- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 32 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"You don't need to look any further for <$100 in-ear headphones"
Pros: Flat Response gives you accurate musical response, nice design, shipped with nice items
Cons: Like all in-ear earphones, you have to figure out how to wear them
Summary: Topics:
1. About all speakers and all in-ear headphones
2. Super.fi 3 Studio Review
About All Speakers and all in-ear headphones:
Flat speaker response is a good thing. Flat response ultimately lets your hear what was intended. Some people say ?these speakers base hard? or ?the tweets are really high??.what this typically means is the speakers have a ?gain? in those frequencies. This is BAD as you are not really listening to what your music player is playing. What you are listening to is what your music player is playing plus extra inaccurate base and extra inaccurate treble. When a speaker has a flat response across the frequency range it means you are going to hear exactly what your player is playing. Add a little EQ to taste to flat response speakers and you have music just like you want that has detail and clarity. Adding EQ to speakers that do not have a flat response really does not work as you lose clarity and detail. Making a speaker with a flat response is more difficult than making a base box that is not accurate. Many people mistake hard hitting base and over crisp highs as ?good speakers? and while they might sound good with a particular style of music, they don?t sound well overall. Don?t get me wrong, I like solid base and clean treble, but if it?s at the expense of accurate reproduction of the other ranges it simply is not a good speaker.
2. In-ear ear phone require at least 30 minutes to an hour experimenting getting a proper fit. When you first put In-ear headphones in your ear you will say ?these sound like they are in a tin can and have no base.? This is a complaint you will hear over and over again. I guarantee you any quality set of in-ear headphones will play base, so don?t give up after two minutes. It takes time. Once you figure it out you will be amazed at what you can hear from a tiny speaker.
Super.fi 3 Studio Review:
This is the third set of in-ear ear phones I have owned in the last six weeks. If you are looking for a solid upgrade over your OEM ear phones in the "entry level" of quality head phones, I strongly recommend these.
My general opinion of the Super.fi 3 studio?s is they are well made, comfortable, have a flat and accurate response, and are an excellent value from online retailers (I paid 73 dollars with 3 day shipping). Compare this price to the E2c?s and you will notice these are less expensive. The lower price is really nice if you are a closet audiophile and don?t really want to fork over more money for your phones than you did your player. I bought my head phones by going to ultimateears.com, retail partners, earphonesolutions.com (I think you may get a lower price by going thru UE?s site. Earphonesolutions.com had the clear wires cheaper than black or white and they look cool in my opinion.
I previously owned Shure's E2c and Sennheiser's CX 300s. While the E2c's are solid headphones as well, I prefer how the Super.fi 3's fit in my ears and are less massive. In addition the Super.fi?s are less expensive than the E2c?s. The CX 300s honestly are not even in the same league even though I rated them an eight previously. The CX 300?s do not have flat response?. They pump up the base and treble and the mid range is very dull and inaccurate. Musical instruments lost their depth with the CX 300?s. After a few days with the CX 300?s my ears hurt as the excessive high and low end response became irritating. Even with turning the lows and highs way down with my players EQ I still ended up with a less than desirable sound because the CX 300?s were hard to balance for each type of music that I was playing. Flat response is very important for a speaker in my opinion. I like the shape, size, and cost of the Super.fi?s over the E2c?s and the flat response and stiff ear wires that reduce thumping wires over the CX 300?s
I don?t get what others are saying about weak wires?. Doesn?t make sense to me. Mine appear as thick as I?d want them?.. any thicker and it would just be difficult to manipulate. The connections do not seem to be week either. I guess if you jam them in your pocket they will damage. The Super.fi?s have a stiff memory wire that is a couple inches long in the wire near the earphone. This wire is used to wrap over the top of your ear. My first impression is ?oh great I have to deal with this stupid wire?, but honestly what it does is keep the wires close to my head and where I want them. In addition it keeps the wires from transmitting ?thump thump thump? into my ear as I exercise (this was a hugh problem with the CX 300?s?. I mean really bad just walking). So maybe this wire makes them a little higher maintenance than the type you can just wrap around your player and stick in your pocket. I guess if you constantly reshape the wire it will strain harden and break like a paper clip, but for me I like the advantages the wire offers and take good enough care of my stuff that I?m not worried in the slightest. The clam shell case that comes with the super.fi is easy to get them in and out of? just use the case! Otherwise they have headphones at your Mega-Lo Mart for 4.99.
I don?t think you are going to find better head phone for less than 100 bucks (remember you can get these to the door in the low to mid 70?s which is the same cost of the far inferior CX 300?s and much less than the comparable E2c?s. I did not try the Etymotic ER-6?s which are a bit more expensive, but worth a comparison.
I love my Super.fi 3?s for 65.99 plus shipping!
Where to buy
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 Studio (black):
$110.09 - $203.55
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$110.09 | Yes |
|
|
Amazon.com Marketplace
|
$203.55 | Yes |
|
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/ultimate-ears-super-fi/4864-7877_7-31491515-3.html){kind=small}