Philips she9850 vs she9800 vs creative ep-830
Aug 21, 2010 at 5:13 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 11

kova4a

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I'm just looking for some advice on which one do you recommend. I'm currently using Razer Moray, which are way better than any stock in-ears I have used but the mids are kinda muddy and the overall sound is not clear enough. So, I made some research but it seems there aren't a lot of options in my country. I'm mostly interested in good bass, wide stage and clear vocals, so what do you think of the philips' ones. I consider mainly the she9800 because I read that they have pretty wide stage and not that weak bass and they're the cheapest of the three but I've always liked creative and I prefer their design more - has any one of you compared them. I'm also considering she9850 but they cost about 40$ more, so do you guys think the difference in quality is worth 40 bucks? I would have really liked etymotic or shure or another of the brands you highly recommend in the forums but it seems that I'm stuck with the above options cause no retailers in my country are selling those brands. I was also considering sennheiser cx300 but I think the bass is too overpowering. I'm open to any other recommendations but I'm not really into buying stuff from abroad, so it would be best if you can advice me on the abovementioned before recommending other ones. Thanks in advance!
 
Aug 21, 2010 at 5:23 PM Post #2 of 11
I have and use the Philips 9850 everyday with my Cowon iAudio 7. Right now, they are my "Go-To" IEM for my portable listening.
 
Unfortunately, I can't compare to the other two, but maybe this will help. By the way, I got mine for $40, but they seemed to have disappeared form the internet.
 
Philips 9800 Review
 
Philips 9850 Review
 
Aug 21, 2010 at 5:53 PM Post #3 of 11
Katun, thanks for the fast reply! Unfortunately in my country the 9850 retails for 99$ and the 9800 and ep-830 around 50$, so I'll wait for some more opinions until I make a decision.
 
Aug 21, 2010 at 5:56 PM Post #4 of 11
Under that circumstance, I would probably go for the 9800 then. I'm not sure it would be worth $50 to upgrade.
 
Is there any other IEM's you could possibly buy? Or is Philips your only option?
 
Aug 21, 2010 at 6:17 PM Post #5 of 11
When I think of it - even my Razer Moray cost 55$, so it won't be really an upgrade to go for the 9800 but the morays frequency response sucks so bad compared to the philips' and the creative's. edit: well Sennheiser is an option too, I didn't like the cx 300, which a friend let me try but maybe you can recommend better ones. But bear in mind that I'm not willing too spend more than 100$ and here almost everything is more expensive, so I'm limited to the cheaper Sennheisers - the IEs (except for IE 4) are out of my budget.
 
Aug 21, 2010 at 6:26 PM Post #6 of 11
Well, you really can't base SQ and performance off a price. I'm most definitely sure the Philips would be an upgrade, but you will have to decide if you want to pay for it or not. If you are not satisfied with the headphones you have now, why keep them? But, if you are fine with what they are now (ignore the frequency response) then you don't necessarily need to upgrade.
 
Aug 21, 2010 at 6:45 PM Post #7 of 11
Well, the Morays don't suck that bad for mp3s but I just got a new cellphone and it can play FLAC and this is something the Morays cannot handle properly and that annoys me - songs, which sound awesome on my Altec Lansing speakers, sound like 128kbps mp3s because of the muddy mids and the kinda muffled bass.
 
Aug 22, 2010 at 10:19 AM Post #10 of 11
Yeah, that's how things are in my country. The lowest I can get the 9800 is 30 euro and that's from an online store - in the stores it costs 50 euro. And that's with average annual salary of about 2000 - 3000 euros in my country, so it sucks to live in Eastern Europe. I have a birthday in 10 days and I guess I can tip my friends to get me the 9850. I'm still open to suggestions and opinions - I can check if they have them in my country. The other option is to make one of my friends get me etymotics or shure from US and bring them when he gets back for Christmas.
 
Aug 22, 2010 at 5:45 PM Post #11 of 11
Actually, guys, what do you think about the Altec Lansing inMotion IM716 IEMs. I just found that those retail for around 30-35$. I'm a big fan of the company and their speakers but I have never tried their headphones.
 

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