[jourdanc]

Hi Guys,
 
Last year, I got myself a pair of Ultimate Ears 5 Pros (Custom) and I love 'em. Only problem is that I like listening to music at work. Some days, I have to speak a lot to people, and it gets to be quite uncomfortable to keep removing & putting them back on. So I was thinking of getting a pair of headphones to use at work.
 
I know this is really like comparing apples with oranges, but what sort of budget would I need to purchase a full-size headphones that will sound almost as good as a pair of UE 5 Pros (Custom)?
 
I read a lot about the Audio-Technica ATH-M50s, would these be an ideal option? I listen to a wide variety of music, but if I really couldn't afford a pair of headphones that caters to all, I would settle for something that is good for fast, bass-heavy songs (This covers 60% of the type of music I listen to ).
 
FYI my current setup is:
iPhone to Fiio E7 to UE 5 Pros
 
Thanks in advance for your help, guys!
 
- Jourdan

 

[Chris_Himself]

Ran into the same situation with my reshelled SF.5's... whipped out the Grados after like a year and a half of IEM-only listening and wow... they sound amazing even at the entry-level model! I just wasn't used to feeling my music and just living off those little bass thuds from the SF5 Pro's I was running.
 
You honestly need LESS money to get a pair of cans to sound as good as IEMs. Any way you look at it, the tiny armatures and drivers cost a lot of money to engineer to sound the way they do.
 
The M50's get a lot of buzz here, I haven't heard them though. My personal recommendation is the SR-80's just because I'm a Grado junkie.. they're open too so you can actually carry conversations while listening to music if that's your kind of thing. I listen to my music at low volumes and conduct conversations with mine on all day. Should be enough bass for you if you're used to SF5's. The SF5 bass could be heard and not felt, so I feel that this is pretty accurate with the SR-80's although you can feel it quite a bit with the right songs.
 
I could be blindfiring here... what songs/artists do you listen to specifically?

 

[jourdanc]

Hey Chris,
 
Thanks for the info!
 
It's not actually the SF 5s that I have, its this:
http://ultimateears.com/en-au/products/5-pro
 
In terms of sound, do you know if the SF5s very different from the 5 Pros?
 
I'd say, 60% of the time I'd be listening to Hip-Hop/Rap and R&B. The other 40% is anything from Rock, Jazz, Easy Listening (i.e Michael Buble, Joss Stone, etc), even a little Pop every now and then.

 

[Chris_Himself]

I think the SF-5's I have with the silver IEM cable are pretty close to the UE5 Pro's I've heard... the cable adds quite a bit of depth... but yes a custom will always be a custom in terms of neutrality... the Super.Fi series are just for listening enjoyment really, they're not even close but I know what a neutral IEM sounds like from my experience with Ety ER-4P's. I would never in a million years suggest that SF5's are near the performance of custom 5's.
 
Oh uh... Grados are not so good with the first genre, quite excellent at the latter...
 
I guess just wait until the others chime in... I only have experience with AKG/Grado/Sennheiser cans. To be honest it's going to be different, it's just the feeling of cans vs IEM's...