Want sound isolating ear buds, but don't want to pay $500

[thegoldenmackid]

Hello,

If you really want decent sounding ear buds, but don't want to pay for the Shure SE530's...here's a solution.

The top of the line (e500/se530) come with soft, black, pointed foam tips. These will work on everything except the lowest Shure model. And with no music can provide almost perfect isolation....So buy a set ($15 at the absolute most) and then pick up a set of say E4's (180ish now)...You will have found a true isolating headphone for less then half of what Shure wants you to pay. Now, don't get me wrong I can tell the difference between my SE530's and my E4's, but most of us (myself included) don't need the 530's for any reason, and it's kinda like doing heroine.

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

I just used shooting-ear-plugs (2.00)
Fish-tank semi-rigid air tubing (2.00)
A Pencil (free)

Used the pencil to ream a hole in the center of the ear plugs, put the fish-tank air tubing inside it, and cut the ends flush. It fit perfectly on my earbuds, and blocks more sound.

Downside - they are a bit more effort to insert, have to compress them more.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

while custom solutions do offer a cheaper alternative (and do work quite well).... There is some noticeable sound quality...although i don't think that most would think that $180 is worth the difference...

 

[Sesshi]

http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/cofotipeco1p.html

Etymotic's long tubular rougher-foam tips (not the comply tips above) are the kings of isolation. Fitting them to various Shures however does odd things to the sound. If you want ultimate non-custom isolation in a cheap earphone, the ~$170 ER-4P's + black tips are a good buy. But the ER4 is the poster child of single-driver balanced armature IEM sound: tinny, unbalanced and also rough. What you're paying for with multi-driver in-ear phone is the elimination of that and a more natural musical representation. To me, I wouldn't settle for anything else - the E3, E4, ER-4P, etc all annoy me after a while, although I use the E3 occasionally as a commuting podcast-listening-phone.

 

[Butthead]

Better solution- Klipsch earbuds

http://www.gadgetnutz.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=411

Custom 3's will probably deliver better sound for $50 less than the smaller Image, that initially cost $349...both use oval silicon gel for better fit/sound isolation.
http://www.klipsch.com/headphones/custom-3/

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/97237.aspx

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/p/97110/988983.aspx

 

[thegoldenmackid]

once again...you can pick of a pair of Shure SE530's for less then $350 on eBay...

But..this solution seems cheap and easy...and the sound of the E4 is at worst lacking bass...

 

[Butthead]

once again...you can pick of a pair of Shure SE530's for less then $350 on eBay...

But..this solution seems cheap and easy...and the sound of the E4 is at worst lacking bass...

Once again, you can do better for LESS with Klipsch earbuds, whatever turns you on though, take your pick, pay more if you like for less performance, less comfortable solutions. Some people are masochists, go figure.

 

[Sesshi]

That's interesting. What did you compare with and how was it better? What's the difference in isolation? I may be up for a replacement for the E3 (and E4 which is used even less often) I mentioned earlier. I use the E3 effectively as 'beater' earphones since they were the most robust in Shure's range but something which sounds better for less and can take everyday knocks / wear & tear would be welcome.

 

[Superman07]

I've had good luck with the 3 series. I've been using them a lot over the past 6 months and am very pleased with their sound isolation and their sound levels. The only thing I'd like a little more of is bass, but unfortunately I can't say how well the 5 series handles that.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/105-1149406-0392401?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=superfi

 

[Sesshi]

Don't know about the 3's but the Super Fi 5's have the worst isolation among in-ear monitors in my experience, even the Shure E2 being a step ahead (my path to the UE-10's was a long one ). Nicely balanced sound though, unlike single-driver phones.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

Once again, you can do better for LESS with Klipsch earbuds, whatever turns you on though, take your pick, pay more if you like for less performance, less comfortable solutions. Some people are masochists, go figure.

IDN what you are talking about. The Shure E500s/SE530 blow these away and are $20 more. The E5 - which you can find now for about $200 is still even above par on sound quality. The Klipsch are good, but they aren't the same as some of the more top of the line products that Klipsch has created.