Would SE530s be a good fit for me?
Dec 3, 2007 at 6:40 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 15

mr.karmalicious

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Yeah. I swore I wouldn't buy anything after my E4s (and as such, have not been here for a over a year) but, upon my return (for all of a day), I've been hit with the upgraditis, and I'm seriously considering SE530s.

Anyway, on to what's important here--what I like from a headphone, and the kinds of music to which I listen. I absolutely love the sound signature of my E4s; I much prefer them to my old E3s. I listen primarily to symphonic metal, strings, and choral stuff. Mostly metal, though, so I'm primarily concerned about getting clear, highs and sparkling upper-mids. Of course, I want the bass to be powerful, but not over-powering.

I'll add more when I get home. Typing this from my phone, and my fingers are fatigued.

I'll also upload a sample of some of the metal I listen to, because it's pretty non-standard.

(And yes, I know that this is horribly generic. Just hoping to get a head start on the advice.)
 
Dec 3, 2007 at 6:58 PM Post #2 of 15
Although I don't listen to the same type of music as you I am wondering the same thing. I would like to have iem's with great highs and mids but don't want to overpowering bass. I don't mind if it is fairly strong, I just don't want it to cloud everything like the vmoda vibes did. This is relevant to me to so please respond.
 
Dec 3, 2007 at 7:13 PM Post #3 of 15
If you liked the E4 and thought the highs were adequate you should surely like the SE530 but at that pricepoint the UE Triple Fi is also excellent. Much bassier than E4, not quite as bassy as SE530 but better high end detail than both.
 
Dec 3, 2007 at 8:14 PM Post #4 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyro /img/forum/go_quote.gif
If you liked the E4 and thought the highs were adequate you should surely like the SE530 but at that pricepoint the UE Triple Fi is also excellent. Much bassier than E4, not quite as bassy as SE530 but better high end detail than both.


dont confuse lots of treble with lots of treble detail, i think the shures offer as good detail in treble as the triple fi but dont extend with volume as much, so its much easier to hear shimmer and so on with triple fi. making it a good phone for those that like extended highs over deeper lows.

overall fit of the phones is no contest with shures giving more comfort and easier fitting
 
Dec 3, 2007 at 8:46 PM Post #5 of 15
I've heard both the Triple-fi and the Shure E500 . From what you've said (regarding preferred sound signature) I would definitely avoid the E500. Despite its undoubted sonic strengths , the noticeably rolled off highs (this has been widely reported by other head-fiers ) may not suit your particular listening tastes. The Triple -Fi 's however , present very impressive detail and clarity , particularly around the top-end of the sound spectrum and IMO would be a v.good match with your favoured musical genres.
 
Dec 3, 2007 at 9:33 PM Post #6 of 15
UE Triple.fi vs. Shure E4 - UE sound signature not as analytical as the Shure E4 with more coloration (boosted bass and treble compared to the slightly understated mids); UE has much bigger airier sound than E4 due to 2 additional drivers and much more detailed and emphasized treble, so there's no "in-your-head" sound; on UE the bass is much tighter and way more detailed than E4; midrange is A lot less forward than Shure E4 and some say too laid back, recessed, but mids quality is supposedly just about as good;

Shure E500/SE530 vs. Shure E4 - sound signature is much bassier on E500, but with more neutral mids and highs (mids are less forward and highs are slightly tamed down) than the E4; the E500 has far superior imaging and soundstage to Shure E4 due to 2 extra drivers so there's no "in-your-head" sound; the bass is tighter and much more detailed and controlled on E500; midrange is actually less crisp than E4 but thus more natural sounding (IMO the E4s mids are a little 'too' crisp); the highs are perhaps slightly more detailed on the E500, but do not extend any further than on E4 and have the same 'roll-off' in the upper highs;

UE Triple.fi vs. Shure E500/SE530 - the Shures have a bass heavy sound signature, whereas the Triple.fis are bass and treble heavy; the Shures have a more forward and fuller midrange, but mids quality is about the same on both IEMs; Triple.fi sounds bigger and airier, but the Shures have much better imaging and thus sound more realistic (IMO); the bass is tighter and more detailed on the Triple.fis, but punchier on the Shures; the highs is where the biggest difference between the two IEMs lies - UE Triple.fis have much better treble detail and extension and the treble is not rolled-off (lowered in volume) like on the Shures

Overall, I would say the Shure E500/SE530 are ideal for acoustic music, vocals, as well as bass centered music, like dance, trance, hip-hop, etc. The UE Triple.fis, on the other hand, may sound better with classical due to better highs. However, personally, I don't believe that the high end roll-off on the Shures is a serious issue - they still have very good performance in the high-end of the spectrum compared to many other headphones, its just that UE Triple.fi/UE-10Pros take the highs to whole new level.

Hope this helps.
 
Dec 3, 2007 at 10:05 PM Post #7 of 15
Hm. I wasn't really considering the Triple-Fi (I've been with Shure from my first "nice" set of headphones), but it's certainly intriguing... the extended highs do sound like they'd be nice. And while I do like my highs very much, I didn't specify that I very much need solid mids.

As far as the Triple-Fi vs. the E4, your description made it sound like I'd like the E4 a bit better: I love the forward mids and analytical (yet still fun) of the bastards. I'd love the tight bass though, I think...

Regarding the SE530s vs. the E4, I could go either way, it seems. As I said, I'd love to have more/tighter bass, but I do love my mids. The highs are just about right on the E4s, IMO, so I don't know how they'd compare to the SE530s. Your description makes it seem like I'd be paying more not for a better headphone, but more for a different headphone (that some may consider better; others not). Would you say that that's the case, or have I misread?

Triple-Fi vs. SE530 is certainly interesting. I might prefer a bass-heavy sound to a bass/treble-heavy sound, as I tend to get a bit fatigued if there are a lot of highs (I want detailed highs, but not necessarily detailed highs at a high volume). The airier sound of the Triple-Fis is something that I'd love to experiment with, but the imaging on my E4s is one of the reasons that I really love them.

Agh. Choices abound...

Oh, and here's the song I said I'd upload (warning: possibly offensive <_<).
 
Dec 7, 2007 at 11:05 PM Post #9 of 15
After reading this review (and quite a few others), I'm starting to sway towards the Triples. I love Shure, but... I listen to orchestral, choral, and metal infused with the former two things, so the Triple.fis really look like they'd fit me better. On that topic, though, how do they fit? They bend at the nozzles like my E4s, but all of the pictures of them suggest that it's as if the bend is done so that the interior angle is facing outwards. Is this a result of bad pictures, or did UE really make such a stupid design decision? I'm only worried about how these will fit, as it stands--sonically, they seem to be a great match for my tastes. As it is, I use my E4s with Shure triple-flanges (trimmed such that the end of the rear is flush with the bottom of the largest flange), and the end of the earphone is flush with that little piece of cartilage at the opening of the ear (I have long, straight ear canals).

Thanks muchly for the help.

P.S.: I just checked out some stuff on HeadRoom, and I've got a few comments/questions.

I like the UE's frequency response, I think. I see that the Shure reproduces the lows quite a bit more, but I'm thinking that that flat line for the first half of the graph might make them seem a bit too warm for my liking. With regards to the isolation... why does the UE get its ass handed to it by the SE530? And why do both get trounced by the E4? I'm really curious about that <_<.
 
Dec 7, 2007 at 11:42 PM Post #10 of 15
It's been quite a while now but when I had both the E4's and E500's my initial impression was the E500's were an E4 with better bass, as I spent more time with the E500's though I came to be quite impressed with what else they brought to the table. Overall the mids are reined in a tad from the E4's and if I recall correctly the highs were about the same but sweeter and more refined from the E500's. Across the board the E500's have better resolution, staging and tonality than the E4's yet they do share a family resemblance so I'd say if you're looking for something similar to the E4 that's a step up in most area's and has much better bass then the E500 fits the bill.
 
Dec 8, 2007 at 1:05 AM Post #12 of 15
I'd have to wait until February or so to afford these phones, so quad-drivers aren't exactly so much in the picture for me >_>.

(Damned high school.)
 
Dec 8, 2007 at 2:48 AM Post #13 of 15
...And I just read EarphoneSolutions' review of them (not the comparison with the SE530s, but the singular review). Are they as huge as the author made them out to be? I have long ear canals, but I've always used the smallest tips possible, and I *hate* having things protrude from my ears...

Agh. But the sound seems like it would fit me...
 
Dec 10, 2007 at 5:56 AM Post #14 of 15
Sorry to post so often, but does anybody have pics of the UEs? I'm worried about how they'd look, but the fit is the most important thing. I can't find any pics of the UEs next to the SE530s, either... which is to be expected, as not many have both.

Thanks for any/all suggestions/help >_>.
 
Dec 10, 2007 at 8:27 AM Post #15 of 15
Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.karmalicious /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Sorry to post so often, but does anybody have pics of the UEs? I'm worried about how they'd look, but the fit is the most important thing. I can't find any pics of the UEs next to the SE530s, either... which is to be expected, as not many have both.

Thanks for any/all suggestions/help >_>.



This is a direct comparison/review of the two IEMs. It also has a few pictures of the IEMs side-by-side and inserted in the ear canal. protrude out quite a bit when worn.

Hope you find it useful.

Shure E500 PTH vs. Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Pro Earphones

[EDIT]...oops I didn't read one of your previous posts...I guess your already aware of this review.
 

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