[jddesigned]

Greetings fine folks,

My wife got me my first mp3 player for my birthday last week. I'm 37 now and years of nightclubs and car stereos have left me with a some tinnitus and I'm sure hearing loss. Listening to music in the car, watching movies, gaming with headphones doesn't bother my ears. If I went to a concert however I'd wear earplugs for sure or I'd feel it for hours after.

So the Cowon i9 I got came with basic earbuds. I've used the player one day on my 30 minute commute - so an hour of use and my ears have a muffled slight ringing deal and I'm only using it at 30% volume. I notice a ton of outside noise from the subway etc and it will drown out the music at times at these volumes.

So guess what I'm asking is do I have bad ears or am I listening with with ear buds creating a crappy environment putting more pressure on my ears? If it's bad ears I have no problem returning the player and just putting portable music aside but I thought I'd ask first.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Napilopez]

Though I'm no doctor or expert, I think it might do you well to try some "real" portables. I would recommend you search for something that's very isolating(doesn't let sound in), and try listening at low volume levels, that may help. If listening to those other mediums don't cause issues for you, I'd suspect it has to do with all the sound pressure from the volume you need to listen to on your commute, and external noise all added in. Even if it doesn't feel so loud because of the noise and the sound from your earbuds drowning eachother out, I've read that it can still be causing some sort of damage to the ear.

 

[Hentai11]

If ambient noise is a problem, definitely consider IEMs. They can be quite cushy with foam tips, and can cut a subway train to a dull rumble.

 

[jddesigned]

I'll try to get access to both options before I give up.

I know you guys aren't doctors but thanks so much for the replies.

 

[rawrster]

I would definitely look at iem's. They block out a lot of outside noise so you will be able to listen to the music at a lower volume and also be able to hear mostly the music and not be bothered by the loud outside environment. I use iem's on my commute everyday and most days I don't notice the outside noise and I don't listen to ear splitting level volumes. I rarely go past 30-40% of max and that's more because the ones I own are not as efficient as others.

The stock buds that you mp3 player will not be as good as most iem's that most of us enjoy. the different in sound quality of course depends on your budget.

 

[Splather]

Agree completely with the guys here - try some decent IEMs and see how you get on. There's some good stuff in the For Sale/Trade section if you want to keep costs down. Most stock stuff (ipod earbuds etc) are pretty cheap and give bad sound in my limited experience.

 

[aconteceu]

I'd actually not use any buds or iems in your case, and try going with portable closed real headphones, the ones which would provide isolation and the driver would be further away from your ear drum. There was a review thread of various models here by |Joker|.

 

[semisight]

Don't give up on portable music! :O

Get a good pair of isolating IEMs. Maybe the Shure SE310/SE420 or if you're willing to put in big bucks the SE530 are all really good isolators. They take a bus of teenagers down to the level of muffled tv from the other room (I say this from experience

). Any of the Shures will offer impressive isolation; even if the sound quality isn't as good for the price they're great starter phones. You can get them pretty cheap used especially.

The Etymotic ER6i/HF5/ER4P are another option. The sound signature isn't for everyone but the isolation is legendary and once you get used to them they should be very nice.

 

[BIGHMW]

I myself have used both IEM's and cans ("cans" describes closed-type full-size headphones) and with the weaker amplifiers in most of today's portable players (especially later Sony players which range at 5 mW per channel) I would recommend a low-impedence (16-32 ohms), high-sensitivity (104dB+) set of IEM's, and if you want to venture to a higher-quality set of either IEM's or cans (minimum 32 ohms), I would advise you look into getting an inline headphone amplifier (browse around the site for ideas), so you can get both the powerful audio and the isolation you are looking for.

I myself have gotten used to the feel and comfort of IEM's since I use a Sony NW-HD5 HDD Walkman, and I was a full-size can freak for a while, using the (now-defunct) MDR-NC6 NC phones or even my MDR-A34 Vertical-in-the-ear (VITE) headphones with my MZ-NH700 Hi-MD Walkman until discovering Head-Fi and the eventual lifestyle and quest for the perfect portable audio setup it has led me to here.

But don't take mine or anybody else's words for it, experiment for yourself with using different combinations, dialing them in until you get the perfect one setup (or two or three such as many of us here have done, one is never enough!). Then after you do find the one, you can always sell the others in the classified section of this site, there will always be folks here who are in a buying mode, regardless of the situation of the economy.

 

[jddesigned]

OK folks if I was to start my hunt the IEM route would I need to drop the big bucks as experimentation or are there cheaper alternatives to start with. For instance would trying something like MEElectronics M6 or M9 series be a good starting point? Do these have decent isolation? The suggestion of selling things in the classifieds is a good idea but I think I'd rather go a cheaper route and let my wife use em for her iphoneif things didn't work out.

Please note: Selection seems quite limited where I am in Canada and prices on things are about 25% more than what people seem to get in the states.

 

[semisight]

The M9 isolation is okay but IIRC they have a "vent" in the back so don't expect anything amazing. Probably the cheapest IEM with great isolation would be the ER6i.

 

[muxenle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jddesigned /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK folks if I was to start my hunt the IEM route would I need to drop the big bucks as experimentation or are there cheaper alternatives to start with. For instance would trying something like MEElectronics M6 or M9 series be a good starting point? Do these have decent isolation? The suggestion of selling things in the classifieds is a good idea but I think I'd rather go a cheaper route and let my wife use em for her iphoneif things didn't work out. Please note: Selection seems quite limited where I am in Canada and prices on things are about 25% more than what people seem to get in the states.

Ya a pair of M6 or M9 would probably be a okay starting point. though if you've never tried IEMs you might want to drop by a store and pick up the cheapest pair they have there to make sure you're okay with IEMs(some people don't like the feel/can't stand it).

I'd also suggest looking at the FS forums on this site and see if there is anything that interests you there. s

 

[jddesigned]

I have a cheapy set of SkullCandy here at work. They're comfy so that's not an issue. But thanks to these forums I have a word for something that drives me absolutely insane about them - "microphonics" Holy crap it's bad on these things. Anyways so comforts not an issue here.

OK so my wish list as per you guys and me:

Really good isolation
warm rich sound - not tinny at all (I think it's the shrill highs that bugs me too)
super low microphonics

I'll start shopping the classifieds and looking locally for a good deal just to experiment. Like I say if IEM's don't work out I can always pass on to my wife with her iphone.

 

[dfrost]

I prefer IEMs for the most satisfying music experience these days. Hugely better than the Blackberry earbuds that I started with. I enoy everything on my iPod/BB so much now that it's really fun to put them on "Shuffle All" just to be surprised and thrilled by the subtleties revealed in the next selection.

After six decades of abuse (motorcycling without earplugs, too-loud concerts, and just general aging), my ears are definitely in the "not good" category - tried hearing aids for awhile, but they weren't all that helpful.

I'm now using NuForce NE-7M IEMs and find them fantastic - balanced, rich, and musical, with no fatigue or tinnitus (which I have) issues. I'd say they meet your wish list, particularly the "warm, rich sound". Isolation with Comply T400 tips is excellent. With Shure E2c tips there's slightly less isolation, but a more balanced, less veiled sound quality, and easier to insert. Microphonics are low enough not to be typically noticeable during my dog walks hanging down, and even less so if I bother to route the wires over ears.

I could tell you other IEMs that I'm considering, but there's plenty of better experience in this forum. I did notice that the Sherwood SE-777 as reviewed by ClieOS here, "has one of the least microphonics cables..." with an "overall sound signature [that] is very warm and fairly musical..."

My only other experience with decent IEMs was a brief, no burn-in sampling of Woodies IES100B (unacceptable for me), and a more thorough try with Hippo VB (excellent IEM for the price, but after 100 hr burn-in, too prominent bass and veiled vocals for my tastes). So my depth of knowledge is exceedingly low compared to the rest of head-fi-ers.

 

[jddesigned]

Thanks for the great reply dfrost.

I liked the idea of the NuForce a lot, but the availability of them here in Vancouver, Canada seems hard to come by. So taking into account everything you described about them and reading through many, many reviews on this site I've placed an order on the MEelectronics M11's. Sound like they have the isolation, the warm sound, great microphonics and non the fatiguing factor. They're coming in at $36 shipped international from Meel too. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted and let you know how things go.