I am looking for suggestions for an in ear headphones that are non fatiguing, smooth, warm, and non piercing (hd650 esque). They must have good isolation and good performance in low to mid volume. I am planning on using these on the go and the gym with no amping so durability will be important to me.
I would prefer in line microphone and or replaceable wire though not a must. Thanks for the help.
I am looking for suggestions for an in ear headphones that are non fatiguing, smooth, warm, and non piercing (hd650 esque). They must have good isolation and good performance in low to mid volume. I am planning on using these on the go and the gym with no amping so durability will be important to me.
I would prefer in line microphone and or replaceable wire though not a must. Thanks for the help.
Smooth, warm, non-fatiguing, isolates, low volume, durable - not sure of the budget but the A161P seems to fit the description, albeit lacking in the replaceable cable department. It'd be great if you could specify a budget/or lack of. But for starters, you'll likely not find a mic and removable cable all in the same set.
Should I buy the V-Moda M-100? I once owned the M-80 and love the sound so much. My music genre is pop (like Westlife, BSBs, some old love songs,...) dance and instrumental.
Should I buy the V-Moda M-100? I once owned the M-80 and love the sound so much. My music genre is pop (like Westlife, BSBs, some old love songs,...) dance and instrumental.
Genres are helpful, but stating sound/sig preference would be even more so. But going off on your previous ownership of the M-80s, I can say that they are a depature. How much so? Well, I've only heard the M-100s today for ~30 minutes so definitely in no position to give anything close to substantial advice/recommendations. I can also say that the mids share similar characteristics in terms of note presentation but are much more substantially emphasized in terms of bass and depth. But even then, would take with a rather large grain of salt from someone with such limited experience.
Unless someone with more time on them chimes in on this, would advise you to ask on the M-100 thread.
Looking for IEM(no amp)
Budget : $1-$100
Source : IPod (no amp)
Genre : All kinds. Metal/Rock/Acoustic
Isolation : Could hear "abit"of noise outside.
Build quality: I don't know..
Comfort: Must feel comfortable and always stay in my ears and not falling of.
Cable : Prefer abit thick?
Sound quality : Finding a clear, detail, separate instrument, the bass is not overpowering but can feel its there/presence.
So far: Vsonic GR6 and Head Direct RE0/ZERO I heard good review about 3 of IEM. Other suggestion feel free to comment. Thanks.
Looking for IEM(no amp)
Budget : $1-$100
Source : IPod (no amp)
Genre : All kinds. Metal/Rock/Acoustic
Isolation : Could hear "abit"of noise outside.
Build quality: I don't know..
Comfort: Must feel comfortable and always stay in my ears and not falling of.
Cable : Prefer abit thick?
Sound quality : Finding a clear, detail, separate instrument, the bass is not overpowering but can feel its there/presence.
So far: Vsonic GR6 and Head Direct RE0/ZERO I heard good review about 3 of IEM. Other suggestion feel free to comment. Thanks.
<100, slight isolation, all-rounder, thicker-ish cable, clarity, detail, and separation - the RE0s are going to be hard to find in the future, and since you want some presence, would look at the RE-400s, definitely. Not a basshead IEM by any means, just not as borderline light/delicate as their predecessors. Not to mention, while the strain relief might have some potential design flaws, the cable is at least thick enough. If you think you might like a smoother and more clean presentation, would not hesitate. If you want a little more aggression, would look at something like the GR04, a bit more hotness in the treble and a bit more body/thickness.
Not many have had their hands on it, sorry.
<100, slight isolation, all-rounder, thicker-ish cable, clarity, detail, and separation - the RE0s are going to be hard to find in the future, and since you want some presence, would look at the RE-400s, definitely. Not a basshead IEM by any means, just not as borderline light/delicate as their predecessors. Not to mention, while the strain relief might have some potential design flaws, the cable is at least thick enough. If you think you might like a smoother and more clean presentation, would not hesitate. If you want a little more aggression, would look at something like the GR04, a bit more hotness in the treble and a bit more body/thickness.
Hi thanks for the reply. I would like to know why you pick gr04 instead of gr06, difference between them? What's the meaning of aggression and hotness? I not an audiophile, really hope you could help me ASAP, Thanks.
I'm sorry i didn't see this thread earlier. So i'll post here as well, where i should have done in the first place.
I'm looking for IEMs that are very good for games and movies, so they have to have very good soundstage and 3D imaging (will use Dolby Headphone).
Price range: preferable under 300 USD, can go to 400-500 USD (best give me an option in each price range). Must have: very good sound stage and 3D imaging. Detachable cable is also a requirement (unless the cable they come is unusually sturdy) Isolation: medium to high Sound quality: very good soundstage and 3D imaging for movies and games (with Dolby Headphone). Music is second.
Durable, under 30, bass - the M6/9s aren't that outdated despite how fast the market seems to be improving. Their crowning achievement would still be the really rugged plastic shells and amazing cable. You simply don't get that sort of build very often. And they have ample midbass so if durability is the utmost priority....
Otherwise for sound you could also look at the GR02/GR99, nice bass, former is mid-bassy and lush while latter is subbass heavy, dark and aggressive notes. Build - plastic isn't as thick as the M6 but should hold up fairly well.
Would you say the M6 is more durable than the M9?
(The Gr99 cable looks far too "flimsy" and the GR02 ends up being almost 36 dollars with shipping at ebay, Thanks for the reccomendations though! Maybe I'll get them for myself later. )
I've heard the M6 sounds better than the M9, but is it more durable?
Usually circuitry will mess things up and they delibrately tun them to sound awful without the ANC activated (this trend is slowly starting to disappear with stuff like the UEs and the MDR-1RNCs). At this point would look at either of those especially if comfort is being factored in (otherwise I would tout the elitist card and say to go for passive isolating monsters like the on-ear HD25s). The K490s are decent, in fact very decent for NC headphones, but in the grand scheme of things loses out in terms of cleanliness against the usual offerings.
Not sure of the budget, and this is rather unconventional, but have you considered the QC15s? The sound isn't all that bad and the NC destroys most other implementations.
Sound is...well, different. I'd check out the measurements on some other sites (CS, Goldenears) to get a general idea of their "sound signature "but the open-back and closed-back thing does significantly impact the whole scenario. In a nutshell upper mids are a bit more prominent as well as warmth, on the K550s. And staging lacks the lateral size, accurate positioning, depth.
Thanks for the reply! I took a look into several things after reading your reply. Firstly it's new to me that the sound for NC-capable headphones to be actually worse when the NC function is not activated. I would've thought the NC circuitry when turned on would affect the sound more. This was especially the case when I noticed some hissing noise with NC turned on for the K28NC. The sound also felt flatter when NC was on.
So you would suggest UEs or the Sony's over the AKG in that they would have cleaner sound? Sony ones should be readily available for audtioning at the local Sony centre but still can't compare it to the AKGs.. The 1RNC looks great even though I've been a great fan of AKG's styling (and not much of a fan of Sennheiser's look..)
My budget is a bit flexible at the moment in the sense that the K490NC would be in the more affordable bracket and the K495NC being in the upper bracket. The K550 should be within the upper bracket, while the QC15s are inbetween the K490 and K495 prices so can definitely be considered. I have read about the QC15s to be very good. But they're around 4 years old now? Has things changed over this time? Also I've read they don't work without battery.. which makes them rather peculiar since I don't think I'd use the NC function for vast majority of the time so needing to charge up just to use them on a normal daily basis might unnecessarily drain the battery life quickly. I note the AKGs are built in USB charging.. which might also be a problem for battery life if I rarely ever cycle the battery charges. But so in your view the Bose would outperform both AKG models in their best state (either NC on or off)?
I tried reading up on Goldenears (I couldn't find "CS"?), they don't have the NCs tested but I took a look at the K550, K701 and K702.. I haven't yet been able to understand the graphs despite skimming Goldenears' explanation (unfortunately have a load of exams coming up soon so don't want to spend time reading up on it as I usually otherwise would) but it appears the impulse response is significantly higher on the 701 and 702s than the 550. Same for step response. I couldn't make anything out of the frequency response..
Anyway, I think I understand a bit more about the open and closed differences of headphones now and think open sets such as the 701/702 won't suit me given the environment I'm in always has some background noise and having the background noise go right through the beautiful music would be a problem. They're also a lot pricier and would require an amp (which I don't have). The K550's are, according to marketing, designed to sound like open-back while being closed-back? I take that to mean it has better soundstage than the average closed back but falls short of the the standard open-back. Also the K550 I've read can work without amp, which is a plus. I've seen the K550 available for testing in stores so might drop by after exams to audition them.
So it might come down to deciding between the K550 and NC sets such as 490NC or the MDR-1RNC? Not sure which I'd be more happy with
Hello hiki08,
I'm also somewhat new here even though I've been following the forum for some time. From what I understand a non-NC and NC headphone in the same price range, the non-NC should be able to provide better sound than a NC version. If you are worried about noise leaking in and don't need the NC then I would suggest looking at just closed back headphones as they will have some noise isolation (this could be very little to moderate depending on the headphone). Which stores have you looked to test them? Did you check out the places that are listed in the HK thread?
Thanks! I don't think closed-back would be sufficient for blocking out the sound that I need to block out (aircraft engine noise) but would definitely be helpful even if I use them at home as there'd always be some background noise (computer fan, people talking, TV...). Guess it really comes down to how much better sound the non-NCs can provide given that same price.
Thanks for pointing me to the HK thread. I've tried one store on the list (Mingo) and they said they don't have the K490/495 for auditioning. I've also walked around some of the smaller malls in MK.. appears like not many people know about the AKG NCs. One of the larger stores even said they didn't sell them.. only for me to see the K495s on display when I was exiting.
Mingo used to have pretty much the whole range of AKGs for auditioning when I went around 1 or 1.5 year ago but when I went approx a month ago they've moved the store layout around and no longer had that little section for amps and AKGs.
I might try out some of the other stores on the list. Are you located in HK?
hiki08, I recommend going to Mingo and Sim City commercial building in Mong Kok. You can demo headphones there, they might have the AKG 490NC or 495NC, if not you can ask them if they have it in stock, they are very helpful.
I always go whenever I'm in HK, Mingo's website has a map to show you how to there from Mong Kok station. http://www.mingo-hmw.com/home/
Hello. I'm not an extreme audiophile but i like quality sound re-production. I'm a mechanical engineer and i understand the technology and operation behind sound.
Last year i bought the V-moda remix remote new for around 40gbp. For their price i couldn't find anything better at that moment. Sadly some months ago one of the drivers half-failed. After contacting V-moda i couldn't get them repaired because of buying from not an authorised reseller (which is plain stupid-what warranty is this?). After i decided to repair them myself, although it turned up as not a contact fail, but a driver fails. So i'm looking for new ones now.
Although i don't put a price limit yet, i don't want to break the bank. And price doesn't tell the whole story. They may be cheap where you can buy them but not here. Additionally i'm always looking to get max performance per $$$ on whatever i'm buying. For example Monster just overprices their products, even if they are quality ones. You could say it's a premium but not always this holds true. It's not like Apple that will give you a new one. Also i could just go and buy the drivers directly and then 3d print a housing, solder the cables and done a lot more cheaper.
However looking to find the monitors with the most balanced frequency response (so you hear a flat response) isn't always sounding the best. This is many times due to other factors like how music was processed, etc. Still, there are more things that affect the performance. As for my music tastes i hear from electronic to classical music, but i would hate monitors without good bass reproduction.
So far i've looked online as well in the multi-iem thread (which lacks reviews on v-moda products which i would compare since i have the experience), but i can't narrow my search. Also headphoneinfo.com has good reviews from a technical perspective but is lacking quantity of product reviews. V-moda make the vibrato which i was interested initially, although it's out of stock everywhere, and when i contacted them it will only come out in stock this summer. Plus, when i asked them if they are going to release a new version they didn't answered.
As for "accessories" i would prefer volume control, mic functionality but i could add it after either way. Another thing, is i would greatly prefer something that is durable too, even if i'll have to pay extra.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
, hope somebody can comment something or have a review about them
