[limathy]

looking to buy my sister a pair of iems for her bus/train travelling
she's not great with computers so despite my efforts she still ends up ripping into 192 mp3's sometimes a bit lower. every now and then she gets 320 rips from me. but its mostly 192

so what would be a good value iem to buy before the source files becomes the limit?

she has a sansa clip (from me), listens mostly to acoutics, pop, a bit of rock, female vocals mostly. Durrability is always a plus, shes a bit rough on things sometimes.

 

[ohyeadude]

I have some mp3s concoded with low bit-rate 128 or 192, and the Sennheisers cx500 I have is great for them, definitely good enough and really brings out the music, definitely stay away from those high-end analytical IEMs IMO.

P.S you can find genuine cx500 pretty cheap in Australia

 

[limathy]

how cheap are we talking? any recommended places to buy? they're pretty steep everywhere i see them, how much better are they than the cx300's

 

[monolith]

Low bitrates won't make so much of a difference that you'll have to get headphones specifically for them. Figure out what kind of price range you want, then search for a thread in which someone asks that.

There's a new "best IEMs for under $___" thread every day, pretty much.

 

[limathy]

what i was asking i guess was, at what price does it become a waste when using low-med bit rate files.

trying to see where the sweet spot is

 

[monolith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by limathy /img/forum/go_quote.gif what i was asking i guess was, at what price does it become a waste when using low-med bit rate files. trying to see where the sweet spot is

Fair enough, but what I was saying is that you shouldn't worry about bitrate, particularly if your files are averaging 192kbps or above. Even on some of the most resolving systems out there, the differences between mp3 bitrates and even between high bitrate mp3s and lossless files aren't easy to distinguish.

Basically, you can spend as much as is possible to spend without being "held back" by your mp3s. If they were around 128kbps, then you might have a problem, but it's hardly difficult to replace your files.

I've found mp3s are more of a problem on a song by song basis. I have some albums that just don't take well to mp3 encoding (such as some stuff by Sunn O))) or Brian Eno), but those problems would be audible through iBuds, so it's not an issue here.

 

[limathy]

ah cheers... mite get her the re2's in that case, since the er6's look a little fragile

 

[monolith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by limathy /img/forum/go_quote.gif ah cheers... mite get her the re2's in that case, since the er6's look a little fragile

Also consider Westone UM1s. Those are my pick in that price range.

 

[scompton]

I don't know how cheap UM1s are out of the US, but they'd be my pick as well. They're extremely comfortable. They isolate pretty well with Shure black foam tips. IEMs that go farther in your ears isolate better at the cost of comfort. I haven't tried the CX500, but the UM1 isolates much better than the CX300. Sounds better too.

As for bit rate, I doubt many people, if any, could tell the difference between bit rates while riding on a train. Unless the trains down under are a lot quieter than those here.

I've used the UM1s for about 2 years. The only damage is slight fraying of the strain relief. I'm not careful with them at all. I stuff them in my pockets or backpack. I had the cord sucked into a leaf blower with no damage.

 

[limathy]

what does a Um1 usually cost in the US? because they are quite pricey, though i'd love a pair of UM2's for myself, everyone says they are so comfortable.

 

[scompton]

$109

Westone UM1 Single Driver True Fit In-Ear Earphones MADE IN USA