trose49
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New Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 Pro Review
Just picked up the new UE super.fi 5 pro's. One Word!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!
I purchased them at my local Guitar Center which offers a special clear (transparent headphone) instead of the black or white available online. This week they are also on sale $229.00
That's just for starters. Let's begin with whats in the box.
First of all you get an awesome metal case that is a work of art. The case is rubber insulated to protect your new investment from moisture etc.. Also come with a nice leather pouch for the less bulky option to carry your new phones. Also 1/4 inch adapter for home stereos and a attenuator adapter which drops the signal level so if you plug in to an unknown source (airplane etc) you wont send a high volume blast to your new babies.
You get 3 pairs of Rubber tip Flanges small, medium, large a set of double flanged rubber tips and 1 set of foam tips (My personal favorite!)
After ripping open the box (literally) I tried several of the different size tips to see what fit best. I definatly got the best seal with the foam tips. This was the same for me with my Shure e3c's.
After fumbling with them a bit I got them in and they are very comfortable. In fact once they are in properly they give the apperance and feel of a custom moled earpiece and they dont stick out past my earlobe for which I was very pleased as this way my biggest concern (Looking like Frankenstein!)
Plugged into my ipod where most all my music is encoded in 192AAC I slowly increased the volume and then WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! I already said that sorry. Here's the scoop. These are by far without a doubt the best sounding universal in ear monitor sold by any company at any price. I can't even imagine the UE'10 Customs. Although it does make me wanna try them even more now!.
With my iPod eq off the sound is very well balanced. The voices are extremly clear and accurate, the snare drums snap and wind instuments whirl and Guitars sing. For a minute I thought Stevie Ray came back to life.
I was also surprized at the level of bass that can be acheived with an in ear. After several different eq settings I decided on JAZZ for most of my music which ranges from Spyro Gyra to Evanecense. The Jazz setting slightly raises the high and the low freq just a bit. I am less of a mid range fan. I only like enough to fill the gap between the Bass and Treble. This setting does the trick but Im sure that it will up you own personal tastes.
All types of music sounded very well rounded and I dont think anyone except "P Diddy" might want more bass. Dont get me wrong I love bass but you have to have high's to go with it. My guess is that people thumping down the street with blown speakers and a huge subwoofer in there trunk might opt for the Extended bass model but dont be fooled the Pro model kicks!
The UE's have a beautiful detachable cord that is very light and can be custom ordered in different colors and lengths. The set that came with the Guitar Center version was also clear like the cans.
As for a comparison I have owned the Shure e3c in ears for almost a year. I absolutely loved these in ear's. In fact it scared me to sell them to my friend for $100.00 to put a dent in my new UE's. The Shure's are built very well and never gave me any problems. The Shures are still a very good value and now that you can get them from $149-169 on the web it still is a headphone to consider.
The UE Super.fi 5 pros simply out shine the Shures with higher highs and lower lows due to the two driver per headphone set-up. You definatly get a fuller warmer sound with the new UE's and they give you a depth that is hard to describe. Almost like sitting in a concert hall by yourself. The music now has a third dimension simply not heard in the Shures. If you like Hip Hop or Rap the Shures are not the headphones for you. They will handle just about anything else well but heavy bass is just lost.
With the UE's I had to turn down the volume a bit after listening for 15 mins or so because I thought my head might blow off! They just rumble your whole brain! (and thats a good thing!)
The other big difference is that the Shures like to be run on the iPod at 70%-80%- to sound real well. The UE's are much more efficent and start cranking at 45% or so. 70% volume on the UE's is loud. The Shures will eventually Max out but the UE's beg you to keep cranking ( BE CAREFUL!!!), the more you give them juice the more they give back. Be careful with your volume control before inserting you new UE's.
Well thats my attempt at a review. If you have other questions please post and I will respond. I will also add photos soon.
Just picked up the new UE super.fi 5 pro's. One Word!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!
I purchased them at my local Guitar Center which offers a special clear (transparent headphone) instead of the black or white available online. This week they are also on sale $229.00
That's just for starters. Let's begin with whats in the box.
First of all you get an awesome metal case that is a work of art. The case is rubber insulated to protect your new investment from moisture etc.. Also come with a nice leather pouch for the less bulky option to carry your new phones. Also 1/4 inch adapter for home stereos and a attenuator adapter which drops the signal level so if you plug in to an unknown source (airplane etc) you wont send a high volume blast to your new babies.
You get 3 pairs of Rubber tip Flanges small, medium, large a set of double flanged rubber tips and 1 set of foam tips (My personal favorite!)
After ripping open the box (literally) I tried several of the different size tips to see what fit best. I definatly got the best seal with the foam tips. This was the same for me with my Shure e3c's.
After fumbling with them a bit I got them in and they are very comfortable. In fact once they are in properly they give the apperance and feel of a custom moled earpiece and they dont stick out past my earlobe for which I was very pleased as this way my biggest concern (Looking like Frankenstein!)
Plugged into my ipod where most all my music is encoded in 192AAC I slowly increased the volume and then WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! I already said that sorry. Here's the scoop. These are by far without a doubt the best sounding universal in ear monitor sold by any company at any price. I can't even imagine the UE'10 Customs. Although it does make me wanna try them even more now!.
With my iPod eq off the sound is very well balanced. The voices are extremly clear and accurate, the snare drums snap and wind instuments whirl and Guitars sing. For a minute I thought Stevie Ray came back to life.
I was also surprized at the level of bass that can be acheived with an in ear. After several different eq settings I decided on JAZZ for most of my music which ranges from Spyro Gyra to Evanecense. The Jazz setting slightly raises the high and the low freq just a bit. I am less of a mid range fan. I only like enough to fill the gap between the Bass and Treble. This setting does the trick but Im sure that it will up you own personal tastes.
All types of music sounded very well rounded and I dont think anyone except "P Diddy" might want more bass. Dont get me wrong I love bass but you have to have high's to go with it. My guess is that people thumping down the street with blown speakers and a huge subwoofer in there trunk might opt for the Extended bass model but dont be fooled the Pro model kicks!
The UE's have a beautiful detachable cord that is very light and can be custom ordered in different colors and lengths. The set that came with the Guitar Center version was also clear like the cans.
As for a comparison I have owned the Shure e3c in ears for almost a year. I absolutely loved these in ear's. In fact it scared me to sell them to my friend for $100.00 to put a dent in my new UE's. The Shure's are built very well and never gave me any problems. The Shures are still a very good value and now that you can get them from $149-169 on the web it still is a headphone to consider.
The UE Super.fi 5 pros simply out shine the Shures with higher highs and lower lows due to the two driver per headphone set-up. You definatly get a fuller warmer sound with the new UE's and they give you a depth that is hard to describe. Almost like sitting in a concert hall by yourself. The music now has a third dimension simply not heard in the Shures. If you like Hip Hop or Rap the Shures are not the headphones for you. They will handle just about anything else well but heavy bass is just lost.
With the UE's I had to turn down the volume a bit after listening for 15 mins or so because I thought my head might blow off! They just rumble your whole brain! (and thats a good thing!)
The other big difference is that the Shures like to be run on the iPod at 70%-80%- to sound real well. The UE's are much more efficent and start cranking at 45% or so. 70% volume on the UE's is loud. The Shures will eventually Max out but the UE's beg you to keep cranking ( BE CAREFUL!!!), the more you give them juice the more they give back. Be careful with your volume control before inserting you new UE's.
Well thats my attempt at a review. If you have other questions please post and I will respond. I will also add photos soon.