[fuzzy833]

Hi guys,

My first post/thread so hopefully you can help me

I've owned a Sony Walkman NWZ-A818 for about 6 months now and love it, but it's now time to upgrade my headphones. I'm happy to splash out a fair amount of cash for some good ones and have narrowed it down to the Shure SE420's and the Sennheiser IE8's.

Please give me your thoughts...I listen mainly to ambience/prog-rock and also a fair bit of metal and trance...so basically i'm looking for some very good alrounders. Unfortunately my player doesn't support lossless format so i'm listening mainly to 320kbs MP3.

Your guidance is much appreciated.

 

[mukulymn]

please specify ur music taste..........wht kinda music u like
wht kinda sound u like
eg bright,muddy,balanced

both shure se420 and sennheiser ie8 r quite different earphones and all depends upon wht kinda sound u like

 

[ZARIM]

SE420 Has better midrange clarity than IE8 with good bass and good highs. Sennheiser IE8 has warm soundsignature with good high and punchy bass. So if you like to listen more details in music with better isolation(than IE8) then SE420 is good choice but it won't be fun sounding as IE8 and these(IE8) are great IEMs which shows enough detailes in music but overall very warm fun sounding and has good punchy bass.

 

[rock&rollfrenchfries]

based on your music tastes i would recommend against the 420. also i would see if you can rockbox your walkman so you can play lossless.

another factor against the 420 is that they like to be amped. not that they need it. but to know that your 420's are being all they can be you would want one of those too.

 

[fuzzy833]

OK many thanks guys

I was leaning towards the IE8's to be honest.

Oh and what do you mean by "rockbox"? I would love to play lossless whilst out and about...if neccessary I can also buy a new portable player.

As for my taste..well I said in my initial post what I like..but I guess I want my music to be fully immersive...i'm not fully concerned about accuracy but I would like a lot of depth and emotion. Sorry if that is unclear..not sure how to explain.

 

[rock&rollfrenchfries]

i dont hate my se420's. but for the price (i paid 180 plus 10 shipping) they did not impress me.

 

[rock&rollfrenchfries]

check out the website rockbox.org and see if they have a firmware for your walkman model.

 

[puhn]

Try SE530, it's like 270$ on Amazon.
I personally liked the IE8, because of its warmth tone & soft high.

SE420 is not that "Awesome"

 

[fuzzy833]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock&rollfrenchfries /img/forum/go_quote.gif check out the website rockbox.org and see if they have a firmware for your walkman model.

Ok thanks. To be honest, if i'm going to start using lossless audio (which I would like to) I would probably need a new portable player because mine is only 8GB. Hmmmm..

 

[fuzzy833]

Well guys I just ordered the IE8..by far the most money I have ever spent on headphones! I guess next I should be buying a portable player to make the most of it! Thanks for your input...hopefully they blow me away.

 

[rock&rollfrenchfries]

does your player take a sd card? if so you could put a 16gb in there. (with rockbox that is...).

 

[james444]

AFAIK there are few people able to distinguish 320kbs mp3 from lossless in a blind test. I have tried it and found that with most recordings I can't - and much less so when I'm on the move. Therefore I would recommend trying out whether you're among them before you spend money to go lossless.

 

[fuzzy833]

Ok thanks again. Would it be worth getting an amp to go with my nwz-a818 and newly purchase IE8's? I'm completely new to this. Trust me, i love music as much as it's possible to love music so i'm willing to spend some money...I just don't know what i'm doing when it comes to hi-tech audio.

 

[rock&rollfrenchfries]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuzzy833 /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK many thanks guys As for my taste..well I said in my initial post what I like..but I guess I want my music to be fully immersive...i'm not fully concerned about accuracy but I would like a lot of depth and emotion. Sorry if that is unclear..not sure how to explain.

it couldn't be much more clear than this. this statement basically says (i want the ie8 and not the 420). you nailed it

 

[fuzzy833]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock&rollfrenchfries /img/forum/go_quote.gif it couldn't be much more clear than this. this statement basically says (i want the ie8 and not the 420). you nailed it

well this makes me very happy because they are on the way