[PoVarR]

What headphones should I take? Planting, reliability, etc. are not interested - the main sound quality.

Now take FA Eterna and Klipsch S4 - whether I will get something better in sound buying Custom 3 or Monster? Should I change them my current headphones?

 

[jleewach]

havent tried the golds, but the bass on my original turbines was too bloated for my tastes. Custom 3 sounded much better.

 

[lucozade]

@ polvar , ive never heard klipsch s4 or fa eterna but i do have the custom 3 and the monster turbine gold which are both execellent iems and i would think there in a totally differrent leauge to the s4 and the eterna,

custom 3 is one of the well balanced and detailed iem's you will ever find while at the same time having a powerfull bass and highly detailed mids and treble,this is still my favorate iem for sound quality , but its deep insertion into the ear chanel can become irritating after long listening periods and the cable is can be microphonic ,so best used when stationary, but its a fantastic iem which i love dearly

monster turbine gold is another great iem ,again lots of detail in the mids and treble, but it dose not have as much brightness and sparkle as the custom 3,buts its not bad either.The bass is powerfull with lots of detail and packs a solid punch.the golds take more juice to run at there best and benifit greatly from a portable amp

 

[PoVarR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jleewach /img/forum/go_quote.gif havent tried the golds, but the bass on my original turbines was too bloated for my tastes. Custom 3 sounded much better.

It is much better than the S4?

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucozade /img/forum/go_quote.gif @ polvar , ive never heard klipsch s4 or fa eterna but i do have the custom 3 and the monster turbine gold which are both execellent iems and i would think there in a totally differrent leauge to the s4 and the eterna, custom 3 is one of the well balanced and detailed iem's you will ever find while at the same time having a powerfull bass and highly detailed mids and treble,this is still my favorate iem for sound quality , but its deep insertion into the ear chanel can become irritating after long listening periods and the cable is can be microphonic ,so best used when stationary, but its a fantastic iem which i love dearly monster turbine gold is another great iem ,again lots of detail in the mids and treble, but it dose not have as much brightness and sparkle as the custom 3,buts its not bad either.The bass is powerfull with lots of detail and packs a solid punch.the golds take more juice to run at there best and benifit greatly from a portable amp

Thank you, try Custom 3. I think MTPG not give such an increase in sound quality compared with the S4 as the Custom 3.

P.S: I am PoVarR))

 

[lucozade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoVarR /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is much better than the S4? Thank you, try Custom 3. I think MTPG not give such an increase in sound quality compared with the S4 as the Custom 3. P.S: I am PoVarR))

Cant' go wrong with the custom 3 , its a fantastic phone ,every kind of music ive played on the c3 sounds great

 

[mvw2]

The Custom 3 is a nice earphone. It is a discontinued product though, but it's still available on eBay for around $150 which is a decent price for their performance. My only real personal gripe for the Custom 3 is that Klipsch, for whatever reason, chose a very bad cord. It's very thin, tangles easier then fishing line, and it just a stupid mess. The drivers used in the Custom 3 are quite good and match very well. Klipsch must made some dumb design choices that eventually led to the discontinuation of their best sounding IEM product. I'll toss out a reshell of the Custom 3 is a viable option for a better fit and better cabling. The drivers and x-over are good enough to be worth doing so.

For no hassle, the Mosters would be a better choice. I haven't listened to any of the Moster Turbines, so I can't comment on their sound. The Gold is supposed to be pretty darn good though, so I would have a tough time seeing someone not like the product.

Now the Custom 3 and MTPG aren't your only earphone options. At a similar price point things like the RE252, CK10, Triple.Fi 10, or SA6 are all available between $150-$200 new or perhaps a little less used. Frankly, there's a lot of options out there.

The correct earphone choice is the one that has the sound characteristics you want to hear. In order for us to point you to something very fitting to your tastes, you'll have to describe, in detail, the sound characteristics that you find important and the overall sound signature you're trying to step towards. Some examples of characteristics are:
tonality: warm, natural, bright
level of detail: smooth to sharp
impact/energy/dynamics: laid back to punchy/energetic/explosive
sound stage depth: intimate to expansive
locational cues: general sense of left/center/right to exact point in mental space
thickness of note: thick and full bodied to airy/delicate/short

These are just some characteristics, but every single earphone out there will sound a little bit different. The whole goal for you is to find the one that best fits your personal taste. That can be quite a challenge unfortunately, and there are a sea of earphones to wade through. Luckly, there have been a lot of mass earphone reviews by a number of forum members. I would suggest you at least read through those first to get a feel for what's out there, how they roughly stack up, and figure out how they each sound in a rough sense and if any are described like your personal preference.

 

[PoVarR]

mvw2

RE252, CK10 and SA6 not fit me by the nature of sound - I want a warm sound with a tight bass. Triple Fi 10 is not suited me fit in the ear.

Q Jays - who that might say about them? They are better or worse than the Custom 3?

 

[lucozade]

@mmv2

For no hassle, the Mosters would be a better choice. I haven't listened to any of the Moster Turbines, so I can't comment on their sound. The Gold is supposed to be pretty darn good though, so I would have a tough time seeing someone not like the product.



I agree that the monsters are easier to fit and more comfotable in the long run to wear, but i do own the monster turbine golds and the monster turbine coppers as well as the custom 3,and while the monsters sound very nice ,the custom 3 just sounds better in nearly every way and is much more suited as an all rounder than the monster golds.

the golds have fantastic dymanic sounding bass ,very deep, and detailed ,packs a hard punch ,but to be honest unless your going to be eq'ing it ,it will simply be too much on some albums and they will just sound wrong ,the coppers are a better choise than the golds if you want an iem to use with lots of differrent music,and both the monsters are nearly double the price of the c3

Yes you are right ,there are lots of other iem's that fit into that price range so we do need more details on what povar is looking for

 

[dweaver]

The MTP Gold is in a whole different league from the original Monster Turbines and it is a serious upgrade from the S4. BUt I have not owned or heards the Custom 3 so can't comment on their sound other than what I have heard about the cables being very microphonic. Having owned a couple IEM's with cloth covered cables I can ssy all the ones I owned definitely had microphonic issues with rubbing.

 

[ethan961]

I think you should just go for the Golds, you will be more than happy.

 

[PoVarR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethan961 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think you should just go for the Golds, you will be more than happy.

Maybe you're right - we have in the forum say that Custom 3 headphones are very bad for sound.

How do you Phonak as compared with MTPG?

 

[ethan961]

I don't have the Turbine Coppers yet, they're in the post. My Westone 2, which did just come in, is significantly better than the Phonaks, worth the $200. I think they will be quite similar to the Coppers.
As for the Golds, I think you should go for them simply because they have a better cable than the Custom 3, and are bassy, which you like, knowing that you own the Eterna and similar.

 

[lucozade]

^^^^^ the golds do have more bass quantity than the custom 3 but it is not far behind although i feel the bass on the dymanic drivers of the golds sound a little bit more natural than the custom 3 bass ,and a bit more detail in the golds bass ,but the custom 3 is not far behind and in the mids and treble the custom 3 tops the golds

 

[Kunlun]

It's interesting that this question has come up because I had the same question earlier. When I was getting the MTPCopper, I asked about the custom 3s and someone said that the MTPC was a definitely better, in their opinion. Lucozade likes the custom 3 very much, but it seems to really come down to personal preference. Klipsch really goes for what they feel is a interesting sound signiture, it's not for everyone, but I think the people who like it will always be klipsch fans.

 

[lucozade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kunlun /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's interesting that this question has come up because I had the same question earlier. When I was getting the MTPCopper, I asked about the custom 3s and someone said that the MTPC was a definitely better, in their opinion. Lucozade likes the custom 3 very much, but it seems to really come down to personal preference. Klipsch really goes for what they feel is a interesting sound signiture, it's not for everyone, but I think the people who like it will always be klipsch fans.

@kunlun ,i also like the coppers very much now,more so than the golds ,infact i think its fair to say i fallen in love with the sound of the coppers and would now put them just behind the custom 3 in my list of favorates