s1rrah
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2007
- Posts
- 2,640
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- 188
My much loved and well traveled Shure SE535's were stolen 2 days, six hours, 42 minutes and 17 seconds ago. Yes. The feelings of grief/loss are near palpable.
But hey, such is life in the ghetto. And next time I won't walk off to the water cooler while leaving my Shures on the treadmill (DUH!).
Anyway ...
I'm gonna get another set of Shure SE535's cause they suit me. Perfectly. But in the interim? I've launched myself in to a self imposed exile of sorts, hell bent on seeking out budget IEM's that strive towards what the SE535's do so well but in a package that costs 50 dollars or less.
A tall order, that.
Anyway ... enter the Klipsch S3's. I know nothing about them and knew nothing of them prior to the purchase yesterday, proceeding only on what little knowledge I could find via a google search on my phone while perusing the headphone isle at Fry's ...
...
I gotta say, for 25 dollars and change? This tiny set of inner ear monitors is a sure thing. Adequate bass, mid range is not quite what I'd call up front but it's certainly center stage. High freqs are decent, just a tad smeared/splashy here and there but not too bad at all (I'm real critical of highs, btw).
Coming from the Shure SE535's, I'm a bit biased and in all fairness, compared to the Shures these are a bit veiled ... not as resolving by a long shot, highs aren't as nice ... but all in all? Pretty much spot on to my ear (granted, an ear that leans towards neutrality and just a tad mid-centric). But hey? 25 bucks? A sure thing. And FWIW... bass freqs are a bit more forward than the SE535's. With the Shure's, I commonly keep the Arrow amp on it's 1st bass boost setting, nearly all the time...with the S3's, though? Not the case. Plenty of default bass.
They amp well too, believe it or not. My DAP, an S:flo2 drives them okay but the volume tops out a bit below what I would want for my stoner/doom/metal listening sessions (which I enjoy quite loud, thank you) ... but with the Headstage Arrow 3G? Things are just peachy. No end to the volume head room and even at skull cracking levels, the S3's never hesitate, clip or break. Nice.
Also, isolation is top notch, definitely on par with the SE535's "olive" tips.
I'll buy another set of Shure SE535's. I owe it to myself (that's my rational, anyway). But for now? The Klipsch S3's, coming in at a whopping 25 dollars (I caught them on sale, local) are a sure thing.
Seriously, I can't believe my first "budget" IEM turned out to be quite nearly just what I was looking for. Crazy.
As counterpoint, though...at the same time that I purchased the S3's, I also bought a pair of 45 dollar Yamaha EPH-30's ... and for the record? The Yamaha's suck serious ass. Hard. Sibilant. "Metallic" sounding. Confined. Just really horrible. I can't believe Yamaha (a company I actually respect) would let such things out the door.
Anyway ... thought I'd emote a bit on the S3's ...
Try 'em. You might just like 'em.
But hey, such is life in the ghetto. And next time I won't walk off to the water cooler while leaving my Shures on the treadmill (DUH!).
Anyway ...
I'm gonna get another set of Shure SE535's cause they suit me. Perfectly. But in the interim? I've launched myself in to a self imposed exile of sorts, hell bent on seeking out budget IEM's that strive towards what the SE535's do so well but in a package that costs 50 dollars or less.
A tall order, that.
Anyway ... enter the Klipsch S3's. I know nothing about them and knew nothing of them prior to the purchase yesterday, proceeding only on what little knowledge I could find via a google search on my phone while perusing the headphone isle at Fry's ...
...
I gotta say, for 25 dollars and change? This tiny set of inner ear monitors is a sure thing. Adequate bass, mid range is not quite what I'd call up front but it's certainly center stage. High freqs are decent, just a tad smeared/splashy here and there but not too bad at all (I'm real critical of highs, btw).
Coming from the Shure SE535's, I'm a bit biased and in all fairness, compared to the Shures these are a bit veiled ... not as resolving by a long shot, highs aren't as nice ... but all in all? Pretty much spot on to my ear (granted, an ear that leans towards neutrality and just a tad mid-centric). But hey? 25 bucks? A sure thing. And FWIW... bass freqs are a bit more forward than the SE535's. With the Shure's, I commonly keep the Arrow amp on it's 1st bass boost setting, nearly all the time...with the S3's, though? Not the case. Plenty of default bass.
They amp well too, believe it or not. My DAP, an S:flo2 drives them okay but the volume tops out a bit below what I would want for my stoner/doom/metal listening sessions (which I enjoy quite loud, thank you) ... but with the Headstage Arrow 3G? Things are just peachy. No end to the volume head room and even at skull cracking levels, the S3's never hesitate, clip or break. Nice.
Also, isolation is top notch, definitely on par with the SE535's "olive" tips.
I'll buy another set of Shure SE535's. I owe it to myself (that's my rational, anyway). But for now? The Klipsch S3's, coming in at a whopping 25 dollars (I caught them on sale, local) are a sure thing.
Seriously, I can't believe my first "budget" IEM turned out to be quite nearly just what I was looking for. Crazy.
As counterpoint, though...at the same time that I purchased the S3's, I also bought a pair of 45 dollar Yamaha EPH-30's ... and for the record? The Yamaha's suck serious ass. Hard. Sibilant. "Metallic" sounding. Confined. Just really horrible. I can't believe Yamaha (a company I actually respect) would let such things out the door.
Anyway ... thought I'd emote a bit on the S3's ...
Try 'em. You might just like 'em.
