Just purchased a Cowon J3, In need of earbud suggestions.

[Noex]

After years of fooling around with low end mp3 players, headphones and earphones. I decided to go beast-like in sound quality.

I got a Cowon J3 en route and I hear the ear phones packaged with it are quite unimpressive for a PMP that's got a rep from being a monster in SQ. So I'm going to do myself a favor and not gimp out on the ear phones and buy a stronger pair as well.

Problem is I don't know how to look for a great pair of ear phones and all the great ones I've heard about and searched for myself are the in-ear types which I hate
I mean it doesn't matter how many size of tips are packaged with buggers, they never feel comfortable to me and they keep on falling out my ears.

I prefer the old school style in-ear phones. Anyone got a good idea of what would be a great set for me and my Cowon? I've a got a $200 budget.

The music I listen to usually has a lot of bass. I don't have a genre I stick with. All I can say is that Country, Soul and Jazz are the ones I don't really listen to.

Can anyone help me out?

[skip252]

You could help yourself quite a bit by providing more specific information, "old school style in-ear phones" may mean different things depending on who's reading that phrase. You can check here for a outline on what would be helpful in clearing up any possible confusion.

BTW, the Cowon rep for being a "monster in SQ" is mostly just that, a reputation, not reality. The sound enhancements of the J3 are considered by some to be better than others but the base sound quality is much the same as any other quality DAP.

[The DarkSide]

Check out this thread and see if the excellent info in it helps: http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15243

[Noex]

Originally Posted by skip252

You could help yourself quite a bit by providing more specific information, "old school style in-ear phones" may mean different things depending on who's reading that phrase. You can check here for a outline on what would be helpful in clearing up any possible confusion.

BTW, the Cowon rep for being a "monster in SQ" is mostly just that, a reputation, not reality. The sound enhancements of the J3 are considered by some to be better than others but the base sound quality is much the same as any other quality DAP.

Oh ok. Sorry about that.

I'm looking for earphones that look like this:



Not like this:




Price Range:$100-200
Type/Design: Earbuds
Closed Style
Primary Location Of Use: Work, Home, On The Go.
Sound Signature: Balanced, Basshead
Media: Reggaeton, Hip Hop, Dubstep, Pop, Electronica.
Source: Portable Player

[skip252]

There's just not much here about the earbud type headphones you prefer here. There's been a couple of threads you may want to look at

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=66901

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=63072

You may also want to edit the title of your thread to include a phrase something like "ear bud, not in ear" to let people know which type you're looking for. You may get more responses from someone that uses the type you prefer. You can use the Go Advanced option in the Edit menu of the first post in this thread to change the title if you want.

[IDvsEGO]

this head-fi thread has a few too...

http://www.head-fi.org/t/531063/earb...rbuds-compared

[Noex]

Thanks for the help guys.

Odd thing is that I find my self looking at the Brainwavz M2 an in-ear type, after all I've said.

Another one I'm looking at is the MX 980. I want isolation though and I hear earbuds are kind of weak for that...

Hmm, I think I'm gonna try out the Brainwavz M2 first, see if my ears can keep them in. If not I'll return them and just go for the MX 980.

[IDvsEGO]

earbuds are worse at isolation due to their design. try allt he different tips. I have fitment issues sometimes to and found that I like foam tips better. Comply makes some. Shure olives are another option but they are a pain to get on the IEMs.

[JK98]

Earbuds don't have isolation. For isolation, you need an iem or a closed headphone. I still prefer earbuds to iems, however I have recently been getting into iems. With iems, the comfort and fit are the major factors. You should try a lower priced iem first, just to see if you can tolerate having something in your ear canal. Isolation is a two edge sword. It is very useful in a noisy train, bus, or airplane, but can be very dangerous while you are walking across intersections, or bicycling.

The Sennheiser MX980 seems nice, although I question whether it is worth the price. The MX880 and especially the MX580 seem like much better values for the price. I have the MX580 and like it very much. It seems difficult justifying paying 7x the price of the MX580 to get the MX980. While the MX980 will sound better, is the sound 7x as good? I doubt it. If you are very wealthy, and can't think of anything better to do with the $130 price difference, then go for the MX980.

[Noex]

Originally Posted by JK98

Earbuds don't have isolation. For isolation, you need an iem or a closed headphone. I still prefer earbuds to iems, however I have recently been getting into iems. With iems, the comfort and fit are the major factors. You should try a lower priced iem first, just to see if you can tolerate having something in your ear canal. Isolation is a two edge sword. It is very useful in a noisy train, bus, or airplane, but can be very dangerous while you are walking across intersections, or bicycling.

The Sennheiser MX980 seems nice, although I question whether it is worth the price. The MX880 and especially the MX580 seem like much better values for the price. I have the MX580 and like it very much. It seems difficult justifying paying 7x the price of the MX580 to get the MX980. While the MX980 will sound better, is the sound 7x as good? I doubt it. If you are very wealthy, and can't think of anything better to do with the $130 price difference, then go for the MX980.

How good are the MX880 and MX580 for bass?

[Danneq]

There's also the, by now, old favorite Yuin. The PK3 (@ around $35 on Ebay) and PK2 (@around $55 on Ebay) are pretty good. I especially like the PK2 which has got a pretty neutral sound and responds well to EQing.

I would recommend Blox M2C, but it is a small company and you can only buy directly from Blox. Right now they are sold out but a new batch should be ready for sale soon.

Anyway, earbuds aren't that bassy, but with the J3 you should be able to EQ the sound to your liking.

[JK98]

The MX580 has decent bass. Not basshead bass, but a reasonable amount that sounds in proportion to the other frequencies. If you want extra bass, then buy the JVC XX iem($20-30 the price on this varies greatly, and there seems to be a shortage of them now). I haven't heard the MX880, howev er reviews claim it is much bassier than the MX580 or MX980. The reviews are good for it, except that the volume control can be problematic. If the volume control acts up you can have it removed, although a repair shop might charge plenty to do this(imo it should cost $10 or less, however in some places repair shop charges are huge).

Imo the MX580 is well worth buying at $23. If you still feel hungry for something better, you could then buy the MX880 or MX980 later. I have the Sony E888 as well, and imo the MX580 sounds almost as good as the $75+ E888.

An interesting thread.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/483650/senn...-expression/60

[skip252]

Originally Posted by Noex

Hmm, I think I'm gonna try out the Brainwavz M2 first, see if my ears can keep them in. If not I'll return them and just go for the MX 980.

If you decide to go this route you may want to check the Shure-Earphone How To Use page. There's a demo on that page I found very useful when I first started using IEMs. TBH it may not be the same one but I just watched it and the basic info is the same. I had a heck of a time getting a good fit and seal before I saw that.

The tips like holding your ear to open the canal and inserting at 90 degrees to the final insertion and twisting them to the final spot made getting a good seal a lot easier. One of the most helpful was showing how to wear them over the ear. Since I started doing that I can put them in and do just about anything and they don't move and the seal rarely breaks.

It felt really awkward and took a long time when I first started. Now it's natural and only takes a few seconds per ear.