UE Super.fi 3 Studio vs Audio-Technica ATH-CK7

[TigerLord]

Hi guys,

So to make story short 1 week igo my iPOD mini as well as the pair of Er6i attached to it were stolen while I was at the airport... I've been thoroughly looking for a replacement, looked at irvers and the zen, but nothing beats the sexy look of the nano. SO !

Ordered the 4GB, the BSE and MF overlays (following a post I read here) and now looking at some new earphones (hate the earbuds). I really liked the Er6i, but i'd like to try something new, and following suggestions, looking at either the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 Studio (74,90$+S/H) or the Audio-Technica ATH-CK7(67,50$+S/H).

We're looking at the same price really, I was wondering if anybody could give me more info about either of them, in terms of comfort and range quality (I heard the bass was weak but thats not so much of a problem for me). Comfort is the primary factor I'm looking for, second would be quality and then isolation.

Thanks for the help!

[SP_Unite_06]

I have the UE Super.fi 5 Pros which are probably close to the Super.fi 3's in comfort and I think they are really comfortable. I have yet to have any comfort issues with them and I wear mine daily, sometimes for hours at a time. I don't know if i'm qualified to give my opinion on quality or isolation.

[mops]

No comfort issues whatsoever with the CK7 -- so long as you use the right tip, they won't pop out, isolate well, and are very comfortable. You could even lie down with them on. I like that you don't have to jam them way down in your ear like typical IEMs, and they're easy to put on and remove quickly.

No bass issues for me, either. I'm certainly not a seasoned audiophile, but the bass sounds plenty full and punchy to my ears. I find that they resolve everything really nicely and they're a great isolating complement to my KSC-75s.

I know there's not a whole lot out there on the ATH-CK7, but I really like mine. I've never heard the Superfi.3's.

[TigerLord]

How are the Sennheiser CX300 ??? Theyre available at my local bestbuy so I could pick both up together !!! Any thoughts???

[FeelTheFire]

Never tried the CX300, but I have my Super.Fi 3 and I'm committed to UE for life. I LOVE my ultimate ears, they're so comfortable and sound excellent. I am going to upgrade to the 5 soon just for kicks, but I love mine and I think they're a great, great deal for the money, and I like them much better than my Shure E3s I had before.

[TigerLord]

Unless you can find me a place theyll ship to Canada for an acceptable price (that is, not 20$ or 30$) I'll have to go for the ATH-CK7, as both audiocubes and earphonesolutions.com want 20$ for their shipping whereas warehouse123.com wwant 8$ only.

The CX300 cost about 50$ shipped from eBAY (from the UK, seems a good seller) but I dont know how good they are...

Hmmm ... difficult decision :)

[mops]

I think I saw the CX300 at Future Shop today?

[FeelTheFire]

Don't buy CX300s on eBay. It's littered with fakes that are extremely difficult to distinguish from the real thing when you get them, and at that price, you're probably not looking at authentic earphones.

Earphone solutions ships to canada for a maximum charge of $19.95, meaning the UE would still be less than $100.

[TigerLord]

Don't buy CX300s on eBay. It's littered with fakes that are extremely difficult to distinguish from the real thing when you get them, and at that price, you're probably not looking at authentic earphones.

Earphone solutions ships to canada for a maximum charge of $19.95, meaning the UE would still be less than $100.

You seem to like them so much I will order the UE and let you know how they are ;) A guy who swears by a pair of earphones must be really good :D

[Aceospades1250]

I also own a pair. In the past on this site my point of view has been very positive. Since then I discovered the world of Head-Fi, and decided to pick up a pair of Grado SR-60s. Now I have a completely changed point of view on this (I'm sure plenty will disagree).

Sound:

Pretty harsh. Lacks bass almost completely unless an amp is used and in that case it is still quite weak. Mids are okay, they are clear and present but are not very fun to listen to. Trebel without an amp can become quite harsh. All this being said, the Grado is a completely different animal in almost every way but it is still a good benchmark for sub-$100 headphones.

Comfort:

Definetly the strong suite here. Very comfortable. Isolation can be a bit fatiguing, but if you seat these properly they are fine.

All in all, if you want good comfort without a fun listening experience, get these. If you are a sound quality buyer, IEMs will have to be very expensive to have a pretty good sound quality.

Once again, this is coming from a person who switched from IEMs to Grados and will probably never go back. They are simply too expensive.

[Macromedia]

If you like the ER6i go for the ER4p. You will be used to the fit so the Etymotic ER4p will probably be good for you. If you like the Etymotic sound signature...

[FeelTheFire]

^ the OP had wanted headphones in the sub-$100 range.

[FeelTheFire]

You seem to like them so much I will order the UE and let you know how they are ;) A guy who swears by a pair of earphones must be really good :D

Yep, I love mine. Of course enclosed headphones will be better, but I can't have cans on my head all day, and for less than $100 my UEs are excellent, and having replaceable cables is a huge feature for me.

[TigerLord]

I wonder how the seal is going to be... with my Er6i I used the 3 tips flanges, so I'm not used to foam... looking at pictures the foam tips look like plastic, are they hard or foam and comfy???

Havent ordered the earphones yet!

[FeelTheFire]

They have three sizes of silicone tips, a set of double flange tips, and the foamies. The foamies are soft, not plasticky at all.

[TigerLord]

Well just ordered Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 Studio Earphones Black @ earphonesolutions.com

Will tell you what I think of them... I'll miss my Er6i :(

[TigerLord]

Well I finally got the earphones (they look awesome) and after 24 hours of using them I'm really satisfied and like the sound better than the Er-6i.

I've had a lot of problems at first, I had lots of trouble putting them on, because you have to put them inside out and wrap the cable around your ears, took me a while to figure this out ok without huritng the inside of my ear (while trying to figure out the cable I kept pushing them in the earcanal which hurt).

I had to switch to the dual flanged tips as the original ones seemed too big (the seal was ok but they didnt insert so good and they felt easily) ... I still dont think theyre right for me (I used triple flanged tips with the Er-6i) since they hurt a little, but at first it did it too with the Er-6i until I found a way to properly insert them.

I really like the bass response, it's a little clearer than the Er-6i , but it lacks a little as well. I can hear the highs much better now (I listen to a lot of Nightwish and the main singer is (was) a Soprano, and especially in their last live CD when she hits very high pitched notes, they used to get lost with the Er-6i.). I can't say I'm an audiophile enought to identify the mids and lows so well.

As for comfort so far I liked the Er-6i better, but I've had the 3S only for 1 day, I'll have to try the other eartips and a better insertion process... is the tail of the eartips suppose to point up like in manual ? I tend to find it more comfortable when the tips are a little angled, but then the cable is very hard to wrap behind the ears and they don't stay in so well...

I gotta say the packaging is far better than those of the Er-6i. Aluminium AND leather case, with 4 silicon eartips plus 1 foam set and the driver cleaner. The earphones themselves match my black nano perfectly and it looks awesomely sexy together.

That's it ;)

[NJO]

Welcome to the weird and whacky world of 'trying to get UE headphone cables to go over the top of your ears correctly' and 'which UE tip to use so that they don't pop out every few minutes'... personally - and I expect to be told I'm wrong - but to me there is something seriously wrong about the whole design and production of UE's cheaper 3 and 5 series headphones.

I'm still quite amazed that I put up with the pair of 5s I bought, because no matter which tips I used they always popped out after a few minutes and needed reseating to get a seal. Even the foamies did that which is quite amazing considering that foamies are intended in a way to solve that problem.

I gave up on UE after both the left and right channels casings on mine fell apart completely. One channel lost its little silver UE badge and ended up sounding so weird I just couldn't listen any longer. So many poeple have found this is a common fault with UE's 3 and 5 series, although UE are supposed to have redesigned and changed the materials used in order to prevent this from happening... sorry but any company who goes into production with a product that literaly self destructs in normal everyday use isn't deserving of my custom and I think others should think very carefully before commiting themselves.

I could have bought 5 pairs of the headphones I currently use for what the UE's cost me. They are simple to use. I never have any tip problems. Loosing the frustration of that cable looped over the top of my ears is a joy in itself. Not that I am not going to look at more costly options - in fact I'm always looking out for new products that could improve my listening experience... the nicest thing about the far cheaper phones I use now is that I listen to the music and don't spend time focused on the fact the things falling out of my ears and falling apart in the process are supposed to sound better.

[Macromedia]

Out of curiosity what headphones are you using now?

[NJO]

Bass Freq's :)