[tenzip]

Hello all, I am a complete noob at this, I wandered in looking for some reviews of in-ear headphones to replace the stock 'phones that will be coming with my mp3 player. I've only spent about 6-8 hours browsing the boards since then. Fascinating. Another black hole for time and money, when I have so many already.

So, if you'll forgive my utter ignorance, I have 2 questions for everyone. Moderators feel free to move post if I would be better off in another forum.

1. Would a portable amp do me any good if I don't have line out on my player? (Meizu M6.) In other words, would it improve the sound quality, not just volume, if I feed the output of the headphone jack into an amp such as a CMoy? I have enough electronics experience that I would feel confident building such an amplifier after looking at the instructions.

2. Would I be completely crazy if I took my custom molded earplugs from my old workplace, drilled a hole thru them, and inserted the driver section of a decent pair of IEMs in them? I was hoping to use them while at competitive shooting events, where I need the hearing protection, but would still like to have tunes. They could also be used for everyday wear, as they are very comfortable.

Thanks for any help/suggestions you can give.

 

[FreeBlues]

I'm sort of new too, but I fell into this blackhole a while ago!

I've been using a 5g ipod with Westone UM2 IEMs for maybe 6 months now. All my music is encoded in lossless format. It sounds pretty good.

Recently, just because I could, I tried running my ipod headphone out into a Total BitHead amp and hooked the IEMs up to the amp. While I wouldn't say the improvement was dramatic, stunning or unbelievable, there was a slight difference. Music seemed easier, more effortless, less fatiguing. Every part of the music was very slightly better – clarity, dynamics, frequency extremes. The difference, again, was slight.

One the one hand I really don’t like schlepping the amp and ipod around the gym, but for now the musical experience is enough better to make me put up with it. Continuing into the blackhole, I am being fitted tomorrow for Westone EM2s and have ordered a much smaller, lighter amp (Xin SuperMicro) and a dock from AudioLineOut (Jena version), so I guess you could say I’m hooked.

 

[sidewinder]

Like FreeBlues said, an amp makes the music smoother, more balanced sounding. Headphones themselves have a much greater impact on the sound, closely followed by the source.

I for one think it's possible to insert your 'old generation' custom earplugs on any IEM. Custom earmolds are nothing special imo. The most difficult part is to get rid of some mold and have yourself a hole so the sound can get through, and that's it I guess. Have fun!

 

[K2Grey]

Well, if your custom earplugs are solid I can't imagine any way for you to insert the driver section of any IEMs in them without incredible difficulty (and skill, as well).

There are custom eartips for IEMs, though. I would be dubious about whether one could drill a hole in custom earplugs and jam the IEM tip in them with success, but this is much more plausible than somehow embedding IEM drivers and accompanying wires in a custom earplug.

Many people have reported benefit from amping the headphone out of the iAudio X5 and there are also those who feel the headphone out and the "line out" of the iPod are of the same nature.

 

[tenzip]

Thank you all for the responses.

So, it sounds like an amp would be worth firing up the iron for, even without a line-out on the player.

The earplugs I have are a very firm silicone-type material, I think it would be possible to drill a hole starting from the tip of the canal portion, out thru the back of the plug, then turn it around, and drill a bigger hole from the outside to accept the driver. I may try it, after I have the amp done.

Until then, I have some of these http://www.hellbergsafety.com/products/react/us.html that work fairly well for hearing protection, but the radio is not my first choice for listening. The sound quality leaves something to be desired, also. My plan was to use them in noise cancelling mode, where it still lets "normal" level outside sound through, but blocks anything above a certain level, and wear the earplugs inside that, to reduce the sound of high power rifles even further, while still enjoying my music.