[DestradoImpulse]

First and foremost I'm going to use this on a 3G 120GB Zune listening to jazz, trance, jungle, and rap most of the time with indie rock and alternative sporadically. I know that these two products have a balanced sound spectrum but jungle and rap sound so much better with it being bassy.

Various threads have stated that SE530s are excellent IEMs un-amped but likewise I've read that IEMs will always leave something to be desired in the bass department. It's either I get the SE310 with an amp (Mini^3) for ~$325 total or get the SE530 also within that price range.

How much of a difference is it between the both of them in terms of bass and how much of a difference would there be between a SE310 with or without an amp?

Or better yet, how about the SE420 with an amp? It'll stretch out all of this to $375 but the idea will be humored for now.

Thanks in advance.

 

[scytheavatar]

An amp isn't going to make a tremendous difference, its effects are more than significant, but at the end of the day there's no way you can turn a SE310 into an Atrio M5. The shure offerings are not going to give you the bass to do jungle and rap well, so instead I'll recommend you to look into the Atrio M5 or the X10 that's at sales in the moment. With $375 you can also look into the new Senn IEMs too, a dynamic IEM is always going to give you more bass than an armature.

 

[ZarakiSan]

I'd skip Shure if I were you, as mentioned by scytheavatar. They just don't cut it in my opinion, and I've tried the E3, E5, and SE530, the latter for two months.

Instead, I got a pair of Ultimate Ears, and I can imagine those being too expensive for you to just run out to get. But the Triple.fi 10 is said to be a very good sounding IEM.

If you want to simply add bass once in a while, get a Fiio E3 or the new E5, both are going to make your Zune sound better for bassy music, and the E5 even has a non-maniac mode.

Apart from UE, The Westone 3's are finally available, I'd look into them as well if I were you.

 

[l1f35ux]

Amps can't give you that much different for IEM

 

[mark2410]

id go for the 530's, but then thats what i did, worth every penny oh and they have spades of bass so dont worry about there not being enough

 

[rickstalker]

E5c is better than shure se530? yesterday i got my e5c from the online shop lunashops which is located in china, in fact this is the second time for my order, the i find e5c is not so good as my image.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

id go for the 530's, but then thats what i did, worth every penny oh and they have spades of bass so dont worry about there not being enough

x2 for me. I've owned both an there was no way to improve the SE310s to that of the SE530s. I would recommend you also look into the SE535s. The issues of rolled off treble and compressed sound stage have been improved upon while still retaining that classic sound signature. Not to mention the construction is quite a bit more robust and reliable.

 

[mark2410]

 
Quote:

Quote:

id go for the 530's, but then thats what i did, worth every penny oh and they have spades of bass so dont worry about there not being enough

x2 for me. I've owned both an there was no way to improve the SE310s to that of the SE530s. I would recommend you also look into the SE535s. The issues of rolled off treble and compressed sound stage have been improved upon while still retaining that classic sound signature. Not to mention the construction is quite a bit more robust and reliable.

erm yes but back in 2008 the 535 wasnt an option for him

 

[Trysaeder]

It's worrying that people are considering an iem+amp combo rather than use the same money for a better iem.

 

[MaxwellDemon]

Quote:

It's worrying that people are considering an iem+amp combo rather than use the same money for a better iem.

Hate to post in an old thread... but I have to agree with this. However, with portable amps like the RSA Mustang and Meier Audio Stepdance... it is not surprising that they'd be misled into thinking that an amp could cover the extra ground.

 

[cardozo]

There is no formula or absolute truth in our audiophile world...

Let me give an example: I had an SE420 and I still have an SE530. While the SE530 is very difficult to work with an amplifier, the SE420 gain another life when correctly amplified, even competing with the SE530, whether amplified or not.
 
The thing becomes more a matter of taste than actually sound quality.

The SE420 is boring without amplification, but when properly amplified, lead to limit all his "hidden" qualities.
 
Cheers,
 
Peter
 
Quote:

Quote:

It's worrying that people are considering an iem+amp combo rather than use the same money for a better iem.

Hate to post in an old thread... but I have to agree with this. However, with portable amps like the RSA Mustang and Meier Audio Stepdance... it is not surprising that they'd be misled into thinking that an amp could cover the extra ground.

 

[MaxwellDemon]

Quote:

There is no formula or absolute truth in our audiophile world...

Let me give an example: I had an SE420 and I still have an SE530. While the SE530 is very difficult to work with an amplifier, the SE420 gain another life when correctly amplified, even competing with the SE530, whether amplified or not.
 
The thing becomes more a matter of taste than actually sound quality.

The SE420 is boring without amplification, but when properly amplified, lead to limit all his "hidden" qualities.
 
Cheers,
 
Peter

Some earphones do benefit from amping more than others... but I don't think that the SE420 compete with the SE530 even when amped. Alright, I have never heard either of those earphones, so... that'll just be my belief. However, judging from the difference between 425 and 535... even with the 425 amped, I don't think it beats the 535 (unamped) at all.
 
Of course, if you want to talk about taste and sound preferences... then that pretty much could be accounted to everything. I mean, people can like muddy bass over clear and tight bass.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

 
Quote:

Quote:

id go for the 530's, but then thats what i did, worth every penny oh and they have spades of bass so dont worry about there not being enough

x2 for me. I've owned both an there was no way to improve the SE310s to that of the SE530s. I would recommend you also look into the SE535s. The issues of rolled off treble and compressed sound stage have been improved upon while still retaining that classic sound signature. Not to mention the construction is quite a bit more robust and reliable.

erm yes but back in 2008 the 535 wasnt an option for him

I realize that....

...just updating him on some improvements.

 

[cardozo]

Preference is everything, for sure. Indeed, some users prefer the SE420 (SE425 now) to SE530 (SE535 today), although this is not my case, too.

I do not see serious problems with the SE420. What he has is a flat reproduction of the whole frequencies, unlike the SE530, which is excited mainly in the bass area and a little less in the treble. This is the headphone that causes the famous "WOW!" every time we listen. I also think that the SE420 is a little better in the  soundstage and in the reproduction of musical environment. The SE530 has a sound that could be more expansive.

If the listener would prefer a more linear reproduction and these characteristics are maximized for a good amplifier, surely the choice is the SE420, as the SE530 delivers a more excited, engaging, something fun and youthful sound.
 
Cheers,
 
Peter
 
Quote:

Some earphones do benefit from amping more than others... but I don't think that the SE420 compete with the SE530 even when amped. Alright, I have never heard either of those earphones, so... that'll just be my belief. However, judging from the difference between 425 and 535... even with the 425 amped, I don't think it beats the 535 (unamped) at all.
 
Of course, if you want to talk about taste and sound preferences... then that pretty much could be accounted to everything. I mean, people can like muddy bass over clear and tight bass.

 

[MaxwellDemon]

Indeed that preferences is everything. The fact that, in the end, I chose to own the 425 first before the 535 says that. However, if you want to only talk about preferences, that will just render all discussions, reviews, and ratings about earphones useless. Idealistically, we might as well stop all suggestion topics by saying that the topic creator should just audition all available earphones... but that is impossible. So, what we are trying to do is coming into some sort of consensus and eliminating some of the subjectivity in this hobby by discussing about it.
 
Here, I am saying, despite of my choice, I'll admit that 535 will still sound technically better than the 425 with the Stepdance. Is it my preference? No, it isn't from what I have heard from the 535. Does it technically perform better in all categories? Yes, in that case, it does.