i was think of doing this for a long time , but i was hesitating a bit , cuz these guys lacks weight on their own , brands not much people care about , at least as earphones . but they have good track records in my opinion at least . philips , panasonic , cowon soundmagic have some good basic earphone to start with . not over $20 . but some of them worth more then their price tag . and this can be a good entry level shoot out .
featuring two of the most basic entry level giants , she 3580 and rp-hje 120 . have to audition them again . cuz im a bit busy with my xba-3 now , and the es10 is burning in , reviews took a while for some private reasons . i am really sorry to keep you guys waiting .
after failing to post it due to my awesome electric connection , i am not in a mood to do a detailed review . still it will be good enough . if you have more to ask , please go ahead .
click on the pics to have a good look . not the best of pic but manageable .
she 3590 :-
these are the brothers of she 3580 and she 3570 , these are she 3590 , comes with similar box , similar package , just 3 size ear tips , nothing changed accept the name , the main question is , do these sound the same ? yes they sound nearly the same with a bit bigger bass , longer decay time , and a bit less detailed highs .
comes with similar cable too , at first the ear piece looked a bit different but cant find any . isolation is good , tangle prone cable , microphonics is high too . dont bother to buy this if you have a she3580/3570 . lags frames at times . wont say it is better then the older brothers . but are good to start with and is recommended for those who love bass and dont want to compromise much with the over all spectrum . lacks strain reliever at earphone end .
she 3580 :-
these are one of my fav earphones , she 3580 , these are just for comparison .
soundmagic es10 :-
soundmagic es10 , just one thing . burn burn , burn rightly burn burn . difficult to say where these stand in soundmaigc line up , cuz these are from es series , just $11 but more then the higher numbered es18 which is mare $9, the shirt clip is missing too . it looks like pl11 , and has a 10 mm driver like the es 18 , pl 11 has 9 mm .
this earphone dont sound like pl11 at all , bass is lean lacks the punch too , highs are harsh , just like the es 18 at start . burned for 50 hrs and more but , i didnt see major changes , the bass grew a bit but still not good , mids are good but feels hollow at times . high is as it was , harsh and fatiguing . the cable is good as always . rarely lagged frames . but not fun at all . this will do good for those who want earphones which dont have a colored sound sig .
these are only recommended to those who want detailed highs supporting mids and mild amount of bass . the build is good , the fit is good too .
soundmagic es18 :-
the famous es 18 , the red cable i think is for swag . i love it , just awesome , its just like my ultimate ears ue 400 with just a bit less body and quiet less bass but still got good bass . ( bass has grown and sound is bass dominated ) and yes there is a pouch in a $9 earphone's pack , where as my friends hifiman re 262 were lacking any thing like a carry pouch or case . the build is also not bad , not fragile at all , there are some complains about durability .
have to say , its the best of the lot , bass grew bigger with 75 hrs of burn in , nice and enough amount of bass , really awesome mids and im impressed by the upper mid too . highs are a bit harsh at times but still not hurting at all . cable is better then many . the cable color is a eye candy , to me at least . cable is nice and not tangle prone . at first had some comfort issues , but now with sony hybrids , its good . never lagged frames . better cable then philips and ep series .
and this is recommended for every one , and specially new comers .
soundmiagic pl21 :-
there are better guys who have reviewed it so im not doing it again , these are for comparison only . $16 , cable clip and carry pouch . sound is not bad. but still behind the hje-120 and es18 . cable is good , cable clip is not removable , tangles but not much . the best thing is the small cute box it comes in . lacks quiet a bit of detail .
cowon ce1 :-
there is rarely any review of these , so i decided to do it . nothing come along with these , cuz cowon wants to sell a specific product nothing is free from them , like apple . even the j3 lacks a good earphone , the ce1 lacks everything accept the useless ear tips ( to get isolation i had to use ue tips ) . the only best thing is the cable , thickest of the lot , till the cable splits . cable tangles but not tangle prone at all .difficult to distinguish the right and left earpiece . and tangles at times .
the sound is good and the sig is bass heavy , but the main trouble was fit . i had bad isolation and struggled to keep the earphone inside . i had to try different tips and found the ue black tips giving best isolation for these . the earpiece size is huge , and the insertion depth is short .
sound is good with big bass , good enough to take on bass monsters like ep600 and meelec m9 . but the decay is better then many cheap bass phones and keeps up with the speed . but is not as good as es18 .
mid is okay but takes the back seat , highs are acceptable but the bass dominates the music signature , not to say lacks details when compared to es18 . cant take on the es18 or hje-120 .
creative ep600 :-
these are the ep600 , just under the ep630 and over ep430 , but i prefer these over the ep630 .
exactly same with the ep630 , going no where at all . same huge bass , okay mids , and blunt highs but good for bass heads and those who dont like highs . the sound stage is small .
good for bass heads , lags frames at times , what you want from a $10 earphone ? same old cable too . tangle prone . lacks detail .
jbl tempo :-
any one wants to hate a earphone ? your welcome to the jbl tempo . cheap make , cheap box , cheap cable , useless pouch which feels like made of t-shirt material . but sounds good . the sound sig is like the ce1 , with just a bit lesser amount of bass and better highs , mid takes the back seat and has good detail , highs lacks detail but peaks at times . it hurts after some time and the fit is a bit annoying . the big shell is annoying cuz i like deep insertion .and the isolation is not good . the cable tangles at times . the build is not good but not bad .
i dont like it at all , keep the audio quality apart , it comes to comfort and this is the least comfortable , even worse then the ce1 . a bit smaller ear bud design will do good . the cable looks cheap and it makes me angry at times , i tried to break the cable once . i will say go for ce1 if you can . just forget it , unless you are getting it for less then $10 .
the boxes . the black she 3590 not even out of the box . stay in there you dracula , i will wake you up when your brother is down .
hje-355 :-
no , dont worry , these are the hje-355 .
here it is , a million dollar question . the panasonic has a 10.7 mm driver , and all of the others in the above two pics have 10 mm driver , even if ce1 and jbl tempo have 10 mm drivers they are huge , and dont have good isolation when compared to others too . the question is , dose the hje-355 really have a 10.7 mm driver ? cuz its really small . the ce1 could have a bigger driver easily , jbl could have a 12 mm driver .the hje-355 is one of my fav under $20 phones , easy going , awesome fit , really nice cable and tiny earpieces . build is simple and good . the stock tips were bad , so replaced them with sony hybrids .
bass is controlled , not boomy or muddy and will not please bass heads at all , doesnt go deep down the spectrum , dont move much air , but still enough to keep you seated , bass dont have much details , and the decay is not the best in class , mids are the best part , nicely forward , vocal mids are a hair less detailed but still good , and icing on the cake is a good complementing rounded sound stage , instrument separation is good too , i had bad experiences with panasonic hje-240 , it was crooked perhaps , may be phased-out it was , but i hated it , after that i was not feeling easy while buying hje-355 , price dont matter , but space does , im running out of storage space .
i missed the highs , highs is what makes a phone complete , many out there have plenty of bass , okay mids but absent highs , but the 355 has some easy going highs which comes up only when required , you can call it blunt , lacks a bit of spark still not life less , awesome sound sig , mid dominates the spectrum , a bit dark and laid back sound sign .
so far one of the best phone , with awesome cable , build and sound . lags a bit at high speed music .
isolation is good , and microphonics is quiet low due to soft rubber cable .
she 3680 :-
thats the ety er-4p box .
brother big these are of the she 3580 , ( i may upload another pic ) , these phones are really beautiful , comes with a small box , but i lost it , only other thing in the box are 2 more pair of ear tips , there is a cable slider too , i like these small things , it makes phones feel complete . the cable is rubberized but has some microphonics to it , no stress relievers at the earphone end . nice and strong build .
bass is better then hje-355 , decay is a hair better then she 3580 , may not please bass heads but not bad at all , extension at the bottom is not bad , but nothing to write home about , moves avg amount of air and has enough detail to it , mids are clear but dont have a good sound stage like hje 355 to complement it , instrument separation is good but not best in class . highs are really nice and contains enough details to keep you entertained . here you get the sparkling highs .
the sound sig is not as smooth as the hje-355 but not bad , dark , a bit bothering after long hours , comfort is good but not best . as a all rounder its an awesome phones , dont lag , have a good sound , every part of the spectrum is taken good care . just the microphonics is a point to bother about .
ue200 :- ( logitech )
this guy can swim , but your player may not like water that much .
keep no doubts , tested by myself , i used to ware them at my bathtub . rally awesome build , low microphonics , comes with a good size carry box , and 6 set of ear tips with 5 different sizes to fit ever ear . no stress relievers at the 3.5mm connector end . but the build of this earphone is really nice .
bass is lean , just like hje-355 , its just like the hje 355 , with a bit warmer sound sig , smaller sound stage , forward mids and highs , the over all sound sig is mid and high end dominated , not harsh at all , bit blunt highs but still sparky . forward mids but vocal mids are a bit down .
and these guys have awesome isolation , fantastic is what these guys deserve , better then most of the entry level phones .
there are complaints of driver flex , if that comes up with you , ue should replace it , but at most of the cases they may not .
creative ep630 :-
i have no shame in admitting , that these were one of my first in ear earphones along with cx400 .
bigger bass . not controlled , flatter sound stage like a pizza box , mids are just okay , vocals are below par , highs are nearly missing .
bass goes deep , moves good amount of air , there is a mid bass hump . bass lacks texture , detail and a bit boomy .
mids have a back seat , instruments are not separable , but not bad , if you are a casual listener , its okay . lacks details .
voice dont crack but not crisp , highs are just hanging at the door . smooth but you know what is smooth for highs .
( highs are safe in the cold decay . j3 transmitting but , its lost in the way . linkin park effect may be )
the best thing is the sound sig , its warm still dark and the notes are thickest in this price range . that affects decay time .
ep-630 cant take fast paced music like trance and house , but its still is good for the price . cant handle high volume .
its the best easy going and acceptable phone around for nearly every one , who likes bass , the sound sig is really pleasing .
i will add some later , as memorex ie400 , she 3500 , hje-355 , hje-140 , and may be a ear pump pro .
i droped the she3500 , it was a es10 from philips .
till then take care , dont use earphones while driving . peace .
watch this pace , will add at least five more . any demands ? no skullcandy please .
