[kipman725]

I haven't seen many head fi users with these headphones so I would like to share my impresions. My pair were £7 aprox $15.50 which makes them one of the cheapest IEM's.

Fit:
Easy to get a good seal with default tips came with larger and smaller tips. Not secure fit enough for exersise.

Cord: Rubberised pretty rubbish snags alot and the outer sheaf tore in a zip when it got stuck. Feels nasty and tangles. Legnth is just right with about 35cm of slack if the player is in ones pocket. plug is robust and gold plated and has a small profile.

microphonics: Very poor any rubbing against the cable causes vibrations to be transmited to the earphone causing it to move slightly. Another reaosn they are not suitibile for exersise.

Sound: Superb espescialy considering the price. The bass is a little hevey but not to the extent its annoying. The treble has some distortion but unlike most earbuds this price its actualy there. The main problem these IEM's have is there high efficiancy. On lower quality players with a quite peice or one with wide dynamic range such as Spem In Alium by Thomas Talis the noise floor of lower quality players is too high and leads to distracting hiss. An IPOD gave no noticable hiss though so this can be aleviated by using a better player. I don't know if this is the norm for IEM's but the sound was very 3d and engrosing. I didn't want to take them out to talk to people on the bus. Impact on drums was very good aswell along with the decay of notes. Symbols are these IEM's weakest point and sound tinny.

Attenuation: Sounds outside your ears no longer exist all you can hear is the music if you have these IEM's in properly.


so overall if you see these for upto about £20 get them straight away as they are great fun if spending more consider them but take into acount the durability and there suitibility for exersise.

 

[aureus]

They’re great for about £10 - won’t pay £20 though. Highs are way too aggressive too my ears (ouch are these sibilant) and the bass is just too much. I don’t use them anymore. But considering the price, they’re ok.

 

[Brainyhead]

Nice review Kipman. I use the EP-630 with my ipod. It's really affordable but what i like is the noise isolation. It doesn't completely block out sounds (might be my awkwardly-shaped ears), but i do like the fact that I can drown out most noise in the train, yet still be able to hear the stops and announcements.

 

[enigma1406]

Have you ever heard the JVC Marshmallows? I'm looking for a set of isolating canal phones in that price range and the ep-630 and marshmallow seem to be the most talked about.

 

[eruditass]

biggest problem with the sound is the midrange suckout.

to get rid of microphonics completely, wear them a la shure, over the ears. pics upon req.

 

[wangerin]

Newegg.com - Creative EP-630 3.5mm Gold-Plated Connector Canal Noise Isolation Earphones

Original Price: $30.99
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[kipman725]

Hmm I have had more time with them now and see more of there deficiancies unfortunatly my only other headphones to speak of are grado SR-60's and Sen Hd-650's so I may be slightly harsh:

Although the bass apears to be good on the Ep630's it infact dosen't extend very low and has a big peak in response just before its cutoff giving the impersion of strong bass as the overtones are louder than they should be and the brain reconstructs the fundimental even though it's almost silent.

There are some MAJOR issues with high frequancies samual babers adajio for strings slayed them. The high frequancies just sounded distorted and overly harsh (its very hard to describe but fair to say not plesurable).

thanks for the wearing tip fit and microphonics considerably improved.

I still stand by the statement that they are good value for money but I felt I should point out these problems.

 

[tskiller]

I used to have these awhile ago, the left channel broke after a month or two. If they didn't have durability issues, i'd feel better about recommending them for their price point.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I had them before my current UM1's - I replaced the stock tips with Comply tips. You have to remove the tubes from the tips, and them jam them down over the driver stems - but once they were on, they recovered their shape and worked very well - much more comfortable than the stock tips and the isolation was better. I agree with your SQ review - they are not nearly as accurate as my UM1, but for their price, and especially for the isolation at that price, I think the Ep630/CX300 are a good choice and I don't regret owning them. The one caveat I will make is that eBay is full of cheap EP-630 knock-offs, and I wouldn't touch those. Mine came directly from Creative when they were blowing them out online, so at least I know they are genuine!

 

[vesther]

I notice that the bass was a bit too heavy with these 'buds. They're similar to the Sennheiser CX300--it is probably based on this "Foster-brand" earbuds made from an unknown company. They're OK but not great due to excessive emphasis on bass.

 

[Slovenc]

Hi
You're all talking about some special way to put EP-630 in.
How do you do that? They sound a bit quiet to me... is that bec i didn't insert them properly?

 

[eruditass]

upon revisiting the marshmallows, i find that they sound much better, less booming bass, clearer highs.

 

[Slovenc]

I'm really sorry about my bad english, but what did you mean by "revisiting the marshmallows" Aren't marshmallows meant to be some sort of sweets? :$
I was just asking how to insert them in properly.... (the eraphones, not the marshmallows

)

 

[Cankin]

I like bass, but I think EP630's bass is extremely bloated. Recessed and muddy mid, specially vocal. I didn't think it's high is harsh or bright though.

 

[Slovenc]

yeah i do agree! Vocals are a bit muffed, kind of silenced if played with some kind of rock or punk backrgound... So i assume i know how to put them in... (pull the ear up, and push them as far as possible)