[Turner_Brown]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek Of course, what constitutes a "good amount of bass" varies from person to person.

Good point.

As a point of reference....I think the sr60's, unamped/no EQ, out of the ipod, have just the right amount of bass for my tastes. I don't think most people would classify me as a basshead because of this.

edit: Also, I will always take too much bass over too little, hence the cx300 purchase.

 

[003]

The iPod is a total disaster SQ wise. The amp is a POS and so is the DAC. I always thought I was doing something wrong because it sounded so bad. I tried it with an SR-225 & a PA2V2, and an HD650 & a Woo3. Both had very similar results, CRAP.

I will go with the results with the SR-225 becuase the 650 made it even worse. Note this was done with a 5g ipod video. Also note, all the music was mp3 ripped directly from the CD in 320kbps with alt preset extreme.

First is first, I hooked the PA2V2 up to the ipod with a cardas hpi interconnect, and I set the volume on the ipod to about 60%, because it is already putting out an amped signal. The PA2V2 was running on fully charged NiMh batterys. I plugged in the SR-225 and listened. God. Awful. Everything was totally congested, and it was so muddy it was nasty to listen to. Everything blurred together and almost sounded like distortion. It is something I will never be doing again, that's for sure. And yes I had the EQ turned off.

 

[gdg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lostbobby the ipod's headphone amp, 3rd thru 5G, is a disaster.

I was under the impression that the variable out of earlier iPods rolled off the highs and that the newer models (particularly 5g) had improved the audio quality.
Gerry

 

[Nospam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lostbobby the ipod's headphone amp, 3rd thru 5G, is a disaster.

Couldn't say, since mine's a 2G... yeah, it's about time to upgrade

I've listened to my iPod with my E4, and it's not too bad. You definitely won't get strong bass, but it's not like bass doesn't exist at all.

Using my Go-Vibe, the bass is nice. Still not the thumping bass that a lot of people seem to prefer, but what I hear is more natural, IMHO (especially for jazz vocals). Now, if I'm listening to Black Eyed Peas, that's a different story.

Guess it really comes down to your personal preference, as well as the type of music you're listening to.

edit:
Quote:

Originally Posted by gdg I was under the impression that the variable out of earlier iPods rolled off the highs and that the newer models (particularly 5g) had improved the audio quality. Gerry

Yeah, a lot of people have said this, so I'd give their opinons a bit more credence.

Some people just like to diss the iPod whatever chance they get

 

[raccoon]

How is the E4 with a 2G iPod? Should I just stick with the E2c if I refuse to buy an amp?
I also have an old G4 Powerbook without optical out. How would that fair without an amp?

 

[Nospam]

If you've got the money, get the E4 over the E2C. Everyone that's listened to both say the E4 has better bass and a better overall sound.

These IEMs don't "need" an amp, but they seem to benefit from one. A lot of people seem happy using them without an amp (which you can alway get later).

For the PowerBook, you could always go with this for portable use. If you're looking for home use, I strongly recommend an Airport Express to an external DAC. It's a much better choice than the often (over)recommended M-Audio Transit (I've have nothing good to say about their pathetic drivers).

 

[raccoon]

The problem with getting anything extra for the Powerbook is that after getting the E4 I wouldn't be able to afford anything else for a LONG time

So even without an amp the E4 sounds better than the E2c? I'm coming from an EX70 so I like a lot of bass.

 

[Nospam]

If you like a lot of bass, you would probably be happier with the Super.Fi 5 Pro. It's definitely got better bass than the E4. The "EB" version supposedly has even more bass, so you may like it even more. I felt the bass overwhelmed the mids and highs, so the E4 sounded better balanced, but a lot of people seem to like it over the E4.

There's been a ton of threads about this, so you should try a quick search and go through some of them.

 

[raccoon]

Yeah, I did a search a while ago. What I learned was that the Super.fi are fairly chunky. I don't think my ears would appreciate them at all; I'm using the smallest tips on my EX70 at the moment.
I'm not really looking for boomy bass. I just want to tell they're there, which is why I'm staying away from the ER6i. I'm mainly wondering if it's worth the extra money from the E2 to the E4 if I absolutely refuse to get an amp for either my 2G iPod and my Powerbook.

 

[afobisme]

well, i can definitely notice the bass with my X5L + E4C combo.. not boomy or anything like that, but i don't really care about bass much (actually, if i put the bass settings on my X5L, it becomes a little too much/muffled).

i dont know about the e2cs, but from what i hear, the bass is prevalent but sorta muddy/muffled compared to the e4cs less-pronounced-but-better-sounding-bass.

i went directly to the e4cs instead of getting the anything in the e2 line... i think it's definitely worth the extra money, but then again i've never tried to the e2cs.

 

[BlackUtopia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holland86 And how does E4c respond to EQ out of the 4g ipod unamped?

I think the "Loudness" EQ setting produces the flattest frequency response for the E4c's with slightly more bass. But the iPod's EQ is notorious for causing distortion, not to mention you have to use their presets...

Another solution might be to use a Porta Corda--I found that amp better with the E4c's than the Hornet (I had a chance to do an A/B test with the two amps).

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackUtopia I think the "Loudness" EQ setting produces the flattest frequency response for the E4c's with slightly more bass. But the iPod's EQ is notorious for causing distortion, not to mention you have to use their presets...

Not if you use Rockbox.

 

[spinali]

Before I sent it out for repairs, my E4C worked only satisfactorily with my 3g iPod, though I've heard a bunch of reports that the Nano performs better. Bass is streamlined and integrated, never flabby.

But...

Several reports have it that the Nano is at the end of its "generation," and that at around 9/19, we'll see new development of note. (That's why you may have noticed so many sales.)

Importable EQ? Stereophile sound? High capacity flash storage? I don't know, but put off all iPod purchases for a month!

 

[dura]

Yesterday I plugged my E4 into a friends ipod nano. I found the sound unattractive and sharp.
Had the same result last month out of a ipod 5G
But the E4 sing out of my NW-HD1 and out of my X-CANV3, giving a full and musical sound, so my conclusion is I hate the way ipods sound, and I'll never understand why they are so populair, appearantly it is not SQ.

 

[Sebhelyesfarku]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dura so my conclusion is I hate the way ipods sound, and I'll never understand why they are so populair, appearantly it is not SQ.

It's a fashion item for lemmings.