How do IEM's stand up to sealed cans?

[KrooLism]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek /img/forum/go_quote.gif I used to be a big IEM supporter, but not so much any more. A reasonably good full-size can will nearly always offer significantly higher quality sound than even the best IEM can give. Part of the reason for this are the inherent limitations of balanced armature drivers, and the small size and in-ear nature of the device itself. A full-size can will offer more impact and better extension on the top end than any IEM.

Wow - that's some about face in opinions there piccolo.

Must be the 650's influence and I don't blame you

I must say I have to disagree to some extent. I think IEM's can be one of the best sounding devices one can buy. True, their high end frequency is 16000hz... but the human threshold is somewhere between 20-22khz. 18khz is about the noise that you hear when you turn the television or monitor on with nothing displaying. For older people who don't know what I'm talking about (my parents for eg.) it's because your ears have become less sensitive to those frequencies.

 

[nothingman]

I don't have a lot of experience comapring, but I've gone back and forth between my E4s and my brother's HD280s and I'd take my E4s any day. As for cost effectiveness, the E4s are only abour $~70 more than the HD280s and my brother is constantly drooling over my set of phones for the sound and the form factor.

 

[PiccoloNamek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KrooLism /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow - that's some about face in opinions there piccolo. Must be the 650's influence and I don't blame you I must say I have to disagree to some extent. I think IEM's can be one of the best sounding devices one can buy. True, their high end frequency is 16000hz... but the human threshold is somewhere between 20-22khz. 18khz is about the noise that you hear when you turn the television or monitor on with nothing displaying. For older people who don't know what I'm talking about (my parents for eg.) it's because your ears have become less sensitive to those frequencies.

The missing energy above 16kHz makes a BIG difference, especially for strings and brass instruments. Also, the tone from a television is 15kHz. I can hear up to 22kHz.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek /img/forum/go_quote.gif I used to be a big IEM supporter, but not so much any more. A reasonably good full-size can will nearly always offer significantly higher quality sound than even the best IEM can give. Part of the reason for this are the inherent limitations of balanced armature drivers, and the small size and in-ear nature of the device itself. A full-size can will offer more impact and better extension on the top end than any IEM.

That's not always the case. Even today, you can still find poorly designed full-size closed cans at every price point. Common failings include excessive resonances in the highs (ringing) and in the mids (echoing). The worst such cans are so resonant in the mids that whatever bass and treble that those cans produce are almost completely drowned out - so drowned out that nothing in the way of user tweaks can correctly balance out the sound from those cans.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek /img/forum/go_quote.gif The missing energy above 16kHz makes a BIG difference, especially for strings and brass instruments. Also, the tone from a television is 15kHz. I can hear up to 22kHz.

The average adult is lucky to hear even 18kHz, let alone 22kHz.

 

[LFC_SL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek /img/forum/go_quote.gif The missing energy above 16kHz makes a BIG difference, especially for strings and brass instruments. Also, the tone from a television is 15kHz. I can hear up to 22kHz.

FYI, human hearing is approx 20Hz-20kHz, with the detection of the higher frequencies deteriorating from your late teens (hence anti-teenager noise alarms!). Between the sexes, the ladies are generally more sensitive to the higher frequencies than the guys. That is why 20Hz-20kHz response for any headphone is nothing more than marketing. I can assure you that you cannot hear 22kHz, but don't worry as neither can anyone else

 

[PiccoloNamek]

LFC_SL: I can assure you that I can indeed hear 22kHz, I've tested it myself. I can hear it plainly and clearly on both my HD650s and BX8as and differentiate it from 20 and 21kHz.

Eagle: Obviously, I didn't mean ALL full-size cans.

 

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Esidarap /img/forum/go_quote.gif IEMs are stomped on by just about everything else when you evaluate what you get dollar for dollar.

What a wildly uneducated post.

 

[wang228]

out of my experience, i'd say iems are better value. Full/mid sized closed headphones that I've tried (AKG K271S, DT250-250, HD280, K340) all have noticably echoey midrange/high. I assume this is a general problem with their closed construction and is something not easy to get rid of. My cheap iem, im716, does not suffer the same problem.

 

[norseman8485]

I believe for the same price, a full can will nearly always sound better than an IEM.
In my case, I vastly prefer the sound of the ksc75 over the um1s.