[veruvius]

Hey all. I'm looking for a new set of IEM's, but it seems like there are a ton of new entrants since I last looked.

I listen to all forms of music, with near equal frequency. I need something for portable use to drown out the horrors that are conversations on public transit.

I keep seeing the denon c551 for ~$50, and I recently heard of the Sennheiser CX 95's, which seem great.

My only specific criteria really is that the phones fit securely and the cord is 4 ft long or so. My last phones were UM1's, which fit great and sounded really good after some burn-in and eq, but after losing a second pair (along with my Cowon X5L and D2), I think I should get something cheaper, and maybe a little warmer sounding.

Let me know if I'm leaving out info. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[jonathanjong]

~$70? blocks out noise? ER-6i. No idea how long the cord is, though.

C551 should be out. Not very isolating. I liked them for the price, and they sounded a good sight better than CX95 to me, but they had to go for more isolating IEMs.

Edit: OK, these aren't warm cans. No siree. Get a Fiio E3 with them, maybe.

 

[mfaughn]

search for the ne-7m from nuforce and read about those. sounds like they might suit you well.

 

[SEAsonSolt]

ER6I ，with a very good isolation . which I'd used for many years before ER4-P come to my life.

 

[jonathanjong]

^ how much better are the ER-4s anyway?

 

[veruvius]

never really looked into Ety's, I'll check them out.

the ne-7m's seem too good to be true. they're described as "neutral". does that mean they're "cold" and "analytical" like some sets are, or is just meant at face value?

 

[veruvius]

someone has claimed the ne-7m's are the best set under $150. do others feel that way too? if so, i'll order myself some tomorrow. are there any contenders if I up my range to $100?

 

[nullstring]

You should probably ask this in the portable audio forum.

 

[LeonWho]

Head-Direct RE2 would be perfect.
Great contender against the NE-7M too.

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeonWho /img/forum/go_quote.gif Head-Direct RE2 would be perfect. Great contender against the NE-7M too.

Really, the RE2 doesn't isolate at all tbh.

 

[dweaver]

I have the NE-7M's and they are definietly "to good" but are TRUE . They are not analytical at all. They have a nice warm feel to them but are great with mids and highs as well. There are "better" and mor analytical IEM's out there but they cost alot more. I own these others IEMs:
JVC HA-FX66
JBL Reference 220
Bose In Ear
Sennheiser CX 300
Panasonic RP-HJE550

Two of which are supposed to be $100+ phones and the NE-7M beats them all hands down. I only use the Bose ones out of the list above still and that is simply because they are the most comfortable for me in bed and they are great for binaural sleep aid music because of their heavy bass signature.

Here is the best thread on these HeadphoneAddict

 

[thornygravy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinesekiwi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Really, the RE2 doesn't isolate at all tbh.

they isolate.. just not fantastically. My only other complaint with them was bass.. I'm a bass head though.

 

[veruvius]

Yeah, that was one of the first reviews I read after the ne-7m was mentioned. If you can attest to the fit/comfort level, I'm totally sold. Heck, I'm about to press the "Buy" button as it is, but now that the RE2 has been thrown in the mix, I have slight pause. My only reference point for IEM's is the UM1, which fit wonderfully with the tri-to-bi flange mod and isolated very well.

Sounds like choosing between the RE2 and the ne-7m comes down to personal preference, but I really want the best isolation, so I guess it comes down to the ne-7m's.

BTW, while I have this thread, are the UE metro-fi's any good? They seem to fall in this price range as well, but I haven't seen much on them here (not that I searched, just wondering).

Quote:

Originally Posted by dweaver /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the NE-7M's and they are definietly "to good" but are TRUE . They are not analytical at all. They have a nice warm feel to them but are great with mids and highs as well. There are "better" and mor analytical IEM's out there but they cost alot more. I own these others IEMs: JVC HA-FX66 JBL Reference 220 Bose In Ear Sennheiser CX 300 Panasonic RP-HJE550 Two of which are supposed to be $100+ phones and the NE-7M beats them all hands down. I only use the Bose ones out of the list above still and that is simply because they are the most comfortable for me in bed and they are great for binaural sleep aid music because of their heavy bass signature. Here is the best thread on these HeadphoneAddict

 

[dweaver]

I found the NE-7M stock tips to be not bad but I already owned a 5 pack of comply tips and have been using those as I find them way more comfortable and better isolating plus I think they add a bit to the sound quality for me. Other users are using the Shure E2c tips and others are using the Shure Olive Tips (the Shures don't have to be replaced as compared to the Comply tips which get very grungy after about a month of use but you can clean the comply tips if you check around on Head-fi). Having said that unless you want to save shipping costs by buying tips with your phones, you may want to try the stock tips as you may find you like them just fine. They do not come with any bi or tri flange tips by the way.

I have tried the UE Metrofi's (150 model I think, as it was supposed to have more bass than the 200 model) and took them back after a couple of days of use as I found the bass to be very poor. But they did have good midrange and highs (I would say the NE-7M is slightly lower quality midrange and as good a quality of highs, with way more bass that balances the other two well).

 

[veruvius]

I got my NE-7M's yesterday! Initial impressions: isolation and fit with the stock tips were fine. I have some extra Comply's along with the extra included tips to try out to see if it gets better. Personally, I don't like foamies due to the grunge factor.

Initially, they sounded a little veiled, but I had them run for a couple hours and then tried them out this morning. Much clearer! Okay, it wasn't bad to begin with, but they've been great. I really appreciate the soundstage, and there is good clarity. However, now I really feel like I need to re-encode some music at a higher bit rate - my collection is split between 128 and 192 kbps.

Question to those who've been able to compare: for these headphones, where is the diminishing return for higher bitrates? I know the UM1's probably could've used better quality music too, but I was just wowed by how much better my current music sounded that I never bothered.

P.S. I appreciated the NE-7M's instruction manual detailing what are the characteristics of good headphones. If the headphones weren't enough, this put them over the top for me! (the headphones are enough, fyi

)