[mset]

Hi guys

My first post here, thanks a lot to Jude who took the time to answer a question at Crackberry.com and open my eyes to the possibility of IEMs (yes... thanks a lot Jude, my pocketbook also thanks you for the hit it's about to take

)

I'll try to make this quick; I have a decent amount of experience with live sound reinforcement and I know a bit about audiophile gear. I know that quality power can make a big difference in terms of how your speakers sound.

I just ditched my land line (home phone) and I'm using a cell phone exclusively. I have a Blackberry 8830, and two iPods, a Nano and a Shuffle.

I have spent the last 5 hours learning about Westone, UE, Etymotic and Shure. I now understand the difference between balanced armature drivers and the standard cone-type speaker technology used in most cheapo earbuds.

My questions is this. Before I buy the Westone UM2s that I am salivating over... are my sound sources going to be able to drive these earbuds anywhere near where they need to be driven to perform optimally? I see you guys talking about which amps you are using and I assume that some guys here are so into it that you carry around mini amps that give your iPod signal the necessary boost to drive your IEMs properly (which is cool

).

Is there a cutoff point in terms of the quality of balanced armature driver that I can get, a point beyond which I will not hear a significant difference because the unit is not driven by a decent enough amplifier, for instance the one in my Blackberry?

I realize that getting a decent set of earbuds is going to change my iPod experience, but my main concern here is the use of earbuds with the Blackberry - it has replaced my land line and now when I talk to i.e. my relatives overseas for 45 minutes the damn thing heats up and becomes really uncomfortable. Also, some overseas calls are not of the quality that my landline was, and even though I understand that it will never be that way with a cell phone, I feel like the earbuds included with the 8830 are the standard crappy ones and that I can get way better quality with a decent set of earbuds. The question is, how good a set of earbuds will the Blackberry drive?

Well, that was pretty long winded. Sorry about that.

I hope this makes sense to someone and that you guys can give me some guidance before I drop $300+ on a set of IEMs that my Blackberry won't be able to drive.

By the way I intend to match up a decent set of earbuds with the new Shure MPA-3C for cell phone use (thanks again to Jude for the reco)

Shure - Music Phone Adapter (MPA) - iPhone Compatible Adapter

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PS - what the heck is with the Westone UM3 delay (15 months??), and is it a concern for those of you thinking of buying other Westone products?

 

[applaudio]

Why do you need your high-quality IEMs to work with a cell phone? Will you be listening to music on it? If you're concerned about using your earphones for talking to people, you're going to need a set with a built-in mic anyway.

 

[mset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by applaudio /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why do you need your high-quality IEMs to work with a cell phone? Will you be listening to music on it? If you're concerned about using your earphones for talking to people, you're going to need a set with a built-in mic anyway.

applaudio, thanks for responding and sorry for the late edit - check my post again. Jude here at head-fi.org turned me on to the Shure MPA-3C, a new product that lets you use your favourite earbuds with your cell phone - it is essentially a Shure mic that gets inserted in-line between the earbuds and the phone. There are different versions for 3.5mm and 2.5mm cell phone outputs.

The main thing is just that now that I am using the cell phone for all my telephone needs, I have the damn thing at my ear a lot during the day and it heats up and it isn't too comfortable so I want to get an earbud setup going so that no matter where I am, at home or in the car or walking down the street, I can answer the phone without having to hold it up to my ear. And again, the earbuds that came with it are almost certainly those 'cost $1.00 to produce' throwaway things. I am sure I can do better - the question is, how much better.

I have seen the combo units that have decent earbuds and a mic built in, for sure (I mostly remember seeing a few Shure combo units at one of the headphone sites). Maybe the fidelity available on those, since they are not the highest of high-end in terms of the earbud quality, might be all I can 'hear' using my Blackberry.

Hope that clears things up.

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PS - Actually, now that you mention it, I have thought recently about dumping a bunch of my favourite tunes onto my Blackberry. Again, I have no idea about the quality of signal that the Blackberry will send out the headphone jack. However, I don't think my music files were obtained using the best sampling rates, so maybe it's a moot point.

 

[mset]

I hope bumps are okay at these forums.

 

[FrederikS|TPU]

Hi mset and sorry about the wallet.
I think you can use that adapter with pretty much any type of phone. I have no idea how quality IEMs will sound being driven by a Blackberry phone. If I were you I would definitely try them before buying them.

Also Etymotic has released a high-end in-ear headset for use with mobile phones and iPhones. Probably worth checking out: Etymotic Research, Inc. - hf2â„¢ Earphones

The UM2s will definitely go well with you iPods, I doubt that the Blackberry has a good internal amp and DAC for music, but who knows maybe it performs reasonably well.

 

[mset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrederikS|TPU /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I were you I would definitely try them before buying them. Also Etymotic has released a high-end in-ear headset for use with mobile phones and iPhones. Probably worth checking out: Etymotic Research, Inc. - hf2â„¢ Earphones The UM2s will definitely go well with you iPods, I doubt that the Blackberry has a good internal amp and DAC for music, but who knows maybe it performs reasonably well.

Hi Frederik

Thanks for the reply.

One problem I am having is that a lot of these units are only available online for me. In my city there's a surprising lack of choice in these high-end IEMs. So I have to go with online purchase. I am trying to see if there is an online seller who might give me a personalized guarantee that if the set I order doesn't feel right, I can at least exchange within a week.

The Etymotics are about $200 when tax and import duty are figured in. I may try the UM2s for that price range.

In the end, at least I will have a great set of IEMs for my iPod, so it won't be a total loss. I have a feeling you're right about the Digital-Analog converter in the 8830. I'm calling RIM tomorrow to see what I can find out.