Great Earphones at Great Prices

cormie · 21-01-2006 12:03pm #1

When spending so much on an Portable Media Player, a good set of earphones is an essential buy. The earphones included are usually not of high quality and make listening to music not as good as it should be.

The first type of earphone I used were something like this:

These range from anywhere upwards of €10. They are generally of poor quality and do not deliver much in terms of sound. They can easily fall out of your ears and if your ears are anything like mine, and many others, you will never get a proper fit with them.

To solve the problem of these types of earphones falling out, some have an over ear piece like this:

I found using these, they still did not fit well or feel comfortable. These are around €10 too.

Then I got a set like this:
EC.SON.MDRW08L.JPG

I found these to be a step up from the others for an extra €5 or so and at the time, were the best earphones I had used.

My next set were a big step up in price at about €50, but I heard great reviews of them. The sony fontopia 71XLs.
B00008XYJL.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

These were amazing, they had a great fit and delivered good sound while blocking out sound as they fit right into your ear canal unlike the previous one which just sat in the opening of it.

The first pair I bough, the right ear stopped working, I bought a 2nd pair and the same thing happened, these were in warranty so I got a replacement pair.. the same thing happened.

I was looking for something different now. My friend had the same problem with his Fontopias and so have a few others I know who had them. My friend and I heard about Shure earphones. When his fontopias went, he got a set of E2's (manufacturers suggested retail price of $109).

I was still on my 3rd set of Fontopias at this stage and when they went, I got a pair of E4's (MSRP $319).

Both the E2's and E4's far surpass the fontopias in every way. They have a perfect fit with great sound and have a high build quality with a very sturdy wire. They block out far more outside sound and have a rang of fittings available to best suit the individual from rubber to foam sleeves.

The way they are designed means you can wrap the wire around the top of your ear meaning they will stay put and never fall out (jogging, running etc is no problem).

Because of the sound isolating features of both the Fontopias and the Shures, it means you don't have to listen to your music on as high a volume as the noise from the bus/dart/city etc is being blocked out by the sleeves. So rather than having the noise of the city getting into your ears and trying to cancel this by turning your cheaper earphones up full volume, you are blocking the outside sounds even when you don't have music on they work like a set of earplugs. You can walk through a busy city with the volume between half and 3/4 and you will only be able to hear the music. Brilliant:)

So getting onto the Great prices bit, if you would like to try the Shure E series, the best prices I know of are either from seller wind130 on ebay (link) where the E2's delivered will work out at about €72 (only an extra €22 more than the Fontopias, well worth it). When I was looking to buy my E4's, I shopped around for quite a while, price matching and beating with various companies. The best price I got worked out to be about €162 delivered from earphonesolutions.com. If you email "sales [at] earphonesolutions.com" and quote this deal:

For that simply type on the comments field when you're checking out:
> > "SPECIAL PRICE OF $198.00 + FREE shipping + FREE Airline Adaptor ($9.95
> > value) to Ireland for E4, Code 15888E8."

that's the deal they gave me after many emails which worked out to be €162 delivered (marked as gift;)). They should give you the same deal hopefully.

There are other in ear headphone manufacturers too but after some research I decided to go with Shure. The comfort and quality are excellent and they are very conveniant too, they are not bulky like the DJ type headphones, they will roll up into the provided carry case and fit nicely away.

Post below with reviews and links of where to buy your recommended earphones:)

projectmayhem · 21-01-2006 2:18pm

cormie wrote:

My next set were a big step up in price at about €50, but I heard great reviews of them. The sony fontopia 71XLs.

These were amazing, they had a great fit and delivered good sound while blocking out sound as they fit right into your ear canal unlike the previous one which just sat in the opening of it.

The first pair I bough, the right ear stopped working, I bought a 2nd pair and the same thing happened, these were in warranty so I got a replacement pair.. the same thing happened.

i'm on my third pair of these. the sound quality is absolutely unreal. it's like having a set of headphones. my first pair went the same way as yours, right ear stopped working. second pair just fell apart as the rubber wire around is made of some shoddy cheap rubber. i watched a PSP review where they showed the same problem in the same earphones... so be wary buying 'em

cormie wrote:

I was looking for something different now. My friend had the same problem with his Fontopias and so have a few others I know who had them. My friend and I heard about Shure earphones. When his fontopias went, he got a set of E2's (manufacturers suggested retail price of $109).

I was still on my 3rd set of Fontopias at this stage and when they went, I got a pair of E4's (MSRP $319).

Both the E2's and E4's far surpass the fontopias in every way. They have a perfect fit with great sound and have a high build quality with a very sturdy wire. They block out far more outside sound and have a rang of fittings available to best suit the individual from rubber to foam sleeves.

The way they are designed means you can wrap the wire around the top of your ear meaning they will stay put and never fall out (jogging, running etc is no problem).

So getting onto the Great prices bit, if you would like to try the Shure E series, the best prices I know of are either from seller wind130 on ebay (link) where the E2's delivered will work out at about €72 (only an extra €22 more than the Fontopias, well worth it). When I was looking to buy my E4's, I shopped around for quite a while, price matching and beating with various companies. The best price I got worked out to be about €162 delivered from earphonesolutions.com. If you email "sales [at] earphonesolutions.com" and quote this deal:

that's the deal they gave me after many emails which worked out to be €162 delivered (marked as gift;)). They should give you the same deal hopefully.

There are other in ear headphone manufacturers too but after some research I decided to go with Shure. The comfort and quality are excellent and they are very conveniant too, they are not bulky like the DJ type headphones, they will roll up into the provided carry case and fit nicely away.

Post below with reviews and links of where to buy your recommended earphones:)

i've also heard some great things about these "Shure" earphones. they're expensive but it's buy 1 pair of those or buy 10 pairs of Sony one's at much more expense

Tusky · 21-01-2006 5:23pm

Jeez Cormie, almost every post I see from you on boards is you reccomending Shure earphones to people!

I got a pair of Shure E2Cs for christmas, they were my first expensive pair of earphones and I love them. Sounds like a really high quality soundsystem in your ear.

Peanut · 21-01-2006 6:11pm

projectmayhem wrote:

...
my first pair went the same way as yours, right ear stopped working. second pair just fell apart as the rubber wire around is made of some shoddy cheap rubber. i watched a PSP review where they showed the same problem in the same earphones... so be wary buying 'em

I've found the build quality of most of the Sony earphones to be really dire.
It's as if they're designed to fall apart... hmmm???:rolleyes:

Even with their top-end MDR-E888s, it was unbelieveably shoddy, they basically fell apart after a few months.

btw I think I read some rumours before about hearing problems due to buildup of ear-wax with ear canal type headphones. I'm not sure if it was in relation to etymotics. I guess if you don't use them 24/7 it should be ok, however for me the best earphones I've found at the moment are the Audio Technica CM-7s. They're open-ended so they don't block outside noise, but they have brilliant clarity all round. With the right audio player, they can reproduce that 'euphonic' effect that is missing from nearly all portable setups. --

ath-cm7

Delta_ie · 21-01-2006 6:19pm

I bought a set of Koss The Plug/Etymotic ER4 hybrids(the koss earphone with the etymotic rubber tip) off ebay a couple months back. They are a nice set of earbuds if you don't want to go into the higher prices but still get a good quality noise isolation earphone, came to about €15 incl. P&P.

I found them to be a good earphone, just wondering if there is much a difference between them and say the next step up in price(€100 mark)

Kintarō Hattori · 28-01-2006 1:02am

I'm gonna look like a prat walking around town, and you'll spot me a mile off, but I went a bought a pair of these for my Cowon A2. Big Eh?! :eek:

cormie · 28-01-2006 1:03am

Which ones did you buy?

garthv · 28-01-2006 1:08am

I was in the same boat as yourself, great mp3 player but shoddy earphones,
I was looking at the Shure earphones but I was never a big fan of in-ear earphones so I was looking at a whoppiong set of Sennheiser HD-25 cans. Had a chat with a sound engineer friend of mine who said that these guys were a well decent set of earphones and dont burn a hole in your pocket : http://www.binarydesigns.com.au/bdstore/HD202.html

Picked them up in Peats for €35 and Ive been using them for 2 months now and they are great! Not a single complaint, nice and loud and they also block out all surrounding sounds. Haven't found a fault yet!

Kintarō Hattori · 28-01-2006 2:27am

Ahh the 202's, a great set of headphones at the price. I had the 212 Pro's, the next one up from them, great headphones, excellent bass, but the cord at the base of the ear kept breaking, which was a pain in the ass.

cormie · 28-01-2006 2:39am

I don't think I'd like such a bulky pair as them, what don't you like about "in ear" phones? I find them brilliant:) Eo, what ones did you buy in the end?

Kintarō Hattori · 29-01-2006 12:08pm

I originally had a set of Sennheiser HD212 Pro's which were great headphones. Excellent bass. I repeatedly had a problem with the connection on them though. I was going to go for another pair, but they aren't being manufactured anymore so I ended up going for a set of Sennheiser HD280's. These mofo's are HUGE. They are essentially for home use, but the quality is excellent. They are very neutral, they let you hear everything there is. I was listening to a Tom Wait's song the other day I must have listened too a 1000 times and I just heard something new in it that I'd never heard before.

If your really serious about your music and you've spent alot on your MP3 player, don't skimp on the headphones. It killed me spending so much on a pair of headphones, but the quality is super and you'll have them for years, so it's not a bad investment really.

Well I think I must have exceptionally large lug holes as any pair of in-ear phones I've had ALWAYS fall out. I've never had a pair that stayed in. Also, the quality just isn't there. They can be good, but they are rarely ever great. They don't let you hear as much as a pair of headphones. Think of the benefits though- on a cold day such a large pair of headphones keep your ears nice and warm!

cormie · 29-01-2006 12:27pm

The same thing happened with me when I got my E4's, I started hearing things I've never heard before, weird isn't it?

Which "in ear" phones have you tried before? Maybe you just weren't putting them in properly, you have to twist them right in! Just looked on ebay, their massive alright:eek: Their $99 there which makes me wonder, are the quality on E4's better because they are dearer? My E4's never fall out either, you get plenty of sleeves to fit any ear type. My ears will remain cold though:o

Mr E · 29-01-2006 4:55pm

Fontopias are nice earphones, but useless on the treadmill. Once you work up any kind of sweat, those suckers slip right out (no matter what size earpiece is attached). I'm not crazy about the behind-the-head wire either.

garthv · 29-01-2006 7:25pm

I just never felt comfortable with in-ear earphones,
I like a nice big deep bass sound that you only get with cans!

rubadub · 29-01-2006 9:13pm

Great lowdown. I have the E3Cs with the etmyotic triple flange tips. THe triples are amazing, my others had started to fall off and would be stuck in my ear. THese never fall off and I never loose the seal on them which could happen with the smaller tips I used. I highly recommend wind130 on ebay, I have got about 5 items from her, she will refund customs if you get stung (feedback proves this is true), though there is no way customs would think earphones are not the declared $10 unless they really knew their stuff.

I also have heard stuff I never noticed in songs before, insturments and tapping etc. The difference is not apparent straight away, they dont really blow you away, it is when you go back to the old ones that you thought were good that you realise how good they really are.

Kintarō Hattori · 29-01-2006 10:12pm

Hey Cormie,
It's been years since I used in-ear, like Garth I prefer the sound from headphones. I can't remember the ones I've used, but I've used the fontopia's from Sony and Sennheiser earphones as well.

cormie · 29-01-2006 11:08pm

I suppose I can't really compare as I've never used cans, I'm just really happy with my Shures, they are far better (in terms of sound/fit/quality) then the Fontopias by the way:)

mechanic75 · 02-02-2006 12:28am

Hi Guys,

for what its worth I bought a set of Shure E2C earphones from www.iaccessorise.com. They were under €90 including next day delivery, pretty good me thinks.

I still can't get over the sound! Fantastic, would thoroughly recommend them.

TempestSabre · 02-02-2006 12:55am

You guys should check out the Headphone forums over at Headfi. Lots of great info there. I started hitting there when I realised I wasn't enjoying my music that much any more. But after reading that site for a while I've improved by gear a tiny bit and enjoying my music again.

I'm using the Sennheiser MX500's buds. I don't like the newer 550's and have a set of Panasonic RP-HJE50's. There are places I can use the canal phones and places I can't. Ditto the Mx500's. My next buy will probably be the PX100's. I also stopped using my portable CD player and bought a iPod Shuffle, and Zen Micro. Started encoding in higher bitrates with the right encoders. My sound is so much better. Friends iPods just sound dire now.

Slippin Jimmy · 02-02-2006 9:34pm

Can anyone suggest a pair of earphones to get for my creative zen micro. The cusiony things have fallen off them and the earphones keep falling out of my ear, not very comfortable. I would be looking to spend about €10-€20.

cormie · 02-02-2006 9:45pm

Have I not convinced you to invest more in your earphones:mad:

hehe... seriously, think about it;)

TempestSabre · 02-02-2006 10:20pm

DonnybrookGhost wrote:

Can anyone suggest a pair of earphones to get for my creative zen micro. The cusiony things have fallen off them and the earphones keep falling out of my ear, not very comfortable. I would be looking to spend about €10-€20.

The Sennheiser MX500 are only about €25 around town. The Sennheiser PX100 are about €45. Argos stock both.

Slippin Jimmy · 02-02-2006 10:29pm

Thanks for the advice lads. I don't want to put more money into the mp3 than I already did.

Peanut · 02-02-2006 10:58pm

You know you can get replacement foam covers for the earphones..

Failing that, the MX350 are 18 euro I think.

MartMax · 04-02-2006 9:25pm

argh. i'm meself confused which earphone to get. stock earphone (which i think is MX400) that came with my H10 is dying, gonna cut itself into two any soon. it's only a year since i have them. have to get around with my head :

shure e2c - filthy 80 euros from ebay, wat do i do if they break
senn mx500 - around 26 euros from argos but the chance i'm gonna break this earbud again
senn px200 - around 60 euros from peats, anywhere else cheaper on the street?

i hate shopping.

TempestSabre · 05-02-2006 2:57am

Senn px200 are generally not considered as good as the Px100's. One's closed the others open though, so different uses. Many people do not rate the shure e2c either. They give great islation, but musically not that great. Something like a PX100 or MX400/500 might sound a lot better to your ear. The better Shures are obviosuly better. E4's etc.

cormie · 05-02-2006 3:02am

There are quite a few in ear canal phones in argos, just saw the new catalogue, ranging from about €25 to €50, there's about 5 or 6 different pairs in that price range:)

TempestSabre · 05-02-2006 12:38pm

cormie wrote:

There are quite a few in ear canal phones in argos, just saw the new catalogue, ranging from about €25 to €50, there's about 5 or 6 different pairs in that price range:)

I got my mx500's in Argos. Theres a much bigger selection over on www.audiocubes.com though I haven't used them myself. When shopping for headphones do a search for them on Head-Fi as you'l find loads of peoples reviews of them over there.

Kur4mA · 05-02-2006 8:42pm

I just emailed that place to get a price thanks to you Cormie. I was actually looking at getting a pair of Shure earphones but you sealed the deal for me, cheers.

cormie · 05-02-2006 9:15pm

Did they give you the same deal? Let me know if they do:)

MartMax · 05-02-2006 9:20pm

i made my decision to go with PX100. it's not noise proof like PX200 but it should be ok. i guess that i managed to live wt MX400 before, PX100 should satisfy me more not lesser than MX400. ordered one with argos, 46 euros next thursday!

Great Earphones at Great Prices

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