Convergence
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2011
- Posts
- 19
- Likes
- 12
I've always just used cheap open-style ear phones, and thought that they were "good enough". Just recently, I decided to splurge a bit and buy the ex310's. I know that on these forums, these are considered very low-end IEMs, but they rocked my world!
First of all, I've never had the closed type ear buds before. I was shocked by what I describe as the "intimate" sound that the seal creates. The world is gone, and I feel like I am deeply involved with the music. On the other hand, I felt like these phones were imbalanced, and I was being severely short changed in the treble department. To my (inexperienced) ears, the bass is fantastic and detailed, while the highs were almost non-existent. I mostly listen to fast music (punk, metal) but enjoy all kinds, and it seems to me that for lack of better words, these IEMs can't "keep up" with some of the speedier music.
Feeling like I wanted more, I went out and bought a pair of klipsch s4's. I wasn't impressed at all. I hated the cables (the Sonys non-porous j-cord cables are way better) and they didn't sound anywhere near as nice as the ex310's to me. I should reserve judgement however until my comply foam tips show up, as I definitely couldn't get a good seal with the tiny, flimsy tips that came with the s4's.
So I feel like a new world has opened up for me. I know that the ex310s are nothing compared to many other IEMs out there, and I want to experience more!
Now on to the questions:
1. I'm very curious about custom builds. It seems that there are different classes of "custom". There are the high-end types that the entire IEM is custom built from the ground up around your ears, including where the drivers are placed inside the IEM. Then there are IEMs that are designed for the masses, but you can have custom tips fitted for your ears. Are there big performance differences between these two different types? Also, I've seen tutorials on how to make your own custom tips; can these tips compare with the professional custom tips?
2. So, I love my ex310s and I know that there are much better IEMs out there, but for example: the ex1000's are many times more expensive than the 310s. Are the differences in sound quality between the different classes subtle improvements that only audiophiles can appreciate, or is it a more drastic difference that will blow anyone away?
3.Terminology questions: I'm a skeptical person by nature, and I have a hard time swallowing certain descriptors that people use. For instance: Soundstage. With my (admittedly pedestrian) understanding of how positional audio perception works it seems impossible for an IEM alone to make much of a difference in how far your ears percieve an instrument to be. I just read the wikipedia article on "sound localization" and it seems to support my skepticism. I'm sure that how a track is mastered could make a difference in this department, or maybe some kind of audio processing in your portable music player could alter this perception, but it just seems impossible to me. Does anyone have an explanation for how this is possible?
Also the words "timbre" and "accuracy" are confusing to me. They should be very closely related, or at least it should be considered impossible for a device to be considered "accurate" unless it replicates the instrument's natural timbre. How can a device be considered accurate unless it is able to replicate the timbre? I can see how maybe a device is good at recreating the tone or note of an instrument, but not the timbre, or vice versa, maybe this is what is meant on these forums. It seems to me that because BA drivers are generally more "agile" (my own term) than DD's they would be able to recreate an instrument's timbre a little better. True?
Enough with the questions! I hope that my skepticism isn't viewed as inflammatory. I genuinely want to understand what you guys are talking about, and I just have a hard time understanding in light of my (again, pedestrian) understanding of audio perception.
PS:
I'm considering forking over big bucks (to me anyway) for either the w4 or the ex1000 (the sony build is very appealing to me as well as the sound, but I think the the w4's would be better suited to my need for speed). But I might hold out for some customs.
First of all, I've never had the closed type ear buds before. I was shocked by what I describe as the "intimate" sound that the seal creates. The world is gone, and I feel like I am deeply involved with the music. On the other hand, I felt like these phones were imbalanced, and I was being severely short changed in the treble department. To my (inexperienced) ears, the bass is fantastic and detailed, while the highs were almost non-existent. I mostly listen to fast music (punk, metal) but enjoy all kinds, and it seems to me that for lack of better words, these IEMs can't "keep up" with some of the speedier music.
Feeling like I wanted more, I went out and bought a pair of klipsch s4's. I wasn't impressed at all. I hated the cables (the Sonys non-porous j-cord cables are way better) and they didn't sound anywhere near as nice as the ex310's to me. I should reserve judgement however until my comply foam tips show up, as I definitely couldn't get a good seal with the tiny, flimsy tips that came with the s4's.
So I feel like a new world has opened up for me. I know that the ex310s are nothing compared to many other IEMs out there, and I want to experience more!
Now on to the questions:
1. I'm very curious about custom builds. It seems that there are different classes of "custom". There are the high-end types that the entire IEM is custom built from the ground up around your ears, including where the drivers are placed inside the IEM. Then there are IEMs that are designed for the masses, but you can have custom tips fitted for your ears. Are there big performance differences between these two different types? Also, I've seen tutorials on how to make your own custom tips; can these tips compare with the professional custom tips?
2. So, I love my ex310s and I know that there are much better IEMs out there, but for example: the ex1000's are many times more expensive than the 310s. Are the differences in sound quality between the different classes subtle improvements that only audiophiles can appreciate, or is it a more drastic difference that will blow anyone away?
3.Terminology questions: I'm a skeptical person by nature, and I have a hard time swallowing certain descriptors that people use. For instance: Soundstage. With my (admittedly pedestrian) understanding of how positional audio perception works it seems impossible for an IEM alone to make much of a difference in how far your ears percieve an instrument to be. I just read the wikipedia article on "sound localization" and it seems to support my skepticism. I'm sure that how a track is mastered could make a difference in this department, or maybe some kind of audio processing in your portable music player could alter this perception, but it just seems impossible to me. Does anyone have an explanation for how this is possible?
Also the words "timbre" and "accuracy" are confusing to me. They should be very closely related, or at least it should be considered impossible for a device to be considered "accurate" unless it replicates the instrument's natural timbre. How can a device be considered accurate unless it is able to replicate the timbre? I can see how maybe a device is good at recreating the tone or note of an instrument, but not the timbre, or vice versa, maybe this is what is meant on these forums. It seems to me that because BA drivers are generally more "agile" (my own term) than DD's they would be able to recreate an instrument's timbre a little better. True?
Enough with the questions! I hope that my skepticism isn't viewed as inflammatory. I genuinely want to understand what you guys are talking about, and I just have a hard time understanding in light of my (again, pedestrian) understanding of audio perception.
PS:
I'm considering forking over big bucks (to me anyway) for either the w4 or the ex1000 (the sony build is very appealing to me as well as the sound, but I think the the w4's would be better suited to my need for speed). But I might hold out for some customs.
