[Vinman]

I know the Etymotics are far and away the "best", but I need to do this for under $50 if possible (got to buy a 1gig SD card, too). The E2c's appear too rolled off in the treble, so they're out (and still out of budget), so what does everyone think?? I like natural sounding music (lean toward a little warm - tube amp fan here). Thanks for your suggestions...
Vince

 

[GreenEggs313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vinman I know the Etymotics are far and away the "best", but I need to do this for under $50 if possible (got to buy a 1gig SD card, too). The E2c's appear too rolled off in the treble, so they're out (and still out of budget), so what does everyone think?? I like natural sounding music (lean toward a little warm - tube amp fan here). Thanks for your suggestions... Vince

I had them.............nothing close to "natural"

I have the Shure E2C's now and they blow the EX71's away in every single aspect. And I got my e2c's from somewhere for only 65 bucks shipped.

 

[rodbac]

Quote:

I have the Shure E2C's now and they blow the EX71's away in every single aspect. And I got my e2c's from somewhere for only 65 bucks shipped.

++

 

[lini]

The EX70 were spledid nosebuds, though...

Grinnings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[rogerlee]

Buy a SHARP MD33 from audiocubes.com. $39.00 + $10.00 S&H (shipped from Japan).

Most people say they blow the E2C out of the water at half the price and are comparable to the E3C even, but I don't know. I have a pair, and I've compared it briefly to the MDR-EX71SL phones.

The Sharps are MUCH better. At $49, they're a steal (and just under your budget!). Search the forums if you want more testimonials; I've never read anything but praise for the Sharps here.

 

[BowerR64]

I have the EX71 and the E2s and i dont understand the rolled off highs. They have a little bit of shrill highs similar to the EX71s. They arnt ash harsh as the 71s but they arnt rolled off IMO either.

I actualy put the foam in the tips on both the 71s and the E2s to tame the highs a little. The 71s need more to get them where they arnt so harsh. The E2s just need a little to get the harshness down a little more.

 

[GokieKS]

I liked my first pair of EX-71s (imported from Japan), and liked them better than the E2Cs (especially when those were closer to $100 than $50). On the other hand, my second pair (US version) just absolutely suck.

Comfortable though.

~KS

 

[episiarch]

In answer to the opening question, yes, I will out myself as actually liking the 71's. They suffer in comparison to anything else I listen to...but when I'm not comparing them, I like them just fine. They continue to have a place in my kit although I own ER-4's, KSC-35's, PX100's, PX200's, PXC250's, etcetera. They sound better than stock earbuds, and are incomparably comfortable. I find them to give great positional clues when listening to movies on a laptop, and when travelling they are a pretty good departure-lounge earphone: enough isolation to dampen the din, but not so much that I miss flight announcements.

I have both the 71SL and the 70, and I tend to like the 70 better just because its cord is thicker and less tangle-prone. But the short cord of the 71SL is very nice if you have a true shirt-pocket-sized MP3 player.

 

[Vinman]

Thanks guys. I have read good stuff about the Sharps, so I may investigate them a little more.

Bower, my inference to the E2s being rolled off is from looking at the specs. They have a statistical rolloff starting at about 16.5khz and from my listening to speakers, that is not an enjoyable sound for me. As actual listening may prove these numbers misleading, that's why I wanted actual feedback from people and not just graphs - so thanks for the input. I wish I could actually go somewhre and listen to several sets side by side, but that won't happen around here.

I really don't want to wait, but I may have to hold off a couple of weeks and get the E6i, but we'll have to wait and see. It probably won't really make a lot of difference anyway. I'm using my Treo 600 smartphone with Real Player mobile which has no EQ, so I'm probably being overly anal about this whole thing.

Thanks for the responses - keep'm coming!!

Vince

 

[Oink1]

Quite happy with my 71's-For the price i think they do a prety good job!

 

[bLue_oNioN]

The E2s were to me, very warm sounding canalphones, and well worth the money. I did not regret bumping up to them from my EX71SLs.

 

[commando]

I had E3s, hated them, got EX71s instead and I love them. They great for walking to work in a busy city, I can hear the music but still hear what's around me too. Everything sounds pretty good thru them, occasionally they'll have me looking all around to try to locate the source of a sound! They're not audiophile level, but they're better than most people would have. I'm pretty sure Etys 6i's are better, but for me the extra cash isn't worth it. Maybe I was lucky and got a very good pair, but mine are great.

FYI my comparison system is Emu 1212, PPA w/ diamond buffer, CD3K/A900/Beyer 770-80/AKG271.

People will disagree with me all they want, I don't reply to those types of flames any more.

 

[strid3r]

I also like the EX71s. On my Ipod, they sound a bit shrill, but through my pimeta, it sounds pretty good, with no harshness at all. I use them on the train and city as well, so the isolation is a plus.

 

[rogerlee]

In my opinion, the EX71SL's sounded sedated compared to the MD33's. It was like all this detail was sitting there and the EX71SL's just flushed it all down the toilet, preferring to cover everything up with indiscriminate bass.

"Like night and day," as the phrase is so commonly used around here.

I'd like to note, though, that it's not that I think the Sonys are bad; they're actually pretty good. I've listened to some things of comparable price that sucked far more than the Sonys did. It's just that, next to the Sharps, there's really no reason to get the Sonys.

Also, all this comparison is just straight out of a 4G iPod with 192-320ish quality.

 

[fr4c]

seems like the Sharps are really good for its price. maybe i'll get one and try it out.