Hi-def in ear headphones....

terrydel

Im looking for a set of hi def in ear headphones, not the type that buries into your ear canal, the type that sits in your ear and allows some ambient noise to get in. I just dont find the ear canal ones comfortable and have tried tons of pairs.
They dont need to be wireless or bluetooth but if they are its a nice to have.
Cheers.

K.O.Kiki

VE Monk Plus (official AliExpress store)

FiiO EM3

terrydel

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

VE Monk Plus (official AliExpress store)

FiiO EM3

What does FiiO EM3 mean?
I find it hard to believe a 5 dollar set of heaadphones could be any good!

endacl

Hi-def? How good does the picture need to be?

terrydel

endacl wrote: »

Hi-def? How good does the picture need to be?

What?

K.O.Kiki

terrydel wrote: »

What does FiiO EM3 mean?
I find it hard to believe a 5 dollar set of heaadphones could be any good!

I have them and they are good. You can Google for reviews that agree.

The reason they're so cheap is simply because you're buying them straight from the factory with little markup.

me_irl

Throwing my two in, I'd recommend these.

terrydel

me_irl wrote: »

Throwing my two in, I'd recommend these.

Looking for in ear ones mate.

dunworth1

ive always found philips earphones to be good

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5741814/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CHome+entertainment+and+sat+nav%7C14419512/c_2/3%7C19780826%7CHeadphones+and+earphones%7C14419643/c_3/4%7Ccat_14419643%7CIn-ear+headphones%7C14419650/Trail/searchtext%3EEARPHONES.htm

exaisle

You're not going to get anything decent for €25...

Have a listen to these:

https://www.musicmaker.ie/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=28914

Dravokivich

terrydel wrote: »

What?

Youre looking for high fidelity, and that's more so down to the media type you are listening to.

smilerf

Betron dc950
Great sound and sit on earth canal

Great sound CAN be got for 25 euro

K.O.Kiki

exaisle wrote: »

You're not going to get anything decent for €25...

Have a listen to these:

https://www.musicmaker.ie/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=28914

I disagree.

Also, I think OP is looking for old-style earbuds.

Phil.x

http://www.whathifi.com/news/focal-utopia-tournaire-are-worlds-most-expensive-headphones

exaisle

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

I disagree.

Also, I think OP is looking for old-style earbuds.

If you're looking for hi-def/hifi, then check this out...

http://headphonescompared.com/top-10-earbuds/

K.O.Kiki

exaisle wrote: »

If you're looking for hi-def/hifi, then check this out...

http://headphonescompared.com/top-10-earbuds/

Telling you, VE Monk+

http://www.headfonia.com/review-ve-monk-4-99-miracle/
http://headfonics.com/2016/08/monk-earbuds-by-venture-electronics/

exaisle

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Telling you, VE Monk+

http://www.headfonia.com/review-ve-monk-4-99-miracle/
http://headfonics.com/2016/08/monk-earbuds-by-venture-electronics/

http://cdn.head-fi.org/c/c8/500x1000px-LL-c86d3412_monk1v2naked.png

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/2465/files/Shure_SE-215_frequency_response.php.png?5286

I never give great credence to reviews....much preferring to listen/sample the product myself and draw my own conclusions...

First pic is frequency response for VE Monk and VE Monk+.

Second pic is frequency response for Shure SE-215.

In the high frequencies above about 10khz there's fall-off in both but the main difference here is the response below 100hz. There is effectively no fall-off with the Shures whereas by the time you get to around 50hz you're already down around 10db.

In practical terms, this is a difference in perceived volume of around double....so that the Shures will be twice as loud as the VE Monk+ at 50Hz.

However, you have to remember that those Shures are the bottom of that particular range. If you really want hifi, try the SE-535 which have three separate drivers....here's the frequency response graph...read it and weep..these are immorally good....mind you, they're immorally expensive too... :-)

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/2465/files/shure_se_535_frequency_response.php.png?5289

K.O.Kiki

exaisle wrote: »

http://cdn.head-fi.org/c/c8/500x1000px-LL-c86d3412_monk1v2naked.png

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/2465/files/Shure_SE-215_frequency_response.php.png?5286

I never give great credence to reviews....much preferring to listen/sample the product myself and draw my own conclusions...

First pic is frequency response for VE Monk and VE Monk+.

Second pic is frequency response for Shure SE-215.

In the high frequencies above about 10khz there's fall-off in both but the main difference here is the response below 100hz. There is effectively no fall-off with the Shures whereas by the time you get to around 50hz you're already down around 10db.

In practical terms, this is a difference in perceived volume of around double....so that the Shures will be twice as loud as the VE Monk+ at 50Hz.

However, you have to remember that those Shures are the bottom of that particular range. If you really want hifi, try the SE-535 which have three separate drivers....here's the frequency response graph...read it and weep..these are immorally good....mind you, they're immorally expensive too... :-)

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0362/2465/files/shure_se_535_frequency_response.php.png?5289

Sample the Monk+ so, sure it's only $5 to prove me wrong...

exaisle

$5 to buy....$15 postage and probably another $5 in VAT and duty.....

I already have a couple of pairs of Shures so I think I'll stick to those...

dunworth1

exaisle wrote: »

$5 to buy....$15 postage and probably another $5 in VAT and duty.....

I already have a couple of pairs of Shures so I think I'll stick to those...

I see €3 postage and its well under the duty limit

comes to all in
€ 7,69

exaisle

dunworth1 wrote: »

I see €3 postage and its well under the duty limit

comes to all in
€ 7,69

Link please?

WhiskeyGoblin

exaisle wrote: »

Link please?

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Venture-Electronic-VE-MONK-earbud-earphone/1924356_32417311324.html

learn_more

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Telling you, VE Monk+

http://www.headfonia.com/review-ve-monk-4-99-miracle/
http://headfonics.com/2016/08/monk-earbuds-by-venture-electronics/

I got the Monk+ a few months back after becoming aware of them on head-fi. I had a good few years back bought a pair of Yuin PK2 which I also seen lauded on head-fi.

I though the PK2 was very good for an ear bud and I used them a lot until I got my first pair of proper good cans.

I lost my PK2 and asked on the Monk+ thread if they were as good as the PK2's and was assured they were. The PK2 cost about 35 to 45 euro btw.

My opinion about the Monk+ is that there is absolutely nothing special about them whatsoever. I had a pair of earbuds that came with a Cowon mp3 player and buds that came with my Zune HD and both of them were better than the Monk. And my PK's were quite a bit better than all of those.

The only good thing that came out of buying the Monk for me is that they came with those detachable ear hook yokes that help to keep them from falling out and I found them extremely effective at doing that.

That inspired me to get a pair of in-ear bluetooth earphones (iem's) with that same ear-hook system and I have to say I'm delighted with them because I've never had a pair of in-ear headphones that would stay in and not only that I can hardly feel them in my ear. It's as close as one can get to hearing music in one's head without the feeling that one is wearing anything.

Anyway I'm rabbiting on. If the OP wan't to get a good sounding earbud then I highly recommend the YUIN PK2 available on ebay. Be careful though I hear some are selling fakes.

https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20170302191141&SearchText=yuin+pk2

RE*AC*TOR

Surprised no one has mentioned the Yuin PK1.

https://www.amazon.com/YUIN-1-Yuin-Pk1-Earphones/dp/B001B41X7I

Waiting on monks myself. Shipping taking ages.

Gheadphone

so terrydel, what did you end up getting? Any good?

terrydel

Gheadphone wrote: »

so terrydel, what did you end up getting? Any good?

In my usual procrastinating way, I still havent got round to buying a set.
Looking at getting a good bluetooth set that are wireless/can be wired and will probably buy something like the monks for when cycling.

Gheadphone

Ah ok, well happy shopping.

Id say if you are looking for hi Def, bluetooth and hidef don't always go together, B&W P7 have a pretty good sound and the Parrot Zik 3s are pretty decent but neither are inear. I've not tried many others (Bose QC35 have good noise cancelling but for me pretty poor sound quality).

I suggest trying a few pairs out at Hifihut at the red cow before deciding on anything if you can make it there.

This site is another great resource

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-wireless

Best of luck!

terrydel

Gheadphone wrote: »

Ah ok, well happy shopping.

Id say if you are looking for hi Def, bluetooth and hidef don't always go together, B&W P7 have a pretty good sound and the Parrot Zik 3s are pretty decent but neither are inear. I've not tried many others (Bose QC35 have good noise cancelling but for me pretty poor sound quality).

I suggest trying a few pairs out at Hifihut at the red cow before deciding on anything if you can make it there.

This site is another great resource

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-wireless

Best of luck!

Cheers, appreciate that!
I do understand that bluetooth and hidef tend not to go together and the qualityis constrained by bluetooth itself. ButIm thinking the convenience of it might sway me, so long as the quality is still decent.

terrydel

Well finally went and got a set of VE monks, they arrived this morning and first use with my phone they sounded pretty unimpressive, but when I tried them with my Sony nwz a-15 hi def mp3 player they sounded much better and I'm pretty happy with them, especially given the price.

I ordered them from Amazon as like always, I had problems with that bloody aliexpress and the stupid thing just would not send a password reset mail, so I gave a up. But still under a tenner delivered, which I think is good value.
They are nice and comfortable, I hate in-ear or ear canal headphones because they never stay in and always fit worse in one of my ears, so earbuds are my personal preference. Plus I want them for cycling (yeah I know!) to allow some external sound get in for safety reasons.
Happy with them and would deffo get another set if needed or as a spare.
Thanks to all for the great advice.

_CreeD_

Audeze iSine 10 - Excellent sound for a portable set, sit loosely enough on the ear canal rather than in it, and what is to me their only real fault (noise leakage) is something you've said you actually want. Not cheap but superb.
If you do end up wanting something with better isolation then I heartily recommend the Heir 4.ai S in the same price bracket, not quite as good sound quality as the Audeze but still great and with Comply T500 tips the noise isolation is near perfect.