[jay sun]

I have been auditioning my new sony with a set of shure e3c for the past 2 days and I am not impressed.

Here are my complaints with the headphones:
almost non-existent sound stage
weak bass decent highs average mids poor separation

I experimented with the eq but prefer to leave it neutral and the virtual surround sound is a useless novelty that does little more then take up memory on my player. DSEE clear stereo and clear bass I need more time in a quite environment to decide which tracks if any benefit from these functions.

My question is what headphones can I purchase that will give me a large sound stage great separation and deep true bass without the need of an amp. Oh and preferably under $200.

Thanks for your input

 

[DKaz]

It would help to know what kind of music you listen to, but for under $200 I would suggest these:

The Denon AH-C700. They huge sale is over, but they are still priced cheap at Amazon for $141 shipped (usually $200). Check out the http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/so...review-276557/ thread and you'll see that a lot of Sony owners love this combo.

Denon AH-C700

The go to guy in this price range are the UE Super.fi 5's. They are a great all around IEM. They are bulky and have to be worn over the ear though. Some colors are still $139.99 shipped.

UE Super.fi 5

You might also want to try the Westone UM1. I have never heard them, but they get a lot of good reviews around here. $108.

Westone UM1

 

[sigsegv0x0B]

Shure E4c would be my choice

 

[tstarn06]

A vote for the Atrio M5/M8, which I am using unamped with the A816 and the M5 sounds fantastic. The Atrio M5s require no amping and no EQiing with the Sony. Check out the M5 threads. The are about $140 shipped on ebay via roaddogline. You can to make an offer to get them at that price (normally retail for $199 at FS and $159 buy it now at Roaddogonline).

They are bass-oriented but in a good way. Again, no EQ required.

The Denons are also nice, but I sold my pair because I favored the M5 sound sig.

 

[DKaz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tstarn06 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Denons are also nice, but I sold my pair because I favored the M5 sound sig.

Wow. You are the first person I found that chose the Atrio's over the Denon's. Could you elaborate more on why you chose them?

 

[ShinyFalcon]

With the Sony+Denon combo I feel that I'm missing some of the bass extension I had with my Meizu. But because I sold my Meizu before my Sony DAP came I couldn't AB it. On some songs I have the bass feels dull and not as detailed. Now, I'm not sure if it is my DAP or the Denons... I need to get another Meizu to test if this is the case.

 

[fredman22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay sun /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have been auditioning my new sony with a set of shure e3c for the past 2 days and I am not impressed. Here are my complaints with the headphones: almost non-existent sound stage weak bass decent highs average mids poor separation I experimented with the eq but prefer to leave it neutral and the virtual surround sound is a useless novelty that does little more then take up memory on my player. DSEE clear stereo and clear bass I need more time in a quite environment to decide which tracks if any benefit from these functions. My question is what headphones can I purchase that will give me a large sound stage great separation and deep true bass without the need of an amp. Oh and preferably under $200. Thanks for your input

For starters, I'd go with a pair of Ety ER-4Ps. Finest sound in that price range and the Sony's EQ should shape it to your liking. Otherwise for any Sony, I'd recommend Westone UM2s - They're $300 but I've been sold for 2 years, and they've actually relegated my Etys to 'backup IEMs'. Good luck.

 

[tstarn06]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DKaz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow. You are the first person I found that chose the Atrio's over the Denon's. Could you elaborate more on why you chose them?

Probably not the only on one on Head-Fi to make that decision (but there aren't many, I will give you that). Most happy Atrio owners didn't spend $132 on a pair of Denons like I did (since they were already good with their Atrios). I am just always looking for new stuff, though I end up selling most of it.

Anyway, there are a few reasons why I chose the Atrios over the Denons (I had the Atrios first, just as an fyi). One, I like the Atrio ergonomics better than the Denons. I found the Denon tips (canal sleeves) irritated my ears, while the Atrio sleeves (foamies, flanges) did not. I wound up jamming some Shure foamies (the orange ones) onto the Denons, but that didn't do it either.

I also didn't like the barrel shapes of the Denons, for whatever reason. Dumb, I know, but just my POV. I didn't like the way they connected to the cables either, sort of in the middle of the earphone. Small stuff, but part of the decision.

Finally, sound-wise, I A/B'd the two phones unamped from all my sources, and bottom line, I just preferred the bassier, deeper Atrio sound sig, despite its "recessed" mids, etc. I don't find the Atrios to be short on detail, like others. I just love the smooth, clean bass foundation/impact they deliver. I felt while listening to the Denons a touch of sibilance on some highs and mids (on certain tracks), and didn't hear it with the Atrios. Which, in the long run, is also a key factor in the Atrios being the least fatiguing IEMs I have ever owned (albeit I am not an audiophile, nor profess to be one). That's important on a 4-hour plane flight, train ride, etc.

Guess I am in the minority, since the Denons are much loved these days. And if I had gotten them first, I may never have even tried the Atrios, in all honesty. But with my Zune and Sony DAPs, which deliver great SQ in my view, the Atrios really deliver the impact I wanted, unamped.

Now, if I use an amp, then the AL 716s and PK1s come into play....enough elaboration.

 

[jay sun]

the end of another day of work.
This is my third day with the nwz-a818 using the e3c iem's and i think with the work I do and the eight plus hours a day I use headphones I will be better off with a set of full, on the ear and sealed cans.
Years of salvage diving and spear fishing have done a number on me, and at times the iem's seem to cut out. The problem is certain jaw movements cause my ear canal to seal with the iem in there causing full hearing loss in the affected ear. Now I noticed some of the recommended iem's have a flanged tip and that can possibly alleviate the situation just by being deeper. However I am thinking a more practical and comfortable solution may be to go with a set of full sized headphones.
Any thoughts?

 

[dura]

I have the A808 and the Shure E4G. No good, the Shures lacks bass. The Denon 700 are great, check out Soozieq thread about them, all umpteen pages (worth it, I'm in it myself).

 

[grommal]

Another vote for the Atrios.

 

[jay sun]

I find the sony is already a bit warm.
The Atrios are not an over kill?

 

[sigsegv0x0B]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dura /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the A808 and the Shure E4G. No good, the Shures lacks bass. The Denon 700 are great, check out Soozieq thread about them, all umpteen pages (worth it, I'm in it myself).

It's not the lack of bass it's the fact that you like WAY to much of it. Far more then the original recording intended.

Products - HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears

Here is a graph showing Shure E4c frequency response. As you can see there is NO lack of bass. It's perfectly linear all the way down. If you do not like the correct amount of bass produced by the Shure E4c you can try to use EQ to increase the bass response or enable ClearBass on your Sony DAP. If you still have the E4 give it a try let me know how it goes.

There is nothing wrong with liking more bass but there is a problem with how you said it. You said it's Shure E4c that lacks bass. It does not it actually produces the correct amount of it as the recording dictates. Your taste (and perhaps most) listeners prefer far more bass then there is in the recording. So give EQ or ClearBass a chance to see if Shure E4 can give you more bass.

 

[Muziklover]

I have the NWZ S618 and find it sounds quite good with the Sennheiser PX 100's. I've tried this player with various IEM's but found the PX 100 had superior sound stage. Suprisingly of the IEM's I tested the V moda vibes matched this player best. Also the Grado SR 60 sounded quite good but were a little to bulky for portable use

 

[dura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sigsegv0x0B /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's not the lack of bass it's the fact that you like WAY to much of it. Far more then the original recording intended. Products - HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears Here is a graph showing Shure E4c frequency response. As you can see there is NO lack of bass. It's perfectly linear all the way down. If you do not like the correct amount of bass produced by the Shure E4c you can try to use EQ to increase the bass response or enable ClearBass on your Sony DAP. If you still have the E4 give it a try let me know how it goes. There is nothing wrong with liking more bass but there is a problem with how you said it. You said it's Shure E4c that lacks bass. It does not it actually produces the correct amount of it as the recording dictates. Your taste (and perhaps most) listeners prefer far more bass then there is in the recording. So give EQ or ClearBass a chance to see if Shure E4 can give you more bass.

Whatever, but the combo Sony/Shure E4G did not make me happy, and there is no setting that gives a balanced sound to my ears.
But before the E4G I had the E4C, and I liked that combo. Really strange, since the black E4G is supposed to be the same headphone....
Anyway, the Denon/Sony combination is great, at home the px100 sounds even better.