Never trust a headphone review
How many tips does it take? Shure includes all these.
Not too long ago, we did our first ever headphone prizefight, and it got me thinking about how headphones might be the most difficult product to be objective about during a review.
This observation was compounded by the recent parade of Ultimate Ears earphones that came across my desk. Although audio professionals, previous CNET reviewers, and many consumers have posted plenty of glowing praise for the company's products, I had a helluva time with all three sets of the headphones. They just did not fit me properly, ranging from mild discomfort with the Metro.fi 2 to supreme irritation with the Triple.fi 10.
During the review process, this issue of fit is worked out by letting several different people try them out and gathering their observations to add to my own. The review will still be colored somewhat by my own experience--as well it should be in deference to others who also have "uniquely sized" ears--but the input from others helps to keep the final outcome balanced. But consider that not all reviewers get the opinions of others, either because they don't have the luxury or because their process is not as diligent. (And of course I refer to non-CNET reviewers here.) Especially if the headphones are comfortable to this person: what's to make he or she doubt that they are anything but for anyone else?
No, Donald Bell doesn't have a severe ear wax problem--he's getting fitted for custom ear molds.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)Now, add to that the fact that sound quality can be highly subjective as well. Sure, there are headphones that sound exceptional to pretty much everyone, but many people prefer certain variances in their music. Some listeners prefer a heavier, more booming low-end, while others like brighter sound, and purists want the most balanced audio possible.
Plus, people actually hear differently based on personal experiences, age, and, I suspect, ear shape. (I wasn't able to find any evidence of this. I welcome feedback below.) The issue of sound quality in a review is also helped somewhat by having others listen to the headphones, but sometimes we can only get two test subjects, and that is by no means a representative cross-section of listening tastes and idiosyncrasies.
Ah...the perfect fit.
For the moment, I've become personally attached to the Philips SHE-9850 In-Ear Headphones, a noise-isolating ear-plug-style set that goes for just under 100 bucks. The earbuds are sleek and compact, the aperture is small, Philips includes compressible foam sleeves (a must for me), and the sound quality is nice and balanced, but could use a bit more bass to be perfect for me. Of course, plenty of people don't want headphones that they have to stick in their ears and still others would abhor the SHE-9850's lack of "oomph" on the low-end.
So, what's attached to your sound system or MP3 player right now? And what headphones have been sent back in disgust?
For more than five years, Jasmine France has covered a variety of tech products for CNET--from scanners to keyboards to GPS devices--but she's happiest where she is now: sitting atop a pile of MP3 players, "testing" every music service known to man, and jamming a variety of earbuds in every shape and color into her absurdly small ears. E-mail Jasmine.
Donald Bell is an electronic musician, a veteran record store employee, and a fearless hardware hacker. He's also CNET's Senior Editor for MP3 and digital audio.
Jasmine France is CNET's resident digital audio doyenne, writing and editing product reviews, crave blogs, and feature stories on all things MP3. And if you need advice on headphones, she's your girl.
im using Crossroads mylarone SVi. got for 40$ and they are worth the price. Had ep630 earlier and they were like the worst earphones ever.
Well...at least until I lost one of the tips. No problem, I thought, they came with 3 pairs. That's when I noticed that the other two pairs were bigger. They fitted very uncomfortably.
Conclusion: I lost one tip. I lost 20?. I lost my headphones.
Oh... and the "non-in-ear" have problems too: the little rubber or cushion (?) that covers the column is easily lost.
FINAL conclusion: Argh dammit, where can I find really good and resistant headphones?
First, Sennheiser HD 580 Precision cans are full sized headphones. They are the best in terms of sound. I've watched many movies with these on my head because I'm up late and the family is sleeping. The sound is terrific. Full ambient sound.
Next, I just purchased the Shure 310 ear plugs. The clarity of these are fantastic. If someone likes heavy bass, don't buy these. They aren't bright, either. But they definitely sound different than the Sennheiser, but that's personal taste, not a critical one is technically better than the other.
Also, I own the ear buds (that's what Headroom calls them) that came with my Zune. Actually, they are competitive in sound quality with the Shure, if I can get them to stay in the ear. These ear buds are uncomfortable and tough to fit....enought to blister my ear with all the shoving in and out, in and out, in and out. This is why I bought the Shure. The Shures feel like slippers, comfy, cozy, and great sounding.
Finally, before I bought the Shures, I bought $20 ear plugs at Walmart. JVC. Sounds ok. If you ever go to Best Buy and try to pick out the best picture on LCD or Plasma, some of the cheaper ones have, like a filter making them not as bright. That's how these plugs sound. Having had the Sennheisers for several years now, though, I'm probably spoiled.
Now, Jasmine, tell us what desktop speakers to buy.
The pair I use the rest of the time, at the gym or on my motorcycle are Etymotic ER-6I's. The noise blocking is vastly superior to the Sony's, however, they do require a few extra seconds to fit in with the foam inserts, which is what I use. So, when i'm at work getting phone calls and such, it's easier on my ears to just wedge the Sony's in.
For sound quality though, the ER-6i's mids and highs are freakin' fantastic.
I do have a pair of Sennheiser HD280Pro's, but I don't listen to 'phones much at home. When I do though, the 280's are fantastic.
2.) Shure SE530 In-Ear Headphones- While they are fairly pricey, these headphones are worth every penny. The review here on CNET says it much better than I ever could.
When they got stolen I took the opportunity to upgrade to the ER-4P's, and I absolutely love them! The lows are warm, mids & highs are crisp and clear as a bell, and I can hear things in my music I really wasn't hearing before. A little pricey (around $200) but well worth every penny, for me.
In response to the article above, I would add that the type of music and personal preferences come into play. My Hannspree 2.1 computer speaker system has better sound quality than my Harmon Kardon in my BMW. The 2.1 is great for everything below 85 db, minus rock (the way it's meant to be heard), where the HK wins out, yet performs only marginally well in it. My previous vehicle's sound system had all the speakers changed and was set up for serious hip hop and rap, but did poorly in talk radio and pure speech acoustics as it infused far too much bass into normal talk. In comparison, with the in-ear headphones, I preferred the Shure E4c's (haven't heard the E5s yet) in terms of sound accuracy, but it drops off significantly in the low end. Shure E3's? No bass at all. High-end Sony MDRs cans can almost make the ground shake while providing decent mids and highs, but it provides that great sound quality at a high price. Short of renting out a movie theater or going to the Bose store everytime you want to listen to a CD, we all try to make some type of compromise toward the music we listen to most frequently, but hardly find affordable consumer products that may be deemed an "end all" to audio products - which can easily lean toward a laptop speaker or toward a Las Vegas nightclub sound system...and even then, the Bose systems have a "warm artificial" sound in my opinion, where accuracy is great, and the bass has "hit," but lacks any type of "shake" due to the way the sound is made to be carried primarily through the air. Which leaves me to say - the only true solution is to go to the live concert and hopefully they'll reproduce the music the way it was meant to be heard (mistakes included). You might as well ask Bono to borrow his guitar while you're at it.
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by bigmc6000
July 28, 2008 10:31 AM PDT
- I know I'm going to get shunned to high h#ll for this but I've been using the Apple supplied earbuds for quite some time now and I like them. Now I realize their audio range isn't the most stellar but I find them very comfortable and, as the author pointed out, that's one of the most important features.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (40 Comments)Let the bashing begin... (and before I get the "you can't hear well' thing I had my hearing tested last year and it was at the top of every single frequency range so it's not that...)