ex71 not as good as old ex70s?

[andybarratt]

I recently replaced some ageing sony ex70s with the updated ex71s. Is it me or are they wildly different?

I'd grown used to, and warmed to the ex70s bottom end, and whilst the 71s have a brighter sound, it seems to have been at the expense of their predecessor's bass.

Before anyone suggests that I am not inserting them properly or whatever, I am even using the same plugs that I used to.

Do they need breaking in or something? I even tried out all three sizes of plugs to see if that worked but no.

Anyone agree/ disagree?

[sparkky]

I think the 70s sound exactly the same as the 71. I hear no difference. the in-ear apple ones sound different than the sony; am still undecided which i prefer re sound. comfort-wise, i prefer the sonys over apple in ear.

[Jim Reese]

Sparky, try replacing the Apple In-Ear caps with your favorite size from the EX-70/71s, and give them a listen. I think with the Sony caps, the new Apples sound remarkably better than the Sony buds do. I'm making the comparison from the EX-70 model, not the 71. I'd like to hear your opinion.

[phast]

Andybarratt said the 71 was not as good as the 70 - and I AGREE. I had a couple pair of the 70's and thought they were great...I recently bought a set of the 71's for my son, and compared them - I was really dissapointed with the 71's. I wonder what Sony did to kill the bass? The 70's were solid, warm and easy to listen to. Now I only listened for a short time with the 71's but the difference was obvious - and didn't take me long to hear it. I've now been very careful with my 70's since I won't be able to replace them.

Now I've read/heard all the hype about the Shure E3 and am tempted to buy a pair. Everyone talks about the clarity, separation etc. and I guess I'll have to try them for myself and decide. I've read as many FOR and AGAINST the E3's but its clear the bass is missing from the Shure canalphones.

[Jim Reese]

phast, I just picked up a pair of the E3s, and there's certainly no lack of bass. It's certainly not on the order of that present in the EX-70, but many consider the EX-70 bass to be far too much. The bass on the E3 is more realistic, but having moved to the E3 from the Ety ER-6, I'm having to boost the treble on the E3s a bit.

I'm probably going to give the Ety ER-4P a try, and choose between those and the E3. I got the E3s from MicrophoneSolutions.com for $154.29 delivered using a code for $30 off posted elsewhere in these forums. Fast delivery too.

[phast]

Hi Jim,
After thinking about the 70 vs 71 issue, I took a careful listen last night. On first impression the 70 does sound bass heavy, but then I got cranking on the EQ (mini iPOD) with the 71. I was pleasantly surprised that I kind of liked the 71 better. I went back and forth on a number of Fleetwood Mac & Sara McLachlan cuts and found what I thought was a big hump in the mid to lower bass on the 70's which the 71 did not exhibit. I added BASS BOOST to the 71 and found the sound a lot more easy to listen to and after a while preferred the 71 to the 70. I've always played the 70 FLAT, but with the EQ kicked up to Bass Boost, with the 71 - well I give the nod to the 71! The 71 also has more highs, maybe just not masked by all that bass in the 70.

Now on to the E3 - I'm going to give them a try. I'm a gadget freak so, I've got to have the latest and greatest (budget permitting), but I would like to see if they are more transparent than the Sony's - which I think add a lot of color and are not very clean in the high end (might be the AAC encoding - so I'll have to do some more listening with direct CD playback to be certain).

Thanks for your comments and input.

[Jim Reese]

phast, just be aware that the iPod equalizer introduces some distortion. In most cases, I doubt you'll hear it, but sometimes you come across a song that really shows how bad the distortion can be.

Since you're a Sarah MacLachlan fan, and if you have the song Answer from her Afterglow album, try this test. Set the equalizer to Bass Boost, and listen to the song between 1:35 and 1:55. The bass distortion is very bad during this portion of the song. It is less distorted using other equalizer settings, and disappears completely when equalizer is set to OFF.

This is one of the only songs I've listened to where I was actually aware of the distortion introduced by the equalizer. At first I thought it was the particular earbuds I was using, but it was present with every pair I tried.

If you listen with equalizer enhancement all the time, you could set it to default to Flat for songs such as this that push the equalizer past its limits, so there's no distortion in that particular song when played.

[Nizzle]

If u just got them, u may not have broken in the drivers yet. Fresh drivers often cause tinniness.

[monkedsel]

I've had my 71's for awhile... they sound better now, but are still on the bright side. I have no qualms with the bass.

[phast]

Received the E-3's Saturday, and spent a fair amount of time comparing them to my Sony EX-70/71's. I did not like the E-3's. I know this is a very personal preference, as I see as many pro E-3 comments as negative ones. I think the EX-71 had better bass and highs. I really tried to like the E3's. I went back and forth trying to find something I liked....but in the end couldn't find anything I really liked except for the mids which were very clean, but a bit overwhelming compared to the bass and lack of highs.

Also I didn't care for the over-the-ear wiring and the wires are too stiff - the Sony's are more flexible - but I've already broke one pair of EX-71 when I tripped over the wire and the left channel went dead - so the Sony's are more flexible, but not as durable.

Next stop would be the Ety's...just as soon as I sell my E3's on ebay to get my canalphone funds restored I can buy a pair of the Ety's - just not sure which ones yet!

[Jim Reese]

phast, I had the same experience with my E3s when moving from the Ety ER-6. But, I think you will have the same feeling when moving from any earbuds you are accustomed to. My advice is to switch to the E3 for a week, and don't use the Sony's at all. Then after a week, try the Sony's again. I'm betting you will not think the Sony's sound that good after your ears get adjusted to the E3s.

I did the same thing, I purchased the E3 some time ago, listened for a day or two, and returned them. But now I have a 2nd pair of E3s, and after spending more time with them, I'm finding I like them a lot better. Have you tried all the various types of adapters? Again, you need to spend at least a day or two using each type in order to get an accurate feel of their capabilities. I find minor differences in the flavor of the music reproduction depending on which adapter you use. There are also differences in fit and isolation. While one type might not seem to appeal to me wearing them for a few minutes in my home, I had a different opinion after wearing that type out and around for a couple of days.

I also didn't initially like looping the cords over my ears, but again, if you wear them this way a few days, it becomes comfortable, and it completely eliminates any cord noises that are present with any in-ear headphone. I found that when I wore the E3 without the cord looped over my ears, I could feel the weight of the thicker cord pulling down on the earbuds. I solved this by passing the entire cord behind my neck, connected to the iPod on my right side, with the cord draping around my neck and down my left chest a bit, and then going into both ears. This removed the tugging on my ears by the weight of the cord, and only required a minor adjustment of the cord around my neck during the day. Another option might be to use some kind of shirt clip to hold the cord in place in front of you, like the Ety's use.

I would suggest you spend a week or two with the E3s before deciding to sell them. I think your dissatisfaction might be resolved once your ears adjust to them, and when you try the Sony's at that point, you probably won't like the way they sound. Let me know how this works for you.

[phast]

Hi Jim,
Thanks for your input. I was going to do just as you advised, and I'm glad you reminded me to follow my instincts. I only tried the gray silicone ear pieces as they fit comfortably upon initial insertion, and didn't even try the others.

I probably was a bit hasty in my first review, and will take them home with me (I'm up in my NYC apartment - I live in Florida) and give them another shot. Like I said, I really wanted them to be better, but after listening for a few hours, just couldn't find that one thing I liked. Since this is a VERY personal issue, there is NOT one solution that fits all, and best is very subjective. I did find it hard to believe that Shure (one of the oldest and very well respected audio companies in my industry) could not come up with a formadable competitor to the Japanese. But, sound conversion devices is NOT their forte, I would of expected JBL or Boston Acoustics to have such a device. I was afraid the E3 were too Floor Monitor centric (which is where they got their start - as I understand it). For Floor Monitors, I think they would work well: you don't need a lot of bass, the mids are their strong point and that is what most performers would want to hear. I didn't try it, but I think the E3 could be played VERY loud without distortion, again a Floor Monitor attribute.

I'll check back in a few weeks and give the E3's probation as I further the review. Thanks again for your insight!

[dazz87]

I got my ex71 today and i think i got a defective set. :mad: the Left side cord was twice as long as the Right side. When i plug in the extension cord, the Right side has no sound. Turn out that the extension cord was defective. Had the same result when using the apple's headset with the extension cord.

[googlydoo]

dazz87, you have to push in the plug into the extension real hard to get it in all the way. Also, the left side is supposed to be longer, check the boards for more explanation than you'll ever need.

[dazz87]

Originally posted by googlydoo
dazz87, you have to push in the plug into the extension real hard to get it in all the way. Also, the left side is supposed to be longer, check the boards for more explanation than you'll ever need.

doh! thanks bro! youre right its working fine now, guess i have to cancel my return order to amazon. thanks again.

[Jim Reese]

dazz, one side is longer than the other because it's designed to go behind your neck to that ear. While it seems odd at first, I kinda liked it, because it leaves the cord out of the way, and when you have to remove the earbuds, they just dangle down around your neck on both sides, and you can walk around like this, and put them back in when you're ready to listen again.

[dazz87]

cool ty. yeah at first i was wtf!!! one side is longer then the other! Ill have to try it after i get off work. I was using them during lunch time and they are pretty good, much better then the apple's headset. not bad for 32 bucks. Thanks again for the help guys.

[Rakinos]

i have the noise canceling pair, for the longest time i was just like wtf is this?! after a few months of using them i was like, huh, lets try the wire behind the neck....ahhhh... much better :D