Hmm, looks like I fell for it then - when I took them out of the packaging I was amazed at how sturdy the cable felt compared to my iPod ones.
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which headphones for ipod?
- Thread starter smartalic34
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Hmm, looks like I fell for it then - when I took them out of the packaging I was amazed at how sturdy the cable felt compared to my iPod ones.
From the poll on head-fi not everyone has the problem so you might be just fine queshy
. But keep an eye on it anyway. The cables lose their malleability where they bend over your ear and eventually crack on the inside of the arc (if that makes sense).
In Canada they retail for $199 + tax, but I managed to get a brand new pair for $85
May I ask where you got them from? I was considering them but I didn't want to pay over $200 for them.
Also, what bitrate are your music? I'm no audiophile either and I'm afraid that those earphones are going to pick up artifacts from some of my 128kbps music.
Check your PM. Most of my music is 128. Perhaps I should try a higher bitrate? Some of my itunes plus stuff is higher though. I haven't made any comparisons...
PM received, thanks!
From what I gathered, good earphones can pick up the imperfections in low bitrate music. Higher bitrate do sound better, but my ears don't really hear a difference between 128 and 192. I can only pick up the difference between CD quality and 128kbps music. Maybe my earphones just suck, but I'm not really the type of the person that can pick up and analyze the highs, midrange, mid bass, bass and all that
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PM received, thanks!
From what I gathered, good earphones can pick up the imperfections in low bitrate music. Higher bitrate do sound better, but my ears don't really hear a difference between 128 and 192. I can only pick up the difference between CD quality and 128kbps music. Maybe my earphones just suck, but I'm not really the type of the person that can pick up and analyze the highs, midrange, mid bass, bass and all that
The base on the 210s isn't as great as I thought it would be - I mean yes I admit the base on the 210s is better than on the iPod earbuds, but I feel like I'm still left with wanting more. I chose to keep the 210s rather than return them, so I guess that says something
I suggest the OP to try them and return them if s/he doesn't like them. The reviews are hard to understand because you gotta hear them for yourself before committing.
I was looking to get a cheap pair of in-ear noise isolating (i.e. noise blocking, i.e just foam) earplugs. I went to radio shack and surprisingly found that they had an inexpensive $31 model of these type of earplugs. They were radio shack name branded, but I threw away the packaging so I can't tell you who actually made them.
Here's the real shock - they sound pretty darn good! The ambient noise blocking is surprisingly good, almost as good as my regular foam earplugs which are officially rated at 32 dB noise reduction. The base is loud and full, the highs are perfectly acceptable. I was surprisingly pleased.
And it comes with an in-line volume slider remote, which is awesome. As great as the iPod is, one of the major things I disliked was the absence of an always available volume control, and this eliminates that problem.
Also, if you hate how the ipod volume never gets low enough even when it's turned all the way down, this in-line volume control solves that problem too. When the ipod volume is at zero you can then start sliding the in-line volume control down and get the volume to basically be inaudible even in a totally quiet room.
Here's the real shock - they sound pretty darn good! The ambient noise blocking is surprisingly good, almost as good as my regular foam earplugs which are officially rated at 32 dB noise reduction. The base is loud and full, the highs are perfectly acceptable. I was surprisingly pleased.
And it comes with an in-line volume slider remote, which is awesome. As great as the iPod is, one of the major things I disliked was the absence of an always available volume control, and this eliminates that problem.
Also, if you hate how the ipod volume never gets low enough even when it's turned all the way down, this in-line volume control solves that problem too. When the ipod volume is at zero you can then start sliding the in-line volume control down and get the volume to basically be inaudible even in a totally quiet room.
The base on the 210s isn't as great as I thought it would be - I mean yes I admit the base on the 210s is better than on the iPod earbuds, but I feel like I'm still left with wanting more. I chose to keep the 210s rather than return them, so I guess that says something
fit = everything.
Also, the SE210 aren't what I would recommend for the price, try to find a pair of e3's or e4's much better sound for the price, and the 210's are still single driver headphones, as opposed the SE530s which are triple driver. But I can understand why you don't hear much of a bass difference, but I'm puzzled about the lack of clarity with distortion at louder volumes?
It gets pretty loud like with my iPod headphones but at high volumes it's not as clear as it should be.
How do you know what it "should be" Not to get too mean or insulty... the SE210s are the lowest end Shure's. And while I do think that they are a good product and better then a lot of their competitors, Shure is taking advantage of their name, just like Bose. Now Shure's products havent reached the mediocre level of the Bose in-ear headphones, but as a Shure fanboy, you're expectations may be too high. There is no distortion at the highest level on my SE530s or UE10s but there is a difference. You shouldn't have a problem with distortion at anything that won't blow your ears out however.
Actually, the SE110s are the lowest end shure's.
I'm not a Shure fanboy. I was looking for headphones and found a brand new pair of the 210s at an incredible price (85$).
You're right ...I don't know what it "should" be. I do know that on my HK SoundSticks 2 at home, the volume gets very loud and doesn't get distorted. I know these are headphones and it's a different game, but I thought with the Shure's I'd be able to put it up louder than on my iPod earphones with no distortion, but I was wrong. By distortion, I don't mean inaudible and incomprehensible, I just mean not pleasant to listen to because some of the notes sound off. Hard to explain. I guess a good analogy would be ...turn up the volume high and it starts to sound like the quality of a cheap radio. I probably shouldn't be listening to it that loud, anyways.
I use the vmoda duos (vibe with an iphone mic) with my iphone and they fit extremely well and have really good sound. At least to my non-audio-snob ears.
Here's another vote for the Shure e4c. I've had them for a couple of years and I've been incredibly pleased with them. I travel quite a bit for work and they've become a much beloved travel companion. If you're ever stuck on a plane with screaming children (which is every other flight for me), you'll consider this some of the best money you've spent.
You're not going to get thumping bass from these; they just don't have the drivers for it. The sound tends to be more neutral in tone. I can't comment on the volume of other Shure products, but these can get uncomfortably loud without distortion on my iPod.
As a PSA after reading some of these posts, canal phones really shouldn't be used in environments that require attention to surroundings, like biking or walking down the street and mowing the lawn.
You're not going to get thumping bass from these; they just don't have the drivers for it. The sound tends to be more neutral in tone. I can't comment on the volume of other Shure products, but these can get uncomfortably loud without distortion on my iPod.
As a PSA after reading some of these posts, canal phones really shouldn't be used in environments that require attention to surroundings, like biking or walking down the street and mowing the lawn.
hey everyone. thanks again for all the responses! it's awesome when so many people respond. definitely hadnt heard of klipsch and didnt really consider etymotic and other headphones before.
I'm actually now leaning towards the Denon AH-C551K... the clarity of shure with a vibe-like sound signature. not 100% sure yet, as some great shures, sennheisers, and etys are still in the running
kudos to everyone on the great comments
I'm actually now leaning towards the Denon AH-C551K... the clarity of shure with a vibe-like sound signature. not 100% sure yet, as some great shures, sennheisers, and etys are still in the running
kudos to everyone on the great comments
The Sennheiser's have really good sound quality, good bass without being too overpowering. The only thing not sure about is the split cable system, depends on if you mind that the cable comes in two parts. They are realatively cheap though, and for the money probably better than the shure's or v-moda's.
Here are the inexpensive but surprisingly high quality ones I was talking about earlier. I was so impressed by them that I did some research and found out why they're so good. They're radioshack branded but are actually made by a company called Hearing Components which has specialized in high-noise environment audio reproduction long before the consumer noise reduction headphones became a craze. They've been making audio reproduction systems for the military and for hearing aides since 1990, so of course their stuff is super high quality. Check out the in-ear headphones they make.
I'm telling you, for a little over $30 dollars it's a steal because these headphones produce very high quality sound. The in-line volume slider is super useful too. And the foam is really comfortable and comes in 2 different sizes for different sized ear canals.
p.s. I know this almost sounds like a commercial, but I promise you I have absolutely no connection to this company or their products. I was just so impressed by the high quality that came out of these cheap radio shack headphones that I had to figure out how this was possible.
EDIT: Check out the other user reviews, apparently I'm not the only one who's been thoroughly impressed by these things.
I'm telling you, for a little over $30 dollars it's a steal because these headphones produce very high quality sound. The in-line volume slider is super useful too. And the foam is really comfortable and comes in 2 different sizes for different sized ear canals.
p.s. I know this almost sounds like a commercial, but I promise you I have absolutely no connection to this company or their products. I was just so impressed by the high quality that came out of these cheap radio shack headphones that I had to figure out how this was possible.
EDIT: Check out the other user reviews, apparently I'm not the only one who's been thoroughly impressed by these things.
I've used Sennheiser CX300 headphones on my iPod for the last year and been very pleased with them. They're very cheap for what you get.
HB
I like the old $3 headphones. You know, the ones that go on the outsides of your ears.
I hate having things shoved in my ears. That's just uncomfortable. Then, they fall out, and so on. Plus, I'll share headphones, but I won't share ear buds or things like that (nasty goo).
I just don't know how people have gotten accustomed to ear buds. So uncomfortable, and a pain to keep in. I don't care what it looks like, I'd rather have something outside my ear than in it.
Plus, with the standard headphones, my daughter has no excuse to ignore me. I know she can still hear me. Sure, you can get noise canceling ones, but I know she can hear me with the cheap ones.
I hate having things shoved in my ears. That's just uncomfortable. Then, they fall out, and so on. Plus, I'll share headphones, but I won't share ear buds or things like that (nasty goo).
I just don't know how people have gotten accustomed to ear buds. So uncomfortable, and a pain to keep in. I don't care what it looks like, I'd rather have something outside my ear than in it.
Plus, with the standard headphones, my daughter has no excuse to ignore me. I know she can still hear me. Sure, you can get noise canceling ones, but I know she can hear me with the cheap ones.
Since other options are being presented, I would also suggest Ultimate Ears (UE) - ultimateears.com. They make some great canal phones. I personally use UE Super.fi 5 Pro. Customer care is very good from Ultimate Ears - something that adds to the value of a product in a different way.
I went out and bought these last night, after your post I just assumed these were the ones. I was actually impressed, they weren't as good as my E3's but definately weren't off from the E2's. I then let them break in at 50 percent volume. and while the sound on the right side blew out. The construction is definately terrible, but if 3 pairs would last me as long as some SE110s, I'd be fine.