[Lippy]

I have had the E2c's for my Zen Xtra for the past week.

For the $60-used price I paid, they're excellent. Are they audiophile-level - no, not for canalphones, by most accounts on headfi. Are they better than any non-canalphone earbud you're likely to have had prior to purchasing the E2 as your first canalphone - yes.

The plastic flex sleeves that come with the E2 are useless to me, and most here have found this to be true for them also. The organge foam sleeves provide great isolation, comfort and bring out the bass thump that the E2 have.

Yesterday I temporarily bought some Sony EX51 so that I could do a "fitting" to see which of the EX51's soft-flex tips fit me best and to see if the modification to the E2 with these sleeves would allow me to achieve their potential. They fit a heck of a lot better, are quicker to insert than the foamies and do allow the bass to come through. They might even offer a slight relief from the muddiness that people often refer to with the E2. They're also comfortable. They do provide a little less isolation, but I think the trade-off of this mod is worth it.

 

[JAG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenaciousO When I had the E3s, I also thought they were worth the extra money over the E2s. I sold my pair to move onto some full-sized headphones, but I'm now going back...reordered a pair of E3s a couple of days ago and cannot wait to receive them.

I did the same thing. I sold my E3's to get headphones, but bought another pair E3 a month ago. Don't think I'm going back (as of today, anyway). I have never really understood the the complaints about bass with E3's. I get full, rich bass even on lower end. IMHO I think that perhaps the positioning in the ear has a lot to do with complaints about weak bass. Once you get the positioning right its great! Also..for me... the gray soft tips provide way better sound than any of the others including triflange.

 

[drssyoon]

For me, it wasn't the bass - as some said this can be caused by the positioning - but the fatiguing sound in the mid-upper range. It was so pronounced that I got tired after listening to it for a while. My ears may be more sensitive than others, but I have read others comment about this as well. For me, E2 to E3 was not worth the money. I now have Ety 4 and am very satisfied. I would like to have had a chance to compare it with the E2s that I have sold a long time ago and see if there is that much of a difference (3x the cost).