MartinDB
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2005
- Posts
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I am shortly to go on a long flight and want to buy some headphones to use with my Creative Zen Touch on this and future trips.
I am torn between a number of options. I am interested in Shure E2c and Etymotic Er-6i - sub £100 represents my price range. My reservations about IEMs are about fitting. I have narrow ear canals - something remarked upon by physicians who checked out a slight hearing loss several years ago.
If I go with IEMs, this inclines me to think about foam tips. In turn, this pushes me toward the Shure E2cs because of the possibility of small foam tips. In addition, foam tips for Shure seem more widely available than tips for Etymotic.
But I am anxious about IEMs overall because of the fit and wonder whether I should instead go for a sealed ear headphone about the same price range as the Shure or Etymotic IEMs. Two considerations here are (a) look (I am approaching middle age and don't want to look too foolish to my fellow flyers!) and (b) sound. I listen exclusively to classical music where the dynamic range is invariably wider than for popular music and many passages might be drowned out by the sound of a flight. In addition, I believe many classical recordings are made at lower volumes. I worry that sealed ear headphones won't provide enough insulation.
Perhaps I should go for a third option - noise cancelling headphones such as Sennheiser's PXC 250.
In case it provides any useful background info, in ordinary circumstances I am delightfully happy at home with my Grado SR 325i and my Sennheiser MX 500 for listening to my MP3 player on London buses. A final consideration is that work and a young family mean that practically I can't scour shops and try out - I need to buy online.
Can anyone offer me any advice, please?
Thanks
Martin
I am torn between a number of options. I am interested in Shure E2c and Etymotic Er-6i - sub £100 represents my price range. My reservations about IEMs are about fitting. I have narrow ear canals - something remarked upon by physicians who checked out a slight hearing loss several years ago.
If I go with IEMs, this inclines me to think about foam tips. In turn, this pushes me toward the Shure E2cs because of the possibility of small foam tips. In addition, foam tips for Shure seem more widely available than tips for Etymotic.
But I am anxious about IEMs overall because of the fit and wonder whether I should instead go for a sealed ear headphone about the same price range as the Shure or Etymotic IEMs. Two considerations here are (a) look (I am approaching middle age and don't want to look too foolish to my fellow flyers!) and (b) sound. I listen exclusively to classical music where the dynamic range is invariably wider than for popular music and many passages might be drowned out by the sound of a flight. In addition, I believe many classical recordings are made at lower volumes. I worry that sealed ear headphones won't provide enough insulation.
Perhaps I should go for a third option - noise cancelling headphones such as Sennheiser's PXC 250.
In case it provides any useful background info, in ordinary circumstances I am delightfully happy at home with my Grado SR 325i and my Sennheiser MX 500 for listening to my MP3 player on London buses. A final consideration is that work and a young family mean that practically I can't scour shops and try out - I need to buy online.
Can anyone offer me any advice, please?
Thanks
Martin