Best decent earphones for MP3 player

mr poo · 10 Oct 2006 at 07:50

The Etymotic ER4-P & Shure e4c's are both great earphones, but if you don't want to spend £100+ the e2c's are good value for the price you can pick them up on the auction site.

danceMB · 10 Oct 2006 at 13:21

I can afford upto about £150 for a decent pair of earphones that will give me crystal clear sound and that wont fall out of my ears at the tug of the cord. Would be nice to finally have what is 1 step below custom fit

Vegetarian · 10 Oct 2006 at 17:22

Etymotic ER4-P & Shure e4c's both lack bass and make "thumping" sounds while walking about - UM2's dont do that as they also sit in ears! The Sony EX90s are not as good as UM2's in this regard but still a lot better than the Etymotic ER4-P & Shure e4c's! Also The e2c aint a great phone - no highs and poor bass!

The UM2s are a great buy - I use mine in Gym everyday - I cant hear the rubbish music the gym plays! Blocks out everything

danceMB · 11 Oct 2006 at 00:07

From that then I might have made my mind up completly, as I was partially going for them anyway as I have heard so much good stuff about them.

It will be great to finally get rid of that thumping sound for good, as it drives me mad with the normal high street ones. Just better make sure that I take good care of the UM2's when I decide to buy them online from somewhere, not sure whats the cheapest place to go?

Alex_L · 11 Oct 2006 at 02:01

the cheapest way to get them is most likely to import from the USA.

I've used http://www.earphonesolutions.com/ in the past and they were very quick to respond to queries by email, and I received mine in 2 working days via fedex airmail.

If you import from the us, remember to budget for taxes/duty (totalled about 20% when I imported shure e3c) and that you may have to ship them back to the us for any repairs under warranty. But for the saving compared to the uk price I decided it was worth it.

Vegetarian · 11 Oct 2006 at 11:47

If you get them to post by "mail" they put "gift" on the box so you dont have to pay taxes

Thats what happened with me!

Kainz · 11 Oct 2006 at 17:39

My E2C's arrived yesterday from yankie doodle land. These are my first pair of decent mid end (if you could call them that) phones, and I was shellshocked. They were superb and so comfortable. No microphonics at all due to the thick cable - YES!!!!

It's early days yet and I've still to experiment with the different types of sleeves, but so far I can definately tell that they aren't too hot bass wise. Even my crappy EP-630's have punchy bass in comparison. Everything else on the e2c's are lovely though, it just feels like it's lacking in bass. Early days though as I need to try the other sleeves.

Alex_L · 11 Oct 2006 at 17:57

Kainz said:
My E2C's arrived yesterday from yankie doodle land. These are my first pair of decent mid end (if you could call them that) phones, and I was shellshocked. They were superb and so comfortable. No microphonics at all due to the thick cable - YES!!!!

It's early days yet and I've still to experiment with the different types of sleeves, but so far I can definately tell that they aren't too hot bass wise. Even my crappy EP-630's have punchy bass in comparison. Everything else on the e2c's are lovely though, it just feels like it's lacking in bass. Early days though as I need to try the other sleeves.

With canalphones the bass really depends on how good the seal is. If the seal is poor, then the bass will be very poor. A good way i find to test whether you have a good seal is to insert the earphones and start playing music. Then pull your ears up slightly from the top, this should break the seal, and you'll instantly see how the bass decreases when the earphones aren't sealed correctly. The foam tips or tri-flanges (not sure if e2c includes the tri-flange) are the easiest to get a good seal with in my experience, but try all of them and see what works for you.

Stellios · 11 Oct 2006 at 18:04

To save a new thread, what are the Sennheiser CX300's like in comparison with the MX500s? The bass is disgusting on the MX500s, but ive just lived with it but now the cable is starting to become bare so need some new ones. Im after £40 tops with good bass.

Vegetarian · 12 Oct 2006 at 23:58

Stellios said:
To save a new thread, what are the Sennheiser CX300's like in comparison with the MX500s? The bass is disgusting on the MX500s, but ive just lived with it but now the cable is starting to become bare so need some new ones. Im after £40 tops with good bass.

The Bass is much better on CX300's than MX500s...

The CX300s and the Creative 630 are almost the same phone - the 300s have a better top end the creatives have a bit more bass!

Burn in should help the e2c's get a bit more bass - but they are still not great phones - only on this forum they are hyped to death!

locutus12 · 13 Oct 2006 at 00:30

Stellios said:
To save a new thread, what are the Sennheiser CX300's like in comparison with the MX500s? The bass is disgusting on the MX500s,

i have a feeling that perhaps you got a duff pair ??? read on and i will explain why i think this

danceMB said:
My current earphones (JVC FX-55) is coming to and end with me as the wire keeps going round in loops and makes it all twisted so I need a new pair.

I do like the comfort of the "in-ear" gel as its the most comfy ones rather than the normal ones that you stick on the ear.

I dont mind paying a decent amount of money for these as I use my MP3 player everyday for more than a few hours so I could justify a high price if the quality is good enough

having owned a £27 pair of Sony In-Ear Headphones, and a £24 pair of Philips SHE9501 headphones (that just didnt fit inside my tiny head properly) i can tell you the best damn set of phones i currently own are a set of £16 Sennheiser MX500. never have i had such a clear and deep sounding set of headphones, great base response and crystal clear mid and high range sounds, for £16 they are a much under praised set of phones and i hope you give them a try.

p.s. ive been making music on the pc and using mp3 players for over 8 years now, im also a qualified sound engineer

though i will be damned if i could ever find a job doing it...

but i tell you this just so you realise that ive been round the block a few times with regards to sticking random noise creating objects inside my ear lobes...

EDIT: almost forgot, i also had a set of sony fontopia phones too about 2 years ago,

Sennheiser`s mx500 kicked the arse off them.

Vegetarian · 13 Oct 2006 at 11:15

Im a trained musician with 4 music degree's - The MX500's are very poor.... perhaps you cant find a job because if you think the senns are good... people cant trust your ears

Just kidding mate - music buisness is very hard one!

They dont fit in ears well

Bass is weak

overall sound quallity is bellow par - The sony MDR838 or 931s for same price pee over the senns.

Kainz · 13 Oct 2006 at 16:58

Sorted the bass on my e2c's out. I was using the silicone rubber sleeves since I'm used to them from my EP-630. I took someones advice on another forum and gave the orange foam a go. It was gorgeous! Bass was nice and strong once I fiddled around with the EQ on my Vision:M.

Vegetarian · 14 Oct 2006 at 11:20

Kainz said:
Sorted the bass on my e2c's out. I was using the silicone rubber sleeves since I'm used to them from my EP-630. I took someones advice on another forum and gave the orange foam a go. It was gorgeous! Bass was nice and strong once I fiddled around with the EQ on my Vision:M.

On my Vision M I use EQ from bass upwards...

+12 -5 -5 -4 -2

You have to use US firmware but it gives a vey "Sony" type of sound and actually works so well!