[flopez]

Dear friends:

This is my first post, and I must apologize for mi english. Hopefully you can understand me...

And now to the problem. At the begining of this year, while I was working in Japan I bought an iPod photo and decided to buy a good pair of earphones. After surfing the web and having found this place, I read all the reviews and decided to go for a pair of Shure E5c that where in stock in the Apple Center near my hotel. My first impresion was the large amount of bass that a tiny driver can provide. But after a couple of days of listening I discovered a kind of "blurr" in the midrange that slowly became unacceptable to me. In the meantime I tried the complete assortement of sleeves that came with the earphones, to no avail. In fact I found that the triple flange ones were absolutely incompatible with me.

After returning to spain, I decided to order (from Headroom) a pair of Etymotic ER4P, which I'm using since then, with very good results. Anyway, I miss the deep bass from the Shures.

I have been re-reading the coments in the forum and I can't find a single reference to this midrange problem in the E5c, so what do you think -headphone gurus- is happening? Any suggestions?

I really hate to have such a piece of technology (and a so expensive one) inside a box...

Thanks very much in advance

flopez

 

[wildeone]

first off, the shures will sound even muddier to you if you've grown accostumed to the etymotics.... that said, i own both the e5's and the er-4p's and love both of them for different music/moods. the clarity of the etys, the viseral bass of the shures.... sigh. pure heaven.

to answer your question, most likely the culprit is compression. what are you importing your songs at and which compression format are you using? the shures are far less forgiving (read: sensitive) to bad encoding.... i recommend nothing less than 320 AAC. see if that helps.

 

[danieltuen]

The sources you are using may differ the sound~

 

[irvin59]

I think your problem is quite common. That's why so many people go on to sensaphonics or UE. My experience with the E5c is that the foamies give the most open sound.

 

[countach]

Hi, I had an experience almost like yours, but with my Westone UM2, (read the link in my sig.).

UM2 and E5 are pretty similar, if not the same

, both have 2 drivers and so.

I note an extreme sibilance and saturation in my UM2 midrange, even I was near to exchange them, but I discover a type of equalization that fixed everything, makin the mids perfect (ehem, not as perfect as my ex-Shure E3, I have to admit), but the highs almost like the E4 (compared A/B with them) and the enormeus amount of bass perfectly located in its place.

So, play with the EQ, (And the tips, too, in fact, tips affect the sound in a similar way than EQing...)


And now, folks, allow me to explain him in our languaje, as I've seen that he is from Madrid, too:
Pues nada, a ver si hay suerte y logras sacar el sonido de esos E5, que seguro que lo tienen, tu empieza a quitar medios y graves con el ecualizador y verás cómo sí. Haz click en el link de la firma, verás como mucha otra gente hizo lo mismo y flipó como yo...

 

[flopez]

Thanks, my friends.

To be completely honest, I have yet to test both pairs of IEM's in my home rig. This will eliminate any compression-related matter, as the Meridian 596 is usually considered as a "good" source, and as it is also capable of reproducing MP3 I can do some interesting tests... And also I can compare with my vintage AKG K-340, just for curiosity (those are not very portable...)

On the other hand, the chances to play with the EQ in the iPod are quite limited, and I have to say that I don't like equalizers very much, because as they help in someway they are also capable of doing very bad things with the phase and this tends to ruin the soundstage.

Anyway, tomorrow I will return to Spain, and hopefully I will be able to make some tersts with the IEM's and compare them to my reference speakers (B&W 801 mkIII). It is a so long time without sitting just to listen music...

Thanks again. I will post the results of the tests.

flopez