[Joriarty]

Ordered some Shure SE110 earphones to go with my soon-to-arrive iPod Nano... the earphones arrived today and I am NOT happy. They sound far worse than my Sennheiser MX500's that cost 1/4 as much.

How do they sound? Muffled, distant, and weak. And they hiss. They have similar bass response to my earbud-style (just sit on the ear like standard Apple headphones) Senn. MX500's.

And the "noise isolation"? Sure, it blocks out "outside noise", but bodily noises, and the cord rubbing against clothing, is MASSIVELY amplified. I knew it would be amplified somewhat, but not to this degree.

Why did I buy them? I thought the noise isolation would work, I thought they would sound good, and I have a big problem with earphones falling out (but only out of my right ear. I think it's a different shape!).

So I'm thinking of trying to return them. What should I get instead? If I can't expect anything better from other "noise-isolation" 'phones... I'm either looking at some portable headphones (Denon 1001? I love my D2000's

), or some regular earphones, possibly with an ear loop (or I could just try looping the cord round the back of my ear). The Bang & Olufsen A8 are tempting, but a little pricey.

TBH, right now, I'm looking at just trying to return the Shure SE110's for a cash refund, and waiting 'till the iPod arrives and, shock horror, testing to see if the stock earphones are OK.

What does everyone else think? Might some breaking in make them sound good enough to cancel out everything else I don't like about them? Noise isolation would only occasionally actually be of use to me, I mainly got them because of "canalphones'" purported sound quality advantages, and because they won't fall out, which they don't.

 

[nsx_23]

How much do you have to spend? You might consider going up the range to find something that satisfies.

 

[Joriarty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsx_23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif How much do you have to spend? You might consider going up the range to find something that satisfies.

The amount I have to spend is significantly greater than what I want to spend

.

Don't really want to buy anything that costs much more than the SE110... about US $120 is my limit.

 

[nephilonic]

Denon C551 / C700
Atrio M5

 

[ClieOS]

From your post, I guess you are not much of a canalphone user, so don't spend money on things that you ain't sure of and go directly to a closed can instead.

 

[rockbottom]

around $120 should be enough to score you a used pair of SE210s or SE310s (if you're really lucky), UM1s, SF5 Pros. I might try looking at those. And in terms of the noises coming from your own body, i don't think any IEMs can help, you might want to try going back to some portable closed cans.

 

[Malux]

you won't like the 210s. Go for the denon 700 or 751. You won't be disappointed. You can get them on buy.com for $99.

They blow away the 110s. I had the 210s and returned them for the Denons. I never regretted it.

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif From your post, I guess you are not much of a canalphone user, so don't spend money on things that you ain't sure of and go directly to a closed can instead.

x2. If you don't like the card microphonics and bone conduction, you won't like any isolating canal phone/IEM. It's a direct side effect of isolation. Full sized closed cans don't have it because they don't isolate as well.

If you need the isolation because of noisy environments, like mass transit, you may want to consider noise cancellation headphones like the AT ANC7. They're in your price range.

 

[Motty]

What you could try is get a cheap pair of canalphones, like the JVC marshmallows, to see if you get on with canlphones/iems or get used to canalphones. These would give you a light, cheap, small pair of phones for noisier enviroments and get a nice pair of full sized headphones for quieter areas.

 

[warpdriver]

1) Denon C7xx
2) Audio Technica ATH-CK7

 

[netsky3]

your problem is the ipod nano, not the shure
buy a cowon!

 

[jonathanjong]

x3 (with ClieOS and scompton): Doesn't sound like IEMs are for you. But if you must...

What are the least microphonic/bone-conducting IEM, folks? Westones, maybe?

 

[insyte]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonathanjong /img/forum/go_quote.gif What are the least microphonic/bone-conducting IEM, folks? Westones, maybe?

probably one with memory wire and could go over the ear.

its also a problem for the etys when Im walking, though the microphonics are minimized when I place the wire over the ear and make sure that the shirt clip is attached

@OP - well, i could vouch for the noise isolation of the etys, though I had to change the tips to comply foam tips. the tips that came with the etys were very uncomfortable

 

[scompton]

Westones and ones with memory wire, or almost any with over the ear cables have little wire microphonics in my experience. With bone conduction, the more isolation you have, the more bone conduction you get. You can get it to some extent with closed headphones in quiet environments. You get used to it. In my case, I've learned to walk a little softer as well.

Edit: I've also noticed when listening to very rhythmic music, my pace tends to change to keep time with the beat if it's somewhat close to my walking pace.

 

[voicemaster]

Get Denon C7xx or 551, works great with Ipod.