Ant1
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2005
- Posts
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I got the EP630 for the following reasons:
- I wasn't comfortable with the idea of inserting something deep in my ear canal. The EP630 feels just right. Deep enough to cut a lot of noise out, without fearing that it bangs against the eardrum. Also I have this fear that someone might brush inadvertantly by me while I'm wearing Etys or Shure and yank them out by mistake, causing possible ear damage as the vacuum created by the seal would maybe rupture the eardrum. Paranoid, maybe, but I definitely feel more comfortable with the EP630s. They come out quite easily.
- I actually like to hear *some* ambient noise around me. Not too much as to interfere with the music, but a little is good. I find the EP630s offers the kind of isolation where you can hear yourself chew or swallow, which means that I get decent isolation. I was listening to them in a noisy cafe environment (music playing on speakers) and a lot of ambient noise was gone once I inserted the EP630 in my ears. If someone wants to talk to me, pausing the track allows me to hear them, very muffled, but ok.
- I wanted to spend as little as possible on an earphone solution that woud offer me basically what I already had, but better. I was quite happy with my previous earbuds SQ-wise, although the mids and highs were beginning to soften-up way too much as burn-in was settling in. But the bass was great. So I wanted the same bass, but clearer sound + more isolation + more comfort, as i never seem to get comfortable wear with any earbuds. The idea was to get that final result at the cheapest price. I mean, the Super-fi or Shure, or whatever, might sound great, but why spend $$$ when you start getting into earphones when you might be at first very happy with spending less (especially as I just finished uni, so money is still tight)? If I get more refined taste down the track, and I notice flaws in my earphones and want to upgrade then, great! Which brings me to the...
Sound: Yeah, they're bassy alright. Too much? No. I have *some* variety on my 4th gen iPod: thumpa-thumpa music, Gloria Estefan's "Mi Tiera", some "Chill" Ibiza-style music, Souad Massi (mixture of Morrocan/Latin American style), Classical (Fidelio, Symphony No 6 Pastorale, Pathetique, etc...
On bass-heavy music (House music), these earphones are great! The bass is powerful, and the mids and highs are present without being harsh. I have burned them-in for maybe 50 hours so far, and the mids/highs are settling-in nicely, not a huge difference, but noticeable nevertheless. It must be said that these dance tracks are mostly recorded off the net (streaming) at 128k AAC. The quality is thus acceptable without being great, and for that kind os music, no problem whatsoever. Foot-tapping, head-bobbing, looking a-bit-stupid-in-public material here. But as I like reading whilst listening to music, who cares?...
With other styles, such as Gloria Estefan, I was expecting that the bass would overwhelm the whole mix. I was surprised that it did not. The voice was clear, instruments well-defined, medium soundstage, but, on the whole, the tracks sounded nice and warm, and no feeling of imbalance due to too much bass. Same effect with Souad Massi, who uses a lot of acoustic instruments: nice and warm too, yet sufficiently defined in the mids/highs (to my ears, anyway). These tracks were not streamed, but rather ripped at 256k AAC.
With classical music, however, I hit a brick wall, but it was because of the iPod. Many people have commented on the 4th generation iPod, saying that with piano solos, there's some distortion of some sort. Well, it's absolutely true. I'm classicaly-trained on piano, and the EP630s revealed that glearing fault with the iPod. The sound os solo piano is akin with having some buzzing pieces of paper sitting and vibrating as notes on the piano are struck, especially in the overtone-rich mid/ higher mid registers. It's unbearable. And these are tracks ripped at 360k AAC because I wanted to get the whole spectrum of sound with classical music. Oh well, I'll have to get the video iPod I guess, when i can afford it. But the EP630 handled the job pretty well I thought. On orchestral symphonic pieces, that was ok, but I don't think that the EP630s are really made for that.
What else? Microphonics (sound of the cable brushing on clothes as you wear the earphones) are present. I cannot compare to what extent it is worse than other earphones, but to me, since I'm not really moving around when I'm listening to music, that's not a problem. I would not consider this to be an issue. Comfort is good. The EP630 are inserted and removed quite easily, and I don't have a problem getting a good seal. I use the rock back-and-forth technique to insert them when in public, or, when alone, I do the pull-the-ear-up and rock'em in technique, which achieves a similar result, only quicker. Either way, theer's none of that week-to-get-a-seal business. I managed to get a proper seal the first time I tried them. I found the mid-size rubber inserts to fit me best, and there's a very clear difference of sound when trying the size that doesn't fit. in other words, the process of choosing the right tip was very easy and obvious too, and you won't be second-guessing whether you *might* get better results if only you could find the rubber tips that *really* fitted you!... The packaging is very spartan although well packed. No pouch for carrying the earphones, and you only get the usual three sized rubber tips (S/M/L). That's it. Another advantage of these earphones is their price. I paid $55AUD (around $40US) shipped. in other words, they're worth a gamble, and I also don't have to be too careful with them. I just roll them around my iPod and that's it. I certainly wouldn't feel the same had I spent $200US on some earphones, and be prettty peeved-off had they not satisfied me. This, I think, is a crucial issue here. What I mean is this: I searched this forum, and around the net, for a long time. My main concern was whether the earphones reviewed in this forum had the bass that I wanted without sacrifying clarity. But this is such an objective issue, and opinions so divided, that I never thought I got a satisfying answer, despite the obvious desire of all contributing members to help (and I really appreciate it). At least now, when someone comments abbout the EP630 having, say, too much bass (whereas i think that its bass satisfies me) ,then I know that if the same reviewer finds that earphone "X" has the *right amount* of bass, I will therefore probably find them a little lacking in that department, because now I've got a yardstick by which to measure his/her opinion. That should logically lead to a more informed buy from my part when upgrade-itis kick-in!
Finally, I think that these EP630 earphones are ideal for someone who wants to upgrade from earbuds that come with the usual mp3 players on the market, without breaking the bank. They will give you a definite improvement in bass and mids/highs detail/clarity, and are a nice (as well as nice-looking) intro to the world of high-end in-ears...maybe.
BTW, I have also ordered a pair of ER630SN CRESYN white canal phones. I will post a review as soon as I get a chance. Since many of you are familiar with the Creative EP630, this should hopefully make sense.
A.
- I wasn't comfortable with the idea of inserting something deep in my ear canal. The EP630 feels just right. Deep enough to cut a lot of noise out, without fearing that it bangs against the eardrum. Also I have this fear that someone might brush inadvertantly by me while I'm wearing Etys or Shure and yank them out by mistake, causing possible ear damage as the vacuum created by the seal would maybe rupture the eardrum. Paranoid, maybe, but I definitely feel more comfortable with the EP630s. They come out quite easily.
- I actually like to hear *some* ambient noise around me. Not too much as to interfere with the music, but a little is good. I find the EP630s offers the kind of isolation where you can hear yourself chew or swallow, which means that I get decent isolation. I was listening to them in a noisy cafe environment (music playing on speakers) and a lot of ambient noise was gone once I inserted the EP630 in my ears. If someone wants to talk to me, pausing the track allows me to hear them, very muffled, but ok.
- I wanted to spend as little as possible on an earphone solution that woud offer me basically what I already had, but better. I was quite happy with my previous earbuds SQ-wise, although the mids and highs were beginning to soften-up way too much as burn-in was settling in. But the bass was great. So I wanted the same bass, but clearer sound + more isolation + more comfort, as i never seem to get comfortable wear with any earbuds. The idea was to get that final result at the cheapest price. I mean, the Super-fi or Shure, or whatever, might sound great, but why spend $$$ when you start getting into earphones when you might be at first very happy with spending less (especially as I just finished uni, so money is still tight)? If I get more refined taste down the track, and I notice flaws in my earphones and want to upgrade then, great! Which brings me to the...
Sound: Yeah, they're bassy alright. Too much? No. I have *some* variety on my 4th gen iPod: thumpa-thumpa music, Gloria Estefan's "Mi Tiera", some "Chill" Ibiza-style music, Souad Massi (mixture of Morrocan/Latin American style), Classical (Fidelio, Symphony No 6 Pastorale, Pathetique, etc...
On bass-heavy music (House music), these earphones are great! The bass is powerful, and the mids and highs are present without being harsh. I have burned them-in for maybe 50 hours so far, and the mids/highs are settling-in nicely, not a huge difference, but noticeable nevertheless. It must be said that these dance tracks are mostly recorded off the net (streaming) at 128k AAC. The quality is thus acceptable without being great, and for that kind os music, no problem whatsoever. Foot-tapping, head-bobbing, looking a-bit-stupid-in-public material here. But as I like reading whilst listening to music, who cares?...
With other styles, such as Gloria Estefan, I was expecting that the bass would overwhelm the whole mix. I was surprised that it did not. The voice was clear, instruments well-defined, medium soundstage, but, on the whole, the tracks sounded nice and warm, and no feeling of imbalance due to too much bass. Same effect with Souad Massi, who uses a lot of acoustic instruments: nice and warm too, yet sufficiently defined in the mids/highs (to my ears, anyway). These tracks were not streamed, but rather ripped at 256k AAC.
With classical music, however, I hit a brick wall, but it was because of the iPod. Many people have commented on the 4th generation iPod, saying that with piano solos, there's some distortion of some sort. Well, it's absolutely true. I'm classicaly-trained on piano, and the EP630s revealed that glearing fault with the iPod. The sound os solo piano is akin with having some buzzing pieces of paper sitting and vibrating as notes on the piano are struck, especially in the overtone-rich mid/ higher mid registers. It's unbearable. And these are tracks ripped at 360k AAC because I wanted to get the whole spectrum of sound with classical music. Oh well, I'll have to get the video iPod I guess, when i can afford it. But the EP630 handled the job pretty well I thought. On orchestral symphonic pieces, that was ok, but I don't think that the EP630s are really made for that.
What else? Microphonics (sound of the cable brushing on clothes as you wear the earphones) are present. I cannot compare to what extent it is worse than other earphones, but to me, since I'm not really moving around when I'm listening to music, that's not a problem. I would not consider this to be an issue. Comfort is good. The EP630 are inserted and removed quite easily, and I don't have a problem getting a good seal. I use the rock back-and-forth technique to insert them when in public, or, when alone, I do the pull-the-ear-up and rock'em in technique, which achieves a similar result, only quicker. Either way, theer's none of that week-to-get-a-seal business. I managed to get a proper seal the first time I tried them. I found the mid-size rubber inserts to fit me best, and there's a very clear difference of sound when trying the size that doesn't fit. in other words, the process of choosing the right tip was very easy and obvious too, and you won't be second-guessing whether you *might* get better results if only you could find the rubber tips that *really* fitted you!... The packaging is very spartan although well packed. No pouch for carrying the earphones, and you only get the usual three sized rubber tips (S/M/L). That's it. Another advantage of these earphones is their price. I paid $55AUD (around $40US) shipped. in other words, they're worth a gamble, and I also don't have to be too careful with them. I just roll them around my iPod and that's it. I certainly wouldn't feel the same had I spent $200US on some earphones, and be prettty peeved-off had they not satisfied me. This, I think, is a crucial issue here. What I mean is this: I searched this forum, and around the net, for a long time. My main concern was whether the earphones reviewed in this forum had the bass that I wanted without sacrifying clarity. But this is such an objective issue, and opinions so divided, that I never thought I got a satisfying answer, despite the obvious desire of all contributing members to help (and I really appreciate it). At least now, when someone comments abbout the EP630 having, say, too much bass (whereas i think that its bass satisfies me) ,then I know that if the same reviewer finds that earphone "X" has the *right amount* of bass, I will therefore probably find them a little lacking in that department, because now I've got a yardstick by which to measure his/her opinion. That should logically lead to a more informed buy from my part when upgrade-itis kick-in!
Finally, I think that these EP630 earphones are ideal for someone who wants to upgrade from earbuds that come with the usual mp3 players on the market, without breaking the bank. They will give you a definite improvement in bass and mids/highs detail/clarity, and are a nice (as well as nice-looking) intro to the world of high-end in-ears...maybe.
BTW, I have also ordered a pair of ER630SN CRESYN white canal phones. I will post a review as soon as I get a chance. Since many of you are familiar with the Creative EP630, this should hopefully make sense.
A.
