Headphone help

[FernandoDuarte]

Wakening the dead!

What's the difference from the Grado SR60, SR80 and the iGrado to iPod listening? I'm no super-ear-man or whatever, just want to listen the bass lines and have punch on tone...

[LazyNinja]

For ipod use, I think Shure E2C in ear monitors are great. It's discontinued but you can still get them from online shops. I haven't tried the successor models.

What I always find is that with ear/headphones there's always a trade off between sound quality and noise isolation. With closed headphones they always sound boxy and well, closed. With open phones you get too much outside noise and also too leaky. Useless for commuting or using in library or something. Ear canal designs like Senheiser CX300 are too immediate and aggressive imo.

With the Shure, the sound has a very nice spread and very natural. Not quite sure why but maybe it's because the sound is generated in the bit that rests just outside of your ear canal and the sound is pumped through the tube into your ear canal. Maybe the extra travel helps with the soundscape I dunno but yeah it's awesome. Great detail you can really hear everything. Totally worth the £35 I paid for it!

edit: the bass on this is nice; crisp and natural. But if punchy bass is what you're after you might like the CX300 or any of the DJ oriented headphones as they have more bass oriented EQ.

[MDV]

At any given price Cans > In ears.

[FernandoDuarte]

With open phones you get too much outside noise and also too leaky. Useless for commuting or using in library or something. Ear canal designs like Senheiser CX300 are too immediate and aggressive imo.

I'm looking forward to NOT listen the stupid people with mp3 cell phones listening hip hop on bus, so if it leakes 10x louder than in my ears, would be great to me :lol:

[LazyNinja]

At any given price Cans > In ears.

lol you seem to disagree with me a lot don't you? Have you actually tried the Shure? Can you suggest something better for the price I paid for it then? I realise there is personal preference but I've tried a lot of head/earphones with my ipod and it's the best experience with the Shure by far.

- too leaky/too much noise coming through (Sennheiser PX100, Grados)
- Tinny, boxy and artificial sounding (all closed cans I tried under £50)
- too bassy, lacks detail. Painful to the ear. (CX300)
- physically huge (any proper cans)

Assuming that Fernando is going to listen to his ipod outside, my criteria is pretty normal I think.

[LazyNinja]

With open phones you get too much outside noise and also too leaky. Useless for commuting or using in library or something. Ear canal designs like Senheiser CX300 are too immediate and aggressive imo.

I'm looking forward to NOT listen the stupid people with mp3 cell phones listening hip hop on bus, so if it leakes 10x louder than in my ears, would be great to me :lol:

 :? What?? Not quite sure what you mean. If you mean that you don't mind leaking sound to other people, do you realise that you'd be one of those "stupid people"? One man's music is another's noise.

[FernandoDuarte]

Hummm, how is this Shure about confortable?? These in-ears always give me pain in the ear, but I've only seen the "hard plastic" ones, this Shure seems to be alike the industrial ear pluges...

[MDV]

HD212s are very good bang for buck.

The CX500 and 550 (as the CX95s I use for wandering about with have been rebranded) dont have the excess bass, sibilance and lack of detail of the 300s. They need burn in though.

And I dont disagree with you.

And yes, I've tried the E2c and found them rather shallow and clumsy - they lack detail. I have some E4s (not c, the proper ones) kicking around as well.

[FernandoDuarte]

:? What?? Not quite sure what you mean. If you mean that you don't mind leaking sound to other people, do you realise that you'd be one of those "stupid people"? One man's music is another's noise.

They don't use headphones, those cell phones with speaker... if they used their headphones I wouldn't be pissed...

[MDV]

Hummm, how is this Shure about confortable?? These in-ears always give me pain in the ear, but I've only seen the "hard plastic" ones, this Shure seems to be alike the industrial ear pluges...

The shures come with a bunch of incredibly uncomfortable plasitc things and some foam inserts that are great, the best I've encountered actually, but take some time to get in right and arent suitable unless youre going to leave them in for a while.

[MDV]

Sennheiser rubber inserts are much more comfortable, but dont isolate as well, fwiw. But the CX line werent designed as IEMs.

[FernandoDuarte]

Nah, I may be getting the can style, listening 30min with normal in-ears give me a incredible pain in the ears

[LazyNinja]

Yeah I use the foam inserts and they're great. They'll need replacing soon though. Getting rather dirty after 3months and the seal is not as good as when it was fresh. Complaint for the Shure usually comes from not getting the right fit but MDV I'm sure you know the deal with these if you owned them, also a high end one. I guess compared to the higher end models they lack detail. Would you say the higher end models are worth the price increase? I never even looked at anything over £50 to use with my ipod.

I haven't tried the CX500s. Good to know they aren't like the 300s. I got a headache quickly when I was using the CX300. This didn't happen with the Shure.

Hmm. Didn't care for the HD212 much. HD201 and 202 I didn't like at all. HD415 ok but poor isolation. CX95 were like £80.

All of what I'm saying is purely for ipod use in noisy environment though.

edit:

Nah, I may be getting the can style, listening 30min with normal in-ears give me a incredible pain in the ears

cool it's all preference. I'm the same but didn't find the shure painful at all surprisingly. Try as many as you can at your local hifi shop :)

[FernandoDuarte]

Try as many as you can at your local hifi shop :)

Don't know anything like this here in Brazil, I'll do a google search :lol: Of course Amazon wouldn't ship to Brazil the Grado  :x

[jibidy]

If your serious about listening to music on headphones than you will be prepared to spend £100+ on a good set of cans.

If you buy £30-£40 in ear headphones then they will cr@p out alot and sound moderate at best. Sennhieser in ears are the best ive heard at £30 but they brake every other day, so you end up spending more anyway.

As with almost everything though it is a matter of preference. you have to look at what you want a fit the specs together.

Same as buying a guitar.