# Ear Buds



## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

I've always been a sony guy, I've been using some of the top end ones for years.

I finally decided to invest in some Ultimate Ears. I was a little concened at over twice the price I wouldn't get a major improvement.

Ultimate Ears | TripleFi 10 Noise Isolating Earphones

Boy was I wrong. These things are mind blowing in comparison to my good buds nevermind the crap that comes with your iPod.

If you listen to any amount of high bit rate mp3 music on your players, you owe it to yourself to pick up a set of these. Trust me!


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I am still trudging along with my iPod supplied buds, I guess I should be upgrading. Are these available at all the usual major outlets?


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

No, not this particular model. Future Shop does have the lower end dual drive 5fi model.

I ordered mine from www.onhop.ca

But if you can wait, www.ca-united.com has the top end ones for the cheapest.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Have you ever noticed that when you take your fingers and press the standard ear buds into your ears a bit that sound quality improves vastly, especially in low, mid-low range? I would love a set of ear buds that does that by itself without having to press in.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Robert1950 said:


> Have you ever noticed that when you take your fingers and press the standard ear buds into your ears a bit that sound quality improves vastly, especially in low, mid-low range? I would love a set of ear buds that does that by itself without having to press in.


It's about getting a good seal. Impossible without have sound isolating canal types. I just performed your test and pushed these in a little and it made no difference, so I guess they passed your test. :rockon2:


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Robert1950 said:


> Have you ever noticed that when you take your fingers and press the standard ear buds into your ears a bit that sound quality improves vastly, especially in low, mid-low range? I would love a set of ear buds that does that by itself without having to press in.


Thats the problem I find with most of them. You get them seated in your ears and then they start to move around and even a little movement effects the sound quality. I find I am always playing around with the things. Would just like to put them in and thats it


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2010)

Until they add a set with a mic for the iPhone I can't try 'em. I only use my ear buds when I'm working remote -- and then I rely on the mic to be able to converse in a noisy environment with my colleagues.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

iaresee said:


> Until they add a set with a mic for the iPhone I can't try 'em. I only use my ear buds when I'm working remote -- and then I rely on the mic to be able to converse in a noisy environment with my colleagues.


But they already do.

Ultimate Ears | TripleFi 10vi Noise Isolating Headset for iPhones


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2010)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> But they already do.
> 
> Ultimate Ears | TripleFi 10vi Noise Isolating Headset for iPhones


Wow! I really need to learn how to use the internetz! That's sweet. Ordered a set. Lets see how they work out. I bet they'd double nicely as IEMs.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

iaresee said:


> Until they add a set with a mic for the iPhone I can't try 'em. I only use my ear buds when I'm working remote -- and then I rely on the mic to be able to converse in a noisy environment with my colleagues.


Not just Ultimate Ears, either. Etymotic also has one with a mic that I'll probably pick up down the road. I have a set of Shure in-ears that work fine right now, so I can't justify buying something new to replace them yet.

I've tried the Etymotics before and prefer them to the Shures in every way. Comfort, sound, overall quality, ergonomics, etc. Never tried the Ultimate Ears because, like Jeff, I was a little hesitant about dropping that kind of cash, but I'd like to.

And yes, getting a proper seal is key. I always found with the Etymotics, it was really easy. Once you have a good seal, touching the buds actually makes things a lot _worse_, usually resulting in a tinny sound with no bass.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

iaresee said:


> Wow! I really need to learn how to use the internetz! That's sweet. Ordered a set. Lets see how they work out. I bet they'd double nicely as IEMs.


Ultimate ears, started as/are a custom IEM company, so absolutely. I'm stoked to hear your opinion.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

It won't work with foam, but I find the "seal" between in-ear units and the ear can be improved if you simply wet the floppy bit of the earbud.

One of the good things about noise-cancelling and noise-isolating earphones is that they require less SPL to achieve pleasing listening levels. It's all about being able to hear the details of the music clearly, and if you need more decibels to do that when music and background noise are duking it out, what may only seem like "just loud enough" may well be above safe levels. Taking the background noise out completely or near-completely lets lower levels seem to be "enough".


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## nutter (Aug 29, 2009)

how's the imaging? i have a pair of grado's - they're very detailed but the imaging sucks. i prefer my set of sony buds that don't quite sound as good but the imaging is fantastic


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

nutter said:


> how's the imaging? i have a pair of grado's - they're very detailed but the imaging sucks. i prefer my set of sony buds that don't quite sound as good but the imaging is fantastic


My sony's have no sound stage in comparison.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

nutter said:


> how's the imaging? i have a pair of grado's - they're very detailed but the imaging sucks. i prefer my set of sony buds that don't quite sound as good but the imaging is fantastic


Which Grados are they? I had a pair of SR-80s that I loved and they imaged really well. The thing with Grados is that they're open-back, so outside noise really easily interferes with what you're hearing. Maybe that was what made you think the imaging was off?


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

What do you mean by imaging? I probably spent more time a dark room and with photoshop than playing guitar in the past, so I'm have a little problem. Thanks.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Robert1950 said:


> What do you mean by imaging? I probably spent more time a dark room and with photoshop than playing guitar in the past, so I'm have a little problem. Thanks.


Stereo imaging, placement of instruments and or sounds.

An example would work best:

Alice In Chains "Unplugged". If your buds are doing their job, you can place each player in the stereo image as if you were actually right there in front of them. At one point someone actually walks across the stage and you can tell that. With crappy buds you would just hear someone walking on the stage.

Being able to pick out those little nuances is imaging. Real good equipment can almost give the music a 3d quality.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Robert1950 said:


> What do you mean by imaging? I probably spent more time a dark room and with photoshop than playing guitar in the past, so I'm have a little problem. Thanks.


Basically it's putting the instruments in their "actual" space. With instruments panned all the way left and right, it's really easy, but with others that are in between, it gets more complicated. Also, headphones have a much harder time than actual loudspeakers because they're on your ears and it's hard to avoid having 50% of the sound on one side and 50% on the other. Really good headphones/loudspeakers will also give you a sense of front-to-back space as well. The better the speakers can image and the bigger the sound-stage, the more realistic representation you have of the performance, so you can pretty much map out where the lead guitarist is, where the bassist is, where the keyboardist is, etc.

edit: haha, I guess you type faster than me, Jeff!


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

So Ian, when do you get yours?


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Jeff Flowerday said:


> So Ian, when do you get yours?


Yeah, I'm waiting for the review to justify moving up to the TripleFi! I'm more seriously considering the SuperFi at the moment.


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2010)

Tomorrow! Should be here tomorrow!


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

I picked these replacement tips at the sony store today. Softer and more cone shaped. So far, much more comfortable. They make a better seal and stay in place better as well.

EP-EX10A | Replacement Ear Cushions | Sony | Sony Style USA


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I hate stuffing things in my ears--I like headphones, but earbuds annoy me.

So I look like a dinosaur when I listen to my ipod in public--like whenever I fly.
Am I the only one?

But if I could stand them, this thread would be helpful.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I'm somewhere in the middle on this. I fully expect that really expensive buds will sound better than what I'm using, but as I generally use mine when I'm laying down in bed (my iPod is like my sleeping pill) or in a plane or at the gym I think I'm fine with my middle level buds.

I agree that the stock iPod ear buds are crap. They're uncomfortable and the sound is pretty gutless. I always upgrade to a set of Panasonics which cost around $50. and the improvement is fundamental. They fit nice and snug and have way more bottom end.


I spend more when I'm buying full ear cans of course.

I spent just over $200 on my 80 gb classic. Spending $400 on ear buds would seem a bit out of proportion to me. I hope they have a bulletproof warranty because I inevitably damage them (my fault, but ...)


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## Metal#J# (Jan 1, 2007)

^Agreed. I'm not really able to wear earbuds without pulling them out and corkscrewing my ear canal every ten minutes. After the sweat starts the irritation progressively get worse.
Regardless, I could never justify spending $450 on a set of earbuds. Especially considering the likelihood that the cables will get snagged and destroyed. I just spent $70 (50% off) on a pair of Sennheiser 435 headphones and even that was enough to get my wives attention.........$450 might have gotten me kicked out!!!


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

zontar said:


> I hate stuffing things in my ears--I like headphones, but earbuds annoy me.
> 
> So I look like a dinosaur when I listen to my ipod in public--like whenever I fly.
> Am I the only one?
> ...


There's a definite adjustment period to in-ears. When I just my first set 5 or 6 years ago, it was really weird not being able to hear any ambient noise and eating while wearing them was an issue too. As far as comfort in the ear, I found they were much easier to adapt to than my Grados which just plain hurt after a while. Nowadays I find them as comfortable and easy to use as my Sennheiser HD280s, which are my go-to big cans.



Milkman said:


> I'm somewhere in the middle on this. I fully expect that really expensive buds will sound better than what I'm using, but as I generally use mine when I'm laying down in bed (my iPod is like my sleeping pill) or in a plane or at the gym I think I'm fine with my middle level buds.
> 
> I agree that the stock iPod ear buds are crap. They're uncomfortable and the sound is pretty gutless. I always upgrade to a set of Panasonics which cost around $50. and the improvement is fundamental. They fit nice and snug and have way more bottom end.
> 
> ...


Along with the price tag comes a really decent build quality. I paid $250 for a pair of Etymotic Technology in-ears and they lasted 3 years for me, which is waaaaaaay more than the 3-6 months the average $30-50 in-ears last. I've also had two pairs of Shures. The first I bought from Future Shop with a replacement warranty. Just under the 1-year mark, they developed a buzz in the right channel, so I swapped them in for free for a new pair, which have been going solid for just over a year now. 

I wear my in-ear 5 days a week for an hour's commute on packed Toronto subways and buses and constantly get the cables snagged here and there. Cheap headphones don't last more than a few months doing this.

Sure, there's a point of diminishing returns. There's only so much the output of the iPod or Phone is capable of, so at some point you'd have to make the decision of whether anything is improving, but I've found that each time I've gone up in price ($250 being the most so far), I've gotten a significant improvement in performance.


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## Guest (Aug 18, 2010)

Alright guys. Had a chance to try them out last night: on the way to (I wasn't driving), and during rehearsal.

They do sound great. The isolation is really excellent if there's a set of cushions in there that work for you.

The mic was a mic. I made two calls and both people on the other end said there was a fair bit of ambient noise being picked up. So it's on par with the mic in the iPhone stock buds, unfortunately not better.

As cans for my iPhone they worked pretty well. The price is a little odd. But if you consider a non-subsidized iPhone will set you back $800 they don't look so bad I guess.

Using my iPhone and comparing them against my old Shure SCL5's I have to say: I couldn't pick a winner. They both sounded different -- so the response curve isn't the same, but I couldn't say one was better. Imaging was great with both. I was using the Chemical Brother's new album, Further, as a comparison source.

It was at rehearsal as IEMs where things went south for me. For extended wearing and just general staying-in-my-ears I much preferred my Shure's. Could be I'm just used to them now. But they seemed to stick in my ears a whole lot better as I was moving around and over an hour or so they were much more comfortable in my ears. I guess that's why I've stuck with them all this time. The UEs popped out far too easily as I turned my head.

I'm sending the UEs back and instead I'm going to order up a pair of the MetroFI 220vi's -- I think they'll be a good step up from the Apple buds, with a mic, and I don't need to justify them doing anything but working with my iPhone because the price is a whole lot less. I didn't want to hang on to them because I figure these are going to be a little hard to exchange as is, didn't want to chance making them dirty.

So yea: super nice sound for sure but didn't trump my old Shure SCL5's. Mic was fine, but not amazing. Didn't hold up well when I was moving around in rehearsal.

Edit: I have to say I think there are diminishing returns on the multiple drivers in headphones. I definitely like the 2-driver arrangement in my Shure's. They sound noticeable more "ambient" than single driver headphones. But I couldn't really appreciate the triple drivers in the UEs and I have to say the $1400 6-driver UEs seem a little farcical to me. Without the ability to control the crossover it seems like you're paying for not much more. I don't trust the crossover is tuned for all cases. And adjusting a 5-way crossover has got to be tedious. That's degrees of freedom I don't think are needed. But MHO...


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

iaresee said:


> It was at rehearsal as IEMs where things went south for me. For extended wearing and just general staying-in-my-ears I much preferred my Shure's. Could be I'm just used to them now. But they seemed to stick in my ears a whole lot better as I was moving around and over an hour or so they were much more comfortable in my ears. I guess that's why I've stuck with them all this time. The UEs popped out far too easily as I turned my head.


Yah I had the same issue with the stock tips. The Sony hybrids tips solved it for me, now they seal so well I have to tug to get them out and they are 10 times more comfortable.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Most of the ultimate ears buds have a replacable cable so you aren't out full $$$ if it breaks.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

The Panasonics I use generally last me about a year and fail right at the 1/8" inch jack near the stress relief molding. I could try and replace the end I suppose. The actual ear buds haver never failed.


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