[sproule17]

Hi there, I'm looking to buy my first ever expensive earphones and I'm really lost as to what to go for, the dre beats immediately got my attention but I don't like alot of the reviews, apparently the bass is brilliant but the sound and clarity is really poor, I have a budget of about £200 but what I want to know is will a pair of £200 earphones actually be better than a pair of £100? I hear about earphones with built in subwoofers!
 
I listen to mainly rap music so good bass and vocals are pretty essential for me, I've seen names like "Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Pro" and "Shure SE530" but with all the differences in bass and vocals it's so hard to know what I'm looking for, are all these mega expensive earphones that much better than a pair of £100 sonys?

 

[sproule17]

Please anyone!?
 
£200 = roughly $300 I think, all I'm after is booming bass and crisp sound and clarity, I've noticed the "t-jays" now aswell the best set have a [size=xx-small]"15 Hz – 25 000 Hz"[/size] which is the best I've seen around but I don't know how that effects bass/clarity, please anyone I need expert advice before I make this purchase lol.

 

[12345142]

Pay no attention to frequency response. Often even the worst, cheapest earbuds claim to have a freq. response of "20-20000 Hz." And that's not counting the fact that most people struggle to hear below 30Hz and above 18kHz.
 
And, yes, 200 pound headphones are that much better than 100 pound ones. Regardless of your listening preferences, any of them are likely to be a paradigm shift for you in terms of sound.

 

[sproule17]

Quote:

Pay no attention to frequency response. Often even the worst, cheapest earbuds claim to have a freq. response of "20-20000 Hz." And that's not counting the fact that most people struggle to hear below 30Hz and above 18kHz.
 
And, yes, 200 pound headphones are that much better than 100 pound ones. Regardless of your listening preferences, any of them are likely to be a paradigm shift for you in terms of sound.

Thank you for taking the time out to respond, that was something I always tried to check tbh so I really appreciate that info, can anyone recommend anything that's in your opinion great for bass and clarity at around that price?, I would probably go up to £250 if the quality would be effectected.
 
I'm kind of judging quality by price at the moment so some model names would be great
 

 

[sproule17]

I've now decided I'm going for either the Shure SE530 or the SE535, the only bad thing I'm hearing about them is the bass, will the bass on these blow my head off if I want them to? and if so what website can I get them from, anything other than the official site looks dodgey and I don't want to get fakes!!
 
Please guys!!

 

[au5t3n5]

shure is not known for bass but rather mids...try westone 3's or something. 
 
 

 

[Trillian]

the IE8 seems to be suitable for bassheads

 

[sproule17]

Quote:

shure is not known for bass but rather mids...try westone 3's or something. 
 
 

 
I see the westone 4's are due out by the end of this month, do you think will they be just as good with bass or will this extra driver tone it down?, I'm stuck between this and the IE8 now and I'm swaying towards the IE8 due to the bass adjuster, but the Westones are known for great bass and quality, and what about the 4s?! Westone vs IE8 for Rap music, what should I do ?

 

[sproule17]

Quote:

the IE8 seems to be suitable for bassheads

what are those in your avatar, they look sweet!

 

[MikeATL]

I'd definitely recommend the Westone 3 or IE8 over the SE530/535 if bass is what you're looking for. The Westone 4 is a phenominal sounding IEM but doesn't have the same bass emphasis as the Westone 3 or IE8 - it's a much more balanced sound. I've heard the W3 but haven't the IE8 so I'm going from other reviews on that recommendation. I also have seen Monster Turbine Pro Coppers recommended, but haven't heard them either. Earsonics SM3 are also worth a mention.

 

[12345142]

I'm pretty sure the IE8 has the strongest bass by far especially when it's tuned (there's a screw on each earphone you can turn using the included screwdriver to adjust the bass) to the max. So those would be right up your alley. Even on the minimum setting, the IE8 had too much bass for me, but I'm not really a bass lover.
 
Trillian's avatar is of a pair of Ultimate Ears customs. If you want a pair of customs with strong bass, you have the Ultimate Ears UE11 and the Jerry Harvey JH16 to choose from, but since both of those will easily run you over a thousand dollars I would humbly suggest the IE8.

 

[au5t3n5]

mike, you are right. i have read extensively on the w4 thread, because i actually ended up getting them and i should receive them this week. what i was sold on was that so many people liked it and even stopped using their cans as well as stop their search for iems. they are indeed more balanced than the w3, removing the mid bass hump. the w3 is more fun and bassy while the w4 is more balanced. ironically, youd think the w4 might be more bass heavy with dual low drivers but that is not the case. i think the biggest difference between the two that ive heard is the soundstage.
 
i am not up to date with all the ie8 talk, haven't really read into it but from what i've read they are bass heavy too. cant say anything about the w3 v ie8, but im sure threads exist. i suggest you read up on the ie8 v w3, i think either would be great. 
 
Quote:

I'd definitely recommend the Westone 3 or IE8 over the SE530/535 if bass is what you're looking for. The Westone 4 is a phenominal sounding IEM but doesn't have the same bass emphasis as the Westone 3 or IE8 - it's a much more balanced sound. I've heard the W3 but haven't the IE8 so I'm going from other reviews on that recommendation. I also have seen Monster Turbine Pro Coppers recommended, but haven't heard them either. Earsonics SM3 are also worth a mention.

 
 

 

[ickle97116084]

Everyone ears are different and spending that large an amount of money on any earphones without first hearing them will leave you wondering whether you really got the best or not! I would suggest popping into a retail outlet and trying out some headphones first. Once you have an idea what type of sound you like then ask a few more questions. You must also consider the source as some in ear monitors can sound poor from a weak source i.e. some mp3 players.
 
Don't bite the bullet until you are truly sure you know what you want. If you live in the Edinburgh area or are a few hours drive I highly recommend a trip to advanced mp3 player (@mp3) as they will let you audition a large number of there stock and give you money off if you provide an old pair of headphones.
 
Happy searching,
 
Ickle.

 

[Ultrazino]

If you want to "blow your head off," you might want to look into closed cans oppesed to IEMs, although the strong bass of some IEMs might be annoying too, nothing compares to the full head rumble of the Klipsch Image One I just reviewd recently. By far too much rumbling deep subwoofer bass, which is it's only flaw, IMO.
 
Some people might like that...

 

[sproule17]

 
Quote:

Everyone ears are different and spending that large an amount of money on any earphones without first hearing them will leave you wondering whether you really got the best or not! I would suggest popping into a retail outlet and trying out some headphones first. Once you have an idea what type of sound you like then ask a few more questions. You must also consider the source as some in ear monitors can sound poor from a weak source i.e. some mp3 players.
 
Don't bite the bullet until you are truly sure you know what you want. If you live in the Edinburgh area or are a few hours drive I highly recommend a trip to advanced mp3 player (@mp3) as they will let you audition a large number of there stock and give you money off if you provide an old pair of headphones.
 
Happy searching,
 
Ickle.

 
 
Thanks for this Ickle, I do live in Edinburgh how did you know haha? I didn't realise there was an @mp3 shop here and will most definately do this, also I didn't relaise shops would let you test their stock! I'm being pushed further and further away from the Westone's due to some reviews, apparently they last about 2 months before starting to get crackly and worn, I have an iPod nano 5th generation at the moment but am gettin the 160GB classic on payday, I see from some of the threads that the classic is probably the best sounding iPod you can get?
 
EI8's are deffo sounding promising, I just can't wait to go down to the shop on payday now and try them all out, thanks to everyone who has mentioned brand names and offered advice, I'm going to go down to the shop with every name on this thread and see which one does it for me, I'm not just going to disapear from this site now I have the info I want, reading up on all this has got me quite intrested in what I'm actually listening to, I will let yous know how I get on next week, thanks so much guys