Roundup: 16 Headphones

[Sandburner20]

WTF? Why were Sony headphones not reviewed here? Sony is one of the most popular brands of headphones purchased here in the US so why were none included? If your not going to bother comparing more brands, then what was the point? Half of the ones reviewed in this article I have never even seen available to purchase, or even heard of for that matter, and I work in Radio!

 

[pocketdrummer]

This review doesn't seem to follow one single idea of what a pair of headphones should be and what application they are for.

First of all, some headphones have in-line volume, others don't, but not all the one's without it are listed in the "cons" section. Why not? Also, I doubt many people looking for headphone for say, an iphone, would look into headphones (or technically ear-buds) that were designed for in-ear monitoring for gigging musicians.

The review needs to be more focused.

 

[pocketdrummer]

They include these but not the Sony MDR-7506 and Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones?

Both of which are studio norms... not to mention, they're cheaper.

 

[inmytaxi]

Grado makes the best sounding headphones by far.

The iGrado is ok but too delicate for my use. The SR 60 and new 60i is cheap and runs about $60, a steal at twice the price.

 

[bin1127]

Which earphone can fix the inherent problem that mp3s are crap? The $1.25 earphones that apple sells for 50 is as good as you'll need.

 

[Guest]

Wow, you guys really blew the Sennheiser reviews. Pretty much all dynamic driver IEMS need to be broken in before they even start to live up to their potential. You apparently have no idea what you are talking about and have not correctly listened to high end IEMS. Very disappointing.

 

[dlp]

I can't accept a "This review wasn't meant for audiophiles" response because the article includes products selling for $200+. Not to mention that the product in question *was* reviewed without doing the required break-in. You should accept the related criticisms as valid and work to improve the article. Suggest using a review panel in the future, listening to a well-chosen and specified music selection.

Agree with those who've noted that "headphones" (over- and on-the-ear types) should be grouped separately from "earphones" (Apple-style ones that rest in the ear canal and those with an earplug form factor -- not sure what the proper terminology is for distinguishing these 2 types). The Apple types are inherently disadvantaged soundwise, as can be demonstrated by pressing them into one's ears and holding them there, but better than the earplug types if one is concerned about maintaining auditory contact with the outside environment.

 

[smendlovitz]

DEAR TOM...
VERY GOOD OVERVIEW... I PARTICULARLY FOUND USEFUL THE IDEA ABOUT RUNNING THE EARPLUG WIRES OVER THE EAR RATHER THAN LETTING THEM JUST HANG DOWN... NOW THE EARBUDS STAY PUT IN THE EAR AND DONT FALL OUT... SO FAR...
BEST WISHES...
GERSHON...

 

[kau1108]

This is a very poor review. I feel that the reviewer has not used the earphones for long enough to even understand what they actually offer. This site probably does not like this brand. These earphones are amazing after some amount of burn in because they are transducer based. These guys think they are hardware experts but I suppose they need lessons on what a transducer is and how it functions. You need some schooling guys you are very poorly informed.....extremely poor knowledge display.

 

[Guest]

i own ie8, they are already burned in for 200 hours and i can say they are no miracle (event listening for flac`s with emu 0404 sound card). yes they really do sound superb compared to iphones stock headphones, but still sound is "small", it`s like listening to miniature orchestra in a bucket. well it does have wide and "correct" soundstage, depending on a recording you can pin point there sound comes from, but it does not trick you into thinking that you are listening to real orchestra. if you had to point there for example triangle is in reality you would reach out your hand to some place on stage, but listening to these - you would point somewhere near in front of your eyes. and yes reviewer is right to some point - i think its something wrong with sound in general. bass is good, but its to much of it, mids are really weakes point in my opinion, hights are ok - soft, crisp&clear, but still could be better. fit, design and cable are really superb, you could not as for more.
i never listened to shure se530 or ultimate ears triple fi, westones 3, but if i had to buy a pair of iem`s now i would probably go for shure se530.

 

[Guest]

Senns IE 7/8 are not audiophile quality? OK, now I know this reviewer doesn't know much about dynamic earphones

 

[MEgamer]

honestly do these people no nothing about burn in???


and to the anoymous person talkign about listeining to an orchestra ; teh instruments will be far from the mic in the recording that the sound will be far out in front of u , and will be difficult to pinpoint our where the instruments are.

they dont usually put mics a meter away from the stage... thats just wont be right.

 

[Guest]

i think this article is pretty poor, more time is clearly needed to be spent with most of the headphones, ive owned too many to count, but the two i own right now in my hands are the sen IE8 and the shure se530, lets just say, this description is unbelievably inaccurate...

''The IE 8s grossly inflated the bass to the point at which almost all other sound was inaudible. Even after adjusting the custom bass response right down to its lowest setting, the bass remained the same''

the sound from the IE8 is terrific, the low points are not the sound but more likely the isolation and general fit, if you get a great fit and tips that fit snug the sound is truely great, the soundstage is awesome theres a lot more out of head music rather than the usual in your head stuffy sound alot of IEM's suffer with. in doing a little research with test tones the earphones clearly omit higher frequencies however above 16khz does require more volume, again same with bass the lower frequencies come through nice and clear but lower frequencies require more volume to be audible 25hz and below as to be expected, so... extension is there and its well done. the soundstage does make the midrange sound as if its a little behind everything else but its a difficult combination to get perfect, my shures for instance have brilliant forward midrange but its not nearly as wide sounding as the senns. would also be worth burning the senns in for a good many hours before testing aswell because its been said the driver does loosen up and show the real potential however i cant confirm this i tend to think my brain gets used to the sound rather than the drivers technical abilities changing. the bass is terrific but it is heavy! which is good if you like bass but these drivers respond brilliantly to EQing wether it be up or down if you have a good mp3 player you can EQ down and reduce the warmer side of things.

im dissapointed in this article its very uninformative and misleading its as if somebody with a total lack of musical knowledge has chosen to write a pro review.

in regards to the shure se530 vs the IE8 i would say the shures produce a more accurate pro sound but the IE8 is certainly more fun and will send you into cold shivers when a beat truely hits hard and loud its a sure fire way of raising a smile.

read reviews elsewhere guys and take this with a pinch of salt whoever reviewed this pile of phones didnt care to even get a correct fit with some of the earphones because comments like the one i highlighted above are downright stupid.