Looking at headphones

T

Tilde84

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
136
I've been looking at replacing my Sony MDR earbuds lately and getting confused. I listen to music though my laptop and iPod a lot, and mostly listen to drum and bass/electronic music. Portability is important, but so is the quality of sound. Would it be best to get some better earbuds or try some over the head cans? Also is it safe to say that over the head style headphones generally sound better than earbuds?
What are some good suggestions for both. My budget is $100 at the most. Thanks
 
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What were you wearing previously, MDR-EX71s? If so, I found their sound to be too muddy, and for the last three years I have been using a pair of Panasonic RP-HJE50 canal phones which cost me about 50% of what I paid for the Sony EX71, but sounded much better and cleaner.

Well they just died yesterday and I replaced them with Creative EP630s, which are rebranded Sharp MD33 canal phones, which are supposed to be slightly better in terms of sound quality compared to the Panasonics. I don't have them yet so I can not say if it is true.

And I would not say that full sized headphones are necessarily better than earbuds/IEMs, there are some really great earbuds/canalphones/IEM and some bad ones, just like with full sized cans. Personally, I use the canal phones when I am on the go, and I have a pair of headphones on if I am sitting down and listening to music, like at work. This is personal preference, and I really don't like to be lugging large headphones around the city or on the train or such.

At this time I would say RP-HJE50s, but if possible, you should go somewhere where you can try them out. In a week I might recommend the Creatives.
 
Yep they are the EX 71's. I like them, gotten over a year of constant use out of them, but looking for something that fits better and simply just different sounding. Probably will stay with earbuds b/c im a college student and trek across a university campus every day. Penguin, did you think those Panasonics block out a good amount of noise? I definitely want headphones that block out noise better than my Sony's.
 
Sennheiser CX300. I've owned the EX71 before and the CX300 is much better
 
Tilde84 said:
Yep they are the EX 71's. I like them, gotten over a year of constant use out of them, but looking for something that fits better and simply just different sounding. Probably will stay with earbuds b/c im a college student and trek across a university campus every day. Penguin, did you think those Panasonics block out a good amount of noise? I definitely want headphones that block out noise better than my Sony's.
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I found the isolation between them pretty much equal, provided you have a good fit. For better isolation I think you might want to look at Shures or Etymotics, but I haven't tried those before and the price starts increasing very fast.
 
How are the Shure and Etymotic headphones? Any problems with either brand? Anyone have a pair, the ER-6i got some pretty good reviews.
 
Which model? I've owned the E2C and they are underwhelming compared to other choices in the price range.
 
I used to use some shure e2gs. They were decent enough but the extra cash for the Westone UM1s was well worth it.
 
i got the er6i's and they sound really nice. but since they are really low impedance you should have a good source to run them from. when i ran them from my laptop, i could hear hissing like crazy, so i got a usb sound card and it sounds really nice now. oh and they really do block almost all sound.
 
Mister X said:
Much better how? :confused: :p
And which is betta... the shures mentioned or the CX300s?
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Better defined bass and no more shriek-y highs would be the two obvious ones. The CX300 still has a good amount of bass, but it isn't as bloated as the EX71. It has a bit of that typical Senn sound in a earbud/IEM. The E2C's main fault are the mids. It just sounds lifeless and hollow. It does have a bit better isolation due to the tips, but I also found them less comfortable than the CX300/EX71's tips, so it's a trade-off.
 
Good call, the midrange on those shures does make them feel rather lifeless and now that you mention it the CX300s do sound very much like an in ear version of the HD580s. :)
 
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