[ObscuredByClouds]

Hello,

I'm not an audiophile and know very little about headphones but I've been reading through the forum here over the past couple of weeks to help me decide on a decent set of earphones to use with portable music players.
After lots of reading I decided on Shure E4cs (costing a hell of a lot more than I orignally intended to spend!).
They arrived this morning and in spite of it taking a long time to work out how to get them into my ears I finally got a chance to listen with them and they are fantastic! I'm sure I'm going to have teething problems in terms of getting used to fitting them into my ears, but I expected that having read about such things here, so I am prepared to persevere and practice.

Anyway, to cut to the chase I just wanted to say thank you to the forum members here who inadvertently helped me choose. I think I'll be sticking around and reading up on regular headphones - having heard how good the E4cs sound I'm now really curious about how a really good set of headphones must sound!!

Thank you all very much.

 

[upangel180]

Welcome to head-fi....sorry about your wallet

 

[F107plus5]

Yes! Welcome!!

I'm afraid it's all downhill from here. The best thing you could have done was to have left here forever!!

.....but; we're glad you're still here and continuing on a near-never-ending journey!

Happy hunting!!

 

[Nick Christy]

Welcome and enjoy your headphones.

What music player are you using ?


By the way, that curiosity is what will kill your wallet. The answer to your question about what a really good set of headphones sounds like is almost certainly, better, but not by much. If you have the E4c's you have already probably made the biggest leap you will ever make in sound quality and the law of diminishing returns applies from here on in.

What might be a cheaper way of satisfying your curiosity is how similarly priced sets of headphones sound different. If you are just setting out on this journey you may not yet have decided what "sound" you like. It may be worth checking out some other sets of headphones to see what sound you prefer. If there are other head fi ers near you you may be able to borrow some and save your wallet some pain.

Anyway, enjoy your new headphones i think you are in for a few weeks now of hearing things you never heard before.

 

[ObscuredByClouds]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I was a bit anxious about the damage I'd done to my wallet before the earphones arrived, but I already think they were worth every single penny. I can't get over some of the stuff I'm hearing. Everything I listen to sounds better, and on some things the difference is absolutely stunning- it's like having a whole new music collection and some of this stuff I've been listening to for over 20 years.

Nick - I'm using a Creative Zen Vision M player, but I've just wiped the dust off an old CD walkman and I'm going to see what it sounds like tomorrow - my ears hurt at this stage! Thanks for the tip about looking at other similar priced headphones. I think it's going to take a while for my ears to absorb everything the E4cs have to offer, and it's defintely going to be a while before my wallet can absorb another pair of headphones! Though christmas isn't that far away

 

[catscratch]

Welcome to head-fi, sorry about the wallet

Personally, I thought the difference between the E4c and a good full-size set was pretty major. The one main area where the E4c competes quite well in is detail/overall clarity. It's certainly quite on par with most full-size headphones at the same price. However, it can't compete with many full-size cans in terms of soundstage, richness, frequency extension top and bottom, refinement, and impact. There's still an awful lot of improvement to be had...

... which is, I'm sure, not what you wanted to hear.

But, a good full-size headphone will probably have very stiff drive requirements (high impedance, low sensitivity), which will necessitate more money being spent on associated components (headphone amplifiers, a good source, interconnects and power components), so it is not a plunge to be taken lightly. The E4c is supremely practical, and will give you good sound no matter where you go, or what environment you are in.

I'll be an evil little git... have you ever heard of electrostatic headphones?

And what about custom-molded IEM's? They are quite competitive with good full-size cans...

Now that your curiosity is piqued,

*runs and hides*

 

[ObscuredByClouds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch There's still an awful lot of improvement to be had... ... which is, I'm sure, not what you wanted to hear. I'll be an evil little git... have you ever heard of electrostatic headphones? And what about custom-molded IEM's? They are quite competitive with good full-size cans... Now that your curiosity is piqued, *runs and hides*

It's not entirely true that I didn't want to heat that there was a lot of improvement to be had - at the moment I'm so blown away by how good headphones can sound that it's exciting to think that it can get even better!

I read about custom-molded IEMs here, but I've never heard of electrostatic headphones

I have a lot to learn

 

[aluren]

yeah and make sure that you give yourself some time to adjust to the e4c. the first major upgrade i had was the e3c. before that it was simply the ipod buds. i heard no significant differences between the ibuds and the e3c and thought i completely wasted over $100. however, after using it for 1-2 months straight, i notice the significant changes. so be patient if it doesn't work out for you in the beginning.

oh and welcome to head-fi. give your wallet an exercise.

 

[lagardere]

Don't forget to take good care of ears. Watch out the volumes and long listening.

 

[ObscuredByClouds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lagardere Don't forget to take good care of ears. Watch out the volumes and long listening.

Thanks for the advice. I read through the stuff in the links at the bottom of your post and it was a good mix of interesting and scary. One of the reasons that I started looking for new earphones was that I already had ringing in my ears and I had heard that, used sensibly, sound isolating earphones did less damage to hearing because they blocked out external noise and made it possible to listen at lower volume, and so were less likely to cause damage - I don't know if this is true but it sounded plausible.

Reading through the stuff in your links I was really interested to see that there can be so many different causes for ear ringing. I always just assumed I'd damaged my ears from too much very loud live music. But I also suffer from sinus infections quite regularly so am wondering if this is contributing to/causing the problem. I'm definitely going to be checking it out with the doctor. Thanks again

 

[slwiser]

Well going forward you know it will not be because of your earphones. It could be a natural thing with you ears. Keep aware of what is going on and if it gets worst go to a doctor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ObscuredByClouds Thanks for the advice. I read through the stuff in the links at the bottom of your post and it was a good mix of interesting and scary. One of the reasons that I started looking for new earphones was that I already had ringing in my ears and I had heard that, used sensibly, sound isolating earphones did less damage to hearing because they blocked out external noise and made it possible to listen at lower volume, and so were less likely to cause damage - I don't know if this is true but it sounded plausible. Reading through the stuff in your links I was really interested to see that there can be so many different causes for ear ringing. I always just assumed I'd damaged my ears from too much very loud live music. But I also suffer from sinus infections quite regularly so am wondering if this is contributing to/causing the problem. I'm definitely going to be checking it out with the doctor. Thanks again