Parrothead
10-27-2005, 09:29 PM
I am tring to basically choose between 3 different earbuds, all that I have heard good things about. These are the Shure e4c , UE Super.fi 5 Pro and Etymotic Research ER-6i. I am more less interested in the first two but the ER-6i sound very good as well. I am looking for a good all around earbud. Something I can pretty much use anywhere. I mainly am into all kinds of Rock, some Country, and occasionally Rap and R&B. These 3 earbuds are in a good price range as well, without going overboard. Any advice, comment or suggestion is more than welcome.
wolfB
10-28-2005, 08:54 AM
SQ aside, the Etymotics fall short for me due to their known problem with microphonic effects.
The e4 and the super.fi 5 Pro both play in the upper league of universal fit in-ear phones. The better the phone is, the more important is the quality of the source material. No matter what music you prefer, it should be of good recording quality, sampled down at least with AAC 192kb/s, if not 320kb/s. You will clearly hear the reduced dynamics and sound artifacts of 128 kb/s mp3-files with these phones, and I for one cannot stand with that. Allthough the e4 and super.fi 5 Pro, and the Westone UM2 I might add, are very good phones in the price range from $200 to $300, but they are by no means perfect from an audiophile's point of view. You would still have to live with shortcomings in one way or another. If you want more, you'd have to spend considerably more money.
I went for the super. fi 5 Pro and they exceeded my expectations. Technically the super.fi's have the advantage being a 2 way design. Basically you can expect enhanced transperancy particular at both ends of the frequency range. The super.fi's are considered to be a little too bass heavy and having veiled mids and highs - some say the heighs are rolled off. I won't second that. Yes, the overall sound signature tends to the warm side. And yes, the bass is strong and deep, but very clean and well textured. The mids and highs are dynamic and very clear, revealing loads of detail. Very good sibilance control on vocals. And most important for me: the music grooves and swings! At least straight from my 4Gen. iPod I can't imagine there's a better in-ear phone below $300. I can't wait to hear how they'll do with the new iPod.