[Fjonkalicious]

I am currently looking for a In-ear headphone which I am going to use together with my telephone, SonyEricsson w880i.

Background: I always carry my telephone with me and I like it a lot, especially it´s size. Currently I am using Koss Spark Plug, it works ok, but I don´t like the sound aswell as I want to play about 5% louder sometimes. The amp in w880i seems very weak, I have tested it with my Koss Porta Pro and it doesn´t work very well.

Target: I want a new pair of In-ear headphones to work with my telephone. I want it to play a bit louder than my Spark plugs, the sound must be better, clearer and more defined, a bit of punch in the bass(spark plug is too much), soft highs. High Sensitivity and low impedance is what I am looking for??

Budget: 65-150 USD approx incl. shipping to Europe.

What I don´t want: Any suggestions of an amp(I don´t want more stuff in my pockets). If possible, not too much isolation, the original Sony headphones isolate a lot and I am using the headphones as a headset, isolation makes it more difficult to speak because I hear myself.

Comfort: I think I prefer Foam rather than silicon flange.

Considered models:

Etymotic ER-6i
UE super.fi 5 Pro
UE super.fi 3 Studio
Sennheiser CX300
Westone UM-1
Atrio M5
Altec Lansing UHP 336?

If there are any suggestions other than these, please let me know. One thing thats really important is that they work with the weak amp in the telephone. So if there are any above that doesn´t work, let me know!

Earlier headphones I have used: Koss Porta Pro, Koss Spark plug, Philips HP 890, original Sonyericsson.

I am having problems to compare anything with Spark plug, I can´t find any measurements or similar to compare with other graphs from HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears for example.

I have read A LOT, but can´t make any conclusion at all, I really need HELP!

Since I live in Europe, many of the headphones are impossible for me to test before I buy!

Thanks

Filip

 

[Fjonkalicious]

Very nice forum, the response is overwhelming.

 

[jinx20001]

the simple answer is nearly all IEM's will work with the phone, the sensitivity is usually very high on IEM's with the usual 16-32 ohms.

your main problem will be sound quality,walkman phone or not you will likely be wasting high end phones on a source like that. not to mention the ability to only put lower bitrate music on the phone (if you want to fit much on) which equals even poorer quality sound.

i have a nokia n95 and tried my shure se530's with it and was at first shocked because it sounded good, but side by side comparison with even an ipod will show the phone up for what it is...a phone not a music player

 

[Fjonkalicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinx20001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif the simple answer is nearly all IEM's will work with the phone, the sensitivity is usually very high on IEM's with the usual 16-32 ohms. your main problem will be sound quality,walkman phone or not you will likely be wasting high end phones on a source like that. not to mention the ability to only put lower bitrate music on the phone (if you want to fit much on) which equals even poorer quality sound. i have a nokia n95 and tried my shure se530's with it and was at first shocked because it sounded good, but side by side comparison with even an ipod will show the phone up for what it is...a phone not a music player

Thanks for your comment!

Well, I do agree that the phone is crap as source. But that is the current situation. I will use them with my Macbook Pro and Ipod aswell, but I want the phone to set the specs while this is the source is use almost all the time.

Does it really matter what impedance/sensitivity it has, or should I look for other specifications?

Regardless specs, what do people recommend as your first higher quality IEM, working with my telephone? For up to 100 USD incl shipping to Europe.

Thanks!

Filip

 

[sai-bot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fjonkalicious /img/forum/go_quote.gif Target: I want a new pair of In-ear headphones to work with my telephone. I want it to play a bit louder than my Spark plugs, the sound must be better, clearer and more defined, a bit of punch in the bass(spark plug is too much), soft highs. High Sensitivity and low impedance is what I am looking for??

High sensitivity is what you should be looking for. Unfortuantely, the amp of your cellphone seems to be either complete crap or it's reduced in its maximum volume level.

Considering the specification, the spark plugs are very sensitive Canalphones (112 dB), the CX300 have the same sensitivity, ep630 is less sensitive. Anyhow, I found out that you have to be very careful with these specs, as it turned out that headphones do not necessarily play louder when it's more sensitive. IIRC the UM1 played louder on my DAP than the CX300 - which did not really bother me, as the X5 gets as loud as you want

The reason might be false specification or whatever - I dunno.

Thus, I would not agree with what jinx20001 said:
Quote:

Originally Posted by jinx20001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif the simple answer is nearly all IEM's will work with the phone, the sensitivity is usually very high on IEM's with the usual 16-32 ohms.

Even with the most sensitive canalphone, you might have problems.
But: he's right with what he said about the sensitivity of a usual IEM - it's as good as it gets. I'd advise you to buy a low-budget Canalphones like the CX300 (it sounds much better than the spark plugs IMHO) and then try out how loud it gets. If it's not enough, try to get another firmware version for your cellphone or replace it by any decent DAP.

 

[glac1er]

Reading your post somewhat makes me confused as so much information are put together. From what I read, you need:

1. High sensitivity
2. Soft highs and not too much bass
3. Foam sleeves if possible
4. Not too much isolation
5. Sounds good ampless

I haven't listened to a spark plug before so I don't know how sensitive it is, but I read a lot that it has too much bass.

From the IEMs I've listened too, I think the Atrio M5, Mylarone X3, and UE super.fi pro might work for you. I don't recommend Etys since you said you want soft highs, and I think you should skip CX300 (offers too little money).

From my experience, the Mylarone can produce the highest volume out of those three in a quiet setting, and as a canalphone, it doesn't isolate much compared to IEMs. The problem is that they come with silicon sleeves. They just updated the X3 to X3i recently, and I have never listened to those. Price $57 including shipping.

super.fi 5 pro is kinda like the X3 but better sounding, with more isolation and has foam sleeves. I don't know if you can get them for <$150 including shipping to Europe.

The Atrio has the biggest bass and overall the smoothest/laid back highs and comes with foam sleeves too. I'm also not sure if you can get them for <$150.

 

[small.solar]

v-moda 1st gen if you can get it.
or q-jays.
but for w800i, i'd say keep the price below $80 for the IEMs.