[JohnSantana]

I'm really torn between the SE-535 CL Westone 4R and UE900 The UE900 is the most expensive option for me right now (The 535 + Westone can be had for much cheaper. Specifically the 4R). I currently have the SE-215. My ears are really sensitive to treble/sibalance. 

For the price, I'm thinking the Westone 4R sounds like my best bet. But I'm also afraid that it's a boring headphone (when I hear flat/neutral, I think bland). Then again, I love the SE-215, and I think those have a similiar sound? 

Yes, you should like the Westone 4R since it sounds great with or without amplification, depends on the Tips being used.

 

[itsmejulieeye]

I'm sorry but I honestly have to question why if your going to be using 128kbps mp3's would you need decent/ middle to high end IEM's ?
128kbps Mp3's will only sound as good as the Compression they lost after being encoded...

I myself own the 535Ltd Red's & IMHO if I listen to an MP3 Encoded at 320kbps it annoys me so I cannot imagine how bad a 128kbps Encoded MP3 would sound, probably like 3 cats fighting inside a trash can TBH.

I would just buy your self some Shure SE 200 series IEM's or something around the £100/ $75 mark because if 128kbps is going to be your main feed (It's what I've read you mention a few times in this thread) then paying big bucks won't really help your kind of Encoded tunes sound much better, In fact I've noticed that my 535Ltd's which seem to be well burned in with its 3rd party cable too makes most MP3's sound well like MP3's... I would only buy expensive (Well partly expensive headphones) if I was planning to listen to Cd/ Wav/ Flacs Etc... Otherwise IMHO your just wasting money friend.
Please don't take my advice the wrong way because sure I'm all for people buying better Audio Equipment but surely it should only be if they need it ?


Thx J.

 

[kimvictor]

I'm sorry but I honestly have to question why if your going to be using 128kbps mp3's would you need decent/ middle to high end IEM's ?
128kbps Mp3's will only sound as good as the Compression they lost after being encoded...

I myself own the 535Ltd Red's & IMHO if I listen to an MP3 Encoded at 320kbps it annoys me so I cannot imagine how bad a 128kbps Encoded MP3 would sound, probably like 3 cats fighting inside a trash can TBH.

I would just buy your self some Shure SE 200 series IEM's or something around the £100/ $75 mark because if 128kbps is going to be your main feed (It's what I've read you mention a few times in this thread) then paying big bucks won't really help your kind of Encoded tunes sound much better, In fact I've noticed that my 535Ltd's which seem to be well burned in with its 3rd party cable too makes most MP3's sound well like MP3's... I would only buy expensive (Well partly expensive headphones) if I was planning to listen to Cd/ Wav/ Flacs Etc... Otherwise IMHO your just wasting money friend.
Please don't take my advice the wrong way because sure I'm all for people buying better Audio Equipment but surely it should only be if they need it ?


Thx J.

 
To be honest, it's pretty hard to distinguish 128k and 320k. 320k is barely different from 16bit flac. Even with 24/96 flac, I can barely tell the difference between them and 320k.

 

[Brooko]

I'm sorry but I honestly have to question why if your going to be using 128kbps mp3's would you need decent/ middle to high end IEM's ?
128kbps Mp3's will only sound as good as the Compression they lost after being encoded...

I myself own the 535Ltd Red's & IMHO if I listen to an MP3 Encoded at 320kbps it annoys me so I cannot imagine how bad a 128kbps Encoded MP3 would sound, probably like 3 cats fighting inside a trash can TBH.

I would just buy your self some Shure SE 200 series IEM's or something around the £100/ $75 mark because if 128kbps is going to be your main feed (It's what I've read you mention a few times in this thread) then paying big bucks won't really help your kind of Encoded tunes sound much better, In fact I've noticed that my 535Ltd's which seem to be well burned in with its 3rd party cable too makes most MP3's sound well like MP3's... I would only buy expensive (Well partly expensive headphones) if I was planning to listen to Cd/ Wav/ Flacs Etc... Otherwise IMHO your just wasting money friend.
Please don't take my advice the wrong way because sure I'm all for people buying better Audio Equipment but surely it should only be if they need it ?


Thx J.

 
I take it you've never blind tested yourself - huh?
 
I too own the SE535 Ltd Ed.  For my portable I use AAC VBR ~200.  I have blind tested myself and I can't reliably tell the aac file from flac.  They both sound pretty good.  Yet the difference between listening to most cheaper IEMs compared to the 535 is significant.
 
So I totally disagree with you (I'd love you to do a proper blind test BTW - almost guarantee that unless you have 'super-hearing' you might change your mind about what you wrote above).  For someone using high bitrate lossy, a quality IEM like those listed by the OP is very much worth it.

 

[itsmejulieeye]

I take it you've never blind tested yourself - huh?

I too own the SE535 Ltd Ed.  For my portable I use AAC VBR ~200.  I have blind tested myself and I can't reliably tell the aac file from flac.  They both sound pretty good.  Yet the difference between listening to most cheaper IEMs compared to the 535 is significant.

So I totally disagree with you (I'd love you to do a proper blind test BTW - almost guarantee that unless you have 'super-hearing' you might change your mind about what you wrote above).  For someone using high bitrate lossy, a quality IEM like those listed by the OP is very much worth it.

Hi I guess there's people with more attuned ears than others then eh so we'll severely disagree on that 1 then but if you seriously think that by the OP Buying expensive & decent sounding IEM'S like the 1's being mentioned that it'll make their 128kbps MP3 's sound a lot lot better than by just buying say a pair of Shure 200 Series to listen to them on then your so so wrong as I try even 320kbp's Mp3's with my 535Ltd's & said MP3 always sounds bad.

& You must have cloth ears as my 10yr old can tell 320kbp's MP3 from an uncompressed wav/ flac within about 10 secs of listening to it & usually has about a 99% correct hit (guess rate)...

Anys we're getting way off thread here, IMHO the cheaper Shure 200 series actually make an MP3 sound bareable compared to the 535Ltd's making said MP3 rough sounding & I'm not the only 1 who thinks so.
So OP save your cash & buy cheaper IEM'S friend if it's for listening to 128kbps Mp3's on.

& Feel free to borrow my 10yr old daughter for any blind testing but be careful as her ears maybe more attuned than yours by a factor of 100


Cheers J.

 

[kimvictor]

Hmm. I never thought I had bad hearing. In fact, I don't. I have better hearing than most people in my age group, which is very young. Yet, I can't tell if there is big difference in 16bit flac and 320k mp3. There is a slightly different imaging, but that's only noticeable when using UERM. I couldn't tell the difference with a SE535. The differences are rather small imo. But I guess amount of difference lies in genre as well. I can clearly tell apart mp3 encoded classical and flac classical.

 

[Brooko]

Hi I guess there's people with more attuned ears than others then eh so we'll severely disagree on that 1 then but if you seriously think that by the OP Buying expensive & decent sounding IEM'S like the 1's being mentioned that it'll make their 128kbps MP3 's sound a lot lot better than by just buying say a pair of Shure 200 Series to listen to them on then your so so wrong as I try even 320kbp's Mp3's with my 535Ltd's & said MP3 always sounds bad.

& You must have cloth ears as my 10yr old can tell 320kbp's MP3 from an uncompressed wav/ flac within about 10 secs of listening to it & usually has about a 99% correct hit (guess rate)...

Anys we're getting way off thread here, IMHO the cheaper Shure 200 series actually make an MP3 sound bareable compared to the 535Ltd's making said MP3 rough sounding & I'm not the only 1 who thinks so.
So OP save your cash & buy cheaper IEM'S friend if it's for listening to 128kbps Mp3's on.

& Feel free to borrow my 10yr old daughter for any blind testing but be careful as her ears maybe more attuned than yours by a factor of 100 

Cheers J.

 

 
Nice sidestep 

.  Note that I didn't talk about 128 kbps files.
 
Again I'll ask - have you ever done a proper controlled blind test?  You clearly haven't and your defensive about it too (nice reference to my 'cloth ears' BTW).
 
It's simple to set-up.  Take any redbook track (ie - take a CD) - rip the audio to the lossless format of your choice.  Take the same track you ripped, and transcode it to lossy (try aac256 - I'm pretty sure in a proper blind test you'll fail.  Your daughter will too).  For the record - my 10 year old daughter, 12 year old son, and my wife can't tell.  My wife can hear a cat walking on carpet from around 20 feet away - so nothing wrong with her hearing.  Just adding that before the ad-hominems start again 

 
Take your two files - load them into Foobars ABX tester.  Volume match them with replay gain.  Turn the blind results checkbox on.  Do the tests.  15 iterations are usually enough.  Post the log.
 
It's simple to do - and then you know for sure.
 
BTW - I readily admit I don't have perfect ears.  At 46, I shouldn't have.  But I do encourage people to take the time to actually test themselves instead of blindly trotting out the same old myths.
 
But if you don't want to take the time - can I suggest that you don't belittle or outright attack those who have.  We know what our limitations are.  Yes they're different for every one of us.  But at the moment - you're only guessing, and I'd be willing to bet that those of use with so called cloth ears (who can't tell an original lossless file transcoded to high bitrate lossy from the lossy original) are actually in the majority.
 
Here's a step by step : http://www.head-fi.org/t/655879/setting-up-an-abx-test-simple-guide-to-ripping-tagging-transcoding

 

[itsmejulieeye]

I'm not going to ruin someone's thread by arguing about the differences in uncompressed music & MP3 music (sometimes about 1,000kbps eh)
I trust my ears over what any1 says & IMHO there's far too many so self called Audiophiles that trust a review instead (Which a lot of the time has vested interests, so will be biased) & we could argue all day about MP3 Versus Uncompressed & perhaps quote A Review or 3 that will explain the differences.
I stand by what I've said & thats that if it's to be 128kbps Mp3's as the source then the OP can waste as much money as they choose to waste but I'm advising them not to waste it on the 535Ltds because the 535Ltds are made for higher things than an ipod or 128kbps MP3'S & this shows when you listen to MP3'S on them as they do sound bad really bad IMHO having heard them myself I then try & pass on this knowledge to the OP so he can make his decision.
So let the OP make his choice based on all he has learned or not from this thread after all it's his hard earned cash burning a hole in his pocket I can only hope he doesn't opt for the 535Ltd's as his choice unless he changes his source quality I would only see a disappointed buyer IMHO.

Anys enough thread hogging if you want to have the last word then feel free to try & persuade mostly people with quite attuned hearing in here that MP3'S are great versus Wavs/ Flacs then if you must k?

To the OP sorry for any hassle this has caused you if any


Cheers J.

 

[fnkcow]

Really? Are you absolutely sure? 100% correct all the time?
http://mp3ornot.com/index.php
 
To me it depends if the music is properly encoded or not. If it is then there's little to no difference

 

[techmonstr]

Jistn update to everyone, I settled on a pair of UE triple.fi 10s after the Shure Se425 failed to impress me. These are amazing in.every sense.

 

[karma37]

Hi,
 
I am looking for new IEMs and am going round in circles.  I dont live in a place where i can try them out.  I had ordered a pair of Shure 535 Ltd but then cancelled the order as people were saying for the money there are better IEMs available.  I recently bought a DX90 and currently use Shure 215.  I need great sound isolation.  I listen to all types of music Beck to Bach, Nirvana, Tim Buckley, Fleetwood Mac.  I like dance music, blues etc.  I love detail, not too harsh, i like the music to be natural so dont use EQ.  
 
Budget 300 to 600 dollars.
 
Please help!
 
Thanks,
Tim

 

[karma37]

Gonna pull trigger on w40s

 

[lofiears]

Gonna pull trigger on w40s

IMO, you have chosen very wisely. Experimenting with the 10 sets of included tips will be time well spent.

 

[tskinner3]

Gonna pull trigger on w40s

 
For what you describe, a great choice. My 4Rs are very versatile. 

 

[Buddhahacker]

I would agree with the w40s.  If they are equal to or better than the 4Rs then you should be good to go.  You might want to look around and see if you can source a pair of 4Rs for a very reasonable price.  I have a number of higher end IEMs but I still listen to my 4Rs on a regular basis.