[KF777]

Thats really the bottom line. How do YOU percive the sound?

It matters not whatht specs say. They are a guideline. The true and BEST most expert specification is what your brain percieves as "pleasant" .

Thats why I actually brought up buyingfeatures over "hair splitting" opinion. on sound quality. There is nothing wrong with buyng features when they are not at the expense of sound quality. I do not hear a major difference. Lucky me!

I once worked in a job I hated. We have all been there. But one of my coworkers LOVED doing the same job. He was content and happy, I was envious of him because he was exactly where he wanted to be, no matter how much I pointed out the lack of ambition he just smiled and went on....finally telling me I was a slave to ambition and would never have enough.... I see technology in this manner. Many have to achive (what they percive) as the bleeding edge specs. IT bever ends. The roses go unsmelled.

Thats why I am content with the Iriver/ETY 4p combo Its a "job" I am totallly content with after having both, Would I even care if the noise floor was -80db as compared to -120db . On paper it looks pretty bad. But in practice when listening to most music...it makes no difference except to the very few who will swear they can hear it!!

And all this listening to lossy music as well!

 

[KF777]

Thats really the bottom line. How do YOU percive the sound?

It matters not whatht specs say. They are a guideline. The true and BEST most expert specification is what your brain percieves as "pleasant" .

Thats why I actually brought up buyingfeatures over "hair splitting" opinion. on sound quality. There is nothing wrong with buyng features when they are not at the expense of sound quality. I do not hear a major difference. Lucky me!

I once worked in a job I hated. We have all been there. But one of my coworkers LOVED doing the same job. He was content and happy, I was envious of him because he was exactly where he wanted to be, no matter how much I pointed out the lack of ambition he just smiled and went on....finally telling me I was a slave to ambition and would never have enough.... I see technology in this manner. Many have to achive (what they percive) as the bleeding edge specs. IT bever ends. The roses go unsmelled.

Thats why I am content with the Iriver/ETY 4p combo Its a "job" I am totallly content with after having both, Would I even care if the noise floor was -80db as compared to -120db . On paper it looks pretty bad. But in practice when listening to most music...it makes no difference except to the very few who will swear they can hear it!!

And all this listening to lossy music as well!

 

[Slimm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pomegranate No, not really, but I suppose we might have different perspectives. To be honest, the bass on the iPod was *almost* there - it certainly thump-thumps enough, but I always felt it was lacking "heart" somehow.

I could see that, I also find a slightly higher impactful bass response witht the iriver. For me it's a blessing and a curse.

I can only imagine how much bass you all need though if the E2's/iPod don't do it for you.

So far the only phones I really enjoy with the iriver are the Ety's. The E5's make it sound like a bass buzzbox. Everything else I own, meh.

I agree with the earlier poster though, I find the Creative to have the best sound of portable MP3 players, it's a great compromise between the neutrality of the iPod and a more dynamic sound found elsewhere.

 

[Slimm]

KF777, I understand your point. But this is a place where those differences in sound are the things we talk about. There are massive conversations about how a mini interconnect can alter the sound of a system. Hell, check out Duncan's massive comparison of PCDP's. Features of items are important, but here, sound rules the day, at least it used to.

How are the Ety's with the IHP anyway? Your impressions would be welcome.

 

[Skeeve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wontanamo ipod seems to have more "toned down" sound that is more neutral to me. I can listen to ipod for longer duration. It's lighter & smaller.

Isn't the ihp of the same size actually lighter than the ipod, with the two players being almost identical in size?

 

[DigDub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeve Isn't the ihp of the same size actually lighter than the ipod, with the two players being almost identical in size?

the ihp is a bit longer and a bit narrower than the ipod. the ihp is lighter than the ipod.

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeve Isn't the ihp of the same size actually lighter than the ipod, with the two players being almost identical in size?

Here's the 40Gb iPod aligned with the iHP-120.

 

[KF777]

Yeah I know there those who will argue the benifis of gold over regular plugs out of the box.and how a noise floor of -120db is way better sounding than a noise floor of -150db! The latter is a better (non audible) spec as many specs these days. I don't usually read those kinds of threads unless I want some entertainment!

Ok I will try to assess E3 vs ETY 4p canal phones. Understand that this is a personal assesment and in no way is ment to be fact for anyone but myself.

IMO:

I have the E3s and have no issue with bass. bearing in mind Im not a listener of subsonic music (ie: Hip Hop. Rap) I like tight viseral bass with Harmonics down to 40 khz, (not fundamentals). That said I do listen to artists like: Norah Jones. Agulara, Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, James Taylor, Steely Dan, Sting, and many other mainstream well know acts.with great arranging and musicianship. The hardest I get is Michelle Branch, Alanis Morsette,Joe Satriana, Eric Johnson and Stevie Vai in your face guitar rock. I also listen to New Age and Classical. So my tastes are really in complicated arrangeents and not really headbanging 4 piece guitar groups

The E3s a a great phone and articulates all the above very well. They do not have to be worn behind the ear. The cable is supple yet thick unlike the E5s which really have to be worn behind the ear and have a thicker less flexible design. They are designed heavy duty for LIVE music monitoring. They sound great on the Iriver but overkill for me. The E3s are way way more than half as good.

The ETY 4ps are my first choice . I have spent many hours on them and they are the bomb! They are extremily clear and precise. The bass is TIGHT and strong. They really are reference. I like the discreete ear pieces and the braided cable. They are extremily sensitive and should not be used for amplified music without the S cable ($45) attenuator. This cable turns them into 4S decreasing the SPL 75% at 1 MW. They are transparent and I hear things I have never heard before in songs I have listened to for years! I can "hear" between and behind the music which is great with a less dense track. They remind me of a large diaphram mike in reverse! Even in the lossy format. I did have to remaster and encode some files as the lossy artifacts are definatly revealed in lesser bitrate and quality encodings.

hat said. I rip and REMASTER ALL my tracks from CD and use NO downloaded pre encoded music. I do this using a LAME encoder now at VBR 192 and CBR 256 in Audio grebber 1.83 Sound Forge 7, Lexicon reverb and Timeworks reverb plug ins, Waves L2 , and T-racks mastering SW. I don't "collect" music. I have only around 1000 songs but they are great sounding. I do add reverb during the mastering process as some of today's artists like NOrah Jones and John Mayer have really dry mixes which sound fine in a room but terrible to me in phones. I add some "space" with the verb. I re EQ as well USING THE ETY"S for reference monitoring so I will get the exact sound I want from the file at a flat setting on the 120. Then I can tweak the great DSP on the 120 to further expand the sound. (Some of the older recordings of the vintage bands do not have the frequency range and dynamic range of newer recordings, hence the remastered retail CDs.

I have mixed many with the E3s as well. They are definatly "warmer". The the upper midrange seems to be accentuated,


The ETY 4p IMO is better than the E3 by far and nearly as good as the E5s. I have used the E5s alot but they are really heavy duty with thick cables and have to be worn behind the ear, We use them exclusivly in live touring shows, They are specifically designed for that purpose as were all Shures before the DAP craze. No Shure is jumping into that game with the C versions. Many Audio hobbiests are leaning toward them because they are the MOST expensive and have four drivers. But again these were really not designed for anything but LIVE music, not to mention lossy! To me owning a set of these as I have said before is like having a Ferrari in NYC!!

The ETYs WERE designed for audio playback and in my opinion are the best for $200. I cannot say enough good about them.

I guess in a nutshell it depends on the application

E3= Headbanging music, RAP, tecno, metal, loud dense recordings sound better n the E3s

ETY 4p-= Articulated rock ( Sting, Steely Dan, Earth Wind and Fire, 0 Intimate music, (John Mayer, Norah Jones, Toni Braxton, James Taylor) Any New Age or Synphonic Music, Musicals, etc sound better on the ETYS as you can "hear" between and behind the notes/ They articulate extremily well and are very sensitive (4p)

Yes there is some "cable noise" But that can be easily remedied and is not a problem when music is playing. I have more of an issue with my bodily sounds as the isolation is the best I have experienced and rivals many OTH cans The cables are light and braided and extremily flexible. The actual driver housing is smaller than the E series and is much more discreet in the ears.

My vote ETY 4ps. Makes my Ihp 120 a whole new DAP!

 

[KF777]

I have had both as well and IMO the iPod sounds every bit as good as the iRiver W/O EQ. when you add the DSP on the IHP and the ability to tweak the sound the IHP smokes the Ipod, especially using ETY 4Ps. The IHP has the potential to deliver deep bass w/o distortion where as I did not fine that with the Ipod. There are more listening options to select from depending on the source music.

I will say I did not find the ETYs to be a good match for the Ipod. My ears said the E3's were a better match there.

I have no issue with the line out. But then again I wouold rather listen to CDs on a home system (or Car) then any player.