[Lifesaburrito]

To start off, I'm a musician. I listen to music from many genres, but play jazz piano, more than anything else. I have a good ear for music, and tone, but I don't know how much that has to do with having "trained ears" goes, headphone wise.

The first real headphones I ever owned was the Sennheiser HD590s, which I used with my Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra from Creative, both of which were stolen, a couple weeks ago. I only had the phones for a few months, at that.. -_-

I rebought my MP3 player and a pair of Grado SR 80s. Both will arrive here shortly.

I found, to my surprise, that my Nomad powered the HD590s to my liking, although they did sound noticably better, not to mention louder, at my home stereo system.

Is a headphone amp used to make a headphone louder, or to improve the sound quality, or both? My HD590s were loud enough, but I bet they where capable of much, much better sound with the proper equipment... I don't know how that works.

I just read a bit of the "Quitting Head-Fi..." topic, and am getting curious about the ER-4S, Sensas, and UE-10s. Would it be a complete waste of money to buy a phone like the UE-10s, having very little headphone experience? ...I have the money.

Could I just sit back and think, wow, this is the best sound I've ever heard in my life, or would it be a complete waste of money, when I could just buy the ER-4S, or be happy with my soon-to-arrive Grado SR-80s. And would the UE-10s be a waste to use with my Nomad, which is filled with WMA64?

...The questions... the questions... The music!

Another thing... If there really is a difference between different cords, what is the science behind that? Why is a $70+ cord, I forget the name, give better sound than others?

Hmm...

Answers, comments, anything will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Lifesaburrito]

About ear damage... Are there any guidelines to follow to not ruin your ears? Is it even TRUE that loud music will ruin your ears?... I've noticed that the louder I went with my Sennheisers, the better the music sounded. Hell, that's generally true for any headphone, hence people always blasting themselves.

Are there any knows facts about this dilemma?

 

[TonyTripleA]

Welcome to head fi. Watch your wallet...

And as far as the etymotics 4S/P are concerned I believe that they are a very good investment. The are hard to beat for detail and clarity if you want portable sound. I cannot comment on the more expensive custom moulded canalphones. But bear in mind the etys hold their value somewhat better for resale as anyone can use them.

Have fun on the head fi journey.

TonyAAA

 

[Lifesaburrito]

Could someone comment on the bass of the Etymotics? Sufficient for a basshead? I suppose it must be good, considering they're almost perfect..

 

[yage]

The Ety's are quite neutral. The bass they produce is very clean and deep, but, to my ears, lacks the impact of a headphone with larger drivers. Its in-the-ear design is sometimes off-putting to people as well, but the isolation it affords is critical to serious listening...

 

[Blitzula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lifesaburrito About ear damage... Are there any guidelines to follow to not ruin your ears? Is it even TRUE that loud music will ruin your ears?... .

Yes, it is a fact that music can ruin your ears, if the volume is high enough and/or the exposure long enough.

 

[Natsuiro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lifesaburrito Could someone comment on the bass of the Etymotics? Sufficient for a basshead? I suppose it must be good, considering they're almost perfect..

I definately don't think that ety er4s would be enough for a basshead. You may be better off checking out the shure e5c's

 

[robk]

also, if you like the idea of the comfort of the UEs but don;t want to jump right in at that level, you can get custom ear molds from westone for any IEM, and if you then decide you are no longer interested in them, or they are not for you, you can re-sell the IEMs and you are only really out ht money for the custom sleeves.

Over time as you decidde that it really is the right solution for you, you can then get the UE10s with confidence.

I am getting the UE10s for myself as a graduation gift when I finish my PhD.

rob

 

[Lifesaburrito]

Now, would it be a waste of money to buy the Etymotics if I used them only with my Ipod-like contraption? With sound like that, might WMAs at 64mpbs sound like ****? Would they benefit from a headphone amp?

 

[psyco1]

I think any low quality compression with Etys would make you hate them, they are that detailed. And no, they will not satisfy a basshead at all.

Any phone benefits from a better amp, the sound quality gets better anytime you upgrade something upstream.

 

[thorrad]

I have a set of Ety ER-6is. I love the detail but the bass is definately lacking. Yes the drivers deliver the notes down into the sub-bass levels but they are noticably lacking in impact; you just don't feel it like you can with some other IEMs.

That being said, I am also a newbie and I decided to just jump to the top of the ladder right off the blocks (Mixing metaphores since 1971!)and get the Sensaphonics. As part of my research I have right now got the Demo unit from Sensaphonics sitting right here at my desk. They are universal fit drivers that use the Ety three flange eartips. The universal design of the demos has a single soundport for the two drivers (two per ear it should be said, one for bass and one for treble) so they don't represent the full sound spectrum that the custom-fit-two-port-per-ear product would have. Even so... The sound from these is awe inspiring! The bass feels like it's driven right through you! It sounds as if there is a subwoofer right next to you but without losing all of the nuance of the detail in both the bass and in the mid bass.

These demo units have it all. Great sibilance control with fantastic high frequency extention, awesome bass impact and detail, and a very warm midrange that keeps me coming back for more. I can't wait for The custom phones to arrive. They say April 5.

So here is the question. Do YOU think the investment would be worth it? All of my opinions about how I spend my money is pretty useless if you aren't comfortable with doing it yourself. At the same time, what others on this thread say is very true: There is no turning back from custom IEMs. They are yours and yours alone. You cannot resell them to recoup your expense. You can do that with all of the other products out there. Etys, Shures, Westones (at least the non custom ones), all can be sold on ebay for a pretty good price. These custom babys cannot.

I listen nearly 6 hours a day 5 days a week while I process images for a major department store. I Ineed to isolate the talking of my co-workers while not leaking any sound into the environment. For me the Etys have been good but not great. The comfort has been an issue that I am slowly getting used to but I would rather just go custom and be done with it. The softer material of hte Sensas sold me when I felt it at my audiologists office. She had a piece of the material that Sensa uses and some of the acrylic that UE uses. There was no contest. The softer stuff would definately be more comfortable for long term daily use. (not to mention allow you to move more freely)

If you are truly considering the UE or Seansa phones (and it sounds like you are...) Just be sure that you have an idea how you will be using them and weather or not you are the type of person who would ever want to sell them to get back some part of your investment. If you are like me and will probably never sell your phones and listen a lot, then get them. If you are someone who likes to try many things and doesn't stick with your first purchase for long, then these might not be for you. (YET!) Whichever products you get I'm sure you'll be pleased even if it's the Ety ER 4s, you'll be very happy with your purchase.

 

[morphie]

What matters isnt your headphone experience but your hearing. If you think the UE-10s are AMAZING compared to what uve heard before, then get em