[pez]

I have had the UE SF3 Studio's for a month now and I think it's time for a review. I have seen quite a few people asking about them and wondering which are best between the SF3's and other brands of IEM's. I do not have any other IEM's to compare them to that are "up there" in that price range, but I do have a decent pair of Creative EP-630's that I can fit in there somehow. Also, I will try to get pictures in here somehow. I hope I can answer some of your questions you might have. You can PM me if you have any further questions or just simply post them here.

I would first like to start by saying that I burned them in for about roughly 10-15 hours using pink noise (empty FM station) when I first took them out of the packaging, which happened to be quite bulletproof. UE was nice enough to include in the package a quite sturdy metallic storage case for the SF3's, a volume attenuator, a cleaning tool, and an universal fit kit, which included a pair of small, medium, large, and medium double-flange silicone tips, and a pair of disposable foam tips. I am actually able to use all of the tips but the small ones, but the large silicone and the foam tips are the most comfortable for me. One thing that I was VERY skeptic about was the cord wrapping around my ears and rubbing against my glasses, but thanks to UE, they designed a "memory wire" which allowed me to shape it around my ears without it touching or rubbing against my glasses. As far as the build quality and the cord, both seem very sturdy, but I'm still not going to try and damage them intentionally. My only nit-pick is that I wish the 3.5mm jack plug in was straight instead of L-shaped, but I've grown acustomed to it.

Now, let's go on to sound quality. I want to make a note that I use an Apple iPod 5.5G 30GB unamped with these. My first impression, coming from a pair of Creative EP-630's, was wow, this is really clear and detailed, and not muddy. I happened to be listening to Brand New's "Jesus Christ", which is mainly an acoustic song and the whole album "The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me" was boosted in the bass area. I then decided to listen to my all-time favorite band Fear Before the March of Flames, and my favorite song "On The Brightside, She Could Choke", a well-produced album with good bass lines and really good guitar riffs and such. Once again the SF3's fail to dissapoint me. I have to say after listening to my EP-630's right before the SF3's, I thought they were really a lot less bass heavy and much clearer than the EP-630's, but I already knew the fact that low-end headphones are made to be bass-heavy, as the world has pretty much grown accustomed to this. I have to say that I really love these for the metal genre because I like to hear clarity in metal, rather than overloading my brain with unwanted bass, which the EP-630's seemed to do quite well. Another note I would like to make is that I use the Rock EQ on my iPod, as I think it has the best SQ.

My conclusion and more detailed look at the SQ is this: Highs are really fantastic on these and so are mids, but you can tell that the lower frequencies are overtaken by the highs and mids. They are there, but it's not strong. I would say as far as bass goes, they give you as much bass as the artist intended. I would probably recommend these for Acoustic, Jazz, Classical, Rock, and Metal (in that order). I really enjoy these with Hip-Hop/Rap/R&B, but others might not because they aren't really dominant in the bass area. I don't listen to country, because I strongly dislike it, so I wouldn't have any idea on that genre. In the end, I think people looking for IEM's for Vocals, Acoustic, Jazz, and Classical music will really love these and definitely not regret this purchase.

Overall Conclusion: I would say that the $60-70 you can get these for on www.amazon.com, is a really great price and definitely worth it considering the pack-ins and great sound quality. Also remember that the UE's have a quality physical build, but even if they do decide to fail, you have a 2 Year Warranty via www.ultimateears.com. I'll try and get pics up soon.

 

[pez]

mmm i tried^

 

[jant71]

That's cool. Thanks for the effort. The 3's are quite old though and have been reviewed more than enough. So you might not get too much enthusiasm.

BTW, they aren't dynamic. You don't need to burn them in. Possibly in a more complex system with more solder points and crossover circuit board but not with the single armature 3's.

 

[pez]

meh, burn in worked for me, I know it did. also a lot of people ahve been asking questions of them lately so i was hoping I could do some help.

sorry about spling to lazy and tired.

 

[stewgriff]

Great review. Very detailed info on build quality and comfort, great because I'm wanting to buy a pair of super.fi 5 pros. How much isolation would you describe the UEs as having?

 

[jinx20001]

decent review ive owned the super fi 5's and thought pretty highly of them so i trust this review is acurate about the 3's

 

[HeadBanger]

burn in helped me out a bit,

side note, i use shure (black rubber tips) with my super fi 3's and personally think its better than super fi''s tips as i personally get a better fit.

Question: Did you try the FS Mod, makes the sound a little better IMO.

 

[pez]

Well it's enough isolation for me to block out most of the noise of a leaf blower.

 

[Bigburger]

pez, you have got to be the single most vocal and committed supporter of the super.fi 3 on head-fi! Cheers for the review...very helpful when deciding on which IEM to get. Sounds like you're really enjoying them. Would be great if you could get some pics of them in your ears, just to see how much they stick out, if you can lie on them etc?

 

[Dutchess of York]

i have sf 5pros and did the driver switch (flip left and right drivers and put them in your ears upside down) and now they barely stick out and i get a much better seal.

 

[pez]

either way it wouldn't really be worthy of lying down with, but I'll try and get my mom to give me her dig. cam. for pics, i'm trying i'm trying

 

[norseman8485]

Nice review. I love the sound from mine as well. You should try out the ES cables next, they do wonders to the sound; sort of the b*stard offspring of UE and Wetone, haha...

 

[pez]

does it add bass or at least more bottom end?