[ammatos]

Dear Folks,

I would like to request opinions on five mid-priced IEMs. By mid-price I mean a 'street' price averaging $75US.

For purposes of this discussion (and my sanity), I have assigned IEM "steps":

Step Zero: is the free OEM stuff, what came in the box, what many people are 'happy' with.

Step One: $10 to $20US like Sennheiser MX- series, various 'marshmellow' units, basic SkullCandy's, etc.

Step Two: $30 to $50US like Sennheiser CX-300s, Creative EP-630s, Sony EX- series, etc.

This is the third step in IEMs (from my perspective), what you move up to when your step two 'toy' just doesn't do it for you anymore.

The five candidates for step three I've found are:

Creative Zen Aurvana
Etymotic ER-6
Shure E2c
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3
V-moda Vibe

I'm sure there might be other I've missed for Level Three, so please add and discuss your candidates. Also, I'm not sure what price point I should assign the next, forth and fifth levels, so suggestion requested.

Remember it's the music that feeds the soul, the "toys" only feed the ego.

much thanXs,

angel

 

[filipelli]

Seems like all the candidates you mentioned are varied - earbuds, canalphones and true IEMs. First, do you want isolation? Do you want the earphone to sit outside of the ear or go in? A better system may be derived if we are clear about that first. After that, the steps will be more clear.

 

[ammatos]

See next post for corrected post. thanXs

 

[ammatos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by filipelli /img/forum/go_quote.gif Seems like all the candidates you mentioned are varied - earbuds, canalphones and true IEMs. First, do you want isolation? Do you want the earphone to sit outside of the ear or go in? A better system may be derived if we are clear about that first. After that, the steps will be more clear.

It about the sound, not the mechanics; i.e. folks are still debating if units are IEMs or ICMs (in the Canal), originally everything was an earphone, then earbuds, and now we have a bunch of sub- designations. It not relevant from my perspective as folks will buy what the 'feel' sound good. As far as isolation is concerned, most units if properly installed in the ear will provide some degree of isolation. But as I said initially - the prime factor is SOUND! Thanks for you thoughts.

a.

 

[Jon118]

I would say all of those are at least canalphones, not earbuds. Plus a few IEMs. That said, maybe you should see the Shure SE110 now that it's out. What type of music will you be listening to with these? Because that can be a big factor since you list varies so much, from the treble emphasizing ER-6s to the bass heavy Vibes.

 

[ammatos]

This "Q's" answer and the Poll's results are not for me; this is the type of 'newbie' question I get alot. The purpose of the Q was to gather info that didn't come from me so that I could say to the newbies, don't believe me: "go to this thread and see the varying opinions for yourselves".

So please don't make it so complicated, YOU know we are comparing apples & oranges, but the newbie DOESN'T get it - so the Q was meant to inspire discussion, while the POLL was to simply establish what SOUNDS good to YOU!

So stop going 'brainiac', just answer the poll Q: Which do you prefer!

The uniting factor as I originally stated was price level, Not conceptual type or design. OK!

 

[filipelli]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ammatos /img/forum/go_quote.gif This "Q's" answer and the Poll's results are not for me; this is the type of 'newbie' question I get alot. The purpose of the Q was to gather info that didn't come from me so that I could say to the newbies, don't believe me: "go to this thread and see the varying opinions for yourselves". So please don't make it so complicated, YOU know we are comparing apples & oranges, but the newbie DOESN'T get it - so the Q was meant to inspire discussion, while the POLL was to simply establish what SOUNDS good to YOU! So stop going 'brainiac', just answer the poll Q: Which do you prefer! The uniting factor as I originally stated was price level, Not conceptual type or design. OK!

I think a short cut like this can confuse some new members - even cause them to buys something that they truly don't like. We like our headphones because they offer a mix of different things - comfort, clarity, bass, design, highs, mids, lows, soundstage, etc.. It would be much too difficult to define sound quality and to say headphone A is better than headphone B because they differ - and because while one sounds like crap to one person, it may sound beautiful to another. Some earphones are perfect for rock, while others for jazz...that is why we welcome discussion of all these avenues, instead of having and end all ranking. No matter how you slice it, that's just how it is...and this is probably why you are not getting any responses...

 

[ammatos]

You maybe correct, that folks are put of by my using IEMs as a collective. But you have to understand my perspective - the first earbud headphone, the one that came with first Japanese six transistor radios were called an earphone by there designers. Guess what the design was - an IEM, though off course the term did not exist at that time.

So for better or for worst, to me all of the terms are conceptually the same, though I recognize that they have technical differences - and will happily explain them to anyone that actually cares.

I think my problem was that I was asking the Q: the way the average Joe would ask it, not in the more technically pure perspective that most folks on the system, seem to have preferred.

So next time I will structure my Q's/poll within the stricter, preferred parameters.

As per new members, that's MY point, most upon deciding to spend about $75US - well they "jus wanna 'no wha sound bess?" They don't have an understanding of the tech differences, and their eyes' would gloss over with the blank look if you attempted to explain. So would it have been more correct to use earphones as the collective instead of IEMs, yes - but...

any wayz, live 'n' learn, even at my age.

a.


P.S. If there's a fellow dinosaur out there - when I speak of the "original" earphone, yes I mean that 'white or ivory', HARD plastic, cone shaped thing that pop out of your ear within minutes, because the wax/sweat would 'invite' it out.. They were pretty useless, weren't they???

 

[rxc]

lol, if you consider those mid-priced you'd better run from here.

 

[pez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rxc /img/forum/go_quote.gif lol, if you consider those mid-priced you'd better run from here.

lol x4

 

[robojack]

Definitely the SuperFi 3's, out of the ones you've listed.