Well, I got my pair of UE 5EBs in the mail today from Earphone Solutions for $130 shipped after a pricematch.
I gotta say, I'm disappointed. Audio comparisons were made between my Logitech Z-5500s and Koss KTX Pro Headphones. Don't laugh at the price of the Koss. Despite it's cheap looks and price, the sound that it produces is incredible. The high end is extremely crisp, the mids are pretty good, and the bass can become incredibly full. It's just uncomfortable to wear after about an hour and doesn't block out too much noise.
The 5EBs.... the moment I tried them, I felt that they were a bit muddy sounding. There was always a low frequency sound in everything that was being played, from Counterstrike to classical music to country music, whatever. Everything was just too full, like guns cocking in Counterstrike, footsteps, and gunfire. The high end was there, meaning you could hear crispness in the highs, but they were always surrounded by a low frequency fullness, if that makes any sense. On bassy music like Prodigy's Diesel Power, the bass was very rich and full, more full than the Koss.
The Koss, however, rips it apart in the highs and the mids. The Koss, despite being just a single driver AND with great bass and treble, was able to keep the bass in check in all types of music except where it was welcome. The EBs could not. Like I said above, a certain "fullness" was present in everything, something that is not always welcome.
For example, watching an episode of 24, I tested a section with Edgar Stiles speaking. Edgar's voice sounded too full with the EBs, but sounded very natural and real with the Koss and the Logitechs. Even when listening to some classical music, it just didn't sound right. Unbalanced.
I've played around with the sound settings in Windows, like sliding the bass slider to zero and the treble slider higher, but the warmness wouldn't go away with the EBs. The Koss and the Logitechs, on the other hand, do not need any adjustments to sound natural and STILL give a good bass kick when it's the right situation.
UE says the EBs are for bassheads and for people who generally love bass. Well, that's kinda true, but I would like to amend the above to say "people who like to listen to bass all the time." They will simply sound wrong for things like classical, TV, most video games, etc.
So all in all I'm pretty disappointed. It looks like this thing is going to get returned, but I'm in kind of a dilemma. Earphone Solutions charges a $25 restocking fee for IEM, BUT will waive this if I exchange my order for a more expensive set, meaning if I move up to the UE 5 Pros, I will not get charged a restocking fee. And really, I have no choice. I can either:
1. Sell on eBay and probably lose money, like $20
2. Return and get charged a $25 restocking fee
3. Return and buy a UE 3s, and get charged a $25 restocking fee
or
4. Return, and buy the UE Pros for $30 more than the EBs, and get the $25 restocking fee waived.
From all accounts the Pros have a much more natural sounding, uh, sound, to them. I don't want to consider other brands because I'm really scared of the wire sometime in the future breaking, like all my other past headphones that have broken. The UEs have detachable, replaceable wires.
Old Post
I ended up ordering the Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 Extra Bass (EB) in white for $130 shipped with free Airline Adapter. Can't wait for dual driver goodness and some bass.
I really liked the idea of dual drivers, but thought the Pro version at $180 was too expensive. The Super.Fi 3 at $70 only had single drivers, with mixed reviews. Since bass is important to me, and the EB gets great reviews, I decided to get it.
Thanks guys!
old post
Thanks guys for the recommendations. I think I'm going to be going for Canal Phones. I'm going overseas to China this summer and portability and noise-isolation for the plane ride are just too important. Plus a full sized headphone would almost necessitate buying and carrying around an amp.
Now the question is which canal headphone? I love bass, but also like to listen to high note music like classical music.
Shure e2c: kind of mediocre reviews, mediocre bass, probably won't consider getting this
Shure e3c: ?
Shure e4c: good reviews, some say it's weak on the bass, some say it isn't
Shure e5c: too expensive, not an option
I've heard that Shure is kind of like the Alienware of computers. Great performance, but pricier than comparable products.
Etymotics?
Altec Lansing?
Ultimate Ears?
Old Post:
I'm trying to decide between getting a good set of canal headphones like a Shure E3C or a traditional sealed over-the-ear type like a Seinnheiser 280 Pro. Any comments or recommendations? These will be used for music at the computer, airplane rides, video games, and maybe music on the go.
I heard that canal phones are not that great for video games because they are not that great for spatial awareness, meaning it's hard to tell where a sound is coming from because sounds all seem to come from the middle of your head.
I like bass.
Canals: ~$150 for a good pair, great sealing, small and portable, comfortable to sleep with?
Over-the-Ear: $100 for the 280 Pro, $50 for a Chu Moy amp, $20 for rechargeable 9V battery and charger, not nearly as portable, more comfortable, doubles as ear warmers, better spatial awareness, noise seal not as good as canals?
*old post*
My faithful set of Panasonic RP-HT970's has finally died on me after four years of service and a few ghetto patchups by myself to maintain structural integrity. I LOVED the bass vibration feature, and the headphones were so comfortable I routinely used them as ear muffs sitting at the computer, even when there was no sound coming out of them. They were great for counterstrike and I personally enjoyed the audio quality.
I paid about $40 for them back in the day.
Just now the right side stopped producing sound. I opened up the right side, and used my multimeter to measure voltages while the headphones were on. I half hoped that a solder point had come detached, but this was no so. There was no voltage on the right side, so power isn't even reaching the right side. There must be a break in the line somewhere along its 16.4 ft cord, and I don't feel like finding it.
*sigh*
Well, it looks like I need a replacement. I've got biggish ears and I would like something very comfortable and able to kick out some good bass. The vibration feature on my old headphones produced crazy headshaking bass... and the headphones could fold into a very nice compact size (see Amazon link).
Any recommendations?
I gotta say, I'm disappointed. Audio comparisons were made between my Logitech Z-5500s and Koss KTX Pro Headphones. Don't laugh at the price of the Koss. Despite it's cheap looks and price, the sound that it produces is incredible. The high end is extremely crisp, the mids are pretty good, and the bass can become incredibly full. It's just uncomfortable to wear after about an hour and doesn't block out too much noise.
The 5EBs.... the moment I tried them, I felt that they were a bit muddy sounding. There was always a low frequency sound in everything that was being played, from Counterstrike to classical music to country music, whatever. Everything was just too full, like guns cocking in Counterstrike, footsteps, and gunfire. The high end was there, meaning you could hear crispness in the highs, but they were always surrounded by a low frequency fullness, if that makes any sense. On bassy music like Prodigy's Diesel Power, the bass was very rich and full, more full than the Koss.
The Koss, however, rips it apart in the highs and the mids. The Koss, despite being just a single driver AND with great bass and treble, was able to keep the bass in check in all types of music except where it was welcome. The EBs could not. Like I said above, a certain "fullness" was present in everything, something that is not always welcome.
For example, watching an episode of 24, I tested a section with Edgar Stiles speaking. Edgar's voice sounded too full with the EBs, but sounded very natural and real with the Koss and the Logitechs. Even when listening to some classical music, it just didn't sound right. Unbalanced.
I've played around with the sound settings in Windows, like sliding the bass slider to zero and the treble slider higher, but the warmness wouldn't go away with the EBs. The Koss and the Logitechs, on the other hand, do not need any adjustments to sound natural and STILL give a good bass kick when it's the right situation.
UE says the EBs are for bassheads and for people who generally love bass. Well, that's kinda true, but I would like to amend the above to say "people who like to listen to bass all the time." They will simply sound wrong for things like classical, TV, most video games, etc.
So all in all I'm pretty disappointed. It looks like this thing is going to get returned, but I'm in kind of a dilemma. Earphone Solutions charges a $25 restocking fee for IEM, BUT will waive this if I exchange my order for a more expensive set, meaning if I move up to the UE 5 Pros, I will not get charged a restocking fee. And really, I have no choice. I can either:
1. Sell on eBay and probably lose money, like $20
2. Return and get charged a $25 restocking fee
3. Return and buy a UE 3s, and get charged a $25 restocking fee
or
4. Return, and buy the UE Pros for $30 more than the EBs, and get the $25 restocking fee waived.
From all accounts the Pros have a much more natural sounding, uh, sound, to them. I don't want to consider other brands because I'm really scared of the wire sometime in the future breaking, like all my other past headphones that have broken. The UEs have detachable, replaceable wires.
Old Post
I ended up ordering the Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 Extra Bass (EB) in white for $130 shipped with free Airline Adapter. Can't wait for dual driver goodness and some bass.
I really liked the idea of dual drivers, but thought the Pro version at $180 was too expensive. The Super.Fi 3 at $70 only had single drivers, with mixed reviews. Since bass is important to me, and the EB gets great reviews, I decided to get it.
Thanks guys!
old post
Thanks guys for the recommendations. I think I'm going to be going for Canal Phones. I'm going overseas to China this summer and portability and noise-isolation for the plane ride are just too important. Plus a full sized headphone would almost necessitate buying and carrying around an amp.
Now the question is which canal headphone? I love bass, but also like to listen to high note music like classical music.
Shure e2c: kind of mediocre reviews, mediocre bass, probably won't consider getting this
Shure e3c: ?
Shure e4c: good reviews, some say it's weak on the bass, some say it isn't
Shure e5c: too expensive, not an option
I've heard that Shure is kind of like the Alienware of computers. Great performance, but pricier than comparable products.
Etymotics?
Altec Lansing?
Ultimate Ears?
Old Post:
I'm trying to decide between getting a good set of canal headphones like a Shure E3C or a traditional sealed over-the-ear type like a Seinnheiser 280 Pro. Any comments or recommendations? These will be used for music at the computer, airplane rides, video games, and maybe music on the go.
I heard that canal phones are not that great for video games because they are not that great for spatial awareness, meaning it's hard to tell where a sound is coming from because sounds all seem to come from the middle of your head.
I like bass.
Canals: ~$150 for a good pair, great sealing, small and portable, comfortable to sleep with?
Over-the-Ear: $100 for the 280 Pro, $50 for a Chu Moy amp, $20 for rechargeable 9V battery and charger, not nearly as portable, more comfortable, doubles as ear warmers, better spatial awareness, noise seal not as good as canals?
*old post*
My faithful set of Panasonic RP-HT970's has finally died on me after four years of service and a few ghetto patchups by myself to maintain structural integrity. I LOVED the bass vibration feature, and the headphones were so comfortable I routinely used them as ear muffs sitting at the computer, even when there was no sound coming out of them. They were great for counterstrike and I personally enjoyed the audio quality.
I paid about $40 for them back in the day.
Just now the right side stopped producing sound. I opened up the right side, and used my multimeter to measure voltages while the headphones were on. I half hoped that a solder point had come detached, but this was no so. There was no voltage on the right side, so power isn't even reaching the right side. There must be a break in the line somewhere along its 16.4 ft cord, and I don't feel like finding it.
*sigh*
Well, it looks like I need a replacement. I've got biggish ears and I would like something very comfortable and able to kick out some good bass. The vibration feature on my old headphones produced crazy headshaking bass... and the headphones could fold into a very nice compact size (see Amazon link).
Any recommendations?