bearington
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2013
- Posts
- 28
- Likes
- 11
I travel a lot, enough to use flyer and hotel points to acquire my HD800 (I added SAA cables and the Anaxilus mod) and HD650. When I fly, I usually use my ER4s, with custom molds on either an imod iPod tethered to a 2stepdance amp or a modded A&K 100 with same amp. The ER4s need a good amp and are the best isolation from airplane noise I have heard. The sound is extremely neutral from my portable rig I really do enjoy it. I consider this my reference portable setup.
Last month my wife and I was walking around a mall, and we got to a store that sell headphones, love the store because they let you listen to everything! They will even open something new, just so a customer could listen to them. My wife was looking for a set of cans, for her computer. She went from can to can until she found what she liked. I wanted to play too, so I was listening to the in ears.
I told the kid at the store, I want to hear the best of your in-ears, but I do not want to know what brand or model, a blind taste test. I even took off my glasses off. Pulled out my A&K 100, tethered to its amp, from my pocket, I asked if I can use my source. The kid smiled and said, wow, what's that? I let him have a test drive, as my wife was going was listening to everything. Finally a large assortment of IEMs in plastic zip lock bags was in front of me. I listening to some Dr. Chesky HD recordings, Classical, Rock, Female vocalists and more.
I wasn't looking for reference, neutrality or anything fancy. I was looking for a quality pair that had good isolation and was just simply enjoyable. Having a good set of quality headphones to compare from at home, makes my taste challenging, but I wound up buying the B & W C5's They fit well, had the best sound of all I tried, good isolation. Now they are not ER4s with custom molds, but are exactly what I wanted, a set of IEM that make me want to dance with the music, fun. Solid detail from highs lows and mids, without any over extension, good detail, average stage, expectable ambient noise isolation and exceptional cable noise isolation. They have more base then my ER4s or more boom, less killer highs, but overall very nice.
The ER4s are still the most isolated pair I have, it kills the sound of children crying, makes the rumble of a jet a mild hum. The C5 sound good on my phone, iPad, computer, iPod, A&K100 alone and amped, best amped. The tips are fiddly and must be sized correctly, the cable loop thing is good, and I had no discomfort from them.
My wife and I both bought new toys, and we are both happy with our purchases. With one exception, I could have gotten the C5 for flyer points too, Oh well it was fun thing to do with my wife and that is priceless. You could spend a lot more for a lot less.
Last month my wife and I was walking around a mall, and we got to a store that sell headphones, love the store because they let you listen to everything! They will even open something new, just so a customer could listen to them. My wife was looking for a set of cans, for her computer. She went from can to can until she found what she liked. I wanted to play too, so I was listening to the in ears.
I told the kid at the store, I want to hear the best of your in-ears, but I do not want to know what brand or model, a blind taste test. I even took off my glasses off. Pulled out my A&K 100, tethered to its amp, from my pocket, I asked if I can use my source. The kid smiled and said, wow, what's that? I let him have a test drive, as my wife was going was listening to everything. Finally a large assortment of IEMs in plastic zip lock bags was in front of me. I listening to some Dr. Chesky HD recordings, Classical, Rock, Female vocalists and more.
I wasn't looking for reference, neutrality or anything fancy. I was looking for a quality pair that had good isolation and was just simply enjoyable. Having a good set of quality headphones to compare from at home, makes my taste challenging, but I wound up buying the B & W C5's They fit well, had the best sound of all I tried, good isolation. Now they are not ER4s with custom molds, but are exactly what I wanted, a set of IEM that make me want to dance with the music, fun. Solid detail from highs lows and mids, without any over extension, good detail, average stage, expectable ambient noise isolation and exceptional cable noise isolation. They have more base then my ER4s or more boom, less killer highs, but overall very nice.
The ER4s are still the most isolated pair I have, it kills the sound of children crying, makes the rumble of a jet a mild hum. The C5 sound good on my phone, iPad, computer, iPod, A&K100 alone and amped, best amped. The tips are fiddly and must be sized correctly, the cable loop thing is good, and I had no discomfort from them.
My wife and I both bought new toys, and we are both happy with our purchases. With one exception, I could have gotten the C5 for flyer points too, Oh well it was fun thing to do with my wife and that is priceless. You could spend a lot more for a lot less.
