[thekid22]

One of the things that may not be discussed enough is the relationship of comfort and build... I bought a pair of er6i's and soon swore of IEM.
Too much noise from the cable, too deep in my ears, too hard to insert, so isolating they were impractical...
for a while, i used HD25s for my travel even though they were huge because i thought i was a not-an-iem guy.
Then I got the SF5Ps and was VERY happy.

Its kinda the Grado/Sennheiser debate. If you like a lively/musical sound, that may not be the most accurate, you get and love UE products. if you like accuracy and detail, you get the Etys...

I personally like a lively sound, I like the added musicality, the existence of bass; further, the fact that they are practical to me due to their sturdy cable, easier and less deep ear insertion, and lack of 1000% isolation, is great for me.

I think it depends on your use, and I've never heard the Westone or e4ps... but from my experience with the ER6is, shure e3c, e4c, and SF5Ps... I like the super fi sound and experience.

 

[funkz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellsprout /img/forum/go_quote.gif that's cuz of the non revealing nature of sf5's non changing sound signature. on a crappy source, it sounds on a better source, it sounds compare with er-4 on crappy source it sounds on a better source it sounds

Very true. I have had Super.Fi 5 Pro's now for about 6 months and my first impressions were that the bass was lacking, and somewhat high end too. I actually felt like they weren't worth their high RRP, despite definately sounding better than iPod crapphones and being a whole lot more comfy (iPod crapphones hurt my ears after about 20 mins). But I mostly listen to them from my notebook which has generic, noisy Realtek AC'97 hardware with internal amp. But when I plugged them into my decent Sherwood hifi amp/receiver, playing something from my Xbox they sounded a whole lot better! Though, on the amp I have treble and bass maxed out always (probably compensating for my not-so-good speakers), this would have enhanced the bass heard relative to my notebook. Using my iPod, it also lacks, but I put the EQ on 'Electronic' which cures it (unfortunately then resulting in distortion in some songs).

But yeah with the hifi amp, especially turning the volume up, I was quite wow-ified. Amazing presence and the 'power' of the 'phones really was showing - no distortion but almost blowing my ears with thunderous bass and great high-end. In this sense, they really show their quality. I really should invest in an external amp!