[PhilS]

I've got my Ultimate Ears UE-5c a little after Christmas and really got the chance to do some serious listening on a recent trip to San Francisco. I thought I'd post a few thoughts for those considering these phones.

First, I am very impressed with the comfort level and ease of inserting and removing theses phones. After a little bit of practice, it really does take just 2 or 3 seconds to take them out if you need to hear something or talk to someone. And they are really very comfortable. The comfort and the ease of getting a good seal make a huge improvement over the Ety ER-6 and ER-4S, and I suspect other "over the counter" phones like the Shure models.

Second, with respect to sound quality, I would first like to comment on the difference between these and the Ety phones. I seem to recall reading on this forum several weeks ago a comment to the effect that the UE-5c was only a slight improvement over the Ety ER-6 and the ER-4S, both of which I have spent time with. I don't know how anyone could reach this conclusion objectively. The UE-5c is a huge step up in sound quality, IMO, and I liked the Ety phones quite a bit.

Third, I really enjoy the sound of the UE-5c's, with one caveat. The mid-bass hump that is often discussed is definitely there. I knew this going in, but was not concerned, as I use them with a Rio Karma, which has an excellent EQ feature. With only a few minutes experimentation, and a quick review of the frequency response on the Ultimate Ears website, I was able to compensate for the mid-bass hump and achieve the sound I want (basically by reviewing the frequency response charts for the UE-5c and UE-10 Pro, and EQ'ing to match the UE-10 Pro frequency response).

In conclusion, I am happy with my choice, because the UE-5c's fit my needs and complement my portable player quite well. I wanted to go the Ultimate Ears route rather than Sensaphonics, for a few reasons, partly because of the price of the cheapest Sensaphonics model and also because I wanted a hard acrylic phone. I didn't want to spend the extra $350 for the UE-10 Pro, however, since I don't anticipate I'll be using these phones often enough to justify the price. (I tend to use the Sennheiser PX-100 for a lot of my portable listening for reasons unrelated to sound quality.) If I did not have a player with a good EQ so I can adjust the sound of the UE-5c to my liking, or if I was going to use these phones on a frequent basis, I think I would have regretted not going with the E-10 Pro. But if one only wants to spend around $600 for a great fitting and excellent sounding canal phone, the UE-5c's are a really a great choice and, as I said above, a definite improvement over the Ety's (and probably the Shures as well).

 

[wolfen68]

Enjoy your 'phones. They definitely tromp E3's/E5's as well.

 

[air]

phil,

i don´t know about the sound-structure of the rio-player. i have an iriver and i have to increase the highs a lot, while i do not influence the bass. how are your eq-settings?

i see, that you own the corda II. you see a "big" benefit, when you use it with the ue-5c´s?

michael

 

[PhilS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by air phil, i don´t know about the sound-structure of the rio-player. i have an iriver and i have to increase the highs a lot, while i do not influence the bass. how are your eq-settings? i see, that you own the corda II. you see a "big" benefit, when you use it with the ue-5c´s? michael

I first thought that I also need to increase the highs for the UE-5c, but then a realized it was the hump at the lower end that was causing the highs to sound rolled off. Also, it's better to EQ on the Rio by lowering a frequency or two then raising others. So, while I still experiment from time to time, what sounds best to me now is 10K at 0db, 2.5K at +1db, 600 at 0db, 150 at -3 db, and 40 at -2db. I have not really experimented yet with the paramentric settings on the Rio yet, because I haven't felt the need to (and it also takes some time).

I'm not sure I would say the Porta Corda II is a "big" improvement out of the heaphone out with the UE-5c's, but there is a noticeable improvement. To me, it was definitely worth what I paid in the group buy. The sound is just cleaner and fuller sounding across the entire spectrum. The Porta Corda II using the line out on the Rio is an even greater improvement, and sometimes when I listen to the Porta Corda II out of the line out I can't believe you can get that kind of sound from a portable player.