[h333adfi]

I can't make up my mind which to get.
The new Apple in-ear headphones or the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro

Both is about the same price
Both is said to have excellent noise isolation
Both is said to have good sound

Anyone who have both give me some input?

I know its comparing apples to oranges. Putting aside they both are physically different types. Which ones produce the better sound?

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by h333adfi /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can't make up my mind which to get. The new Apple in-ear headphones or the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Both is about the same price Both is said to have excellent noise isolation Both is said to have good sound Anyone who have both give me some input? I know its comparing apples to oranges. Putting aside they both are physically different types. Which ones produce the better sound?

Actually, neither set is ideal for portable use - but for different reasons:

The Apple In-Ear (the new one) does not sound nearly as good as you thought. Its sound quality is easily beaten by single-driver IEMs costing less money. And the sleeves continue to be of a poor design; they are very difficult to get a good seal, and they lose their seal all too easily.

The Sennheiser HD 280 PRO, on the other hand, is simply too bulky for portable use. You will look weird walking around with it on, especially with the pivot joints protruding way out the sides of your head. And most portable players cannot muster enough power to achieve anywhere near the optimal sound quality that could be reproduced by that headphone.

 

[oarnura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle_Driver /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Apple In-Ear (the new one) does not sound nearly as good as you thought. Its sound quality is easily beaten by single-driver IEMs costing less money. And the sleeves continue to be of a poor design; they are very difficult to get a good seal, and they lose their seal all too easily.

Did you try them?

All I have heard is extremely mixed reviews, mostly postive, Here are some comments from the Apple site:
"I can compare these to the Shure SE110 (dog chewed these up, a decent IEM) and the SE210s. I did some A/Bing with the Apple in ears against the 210s and the in ears won in every conceivable category - hands down. Bear in mind the 210s retail for $179. The 210s just do not come close to replicating the base these babies do!!!!"

"I was very impressed. They honestly sound as good as my Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5's. The only pair of IEM's that I have heard that beat the overall sound quality of these are the UE Triple.Fi's. Noise Isolation could be slightly better, but the sound is rich, crisp and very balanced. Great bass response without losing a tight low-end. If you rip your music in 256kbps or higher, then these will make a huge difference"


ajmiarka:
"I think I might know why Gizmodo gave the SE110s a better review than than Apples. I just tried putting the medium sleeves on (I usually wear the smallest ones) and a noticeable difference can be felt in the bass because of how far they actually go into my ear. Don't see how they can say that the SE110 are superior in every aspect. For the brief moment that I tried the SE110s, I thought they were crap. The Apple headphones definitely have a better sound stage and more presence."

People here have been comparing them to the D-Jays ($129) and the C700 and much better than the SE110.

The biggest complaint is the bass isn't like the $169 dynamic driver based headphones. Armatures seem to have more accurate bass response which people confuse with a lack of bass.

 

[Spad]

Since these are only 80 bucks I picked up a pair yesterday on sheer impulse. I'm not a big fan of IEMs, although I do have ER4s and a few others, but I must say I like these much more than I expected.

Also, I find them much easier to seal than the Etys when using the correct size tips. In my case, a proper fit required a small tip on the right and a medium on the left. Once past that small hurdle I find the bass response to be well balanced and plentiful--at least for my flat-response taste.

I have a touch 2g and a Nano 4g, so the remote function is a particularly welcome addition. I tried the mike with the Nano and the quality sounds first-rate, IMO. But then, given my mellifluous tones, it would be difficult to actually make me sound bad.

Something that seems lost on some is that these things are $80, not $800. If buyers expect them to rival K-1000s they're going to be disappointed. But those looking for an inexpensive, highly portable 'phone with very good SQ should be pleased enough--especially touch 2g and Nano 4g owners.

 

[h333adfi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle_Driver /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Sennheiser HD 280 PRO, on the other hand, is simply too bulky for portable use. You will look weird walking around with it on, especially with the pivot joints protruding way out the sides of your head. And most portable players cannot muster enough power to achieve anywhere near the optimal sound quality that could be reproduced by that headphone.

So are you basically saying the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro with a pocket amp will out preform the apple new in-ear hands down?
Hehe, i know its big and bulk. I don't mind wearing it in public.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oarnura /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did you try them?

Once. I had fit issues with all of their supplied tips. Maybe that's why they sounded a bit incoherent. The Shures and Etymotics stayed in my ears far better and far longer than the Apple tips. I have had far better luck with foam tips and triple-flanged tips than I did with simple silicone tips (which for me almost always lost their seal after just a few minutes of using them).

 

[ThePandemonium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oarnura /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did you try them? All I have heard is extremely mixed reviews, mostly postive, Here are some comments from the Apple site: "I can compare these to the Shure SE110 (dog chewed these up, a decent IEM) and the SE210s. I did some A/Bing with the Apple in ears against the 210s and the in ears won in every conceivable category - hands down. Bear in mind the 210s retail for $179. The 210s just do not come close to replicating the base these babies do!!!!"

Honestly though, I think reviews like this loose all credibility when they spell "bass" as "base." If you spell it wrong you obviously don't know your sound, but I may be wrong. I did get to try these out at the apple store (im good with the guy who works there) and I do have to say, my Shure SE110 does tear these apart, like the one review (Gizmundo? (spelling?)). I would much rather have the Denon 551 or the Ety ER6i than these.

 

[Hatmann]

I admire the 280s for what they are: a big set of phones with good isolation. I use them for work; they helped me salvage a project where recorded voices were all but impossible to hear on less isolating phones.

But music? No, I wouldn't recommend them for that. Even if you liked the sound, they're simply not comfortable enough. I'd consider them downright uncomfortable.

You can do a lot better. Among others, consider the Ety 6is. At current prices, they're an outright bargain.

Hope this helps.

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThePandemonium /img/forum/go_quote.gif Honestly though, I think reviews like this loose all credibility when they spell "bass" as "base." If you spell it wrong you obviously don't know your sound, but I may be wrong.

For some members here English is a second or third language, so I wouldn't be too harsh on them.

BTW, how's your Mandarin?

 

[Taikero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spad /img/forum/go_quote.gif For some members here English is a second or third language, so I wouldn't be too harsh on them. BTW, how's your Mandarin?

...FYI, he was quoting a review from the Apple website, so it'd be a little hard to misspell it "because English is his second language".

 

[oarnura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThePandemonium /img/forum/go_quote.gif Honestly though, I think reviews like this loose all credibility when they spell "bass" as "base." If you spell it wrong you obviously don't know your sound, but I may be wrong. I did get to try these out at the apple store (im good with the guy who works there) and I do have to say, my Shure SE110 does tear these apart, like the one review (Gizmundo? (spelling?)). I would much rather have the Denon 551 or the Ety ER6i than these.

I did post other reviews, even those of head-fi'ers. I have seen the "Bass" , "base" misspelling even on head-fi.

There are multiple reviews that claim the Apple dual drivers best the SE110 and 210.

Some, here on head-fi, have changed their opinions about the Apple phones over time.

I am going to wait for more reviews.

 

[Spad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oarnura /img/forum/go_quote.gif I did post other reviews, even those of head-fi'ers. I have seen the "Bass" , "base" misspelling even on head-fi. There are multiple reviews that claim the Apple dual drivers best the SE110 and 210. Some, here on head-fi, have changed their opinions about the Apple phones over time. I am going to wait for more reviews.

I won't be writing a review, but I will say that the more I listen to Apple's new IEMs the more I like them. So much so, in fact, that I'm revisiting the whole IEM idea. I had decided that IEMs weren't for me based mostly on long term discomfort, the difficulty of maintaining an adequate seal, and the fact that I hate that stuffed-ear feeling. But these are comfortable enough that I can contentedly wear them for several hours at a stretch, so I'm thinking maybe I should give the Westone 3s a whirl.

Regarding misspellings: I think you'll agree that sites, such as Head-fi, which attract a wide ranging international following are likely to contain more grammatical errors than do those of only local interest. I'm not bothered by this as long as I can discern the writer's meaning. But where we get into trouble--at least in my experience--is in the area of humor and particularly when ironic statements are involved. Irony, especially subtle irony, just doesn't translate very well, and comments that we Americans consider to be obvious joking are often taken literally by other nationalities.

I didn't mean to babble on about this stuff but my wife's on the phone, and when she finishes it's going to be back to Chicago politics. My next wife is gonna have a smaller brain and bigger chi-chis.

 

[Taikero]

Talking about Blagojevich is a horrible way to spend a Sunday.

Then again, there aren't any good movies out this weekend. The Day The Earth Stood Still felt like a lame Jaden Smith vehicle to me (I only wanted him to cease being a character in the movie after the first five minutes. Nothing personal against the kid, as he's fine in other movies. He just wasn't necessary here). Keanu did a fine job acting alongside Jennifer Connelly, but everything else was done poorly. I didn't feel moved or amazed, just annoyed that I was hearing more global warming and "go green" rhetoric, along with pro-military crap from a kid with a dead father who only happened to be an ENGINEER in the military, rather than a soldier. ("My dad would stay and fight if he were here!" <-- Shut UP KID!)

Anyway, sorry for going off-topic. I just had to vent that.

 

[oarnura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spad /img/forum/go_quote.gif Regarding misspellings: I think you'll agree that sites, such as Head-fi, which attract a wide ranging international following are likely to contain more grammatical errors than do those of only local interest. I'm not bothered by this as long as I can discern the writer's meaning. But where we get into trouble--at least in my experience--is in the area of humor and particularly when ironic statements are involved. Irony, especially subtle irony, just doesn't translate very well, and comments that we Americans consider to be obvious joking are often taken literally by other nationalities.

It doesn't bother me one bit of some one misspells something. It was brought up as a reason to dismiss a review because a person who misspells bass can't possibly know anything about audio. I rebutted that argument by saying Head-fi'ers misspell things too, but that is not a good reason to doubt their audiophile status.

 

[ThePandemonium]

I just want everyone to know, that my comment about the misspelling was about the APPLE review, which you see the misspelling all the time. I do understand that head-fi has a wide range of people (since I see it all the time here), so I wouldnt make that comment. I'm just saying that on sites like amazon and apple people spell it "base" and its hard to believe that it is a good review of someone who knows what they are talking about.

And I'll say it again I may be wrong.

But anyways, more about the apple headphones... I like to hear what people think of them