Jackonicko
11-16-2006, 07:41 PM
It depends what you’re looking for, it depends how fussy you are about quality, and it depends what you are willing to spend.
You can buy in-ears for less than $10, and you can spend more than $900
Things have been changing a great deal in this area, recently, and many ‘old favourites’ have been outclassed by relatively new entrants.
I have always taken a great interest in affordable in-ear headphones, and have amassed a huge collection – many of them given to me for review.
I will not comment on phones that I have not owned, or evaluated for an extended period, and I won’t recommend anything that I don’t own.
You can buy some very cheap in-ears, but they are, in my view, dreadful, and not worth the money. All in-ear phones have more isolation than earbuds that don’t go into the ear canal, and give an immediacy that is refreshing. They are also very comfortable. But the feeling soon wears out if you compare the cheaper in ears with better gear, when their shortcomings become immediately apparent. I would single out the Koss ‘The Plug’, Skull Candys, Earthumps and Earjams as being a particularly pernicious and cynical way of parting naïve youngsters from their cash.
I think that you really need to be spending at least $50.
However, if pressed, I would say that at the sub $30 level, for an IEM, and not a bud, I don't think you can do better than the JVC HA FX55, though at this bargain basement price point you’re better off with conventional buds like the Sennheiser MX400, and the Sony ED21LP. It's not like at higher price points, where there is more GOOD competition, and where there is a wider range of choices to suit different musical tastes.
Some may recommend the cheaper models in the Sony EX51/70/71/81 family of earphones at this price point. They have strong bass, but it's muddy, toneless and very crude, and you can get bass that's better defined and just as powerful. The Sonys also suffer from a harshness and a ‘hissy’ sibilance in the higher ranges. recent models have also suffered quality problems with the cords, which tend to disintegrate.
The JVC HA FX55 is at least a huge improvement over these dreadful phones.
At the $50 price point, my recommendations would include the Sennheiser CX300, which offers great value for money. It uses the same housing as the Creative EP630 and the four-pole Sharp MD33, and, I think, as the AKG K324.
They seem to use different, or differently tuned drivers, and I prefer the CX300 to the 630.
There needs to be a health warning here, as the CX300 is being copied in China, and the fakes are often sold cheaply on eBay. Buy these from somewhere reputable.
If you want better bass and lighter weight than the CX300, one good alternative at this price point is the V-Moda Bass Freq. It's bassier than the CX300, and lighter, so it stays in the ear better, I prefer the sound of the CX300, though some would say that the V-Moda has marginally better sound.
Apple’s own In Ears are not bad, if you’re among the minority who can use them. Most find that they don't fit, and therefore don’t stay in the ear well.
At $90-$100 choices start to really open out, though my recommendations would be for three newcomers - the Panasonic HJE70, the Sony EX90, and the V-Moda Vibe, all of which represent excellent value for money performance, and which effortlessly outperform better known more strongly hyped branded competitors.
The Panasonic HJE70 ($88) gives a lovely warm sound, with super-cool design, and comes with a superb titanium case included. The HJE70 is very comfortable, and my only reservation is that there seems to be some patchy quality control – you can find really poor sounding HJE70s, though mine are simply superb.
I’m a big fan of the Sony EX90 ($90) which has good, solid sound, but whose real unique selling point is an unusual combination of excellent comfort and brilliant fit. The EX90 stays in the ear extremely well. It doesn’t isolate as completely as some IEMs, which further enhances its suitability for running. It even comes with a great leather box. The only real problem is that the cords are slightly fragile.
The new V-Moda Vibe sells for $101 and is a brand new, compact, ultra-light, metal bodied IEM. It has great sound, especially the bass and low/mid end, tangle free cords, and good after sales service.
Other alternatives include the $120 Audio Technica ATH CK7, another metal-bodied IEM, whose only real difference is a cleaner, less bassy sound. This is a nice headphone, and represents a great alternative to the ER6i.
Some like the Westone phones, but I’m unimpressed, personally.
I’d reject the $109 Shure E2C because it’s exceptionally uncomfortable, and because the sound is mediocre for the price, while many users report cord problems.
I’d reject the $139 Etymotic ER6i for being too cold and clinical, for being over-isolating, and for having an uninvolving sound. The ER6is would be dangerous for running - they block out too much of the outside world and you'll never hear the truck that kills you!
The Altec Lansing iM616 ($150) uses the same technology and is no better.
Though Ultimate Ears make some great phones, I think that their low end offering, the $100 SuperFi 3, is poor, and could not recommend it.
I’m horrified at the price of some of the high end ear-gear I’ve been given, most of which is superb, but most of which is not so good that I’d spend my own money on it.
An exception would be the $200 SuperFi 5EB, which does at least offer a unique sound stage.
For the sake of completeness, other choices for the ‘more money than sense brigade’ include the:
SuperFi 5 Pro $250
Etymotic ER4 $299
Shure E4 $319
Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 $400 (I don’t own these)
Shure E500 $500 (I don’t own these)
E5C $550 (I have just received a pair of these)
None of them are even twice as good as the best $100 phones, so you are paying hundreds of dollars for relatively small steps in quality.
IEM features and variables:
Driver size
I used to think that there was a direct relationship between sound quality and driver size - and this would be born out by listening to the EX51/70/71 (with a tiny 9 mm driver) and (say) the E888 with a much bigger driver. But there are plenty of small driver phones that deliver superb sound, and I now realise that driver size is not critical.
Impedence
Impedence will affect primarily how loud the phones sound. Most go loud enough to damage your hearing, so I'd question the relevance.....
Frequency response
Frequency response, too, is of questionable import, since there are $300 and $400 IEMs with narrower frequency response than some $25 phones. Guess which sound better?
Other factors
Cord length, plug style (straight or L) and configuration (even or asymmetric) are real differences, to be sure, and do make a difference, but there is no 'better' or 'worse' since it's a matter of preference.
I personally prefer an L-shaped plug, a longer cord, and an asymmetric arrangement. But none of those are deal-breakers for me - what I really want is phones that make my music sound as good as it can for the price, and that's the basis of my recommendations above.
You can buy in-ears for less than $10, and you can spend more than $900
Things have been changing a great deal in this area, recently, and many ‘old favourites’ have been outclassed by relatively new entrants.
I have always taken a great interest in affordable in-ear headphones, and have amassed a huge collection – many of them given to me for review.
I will not comment on phones that I have not owned, or evaluated for an extended period, and I won’t recommend anything that I don’t own.
You can buy some very cheap in-ears, but they are, in my view, dreadful, and not worth the money. All in-ear phones have more isolation than earbuds that don’t go into the ear canal, and give an immediacy that is refreshing. They are also very comfortable. But the feeling soon wears out if you compare the cheaper in ears with better gear, when their shortcomings become immediately apparent. I would single out the Koss ‘The Plug’, Skull Candys, Earthumps and Earjams as being a particularly pernicious and cynical way of parting naïve youngsters from their cash.
I think that you really need to be spending at least $50.
However, if pressed, I would say that at the sub $30 level, for an IEM, and not a bud, I don't think you can do better than the JVC HA FX55, though at this bargain basement price point you’re better off with conventional buds like the Sennheiser MX400, and the Sony ED21LP. It's not like at higher price points, where there is more GOOD competition, and where there is a wider range of choices to suit different musical tastes.
Some may recommend the cheaper models in the Sony EX51/70/71/81 family of earphones at this price point. They have strong bass, but it's muddy, toneless and very crude, and you can get bass that's better defined and just as powerful. The Sonys also suffer from a harshness and a ‘hissy’ sibilance in the higher ranges. recent models have also suffered quality problems with the cords, which tend to disintegrate.
The JVC HA FX55 is at least a huge improvement over these dreadful phones.
At the $50 price point, my recommendations would include the Sennheiser CX300, which offers great value for money. It uses the same housing as the Creative EP630 and the four-pole Sharp MD33, and, I think, as the AKG K324.
They seem to use different, or differently tuned drivers, and I prefer the CX300 to the 630.
There needs to be a health warning here, as the CX300 is being copied in China, and the fakes are often sold cheaply on eBay. Buy these from somewhere reputable.
If you want better bass and lighter weight than the CX300, one good alternative at this price point is the V-Moda Bass Freq. It's bassier than the CX300, and lighter, so it stays in the ear better, I prefer the sound of the CX300, though some would say that the V-Moda has marginally better sound.
Apple’s own In Ears are not bad, if you’re among the minority who can use them. Most find that they don't fit, and therefore don’t stay in the ear well.
At $90-$100 choices start to really open out, though my recommendations would be for three newcomers - the Panasonic HJE70, the Sony EX90, and the V-Moda Vibe, all of which represent excellent value for money performance, and which effortlessly outperform better known more strongly hyped branded competitors.
The Panasonic HJE70 ($88) gives a lovely warm sound, with super-cool design, and comes with a superb titanium case included. The HJE70 is very comfortable, and my only reservation is that there seems to be some patchy quality control – you can find really poor sounding HJE70s, though mine are simply superb.
I’m a big fan of the Sony EX90 ($90) which has good, solid sound, but whose real unique selling point is an unusual combination of excellent comfort and brilliant fit. The EX90 stays in the ear extremely well. It doesn’t isolate as completely as some IEMs, which further enhances its suitability for running. It even comes with a great leather box. The only real problem is that the cords are slightly fragile.
The new V-Moda Vibe sells for $101 and is a brand new, compact, ultra-light, metal bodied IEM. It has great sound, especially the bass and low/mid end, tangle free cords, and good after sales service.
Other alternatives include the $120 Audio Technica ATH CK7, another metal-bodied IEM, whose only real difference is a cleaner, less bassy sound. This is a nice headphone, and represents a great alternative to the ER6i.
Some like the Westone phones, but I’m unimpressed, personally.
I’d reject the $109 Shure E2C because it’s exceptionally uncomfortable, and because the sound is mediocre for the price, while many users report cord problems.
I’d reject the $139 Etymotic ER6i for being too cold and clinical, for being over-isolating, and for having an uninvolving sound. The ER6is would be dangerous for running - they block out too much of the outside world and you'll never hear the truck that kills you!
The Altec Lansing iM616 ($150) uses the same technology and is no better.
Though Ultimate Ears make some great phones, I think that their low end offering, the $100 SuperFi 3, is poor, and could not recommend it.
I’m horrified at the price of some of the high end ear-gear I’ve been given, most of which is superb, but most of which is not so good that I’d spend my own money on it.
An exception would be the $200 SuperFi 5EB, which does at least offer a unique sound stage.
For the sake of completeness, other choices for the ‘more money than sense brigade’ include the:
SuperFi 5 Pro $250
Etymotic ER4 $299
Shure E4 $319
Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 $400 (I don’t own these)
Shure E500 $500 (I don’t own these)
E5C $550 (I have just received a pair of these)
None of them are even twice as good as the best $100 phones, so you are paying hundreds of dollars for relatively small steps in quality.
IEM features and variables:
Driver size
I used to think that there was a direct relationship between sound quality and driver size - and this would be born out by listening to the EX51/70/71 (with a tiny 9 mm driver) and (say) the E888 with a much bigger driver. But there are plenty of small driver phones that deliver superb sound, and I now realise that driver size is not critical.
Impedence
Impedence will affect primarily how loud the phones sound. Most go loud enough to damage your hearing, so I'd question the relevance.....
Frequency response
Frequency response, too, is of questionable import, since there are $300 and $400 IEMs with narrower frequency response than some $25 phones. Guess which sound better?
Other factors
Cord length, plug style (straight or L) and configuration (even or asymmetric) are real differences, to be sure, and do make a difference, but there is no 'better' or 'worse' since it's a matter of preference.
I personally prefer an L-shaped plug, a longer cord, and an asymmetric arrangement. But none of those are deal-breakers for me - what I really want is phones that make my music sound as good as it can for the price, and that's the basis of my recommendations above.