[deandob]

Hi,

Usually I don't post 'what to buy' threads as I spend hours reading and researching for my gadgets, however on the topic of what IEM to buy I really can't determine a short list to buy without directly asking specific questions about my needs and seeking feedback.

Being Australian and having a job which involves regular travel to other countries means that I spend a lot of hours in the air. I have an older pair of Sennheiser HDC 451 noise cancelling phones which do an OK job on noise cancelling on flights and sound quality is OK, better than airline phones but not great either. I have found that I use earplugs as well as the 451's which combined does a great job of noise cancellation, as the earplugs cancel the higher frequences and the noise cancellation of the 451 cancelling out the engine drone, so this setup works well for me. However listening to over ear phones with earplugs obviously does not make for a great audio experience, so I thought I should transition to a good pair of IEMs with noise cancelling that give me the earplug isolation and the drone cancellation as well as decent audio quality.

I see lots of posts on this site saying why bother with IEMs with noise cancelling when the isolation is so good, but the drone cancellation is definitely a benefit of noise cancellation for airline use.

So here is what I'm looking for:
- A budget of up to $400 - I look for value more than absolute price
- As good audio quality as possible for the price, specifically solid bass with clear treble.
- My source will be the new Zune HD (using 320kb mp3s encoded well), so I probably dont need to go for the ultimate quality due to the zune quality being the limit (it is said to be better than the ipod), and airline use will still leak some ambient noise, but definitely looking for a 'quality' sound.
- Comfortable in ear use. For prolonged airline use I find earplugs start to be a little irritating but I get used to it.
- Ideally want IEM isolation with a good active noise cancelling, but will settle for a straight IEM if the isolation is really good.

The only 2 IEMs I can find that may fit my criteria but have no idea of the relative performance differences are the:
- Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 Headphones
- Sony MDR-NC300D (not available yet??)

Please post experiences with IEMs in airlines as well as recommended IEMs (with or without NC). Many thanks for the feedback.

 

[gilency]

I don't think there are IEM's with acrtive noise cancellations. Their passive isolation is better.
Thumbs up for UM3X. I have use it for long flights. Better than Bose.

 

[Spyro]

Westone UM3X

 

[dnullify]

Will you be listening to music the entire time? or do you want the iems for primarily silent isolation?

either way, custom is the way to go. if you don't care about audio, or don't want to listen to music, you can go to your audiologist and have custom earplugs made, with different filters for different levels of isolation.

If you want music, than i'd go custom iems. they're probably the best level of passive isolation available for long periods of time. without music up to 28db isolation, and with music, i doubt you'd be able to hear anything on the plane at all.

in that price range i suggest either the UE4 pro or the JH5

 

[deandob]

Both the phones I listed have active noise cancellation.

I will be using them for sleeping (with music very low vol), movie watching and music while reading. So its a mix of sound isolation & having decent sound quality.

I'll checkout the Westone UM3X, UE4 pro and JH5 it does rate well on this site. Will the zune be the limiting factor with this levels of phones?

I assume with custom its the perfect fit that makes the difference in the isolation. Does this include the engine drone? I find that NC is really good at getting rid of constant noise/drone that plugs don't completely remove.

Are there any more with active NC & what is their relative performance differences?

 

[rawrster]

actually from what ive read about customs, the isolation isnt that much different than universals..its just the fit and maybe a bit more isolation depending on the iem you are comparing it to.

with universals i can have music on very low and not hear anything except really really loud stuff while on the subway and ive been on planes with them and not hear anything including the engine.

just my 2 cents on isolation

 

[Thresher]

Deandob,
My wife is a pilot. On our private planes I use David Clark H10-13X which have active noise canceling (about $600 new). On trips where I am not as interested in speaking with the pilot, I use the Etymotic ER4P, and they work just as well as the DC H10-13's, but they are isolating, not active canceling. Remember, these are propeller driven planes which are significantly noisier than typical passenger jets. The ER4P simply makes the engine noise go away. It is something to behold.

For isolating phones, I have both the Etymotic ER6i and the ER4P. I don't believe there is another isolating phone that rivals the ER4P for isolation and produces such distinct clarity. While they are not renowned for bass, they sound great in noisy environments because you literally do not hear anything else around you, even with your music at low volume.

Like me, you have the Zune HD as one of your sources. By far, that is your limiting factor. You will get the clear treble you are looking for from the Etymotic earphones I mentioned, but they have a somewhat notorious vacancy in bass. This is especially evident on the Zune HD, which has a tendency to make everything sound mushy. My cheap solution to this was to add an FiiO E5 amplifier, and that has made an incredible difference toward making the Zune listenable.

The Etymotic ER4P with the foam tips will isolate 41db (!!) and has excellent frequency response. I bought mine for $160. The FiiO E5 will set you back $25. (Note, the FiiO E5 will introduce a slightly audible hiss into the sound stream.)

If I were in your situation with the Zune HD and commercial travel, I would take my ER4P's and the FiiO E5. Not only will you not hear anything around you, no one around you will hear your music leaking out. It's a traveler's blessing. However, if you want to sleep with them in, I would have to go with the ER6i instead. When inserted upside down, they are basically invisible in your ear, and you can sleep on them with out them being uncomfortable. The ER4P are not as sleep-friendly.

Best of luck in your hunt.

 

[deandob]

Thresher,

Very informative post, thank you.

Basically you are saying I don't need to spend too much $$ on IEMs as the Zune HD is the limiting factor (eg. the Westone UM3X could be overkill here). 41db isolation is pretty darn good, no way can noise cancelling headphones even get close to that amount of noise reduction.

The Etymotic's sound ideal then, except I really like a strong bass - not boomy but firm. The EQ on the Zune is likely to distort so I'd prefer a IEM with a stronger bass. Are you saying the addition of the FiiO E5 will bring the bass back & clean up the Zune signal? Does it add passive or analog EQ to fix it up, or just offers a better impedance that the Zune internal amp likes better?

Is there a site that has measured the relative noise blocking of the various IEMs for comparison?

 

[Thresher]

Definitely the Zune HD is the limiting factor. Its sound reproduction, quite frankly, is sorely lacking and was very disappointing to me. Everything sounds very washed out and missing. Lossless WMA on the Zune sounds like 128K MP3 on the Clip. I also really want to slap Microsoft for no FLAC support.

Adding the FiiO E5 between the Zune and the earphones, I was able to get the ER4P's to sound as good on the Zune as they do unamped on the Clip+. The E5 has a bass boost switch, but I have found that it muddles the rest of the sound too much for my liking. However, if you really like bumping bass, that will do the trick.

The FiiO E5 does not have a parametric EQ, but it does alter the sound quality very noticeably toward "richer" "fuller" and simply louder. The EQ on the Zune HD is a joke that Microsoft played on everyone. It's an anemic group of presets whose parameters I could not agree with less. I leave the EQ off to prevent me from hurling the whole thing out the window.

I don't know of a site that has all of the IEM's isolation properties listed, but individual pages from their respective companies typically show that information. Here is the information for the Etymotic 4 series:

Etymotic Research, Inc. - ER-4 - Technical Specifications

Hope this helps.

 

[joe75]

I would like to share my experience.
I really like the MDRNC300D except 3 things :
the NC module can get in the way
They need to be powered or they are useless(no sound at all)
Battery life is modest and quite poor (20h max and i get 10h on rechargeable batteries).
For the ER4P i use Shure foams that fit easily and i find noise cancellation about same efficiency about drowning outside noise (in the railstation) except with the sony i can still hear conversations and you do not have to take them out of your hears.
Sound quality is excellent on both.
There is a demo on sony japan site that is true to what i experienced,
my PX250 are nowhere that good and do not have a volume controller which is painful when you use it on plane(Watch out for crew annoucements!)

Voila ! if i can provide you with other info just let me know

 

[techfreakazoid]

I use the Shure E500 / SE530 with black foamies whenever I fly. Excellent isolation and no leakage. Plus, they don't protrude much so you can snooze on your side with a pillow.

 

[scrane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thresher /img/forum/go_quote.gif For isolating phones, I have both the Etymotic ER6i and the ER4P. I don't believe there is another isolating phone that rivals the ER4P for isolation and produces such distinct clarity. While they are not renowned for bass, they sound great in noisy environments because you literally do not hear anything else around you, even with your music at low volume.

There is nothing like the Etymotics for sound isolation. With most earphones you must increase volume to overcome ambient noise. The Etymotics reduce noise so you can listen at normal levels.
Sandy.

 

[dnullify]

Well, i have a pair of ER6i, and i must say, they aren't all that comfortable with the tri-flange tips... that, and they take forever to get in. the short period of time, with ill fitting livewires, i had proved to have more isolation than with the ER6i after 10 minutes of struggling for the correct fit.

just my personal experience.

 

[mark2410]

max iso, ety ER4

 

[ChroniCali]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark2410 /img/forum/go_quote.gif max iso, ety ER4

x55