[vikaskoth]

I have some E3's that I use all the time, but I was looking to upgrade. At first I was looking to upgrade to the SE 420's but found e500's at a good price online.

After looking through some threads some people said e500's were noisy or not that good when used with an ipod and some said there were just fine. Can any e500 owners tell me how theirs sound when using an ipod or other mp3 players?
(I have a Creative Zen Touch 40gb)

 

[xedan 3rG DtNx]

E500s do great with my MP3 player. If you are worried about the cable (Mircophonics and positioning), then I would reccomend the E5's. As long as its lossless, it sounds good.

 

[vikaskoth]

i have all sorts of different quality for the mp3s i have 128-192, or variable. I can tell the difference with my e3's. I was doing some more searching, and I was just worried about this hiss that some ipod users were getting. I also noticed that the hiss complaint seems to be only with ipods.

 

[xedan 3rG DtNx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vikaskoth /img/forum/go_quote.gif i have all sorts of different quality for the mp3s i have 128-192, or variable. I can tell the difference with my e3's. I was doing some more searching, and I was just worried about this hiss that some ipod users were getting. I also noticed that the hiss complaint seems to be only with ipods.

I get the hiss when my MP3 charges, and out of my computer (Direct soundcard, which I NEVER use). I dont get it with my MP3 player when its not charging though.

 

[mkozlows]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vikaskoth /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was just worried about this hiss that some ipod users were getting. I also noticed that the hiss complaint seems to be only with ipods.

It's hissy out of my iRiver, too. The quick and easy fix is to hook up the volume control inline, turn the volume down enough to eliminate the hiss, and turn the volume on the player up to compensate.

 

[nfsu]

If I were you, I'd take SE420. Zen Touch have cold, analytical sound and E500 are also quite cold (not as cold as E3 though). Zen Micro (which sound really similar to Touch) doesn't sound good with E500. However, if you like cold sound, this set will meet your needs.
E500s hiss with everything

However, I don't understand people who are writing about hissing iPod. iPods (except Shuffle) don't produce much hiss. When I was listening Iriver IFP with E500, hiss was really disturbing, but on iPod hiss is quiet...

 

[vikaskoth]

Is the hiss noticeable while listening to songs or only, on pause? I found a site that sells e500 for 330, and the se420 would be 350 new. So the price on the e500 just seems too good to pass up.

 

[Spyro]

???

SE 420? That's not even available for a few more months yet, is it? Has anyone even seen a review on this dual driver IEM?

 

[GravY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nfsu /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I were you, I'd take SE420. Zen Touch have cold, analytical sound and E500 are also quite cold (not as cold as E3 though). Zen Micro (which sound really similar to Touch) doesn't sound good with E500. However, if you like cold sound, this set will meet your needs. E500s hiss with everything However, I don't understand people who are writing about hissing iPod. iPods (except Shuffle) don't produce much hiss. When I was listening Iriver IFP with E500, hiss was really disturbing, but on iPod hiss is quiet...

what do you mean by cold sound for the E500's???

Zune has Zero hiss with E500's..

 

[verticalforce]

My cheap samsung have zero hiss with E500. I've tried listening real hard, still can't find the hiss.

Hisses like hell from my pc though.

 

[Lord Chaos]

E500s are sensitive to hiss. It's not the fault of the headphones, but of noisy electronics driving them. My Squeezebox and my Powerbook both had noticeable hiss when using the E500, so I solved the problem by going to offboard DACs. Good headphones are going to show faults like this: a headphone that responds well to cymbals and other high-frequency music are also going to respond to hiss in the amplifier.

My Archos AV-500 has a good headphone amp. I don't notice hiss. What I do get is hard-drive spin-up noise when it reads more music from the disk.

I like the E500 a lot. They just want good associated electronics. I've never used an Ipod so don't know anything about their sound quality.

 

[frescagod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vikaskoth /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is the hiss noticeable while listening to songs or only, on pause? I found a site that sells e500 for 330, and the se420 would be 350 new. So the price on the e500 just seems too good to pass up.

honestly, unless you're sitting in your home at 2am with no sounds at all around you, and you're listening to some chopin nocturnes, then you will notice the hiss.

if you're in what i suspect is the vast majority of people here who listen to pop, rock, rap, etc, you won't notice hiss when the music is playing. in the 1-2 seconds in between songs, you might, but who honestly cares about that enough to carry the attenuator around with you?

btw, i have a 3rd gen 20gig iPod and a 2nd gen 8gb iPod nano. hiss is worse out of the nano, but sound quality out of iPods (shuffle excluded) leaves a lot to be desired anyway.

 

[Spookykinkajou]

I use a nano 8gb and a 5g video ipod and the hiss was noticeable while music was playing only if it was very quiet and I was in a quiet environment. I would not worry about hiss unless you are OC

an amp removes it fine but besides that I never saw the benefit of an amp with an IEM. the added bulk is simply not worth it, imo.

Also, in my opinion, you do not need to have only lossless music to enjoy an IEM like the e500. 320 is perfectly acceptable and I would not be suprised if slightly lower like 256 is fine too.

That said, I no longer own the e500 and would not recommend them to any of my friends for one big reason. The cable. the cable sucks. it's heavy, bulky, and does not seat behind the ear well. the boat anchor connection in the middle makes it even worse especially if you are planning on walking around very often.

I highly recommend looking elsewhere...perhaps the new shure have different cables...

 

[Spookykinkajou]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Chaos /img/forum/go_quote.gif E500s are sensitive to hiss. It's not the fault of the headphones, but of noisy electronics driving them. My Squeezebox and my Powerbook both had noticeable hiss when using the E500, so I solved the problem by going to offboard DACs. Good headphones are going to show faults like this: a headphone that responds well to cymbals and other high-frequency music are also going to respond to hiss in the amplifier. My Archos AV-500 has a good headphone amp. I don't notice hiss. What I do get is hard-drive spin-up noise when it reads more music from the disk. I like the E500 a lot. They just want good associated electronics. I've never used an Ipod so don't know anything about their sound quality.

*edit* oops, think i misread slightly

You were using the headphone out on the sb...i never tried that. sorry for any confusion! Do try the sb with an amp though...it sounds amazing with full sized cans.
*end edit*

I disagree. The squeezebox does hiss terribly with the e500 and an amp(i used the tomahawk) but have you tried the squeezebox and the same amp with some nice full sized headphones(i used dt990 '05)??

There is no hiss and the sound is amazing.

The IEM is simply more sensitive and it is not related to the quality of the electronics.

I tried the e500 on my corda aria, which most here would probably say is very high quality, and it sounded awful.

 

[apnk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spookykinkajou /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use a nano 8gb and a 5g video ipod and the hiss was noticeable while music was playing only if it was very quiet and I was in a quiet environment. I would not worry about hiss unless you are OC an amp removes it fine but besides that I never saw the benefit of an amp with an IEM. the added bulk is simply not worth it, imo. Also, in my opinion, you do not need to have only lossless music to enjoy an IEM like the e500. 320 is perfectly acceptable and I would not be suprised if slightly lower like 256 is fine too. That said, I no longer own the e500 and would not recommend them to any of my friends for one big reason. The cable. the cable sucks. it's heavy, bulky, and does not seat behind the ear well. the boat anchor connection in the middle makes it even worse especially if you are planning on walking around very often. I highly recommend looking elsewhere...perhaps the new shure have different cables...

I agree with spooky on most things. An amp imo does not "improve" iems it just changes the sound sig slightly. I owned a Tomahawk and own a MisterX Xp amp, the toma was more neutral and the Xp is more bassy and fun. I never really heard any more detail like others say, just a different way the music is presented. Both are great amps btw.

Also the cable has to be broken in, mine was the same way, never sat well in the back of my ears. Now they are nice in curved like if it had memory wire in it. Yes I hate to boat anchor in the middle as well.