[flibottf]

The cord from my super.fi looks quite fragile but is quite durable after all... I twist then in a knot and put em in my pocket. I'm not too carefull with em. Had em for a few months now and it shows no sign of wearing... It even went through a full canadian winter, I wore em outside all the time.

can always replace em anyway if it even goes bad.

 

[mixxxer]

SO ihave opened these up and tried them out. man - the cables are like industrial strength compared to the sony's. i can see they will need some 'break in' time as they are really stiff. but i appreciated the build quality of these.

My only concern is that when you want to take them out - you have to pull on the cable by your ear to get them out? seems like that might cause alot of stress there over time.

other than that I am a believer. Less bass that my Sony's, but to me now - when i go back tothe Sony's - all that extra bass seems to be blurring the lines of the detail in the bottom end.

I listen to mostly heavy rock like Helmet, Scissorfight and Korn etc.... So I am enjoying the tuned down bass lines even more now.

Have already recomended these to a work buddy down the hall who also has the Sony 51's.

Putting them over the ears - will need to get used to that. and if someone asks me for help etc on the bus - it will be a pain to remove one and then re-insert... o well - practice makes better.

 

[monkeygod]

well they might be out of your price range, but the Sensaphonic Pro-2xs have teflon coated braided cables, stress rated to carry (i think) 75lbs. I know I managed to kill my Etys in relatively short order and my 1 year old Sensas still look like new

 

[sbb]

had 2 E5c with a defective cable in a row...

their cable is thicker than on cheaper models but is more rigid...

in my case the first E5c had a very rigid cable... broke after a couple of month of use.. the replacement E5 cable was less rigid (a reason that made me start to doubt about the product build quality) but there was an intermitent connection due to a defective cable again...

I'd say to my opinion E4s represent the best product design... the cable is better (more flexible, not much thinner), you can change yourself filters... overall it may reduce the need to send them back for service... It still lacks the possibility to replace the cable as you can do on UE...

E5's design is now a bit old compared to really new product (UE/E4, to be released E500s)...

 

[sbb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisin A lot of what is damaging your cords is not really under your control. Body salts and acids permeate the vinyl even with frequent cleaning. Ultraviolet radiation and air pollution (mainly ozone) also harden and weaken the cord. Pretty much a lit fuse, once you open the blister pack. Go with Shure, you're guaranteed two full years of use.

well 2 years is good... but I would not consider this warranty as an argument for quality... if you need to send them for repair it's already very bad from a customer point of view (at least mine lol)... and it seems like IEMs are very good candidates for repairs (I guess that in general non full size headphones may be considered to be fragile due to their build quality and their usage)

and 2 years is a short lifespan for products you pay a couple hundreds of bucks...

so far my E3 / E4 / ER6i survived very well but not my E5s

 

[luc0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer5150 e2cs when they are new are very durable. After a year of heavy use the rubber gets hard and starts cracking. I think how rapidly it crumbles depends on the chemistry of your skin oils though. The scarry part wasn't the rubber of the cable though. When I pulled them apart the copper wire inside was ALL green and completely corroded. Not too sure what effect this has on the sound though. Garrett

Unfortunately for you mixxxer since you already ordered, this is true. The cables of the E2C's are: 1. too thick which limits flexibility 2. the rubber cracks even when only a couple months old, and cold conditions accelerate the cracking problem ten fold. My E2C's have aquired several new and seperate cracks from casual use over 5 months, mostly in cold winter which really seems to stiffen the rubber and make them even more prone to cracking.

I would suggest you see what you think about the cables on the Shure's you got, and keep in mind that I've never used the case, I've always just wrapped the cable around my X5 or in a loop and put in my coat pocket.

If you think you want something even more durable, the Westone UM1 offers an extremely smart and durable cord design, and sounds as good if not better than the E2C's. In addition, the Westones have a lower profile in the ear, however the Shures come with a more diverse fit kit, the Westones only have foam tips. Many suggest getting triple flange tips for the UM1's.

The Ultimate Ears Super.fi lineup all have replaceable cords, I purchased the Super.fi 5 Pro's for that reason, but they might be more than you want to spend, so you might look at the Super.fi 3's instead.

Shure definately needs to improve their design and hopefully they're aware of this problem.