The E500s use three separate drivers, though. It’s like having a sub, midrange and tweeter directly in your ear, which allows for a purity of sound you just can’t get from single driver buds, and which you’d pay even more for in over-the-ear monitors.
Those are well out of my budget, mind you, but not completely unreasonable for the hardcore audiophile. I’m looking into either a set of E3Gs or E4Cs myself. Not nearly as expensive but as much as this audiophile can comfortably afford in IEMs right now.
As wrong as a $500 wooden knob to go on a $7,000 volume control?
If you’re a hardcore audiophile, why are you listening to music a) via earbuds, and b) on an mp3 player?
Don’t the compression effects of the mp3 format make ultra-quality earbuds a waste? Kind of like putting an state of the art video card in a machine with a 486 processor.
IANA musical/audio expert …
I recently received a Bose Sound Dock for my Ipod, and OMG, it really makes it sound much better !
So, I am willing to believe that those could make a difference. However, you won’t catch me spending that much on earphones.
using my American Express points to get Bose Quiet Comfort noise reduction headphones, on the other hand …
There’s a vast difference between earbuds and in-ear monitors (IEMs).
Earbuds: Sit over the ear canal, often uncomfortably, delivering sound into the ear from a (short) distance. They usually consist of an ordinary single-driver configuration to reproduce all sound using a regular or neodymium (rare-earth) magnet.
IEMs: Fit into the ear canal, usually using soft silicone tips or offering an assortment of varied materials and sizes. (Shure include a “fit kit” which include three sizes of soft silicone tips, three sizes of harder silicone tips, and a set of flanged tips) The tips serve double-duty by isolating outside noise while comfortably lodging the phones inside your ear and delivering sound at a much closer range. This has the effect of separating outside noise from the audio coming from the headphones as well as providing much cleaner sound due to closer proximity to the eardrums. Additionally, IEMs like the E500s are capable of reproducing sound with extreme accuracy due to independent, isolated drivers for lows, mids and highs)
As for MP3s – the amount of distortion or artifacting due to compression of the MP3s is entirely dependent upon the rate at which you compress it. 128Kb/s is the “average” being “near CD quality” offering the best size:quality ratio for your average listener. (128Kb/s = ~10:1 compression radio) This is not nearly good enough for audiophiles though. I compress all of mine at 192Kb/s (8:1) or higher for top notch quality. Others, particularly those with limited space who aren’t so concerned with quality, can choose even lower rates, with obviously greater artifacting being the result.
At least they don’t require an appointment for a custom ear-molding and fitting.
I’ll take your word for it, but this sounds painful. I think I’ll just stick to headphones.
I have a set of etymotics I used to use for in ear monitoring in a band I played in. The sound is incredible, but they can be uncomfortable at times. They have the added advantage of blocking out most external noise so you can listen without distractions.
Actually, they’re quite comfortable – bear in mind they come with different types of tips that which or may not be comfortable depending on your sensitivity to the various materials. I haven’t picked up a pair yet, but right now I’m using the (sub)standard Apple buds with iBud tips applied to partially transform them into pseudo-IEMs. They’re made of very soft silicone, and I barely even notice they’re there. They don’t provide much in the way of isolation nor do they do much to improve the sound quality (they were cheap), but they’re about three thousand orders of magnitude more comfortable than the standard buds with the foam caps, which is one of the reasons I got them to begin with.
Buds and IEMs aren’t for everyone, and I’ll freely admit that when I’m at home I do prefer over-the-ear monitors, but on the go, IEMs offer the greatest freedom of movement (no strap or bulky phones to get in the way), they’re incredibly light, and the right ones will keep outside sound from getting in, and inside sound from getting out.
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.
The LAST thing I want out of an ear-bud with an iPod is something that more accurately reproduces the source.
What I really want, though, are a good pair of bone speakers so I can listen to music as I bicycle without blocking out the traffic sounds.
But it’s made of beechwood! At $2.89 a board foot, it’s got to contain at least a nickel’s worth of wood, precious wood!
I’ve seen all sorts of bizarre audiophile claims, but this is the balls out, blue ribbon winner.
That industry is such a fucking crock of shit.
Try telling someone with one of those knobs that the only real way to tell if it works is for him to do a blind listening. See how far that gets you.
Lots of “mp3 players” will play some form of losslessly encoded audio. At least, the iPod will, and since it’s got more than 50% marketshare, that’s the majority of mp3 players right there.
I’ve broken two sets of earbuds already since I got my mp3 player two years ago. Unexpected pulling by walking for one, another time when the player fell off my pants while they were still in my ears. In my mind they are disposable so yeah, this seems pretty insane to me. The stuff people will spend money on…
You guys are totally missing the point. You’re not taking into account the hours of entertainment you’ll get from, you know, polishing your knob.