Since they're playing so close to the eardrum, I'm worried about these damaging the ears. I don't play at loud volumes, but since it's sooo close, I'm guessing that it could have negative effects on the ear.

Can anyone confirm or disprove this?

Thanks.

It really does depend on the volume. Ear damage is caused by forcing the eardrum to vibrate more than it wants to. Volume is especially critical with these phones, but the isolation should mean that you can use them at low volume settings....

your main concern should be the db (measurement of volume)rather than the distance. as long as you don't listen to music at a high volume, you should be fine. remember to be careful since most in-ear headphones have a higher db rating compared traditional headphones.

Ya if you think about it, if you need to boost the volume to beat out the surrounding noise you are getting a double wammy of the noise and the music.

Mike

After hearing all these replies,
I'm a little hesitant on buying them.
What are good earbuds that aren't the in-ear types? Also, they need to fit comfortably.

E888

E888s are really, really big. I don't think they'll be too comfortable.
I wish I could find a local reseller to buy it from.. so I can return it if it doesn't fit.

Sorry, can you speak up a bit.....

No more than any other type of headphone - as mentioned its the volume that does the damage, not the distance. Any earphone/headphone channels the sound into your ear canal, so you can damage your hearing with any 'phone used at high levels.

I have used my EX70's for a while now with no damage to my hearing.

The only reason why these headphones can be dangerous is because they block off so much outside noise..... you might be crossing a street and not hear the car just about to knock you off the road!

Really? That's good to hear.
I guess I will be buying a pair of these.

By the way can someone explain to me what the headphone specs mean?:

Driver Units: 14.8 mm
Impedance: 16 (Symbol)
Sensitivity: 104 dB/mW
Power Handling Capacity: 50mW
Frequency Response: 10 Hz - 25 kHz

Like, what are good specs, and what are not?
Thanks.

Pioneer's $29 SE-CL30 Encapsulated Earphones may represent a better, cheaper option than the EX51/70/71 for those who need the isolation afforded by in the ear canal earphones. They have a slightly broader frequency response 5-23,000 Hz and use 10-mm drivers rather than 8- or 9-. They also come in black or white.

In my experience, big drivers tend to mean better, warmer, more subtle sound, for obvious reasons. (Like with speakers). Impedence makes a difference to how much power the headphones 'absorb' and to how they'll be with an iPod, but 16 ohms is fine. Sensitivity-wise, it's also about how many decibels you will achieve from a given power input - the bigger the number the better, 100 being poor, 108 being good. Frequency response, the low number is bass response - where 5 is very good, and 8 still perfectly adequate. The higher number is high frequency response, which might make a difference with the way you hear (say) cymbals. Sensitivity and Frequency response seem to be the 'killer variables'.

Perhaps the Shure and Ety fans will post their specs here, for our education and enlightenment!

Sorry, these earphones are a poor choice if you are looking for isolation. I've tried them and overall, I say the sound is really bad.

The Shure E2's provide better isolation than the Noise Cancelling NC-11's or whatever that sony makes.

Quote: Originally posted by Jackonicko
Perhaps the Shure and Ety fans will post their specs here, for our education and enlightenment!

Yes, Please.
I would love to have examples of good specs.
Also, thanks a lot for the explanation. It helped a lot. But I'm still confused on what would be good.

From the specs, that I posted, would you say that's a good pair of earphones?

I'd say that they were an OK pair of headphones - or rather earbuds with that size driver. 104 dB/mW is not over-impressive (way lower than the E888's 108) and the bass response is poor at only 10 Hz. I'd want to see 8 or less, really.

I'd guess that Apple's own earbuds would have a very similar spec to the one you outlined.

But I'd caution against over-reliance on the numbers. Some of the Sony clip ons have modest specs but their relatively huge drivers give them good sound.