Thanks for your replies! I'm a couple of hours into listening with my Shure's, and I'm finding some very interesting observations with canal phones compared to a full-sized headphones. Mind you I'm not a very experienced listener in terms of hi-fi sound, and may not understand completely the terms that ppl have been using in the forums (though I very much appreciate high fidelity sounds).
Equipment used: PC, Creative Audigy, Shure E5, Sony MDR-V3, 128, 192 cbr MP3's, --alt-preset standard & APX vbr MP3, various CDs.
1) Initially, when I was not used to the kind of sounds produced by the Shure's, I thought hmmm, what if.... so, I used my Sony's and pressed them tightly against my ears, and swapping them back and forth the Shure's.
By pressing the headphones, I nearly achieve the same kind of sounds as with the Shures. Somehow, there's a certain loss of this crispy very well-defined sound, sorry I'm not sure how to explain it - so, is this what sound-stage is all about, that's lacking in canal-phones?
2) So, since I'm was little disappointed (or not used to) with the sounds, I tried playing around with the EQ, trebal, bass, which I've never bother to play with when using my Sony's.
But when I increased the treble..... wallah! I can finally hear the guitar strings being stum as I've heard before with my Sonys! I didn't adjust the bass, becoz' there was already plenty of it.
Hence, I think all those sounds are hidden and flatten - until you tweak with your settings, you willl hear all of the detail.
3) The small grey-flex sleeves have a better fit in my ears (I have small ears!) than the tri-flange, hence more comfortable and seal better. With the tri-flange, I notice I still can hear a very faint sound when I rub my thumb and fingers close together. Also, after a while (3-4 hours), the tri-flange seem to make my ears more sore. I think the tri-flanges need some trimming - have to look for that post on how to do it.
4) Generally, the Shure's sounded very full and warm (BTW, I'm really making an informed guess what full & warm means based on reading from the forums, as I've never been told and listened to what thin/full/warm sounds like), compared to the Sony with all the media used - CDs & MP3's.
There was more detail not heard before with the Sony. For eg. (as mentioned before by someone), I didn't realize that there were organs playing in the background of John Mayer's No Such Thing! Cool..... I'm picking up all this detail I've never heard before.
5) Also, I really like vocals & classical, so I picked the final track of Danny Elfman's Edward Scissorhands - The Grand Finale as the first test track.
Wow.... You can pick out the so many layers of music working together. The individual instruments from the orchestra, the harp, strings, brass, while accompanying the boys' chorus singing in harmony.... that's magical.
6) The tri-flange has a greater bass and mid's, though slightly sub-dued highs compared to the grey-sleeves. Swapping over to the tri-flanges, you immediately notice that, but there was none of that XSSive over-exagerated booming, which is great! The I think becoz' of my improper seal using the tri-flanges, I think they can reach even great highs.
7) There is this slight hiss in the background of the Shure without any music playing. It's amplified with anything I use at the PC. I understand the amp of my soundcard may not be the greatest. I'll only get a chance of listening to a better Hi-Fi +amp once I go home in June. So, the Shure's will probably sound even better then!
8) I haven't really tried the other sleeves cuz' I haven't really bother; from reading the posts that they aren't all great.
Conclusions, IMHO from a novice listener:
1) I think the Sonys' sounds tend to have a more exagerated treble, and generally thinner and analytical sound. So, they probably sound great straight out without any EQ adjusting. Also, I think this sound is very suitable for acoutic string instuments and classical music.
2) Because I'm used to the Sony V3 (unfortunately, only pair of headphones) sounds, I guess I have never really truly heard any music played at an unaltered level, hence for my inital disappoint. So, I really have been listening only music at its rawest and neutral sounds today! Sniff.... I've been missing out all this while....
But after playing around with the EQ, I finally got the sounds I really like.
3) I think which ever sleeves you're using will affect the music you're listening to. I think the tri-flanges are more suitable for pop, rock, R&B music, while I still prefer the the grey sleeves for classical music.
4) The Shure E5 are a great set of earphones, considering they are the first ever earphones I've owned! Its signature sound is very warm, detailed, full and musical.
And who would have imagined a such a small set of things can produce even more bass than my Sony's!
