The new iPod touch is a pretty powerful player. If you weren't looking for noise isolation I'd recommend a Grado; it sounds really nice with grados. As it is, in ears offer the best isolation especially on the cheap, but closed back sennheisers are good too. The link recommended above is also a...

+1 for Lupe. I dislike him as a person because of his sometimes entitled attitude and his somewhat naive activism politics. Still, the man can rhyme. More than that, he can rhyme with a coherent message.   Case in point, one of my favorite songs is Little Weapon. Lupe raps about kids in...

Quote: Ahh, my mistake. If you're not moving around (i.e. on a plane) and you don't have a cold, the sound coming from yourself is negligible.

Quote: Negate? No, they pull sound from outside. It's like wearing industrial earmuffs without the weight. I've grown accustomed to the IEM isolation feeling and rather like it. Customs + active noise canceling would cancel about 40dB, as much as a pair of etymotics with the best fit, but...

Quote: If they're an improvement on the current model they're definitely worth the wait. Things can only get better. I like them all around but they could use a tad more treble, which is what is supposed to be coming.

I tried them on briefly in an Apple store and didn't mind them. The bass was there in spades, and I could see how they'd be a "fun" pair. The mid-bass was a bit annoying though and soundstage below audiophile grade.   Compare that to my first impressions of the Monster miles davis IEM (which...

Quote:   I never said it wasn't true, just that the reasoning was faulty. The electrical properties of the cable will affect the signal phase for different frequencies. The length itself will not affect anything noticeably. Humans do not have that kind of aural resolution.

Quote: I'm not sure I buy that reason. Instantaneous speed of electrons in copper is roughly 2/3 the speed of light. A slightly longer cable will not affect timing adversely in any noticeable way. I think the resistance/capacitance/inductance of the wire would be bigger problems.

Hey, there's hope for the budget customs range! With the way the two livewires companies do business, I didn't think they'd be worthwhile. But if these can run with the JH5 in both sound and customer service, that would be amazing.

This is a strange thread. I've never really liked the IQ scale anyway. So much of intelligence is learned IMO, much more than people think. I've taken online IQ tests and gotten everything from 114 to 182 . Pretty sure it's under 182 .

Quote: Uniqlos are slim (even regular straight) and APCs are just above the $100 price range.

I have a pair of selvedge 501s (rigid rinse I think?) and I just got a pair of uniqlo selvedge in NYC the other week. Haven't worn them yet as they're off being tailored, but they're stiffer and much slimmer than the baggy 501s. I do hope they'll wear in better, but I think they will because...

The channel separation on the touch has always been good IMO. The RE0 does not have a naturally wide soundstage, and the touch doesn't really affect it either way. With the double flange tips it is pleasantly wide as usual. The mid bass definitely has more kick, but it doesn't add any warmth...

No problemo .

Perhaps we should get back to talking about the touch itself?   I've found no issues with mine, other than an occasional reluctance to connect to wifi (solved by reboot). The edge of the glass attracts dust. The camera is fun, but HDR apps are useless in practice because they take so long...