Sennheiser CX500 vs. Etymotic ER6i
Jul 14, 2008 at 10:11 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16

aj_brown_99

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After surfing around on this forum for quite some time, I joined just recently.

A few months ago, my CX300s broke after my brother stepped on them, and now I am looking for a new pair of IEMs that are one step up from the 300s.

I listen to mostly trance/techno (justice, daft punk) and rock (metallica, disturbed, red hot chili peppers). These would be for use mostly with my cowon D2, so the amount of base in the headphones is not a big issue, since the D2 has incredibly good EQ and bass adjustment options. What I am really looking for is good sound quality and comfort, since I already know that both of the phones will give me all I need in terms of isolation.

I am also open to other options, but the CX500 and ER6i are my two serious contenders at the moment. Let me know what you think.
 
Jul 14, 2008 at 11:10 PM Post #2 of 16
Well, the CX500 and ER6i are completely opposite in terms of sound signature. The CX500 is very bassy and muddy, where the ER6i is very analytical, focusing on the high end and mid range instead of the low end, bass areas. As much as i love them, i cannot reccomend the ER6is unamped to anyone who listens to trance/techno, no matter how good your EQ is. If you have an amp, The ER6 is by far the better contender. BTW what is your price range for this buy? Without that, its hard to recommend anything else.
 
Jul 14, 2008 at 11:21 PM Post #3 of 16
My price range is probably around $80-100 (I know both those phones MSRP for more than that but they are available on the net for a lot less than MSRP).

By saying that the CX500s are muddy, do you mean that the bass is unclear? I do not have an amp, and am not looking to shell out more $ for one so I don't think the ER6 is a good option.
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 12:09 AM Post #4 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by aj_brown_99 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
My price range is probably around $80-100 (I know both those phones MSRP for more than that but they are available on the net for a lot less than MSRP).

By saying that the CX500s are muddy, do you mean that the bass is unclear? I do not have an amp, and am not looking to shell out more $ for one so I don't think the ER6 is a good option.



The Head-Direct RE2 for $100 looks fantastic in this range.
Or the Denon c551's for more bass@~$67 on Amazon.

So it's either:

Better highs, less bass, wider soundstage, more anylitical (RE2)
or
great accurate tight bass for the cash (DnB @ 6 on Mach3Bass on the D2 =
smily_headphones1.gif
), narrower soundstage, not as good highs as RE2 = Denon c551.

Both great options.

Both are far better than the MX500.
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 12:42 AM Post #5 of 16
Thanks for the input. By now i've pretty much realized that the CX500s and the ER6 or ER6i are not for me (the Etys have too little bass, and I have heard too many bad things about the Senns).

The Denons sound like a good option, but I have also heard tons of good things about Crossroads Mylarone X3 which are around $70, but are said to be better than most headphones at twice the price. Can anyone make any suggestions on either the Denon c551 or the Crossroads Mylarone X3 (aka Mylarthree)?

EDIT: After looking further into the head-direct RE2, they look even better than the Denons because of their better overall sound quality, but do you think that the bass will be sufficient (keep in mind that my Cowon can pump up the bass quite a bit)?

Thanks
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 12:43 AM Post #6 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by aj_brown_99 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Thanks for the input. By now i've pretty much realized that the CX500s and the ER6 or ER6i are not for me (the Etys have too little bass, and I have heard too many bad things about the Senns).

The Denons sound like a good option, but I have also heard tons of good things about Crossroads Mylarone X3 which are around $70, but are said to be better than most headphones at twice the price. Can anyone make any suggestions on either the Denon c551 or the Crossroads Mylarone X3 (aka Mylarthree)?

Thanks



For the type of music you listen to, I'd go the Denons.

Also the Mylar3's will break sooner rather than later. (i.e. build quality's not too good at all)
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 1:34 AM Post #8 of 16
AJ, the RE2's are better than the Denon for overall SQ but the RE2 are light on bass. I've tried both the RE2's and c551's with Mach3Bass on DnB music and bvasically you have to ramp up the Mach3Bass +4 for the RE2's. I use +6 setting for trance/DnB music and +3 for electropop/hip-hop with the Denon c551's (i.e it would be max for DnB and +6 for electropop/hip-hop for the RE2's). Those are my preferences anyway. I would say the bass is slightly more accurate on the RE2's (both are quite accurate in terms of bass) but Denons just pump out far more of it, but it isn't bloated like the CX300's and is actually accurate tight deep bass.
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 1:57 AM Post #9 of 16
Thanks a lot, Kiwi. What you told me about your D2 settings really helps. Right now I am leaning towards the RE2's because for the same price, I can have better SQ overall, with comparable bass, since I don't mind cranking up the bass on my cowon. Is that right, or at full bass on the RE2's will I still not reach desirable levels for mt listening?
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 2:00 AM Post #10 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by aj_brown_99 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Thanks a lot, Kiwi. What you told me about your D2 settings really helps. Right now I am leaning towards the RE2's because for the same price, I can have better SQ overall, with comparable bass, since I don't mind cranking up the bass on my cowon. Is that right, or at full bass on the RE2's will I still not reach desirable levels for mt listening?


The RE2's I've found can't reach the amount of bass (even with the max Mach3Bass setting) the Denon's can at around 6.

The RE2's however are better for sound quality.
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 11:43 AM Post #11 of 16
I thought you were talking about cx-500 and not cx-300? AFAIK i don't really see bad things for cx-500. only boomy but i dont think it's muddy. I have cx-400 but they're definitely not muddy. And since you're going for bass. you just have to go for cx-500. they're good at bass but not as good as atrio m5( assumption from other people who has owned both) I have the cx-400 and they reach low enough to feel the resonance of drums and they're definitely good for your trance. the lows don't overpower the mids and highs.
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 2:01 PM Post #12 of 16
Got the CX400 today, and i dont think they are muddy at all. Ide say they have a comfortable signature, and good isolation (compared to my sonys).
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 9:07 PM Post #13 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by ljcii /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I thought you were talking about cx-500 and not cx-300? AFAIK i don't really see bad things for cx-500. only boomy but i dont think it's muddy. I have cx-400 but they're definitely not muddy. And since you're going for bass. you just have to go for cx-500. they're good at bass but not as good as atrio m5( assumption from other people who has owned both) I have the cx-400 and they reach low enough to feel the resonance of drums and they're definitely good for your trance. the lows don't overpower the mids and highs.


Better (and cheaper) options such as the Denon c551's.....

There's a difference between quantity of bass and quality of bass.
Portable headphones are also maybe a better option.
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 10:11 PM Post #14 of 16
The CX500s are no longer on my list though because for less money you can supposedly get much better phones.

I am proud to say that I have gone against a bunch of your guys' advice and bought the head-direct RE2s. I think I can put up with slightly less bass, but at a higher quality, and I also have read that the RE2s are great SQ all around for the money, whereas the Denons have nothing going for them except for a lot of bass (I read that the highs are almost non-existant and the lows and mids are ok quality).

Anyways, thank you all for your help in my decisions (especially chinesekiwi) - if it weren't for you guys I might have spent more on worse headphones, just because I hadn't heard of the Head-Direct or Denon ones.
 
Jul 15, 2008 at 10:19 PM Post #15 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by aj_brown_99 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
whereas the Denons have nothing going for them except for a lot of bass (I read that the highs are almost non-existant and the lows and mids are ok quality).


I wouldn't say that. Sure it's got less highs than the RE2's but it doesn't mean it's non-existant. I've heard headphones with non-existant highs and Denon's, although weaker at highs than the RE2's, are far from non-existant.
 

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