[diddy1234]

Hi All

This is my first post so if I have posted in the wrong section, then sorry.

I recently purchased 'Sennheiser CX300' and was really blown away by the sound quality of these IEM's.

My question is, generally speaking if anyone can tell the difference between a £3 earphones and £30 earphones, does this mean that a £300 earphones are going to sound even better.

taking this example further how much better would a £10,000 pare of earphones sound ?

Would they just produce more detailed sound or tighter bass ?

What I am trying to find out is if there is a price point where no matter how much money is spent on earphones, then sound quality will not improve.

RD

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by diddy1234 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi All This is my first post so if I have posted in the wrong section, then sorry. I recently purchased 'Sennheiser CX300' and was really blown away by the sound quality of these IEM's. My question is, generally speaking if anyone can tell the difference between a £3 earphones and £30 earphones, does this mean that a £300 earphones are going to sound even better. taking this example further how much better would a £10,000 pare of earphones sound ? Would they just produce more detailed sound or tighter bass ? What I am trying to find out is if there is a price point where no matter how much money is spent on earphones, then sound quality will not improve. RD

Dude, you just opened up a huge can of worms! In my opinion, you do get what you pay for, up to a point. The $50,000 question is, what is that point? $100? $1000?...

You will probably get as many different answers to that question as there are people posting on this forum. The waters are further muddied by the fact that SQ is a highly subjective area. Some people plunk down their money for Bose phones, and love them. Other people (me included), think they are over-priced and mediocre.

Having said that, I can tell you that the Etymotic ER6s are great phones for about $100. I loved the pair I had, till I broke 'em. I haven't compared them to the Senns you enjoyed, so I can't responsibly comment on their relative merits. Try searching on the Senns and the Ety's and you will find a wealth of commentary, much of it extremely confusing.

See if you can audition a pair of the Ety's. Many people love them, but there are always those who will disagree. The only real answer is to be found by trying them for yourself. Good luck, and, as they say around here, sorry about your wallet!

 

[millionmonkeys]

As the Chinese say, "yi fen qian yi fen huo"

Try NuForce NE-8 Earphones. $70 well spent.

 

[coolperl]

The price/performance ratio is not linear. I'd say it's logarythmic with a lot of fluctuations. When you compare $4 (sorry, I don't have GBP on my keyboard) headphone to $40 headphone the difference will be HUGE. When you compare $50 one to ...let's say 150$ one, the difference will be noticeable but it won't be such astonishing like previous time. There also such thing as sound signature, which is different for different headphones - it makes those fluctuations on your price/performance graph. Sometimes you may like better $50 headphone than $150 ...just because sound signature suit you better.

For instance, I prefer fun, entertaining sound more than detailed, analytical and dry ... So I have no doubt, I'd choose $100 Denons C700 over $180 Etymotic ER4P.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolperl /img/forum/go_quote.gif For instance, I prefer fun, entertaining sound more than detailed, analytical and dry ... So I have no doubt, I'd choose $100 Denons C700 over $180 Etymotic ER4P.

Very good point. I'm the exact opposite...I love the Ety sound. But, just to make this an even more confusing discussion, my favorite among the phones I've owned were definitely the Grado SR60s, which have a very specific sound sig, and are quite different from the Ety's (The SR60s are detailed, but not analytical or dry). I noticed the difference the first time I put on the Ety's (My ER6's were bought to replace the Grados).

As I said, the only real solution is to try before you buy.

 

[walkingman]

There is a huge difference going from say a cheap £5 bud to a £30 in-ear. But once you hit a certain price level then the concept of diminishing returns begins. A £300 in-ear may only improve slightly over a £150 in-ear. It is up to you to decide if the slight improvement is worth coughing up the extra cash. And once you hit a certain price level, the SQ tends to be the excellent and the difference will mainly come down to the type of sound signature each products have to offer.

There is no such thing as £50000 headphones, except for $5 headphones with diamonds glued to their case...

 

[Spyro]

Relative to what is out there, even under $200, CX300's are pretty crappy. Barely a step above stock earbuds if you ask me.

 

[quadmaniac]

Very good point. I've been wondering the same thing. From my Sansa Clip buds to KSC 75s, I was SHOCKED at the improvement.

Now I've been wondering how better Grado SR60's would be. 4 times the price, 4 times the quality? Wouldn't think so!

Ouch.. wallet hurts

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by quadmaniac /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very good point. I've been wondering the same thing. From my Sansa Clip buds to KSC 75s, I was SHOCKED at the improvement. Now I've been wondering how better Grado SR60's would be. 4 times the price, 4 times the quality? Wouldn't think so! Ouch.. wallet hurts

As a former SR60 owner, I can tell you that the sound improvement over your Koss phones will be massive. I say that as a committed PortaPro fanatic (looks adoringly at PortaPros sitting on his desk). HOWEVER:

The SR60s are a challenge to use portably. They are large, and they are not designed to absorb the kind of abuse that portable use in the real world will reliably dish out. More important, they leak tremendous amounts of sound. They will bother those around you if you listen at even moderately high levels. And if you value your hearing, you cannot safely use them in noisy situations, such as public transport (subway, bus, etc.).

Don't get me wrong. These are GREAT headphones. I had mine for a year. But after stuffing them into my shoulder bag over and over, and dropping them many times, etc., etc., they just gave up the ghost. When my current employment drought is over, I will replace them as my first luxury purchase. But they will be strictly for home use.

Just my .02.

 

[mvw2]

Price does not equal sound.

Frankly, it's simply engineering.

A lot of the price you pay is a byproduct of R&D, number of expected sales, expenses for overhead costs of the company, and any profit the company intends to make. Many times, a product is priced specifically to sell "as" something. It is the sense that if it costs $1000, it must be good. Marketing knows this works very well on people. The sad part is you end up paying $500 for something that costs $10 in raw materials. That product could be made and sold for $50 at a profit. However, supply and demand and perceived worth indicates that $500 makes more money.

I do hate how much earphones cost. They really are too much many times. However, I do see a high cost because of low volumes for some companies that do not sell large numbers. However, the companies that do sell a good number don't need the high cost. They simply have the high cost for name sake and brand image.

It's like paying $20k for a home theater speakers that only has about $2k worth of hardware/materials. Why?

Quality of sound is quality of engineering only. The price you pay is driven by the marketing department. Engineers and marketing don't get along well, lol. The correlation isn't direct, and the price essentially becomes nothing more then a tool for profit, sales, and brand image and ends up being very little related to the engineering of the product.

 

[diddy1234]

Good point Mvw2.

I was told once from a friend (working in electronic sales) that they put a 400% markup on electrical goods !

I am not sure if this is really true though.

I wonder if anyone has performed a audiophile blind test where the listeners thought a $1000 earphones were actually $100.

Could a serious audiophile tell the difference between $1000 and $100 earphones (if it were a blind test)?

Probably a bit of an evil test to perform.

 

[Nocturnal310]

If YOU cant perceive the difference then dont buy,...u r just doing the shopkeeper a favor ...also this Higher the money better the sound attitude among people is biggest example why a company like Bose exists.


make crap and markup the price...people just buy Bose so they can boast ..look i bought an expensive headphone so i am superior to u.

same reason why Monster cable has become so popular in consumer electronic stores.....since it costs like $300..people buy it thinking its better....when they cant even tell a difference between DVD and HD (720p) or even Full HD (1080p/i)

u shud be able to point out flaws in your CX300 to yourself..otherwise why bother spending more if it sounds fine to u.

if u bought CX300..u shud give IE7 a try if u do wanna spend around $300....if u wanna spend more than that..then IE8



On Head-fi u can find an ocean of information on nearly every headphone/earphone ever made on earth...including the pathetic ones to avoid

headfiers basically are people for whom price is the last concern..if they want smthg ..they ll finance themselves somehow one way or the other..sooner or later.

its the chase which is the best part...when u dream day and night of your next big purchase.

 

[PhilS]

Questions like that from the OP yield threads that contain 10% useful information and 90% manure and absurd opinions, several of which have already surfaced on this thread.

Price certainly does not always correlate with quality, but often there is a relationship between the two, and a well-made set of $500 earphones is generally going to sound better than a $50 set (assuming the other equipment in the chain is decent), and anybody who tells you otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about, has an axe to grind, or doesn't have much experience with the types of products we are talking about.

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilS /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...anybody who tells you otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about, has an axe to grind, or doesn't have much experience with the types of products we are talking about.

Well, THANK GOD we have folks like you to set straight mere mortals like us.

 

[PhilS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBenway /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, THANK GOD we have folks like you to set straight mere mortals like us.

That's what I'm here for.

Seriously, I generally am bothered by categorical pronouncements also, but the notion that differences in prices of phones are due to marketing BS and not quality is just silly. Yes, marketing comes into play, and there is not a direct correlation between price and quality, and people can be duped, etc., but there are differences between quality of earphones, and you get what you pay for -- as a general proposition.