gsk3
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2006
- Posts
- 30
- Likes
- 10
Hi everyone,
For years I've been ripping my CD collection (mostly classical and pop, some jazz particularly trumpet) into 320Kbps MP3s using LAME in anticipation of having a high quality rig some day. Current set up is an iPod nano with the Sony $30 IEMs. The Sonys were a big step up from buds, both from a comfort and a sonic perspective (I hate the feel of buds), but I'm looking for more.
I've been greatly desirous of the Senn 580's recently, and have even bid on a few. Just bought an older model Airhead yesterday which will be arriving soon.
And then reality struck: I'm a student now, and there's a not insubstantial chance I'll be doing a job which requires 4 days/week of travel next year. There's no way I'm carrying the 580's along with me, and I can't afford much more than $100 on the used market (for the 580's this will almost certainly have to be $120 or $125, which is the extreme upper limit). That rules out the UE 5.Pro as an option. So for IEMs in that price range, I'm looking at the ER-6i or the UE super.fi 3 Studio. Are these going to hold a candle to the 580? I heard a friend's top-of-the-line B&W bookshelf speakers recently and I'm not sure I can go back to mediocre sound....
As I see it:
1) Could buy the 580's now and live with the Sonys for the road (they're really not bad, just not audiophile by any means.
2) Could buy the IEMs now if not too bad quality.
3) Could buy the IEMs now and if disappointing save up and have something to look forward to (650? )
4) Could buy the 580's now and save up for the IEMs.
5) Could buy neither now and save up for the 5.Pros (would this be relatively comparable sound to the 580's without the size/openness?)
Thus the dilemma. Compactness or sonic bliss.
Ari
For years I've been ripping my CD collection (mostly classical and pop, some jazz particularly trumpet) into 320Kbps MP3s using LAME in anticipation of having a high quality rig some day. Current set up is an iPod nano with the Sony $30 IEMs. The Sonys were a big step up from buds, both from a comfort and a sonic perspective (I hate the feel of buds), but I'm looking for more.
I've been greatly desirous of the Senn 580's recently, and have even bid on a few. Just bought an older model Airhead yesterday which will be arriving soon.
And then reality struck: I'm a student now, and there's a not insubstantial chance I'll be doing a job which requires 4 days/week of travel next year. There's no way I'm carrying the 580's along with me, and I can't afford much more than $100 on the used market (for the 580's this will almost certainly have to be $120 or $125, which is the extreme upper limit). That rules out the UE 5.Pro as an option. So for IEMs in that price range, I'm looking at the ER-6i or the UE super.fi 3 Studio. Are these going to hold a candle to the 580? I heard a friend's top-of-the-line B&W bookshelf speakers recently and I'm not sure I can go back to mediocre sound....
As I see it:
1) Could buy the 580's now and live with the Sonys for the road (they're really not bad, just not audiophile by any means.
2) Could buy the IEMs now if not too bad quality.
3) Could buy the IEMs now and if disappointing save up and have something to look forward to (650? )
4) Could buy the 580's now and save up for the IEMs.
5) Could buy neither now and save up for the 5.Pros (would this be relatively comparable sound to the 580's without the size/openness?)
Thus the dilemma. Compactness or sonic bliss.
Ari