Ultimate Ears : Triple.fi 10 pro, Super.fi 3 studio, Super.fi 5 pro, Super.fi 5 extended bass, Metro.fi 2 They're very comfortable and isolate great, but are not washable and will need to be replace a few times a year depending on wear/dirt.

I actually have some ordered from reading about them in another thread.

Thanks for the suggestion.