[geardoc]

I've got a mix of Shure, Sennhieser and Grado.. but sometimes just want something easy to use. Can you recommend some earbuds in the $100 range?

Or, is there a reason that earbuds cannot deliver good sound due the inherent limitation of the design?

BTW, I've tried the Slik sound adaptors that turn earbuds into canal phones. These are not bad (in restoring the bass response), but for the extra insertion effort, I might as well use my Shure E2's.

 

[MuzlL0dr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geardoc BTW, I've tried the Slik sound adaptors that turn earbuds into canal phones. These are not bad (in restoring the bass response), but for the extra insertion effort, I might as well use my Shure E2's.

Where might one find these adapters? I've been looking for something to beef up some earbuds that I use. Sorry, this doesn't help answer your question.

 

[SoujiroSeta]

SlicSound

As for the earbuds, you might want to try the ATH-CM7

A review for them can be found here.

 

[geardoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuzlL0dr Where might one find these adapters?....

Here is where you can buy them, and some other links:

http://www.store.yahoo.com/slicsound...licsound1.html

www.slicsound.com

http://www.misticriver.net/boards/ar...php/t-939.html

I might add that while I think they improved the bass on my earbuds, they wiggle out of my ears if I move, much like the plastic earpieces that come with the Shure E2's.

 

[Alick]

I tried the Slicsounds with MX500s but found that, although they stayed in my ears, they attenuated high frequencies too much to be useful.

 

[holeinmywallet]

It doesn't immediatly appear to me to able to notice any possible limits earbud design might have, even though engineers could provide explanations. From looking at the earbuds my hypothetical guess is that engineering high-end earbuds on par with high-end full sized and canal phones might not be impossible to achieve, but it might just takes much too much effort and too many small screw drivers that, such picking a needle in a hay stack efforts are better kept to the territory of special research and craftment like R10 or Qualia, which only nothing-to-lose large companies like Sony can masterplan.

The single most important reason why canal phones design work is the isolation from the complete seal. The isolation from canal phones appear as a special feature that canal phones can provide, but isolation is actually needed for canal phones to land on creating the canvas of the sound deliverance they shoot for. Without the proper seal, all canalphones will sound like $10 earbuds. Because of their close distance from the eardrums and the seal, the use of a very small amount of sound from their small tranducers can work. Earbuds are like the vulnerable canal phones without the seal. Earbuds can't utilize the seal, and with their not so bigger than canal phones sized tranducers, they have to compete with full sized cans using the same concept at delivering the sound to the ears.

 

[MdRex]

As Max Minimum said, the earbuds(not canalphones) are the least promising of all the form factor. However if you are looking for cheap and good earbuds, try the MXx00 series from senns(which has been reccomended to death around here). I wanted an E888 over the MX400, but given the price, I gave the MX400 a shot and was blown away. I was amazing something so cheap and so small can sound similar to my PX100

 

[Max Minimum]

It's definitely possible for earbuds to sound good, and probably great. With the CM7's (and perhaps the E888's - I keep hearing good things about them), the sound begins to compete with some of the low-end full-sized phones. Well, low-end by Head-Fi standards, that is. They probably provide better sound than most of the general listening public have heard... we're such elitists.

If you don't mind going a bit over your stated range, you can get them new from Audio Cubes for 138 USD. I think in order to get truly great sound from an earbud, though, a company would have to spend too much money and would never see it returned in sales. The more I read people's experiences of the sound they get from earbuds, the more I'm convinced of this. The variation you hear from people about what they heard from a given product seems to vary much more wildly than it does with either canalphones or full-sized cans. I think there is just too much variation in the shape and size of the outer ear for any earbud to have one distinct sound signature for everyone. That's not to say we can't judge the overall comparitive quality of earbuds, though. The Senn MX series, the Sony E888's and the ATH-CM7's, will almost definitely sound better than the average earbud to anyone. But people will have different opinions about whether such and such earbud is bass-shy and bright, etc. The Senn's are a fantastic value while the CM7's probably are not unless you really intend to spend a lot of time listening to earbuds for one reason or another, as I do. In that case, they justify their price. If you must stay below $100, go for the E888's or CM5's, or a used set of CM7's if you can find them.

 

[ya8282]

I'm close to ordering the ATH-CM7 Ti's and/or Crescyn E700 (here in Korea), but I'm a little concerned that earbuds change characteristic too easily depending on the fit and angle at which they enter your ear. The CM7s approach the price of canalphones so I'm not that sure they are worth the money. Crescyns are about $15 cheaper than the Sony E888 and supposedly offer similar performance, so it may be a safer investment (and then spend the money on canalphones when I need isolating phones later).

 

[apnk]

Crescyn E700, are they like the CM5's?

 

[holeinmywallet]

ya8282,

I find subjectivity rules out everything on all audio gears, almost. There is really any no use of help in guiding you to choose between two products in terms of 'which sounds better the other' but to tell you how I distinguish the two according to my preferences.

Depends on your taste, $138 CM7 can be worse earbuds than $15 MX500 or the E700. Even after 30hr of burn-in, CM7's highs were significantly rolled off even compared to MX500's rolled off highs, and I also found CM7's bass boomy, not tight and somewhat emphasized, not that it is a bad thing. I found CM7 much more refined, and they particularly distinguish from MX500 in that they sound extraordinarily Bigger than all earbuds I tried. But negative impression of CM7 were registered in my head as muddy and bass heavy sounding earbuds, with overall sound signature leaning toward the dark.

Now, E700 is an exact opposite of CM7. They have emphasis in highs, some, including myself find them harsh and fatiguing, and the quantity of bass is nowhere near the CM7. They also lack the refinement of CM7. So everything really boils down to individual preferences, with the price tag aside. Personaly, I think MX500 is more of what I choose over others in that regard.

One thing I noticed with CM7 was that they do change characteristics too easily depending on the fit and angle at which they enter your ears, due to their heavy build and small diameter. However, It might change wih a Ti version or on different ear shapes.

 

[tattoou2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by holeinmywallet One thing I noticed with CM7 was that they do change characteristics too easily depending on the fit and angle at which they enter your ears, due to their heavy build and small diameter. However, It might change wih a Ti version or on different ear shapes.

I own both the CM7s and the EC7s (AT's clip-on buds). I found that the CM7s do tend to move about more and do not provide as good an ear seal as the EC7s. The CM7s are heavy but when attaching them directly to a remote, the weight of the remote will tend to pull one side out and I then find myself fiddling with the adjustment.

On the other hand, the EC7s are ideal for me. They are very light, adjustable clip-ons which provide a very nice seal since the clip keeps them in place. They are extremely comfortable and can be worn for those long listening times even when I wear my reading glasses. To my ear, they sound balanced without any emphasis to either lows or highs. I purchased mine from Audio Cubes and think they were $149 without shipping.

Both the CM7s and the EC7s are very well made and their SQ is about the same with the CM7's having a bit more bass. I can recommend either pair, but the EC7s seemingly would better fit those like myself who have smaller ear openings.

 

[ya8282]

Quote:

Originally Posted by apnk Crescyn E700, are they like the CM5's?

Yes, from what I read on the board at least, though they have different stems. I misspelled the brand name, it should be "Cresyn".

I've been looking at the ATH-EW9 (wood), EM9R, and EM9D which are all very similar in spec but look different. They seem portable enough, but how well do they clip on and how much noise leakage is there? tattoou2, you mentioned that they "seal well"... does that mean that noise doesn't escape or just that there is not much movement when walking around?

 

[geardoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tattoou2 ..snip On the other hand, the EC7s are ideal for me. They are very light, adjustable clip-ons ..snip... CM7's having a bit more bass. ....

I'm going to start saving for the EC7's. Seems that they solve one problem that I have with earbuds like the MX400 - movement changes the sound, especially the bass.

However, now that you mention that the CM7's have lots of bass, maybe they have compensated for the loss of bass in regular earbuds.