Frustrated with IEMs...
May 8, 2010 at 1:44 AM Post #16 of 39
post is too long, I didn't read the whole thing carefully.
But I assume you did try other media players than just your ipod, right?  Maybe the ipod the source of the crappy midrange?
 
May 8, 2010 at 4:35 AM Post #17 of 39
Thanks for all the suggestions guys.
 
Quote:
@ OP, you should decide based on your preference. Headphones are more suitable for indoor listening, while IEMs are for the go. And one thing I agree with Anaxilus, is that headphone is not necessarily better than IEM. I am quoting someone here, but high end IEMs easily make 'mincemeat' out of lousy headphones. Some big cans require really good amplification to bring out their best, but IEM usually are easier to drive. 
 
Before you make any conclusion, you should try out some higher end IEMs before buying them. Find one that suits you, in terms of sound signature and fit. I have not heard of NE-7M, but regarding the UHP 336 that my friend has, it's quite an average phone. You need to have phones from different price spectrum that has different performance before making an informed conclusion.

How would I try them before buying them?  I suppose I could buy some and return them, but that doesn't seem right to the seller.
 
I'm really not trying to make a case that IEM's suck.  Just the opposite, I'm saying they haven't worked for me very well because of the resonance problems stated.  Please don't go there though, I guess I could carry my headphones to school everyday with a high possibility of not needing them or getting them sweaty or breaking them.  It's just not practical for every day.
 
Sorry I started typing this post, got this far, and had to go to work.  Now hours later I'm finishing it.
 
I was experimenting today with the eartips and settled with some diy/ghetto bi-flanges made of a thin large single flange sony eartip combined with the small e2c eartip.  The e2c part gets inserted all the way, and the thin sony one seals up the inner ear.  It seems to get the best of both worlds.  Before when I'd use the small ones for deep insertion they wouldn't seal all the way and sound bad.  The big single flanges always would slip out.  Now I'll experiment around with that parametric eq and try to find those peaks.  I know it is somewhere between 1100hz and 1900hz roughly +3-4dB.
 
jjmai:  I have the same problem coming out of my laptop headphone port and my desktop (onboard basically) with foobar2000 + WASAPI.  Granted both of those are mediocre sources, but they still have the same issue.
 
Thanks for all the comments.  I'm tired now, so I'll reply to the rest of the posts later.  Oh, and make it easy on yourselves, I'm a he. 
smily_headphones1.gif

 
May 8, 2010 at 6:43 AM Post #18 of 39
The IEMs you tried are pretty mid/treble centric, the SF3 in particular is *very* harsh. Your mids problem will likely be solved by getting a darker-sounding pair like the VModa Vibe or even the Metro.Fi 170. 
 
The fit issue is the first thing one has to overcome with IEMs and it can be a lingering problem. Try lots of tips and see what works. Also, try a larger tip on your left ear. DOn't be afraid to mix and match.
 
Good luck and happy listening.
 
May 8, 2010 at 7:46 AM Post #19 of 39
Don't worry so much, you shouldn't pressure yourself or what. Just pick whatever way you're happy with. As for trying out IEMs, say if you have friends with better earphones, you can try borrowing from them for a listen. Or you can always go to places like Apple store that let you try out the earphones. I also had a hard time finding a good seal and sound out of my IE8. It took a few weeks' of experiment to get it to even sound right. Now with a proper tip mod my IE8's mid bass hump is reduced substantially, and the vocals come through. But the FX that I have really clicks  with me...it's a journey to find something that suits you...good luck.
 
May 8, 2010 at 10:34 AM Post #20 of 39
Quote:
Your response indicates you either didn't read or understand any of what I said, I even quoted your own quote.  Regardless, if you think combining all those IEM's would be equal to your $99 sony's from your teenage days I question what you are hearing or whether your hearing has diminshed considerably over time.  Just a thought.  
 
Alec E's thoughts on:
 
MTPC's:
-I thought the MTP Copper sounded like a ghetto blaster. (really?  you obviously didn't bother to read on insertion depth)
-SOLD I received a new Monster Turbine Pro Copper from Dell today, and I dislike it--much too warm and bass-heavy for my taste. (Coppers too warm?  I think most find them a fraction brighter than neutral.  Again, you are not hearing the phones accurately or something is wrong) 
-I don't have any familiarity with the company's reputation in general, but the MTP Copper is, in my humble opinion, a joke. Nothing with such domineering bass, and such negligible soundstage, should be considered "top tier." (Obviously all the Copper fans out there are either deaf, dumb or fanboys...srry guys)
-They'll turn on it in a month, just like they turn on everything else. (Alec E fashion)
SM3's
-Is it not bothersome that these are surely the ugliest high end earphones in existence? (useful)
Radius HP
-Aaaaaand we have a new contender for world's ugliest IEM! (more useful)
 
Deny it, run from it, hide it as much as you like, you claimed no earphones are as good as headphones and that's a universal truth.  I made a sarcastic remark and you got offended.  Well, thats not my problem.  I can also think of 20 IEM's I would take over any particular 100 headphones.  
 
You again generalize and suggest everyone here only has one recommendation, spend more money.  Whats your solution?  Don't spend any money and keep the IEM's he hates?  Or spend more money on what YOU think is better, headphones?  What exactly is your point?  I haven't seen you offer the OP any advice other than IEM's suck and that you were offended.
 
Whatever, I'd prefer to get back to the problem of the OP.  
 


Understanding many of your sentences is difficult, I've admitted.
 
I see it was my dislike of the (second-) latest Head-Fi flavor of the month, the MTP Copper, which has prompted your obsession.  I'd thought the blowback from my having dared to dislike that product had ended--hope springs eternal.  You say that it sounded badly to me because I didn't read something or other about insertion depth.  How do you know that I didn't have it inserted ideally, and it simply wasn't up to my standards?  You're presumptuous.  (Furthermore, let me say that earphones are intended to be portable devices.  Those earphones which require constant reinsertion, like those which require amps, are de facto flawed in my perfectly reasonable opinion.  I am a music listener, not a gadget hobbyist.)
 
And you say I may have may hearing issues because of what I said about a pair of headphones which you likely haven't heard--which weren't even named--in the course of my comparing them to several earphones which you likely haven't heard.  Embarrassing.
 
I certainly did say that I found two new devices ugly.  Can you explain why I'm forbidden from doing that, or why this is of interest to you?  Were you similarly policing the many comments on the hideousness of the MTP Miles Davis edition?  If so, you may have found my post in which I defended its appearance.  You wouldn't want to share that now, however, as it wouldn't aid your project of caricaturing me.
 
I did not claim that "no earphones are as good as headphones."  That would be a meaningless statement to me.  Which "earphones"?  Which "headphones"?  I have said that in general--and so you can dismiss this, along with the vast majority of other utterances by any homo sapien, as a generalization--earphones are felt by serious listeners to provide worse sound quality than headphones.  And this is now the third or fourth clarification of that uncontroversial and simple observation that I've provided for you, and I've also explained why, with regard to the thread's first post, I made the original, apparently infuriating statement.
 
I did not say that "IEMs suck."  A sentence like that would be "Anaxilus fashion," not "Alec E" fashion, you might say.
 
As for the definition of what is and isn't an IEM, the only two earphones ever mentioned on this site, these days, which fit the definition of an "IEM" are the Etymotic models and perhaps one Klipsch model.  It is a term used in order to lend an air of expertise and seriousness to remarks which merit neither, in my opinion. 
 
I am not "offended" by your having repeatedly insulted me, by the way.  You're giving yourself too much credit.  I am only baffled that you think you're behaving in a way which reflects badly on me, rather than on yourself.
 
A forum is for subjective opinions and yes, often, generalizations.  If you can't handle that, you have intolerance issues--which is quite obvious at this point.
 
May 8, 2010 at 10:46 AM Post #21 of 39
well at least you listen to dream theater!
 
May 8, 2010 at 11:45 AM Post #22 of 39


Quote:
None of your complaints seem unusual to me.  I think you're just realizing that earphones aren't as good as headphones, a universal truth that you can expect to find acknowledged anywhere except, understandably, in an earphones-centric subforum. 


Ive still yet to find a headphone that sounds as good as my jh-13's. And ive tried hd800's, hd650's, hd600's, d7000's, and the he-5's. Maybe you shouldnt make such rash over generalizations
 
May 8, 2010 at 11:53 AM Post #23 of 39


Quote:
Ive still yet to find a headphone that sounds as good as my jh-13's. And ive tried hd800's, hd650's, hd600's, d7000's, and the he-5's. Maybe you shouldnt make such rash over generalizations


I was waiting for someone to mention their thousand dollar customs as an exception to the rule--which I have hardly claimed was an even remotely iron-clad rule.  You haven't read my comments attentively. 
 
May 8, 2010 at 7:03 PM Post #24 of 39


Quote:
earphones aren't as good as headphones, a universal truth that you can expect to find acknowledged anywhere


You are definitely blind as well as deaf.  Now that's an insult.  You characterized my initial sarcasm as an insult and claim to not be offended.  OK, Sparky.  So your advice to the OP is???  I've asked you to reread your own quote twice now and offer the OP constructive advice twice as well, you have failed on both counts.  You are being a nuissance making this thread all about you.  Gratz, you win.  
 
May 13, 2010 at 9:54 PM Post #25 of 39
I'll feed the troll one last time.
 
You said that I pretended to be "omniscient" on this forum.  I challenged you to produce posts of mine indicating this.  You failed completely to do this.  You instead produced posts indicating that I disliked a product which you had liked.  You have indicated that you are what might be called an "angry fanboy," I believe.
 
You say that I have said that all headphones are better than all earphones.  I've said no such thing.  You won't find the word "all" anywhere in the statement of mine that you've taken offense to.  I said that beyond this subforum, it is accepted that headphones beat earphones in terms of sound quality.  Earphones are generally considered a portable alternative to headphones--that is not up for debate.  You may have noticed that this is the portables subforum.  You may have noticed that this site is not called Ear-Fi.  It does not host an event called 'Phone-Jam.
 
My statement may not have been worded diplomatically or cautiously enough for a wordsmith like yourself, but that was because I felt that anyone could have understood my gist without my loading down my post with umpteen qualifiers like "in my opinion" and "often" and "generally" and so on.  I did not realize anyone would be interested in playing semantic games and taking on the role of the internet prosecutor.
 
I've offered the OP the constructive advice that he or she should not be flustered about her troubles with canalphones, as these troubles are par for the course.  I've not spotted your own constructive advice, but then, your posts are very hard to read.  
 
If anyone has derailed this now-dead thread, it was yourself, by attempting to make it into a referendum on a fellow poster whom you dislike.
 
"Nuisance" has only one S.  You have some other writing issues, too.  
 
Have a great night. 
 
May 13, 2010 at 11:10 PM Post #26 of 39
Feeding the troll does no good or harm if you're the troll yourself.
 
May 14, 2010 at 3:18 AM Post #27 of 39


Quote:
None of your complaints seem unusual to me.  I think you're just realizing that earphones aren't as good as headphones, a universal truth that you can expect to find acknowledged anywhere except, understandably, in an earphones-centric subforum. 


i disagree
 
to the op, try something armature based then.  if your IEM's arent fitting right they wont sound at their best
 
May 14, 2010 at 3:39 AM Post #28 of 39
Quote:
i disagree
 
+1. I get so little use out of my desktop rig with all the decent IEMs I have laying around that I've stripped it of RCA cables in favor of another project. 
 
May 14, 2010 at 3:52 AM Post #29 of 39
May 14, 2010 at 5:34 AM Post #30 of 39


Quote:
Feeding the troll does no good or harm if you're the troll yourself.


Hello, ethan961.  I expect your thoughts on this thread will be as unsubstantive as your repeated claims that the internals of the TF10 were changed by UE, so I won't ask you to explain.
 
|joker|, with all due respect, the pervading schtick of your life seems to be purchasing earphones.  I wouldn't expect you to be outside the "cocoon" that I mentioned.
 
I like your post too, the search never ends.  It's very Head-Fi.  Until three people in a row are wrong about something here, it doesn't become gospel.  The third person to deliver a high-five performs an important service.
 

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