Quick Comparison of 63 IEMs (Spreadsheet)

[FreeZ5]

Originally Posted by inoesomestuff

you should add skull candy to the list since they are getting pretty popular and since you tested other low end ones like the one from deal extreme

Perhaps you should send dfkt some to test. I doubt he wants to spend his own money on them. I predict the results as Bad.

Steve

[CrowdAds]

[Jessipoo]

skullcandy is terrible. my sis got their earphones (don't think they are IEM's) and I have their headphones (skullcrusher) and I regret buying it... it was an impulse purchase, I was in the States shopping and hadn't bought anything... so I almost felt like I had to buy something and it was 35US$ so I bought it.

[PaperTigers]

How would you rank the Shure E3, Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 3, and Super.Fi 4's?

I'm looking to upgrade my Sennheiser CX300's for under $100, and those three seemed to be the ones that stood out to me as the highest quality in that price range, but if anyone has any suggestions other than those three, I'd like to hear. (A compelling enough argument to deter me from spending an extra $50 on the Phonak Audeo's would be appreciated)

[joyounghoon]

Originally Posted by inoesomestuff

you should add skull candy to the list since they are getting pretty popular and since you tested other low end ones like the one from deal extreme

Skullcandy is made for the ignorant dumbasses of the ignorant public. Their products are terrible, and overpriced. Not worth the effort into adding something so useless.

If you say something like "BUT IT'S POPULAR. BECAUSE IT'S POPULAR, IT MUST BE GOOD, RIGHT?", you're completely wrong. Popularity doesn't mean good quality. Most peeople think Skullcandy is good, and buy them in stores, because "they look nice", and are obviously stupid enough to believe that they sound good.

Skullcandy's have always been popular, and I'm really disgusted by how everyone in my school says, "HEY GUYS, LOOK! I GOT A SKULLCANDY!" And a crowd of idiots swarm around, and say "WOAH. WICKED SOUND QUALITY!". I bet you, that no one ever heard of anything decent. They all use the stock earbuds that comes with their little ipods. When I tell them Skullcandy is shit, they tell me "PFFF. IT'S BECAUSE YOU CAN'T AFFORD THEM". When I took a listen at the Lowriders, all I heard was a noise of a garbage bag ripping, instead of a working driver. Of course, not in a literal sense, but that how bad I thought they were.

A few months later, I tried the Ink'd buds, and they were NOT HORRIFIC. I could actually hear music, but the fact that retail stores are selling them at 29.99 with tax, it's ridiciously overpriced.

In short, Skullcandy is for people who think skull icons are cool, and doesn't know what research means.

[PaperTigers]

Why don't you tell us how you really feel?

[gregzx]

Originally Posted by joyounghoon

everyone in my school says, "HEY GUYS, LOOK! I GOT A SKULLCANDY!" And a crowd of idiots swarm around, and say "WOAH. WICKED SOUND QUALITY!".

What kind of school is that? You really seem to have a problem dude...

[joyounghoon]

Originally Posted by gregzx

What kind of school is that? You really seem to have a problem dude...

Alot of bad things have been happening to me lately, so I'm not in a good mood. And the fact that everyone in my school does this really makes me angry.

[Confispect]

Martin the spreadsheet is brilliant but what in ears do you rock on the go.

[dfkt]

On the go I use the UE11, in bed the SE530 or SF5v2, with the DS the Radius. That's my current rotation.

[walker]

Originally Posted by joyounghoon

Skullcandy is made for the ignorant dumbasses of the ignorant public. Their products are terrible, and overpriced. Not worth the effort into adding something so useless.

If you say something like "BUT IT'S POPULAR. BECAUSE IT'S POPULAR, IT MUST BE GOOD, RIGHT?", you're completely wrong. Popularity doesn't mean good quality. Most peeople think Skullcandy is good, and buy them in stores, because "they look nice", and are obviously stupid enough to believe that they sound good.

Skullcandy's have always been popular, and I'm really disgusted by how everyone in my school says, "HEY GUYS, LOOK! I GOT A SKULLCANDY!" And a crowd of idiots swarm around, and say "WOAH. WICKED SOUND QUALITY!". I bet you, that no one ever heard of anything decent. They all use the stock earbuds that comes with their little ipods. When I tell them Skullcandy is shit, they tell me "PFFF. IT'S BECAUSE YOU CAN'T AFFORD THEM". When I took a listen at the Lowriders, all I heard was a noise of a garbage bag ripping, instead of a working driver. Of course, not in a literal sense, but that how bad I thought they were.

A few months later, I tried the Ink'd buds, and they were NOT HORRIFIC. I could actually hear music, but the fact that retail stores are selling them at 29.99 with tax, it's ridiciously overpriced.

In short, Skullcandy is for people who think skull icons are cool, and doesn't know what research means.

HAHAHAHA thats exactly how i feel . Its so funny. I showed my new Audeo Phonaks to my friends and they were like "this is just as good as skullbuds" But what can i expect they hold ipods up to the golden standard

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by walker

HAHAHAHA thats exactly how i feel . Its so funny. I showed my new Audeo Phonaks to my friends and they were like "this is just as good as skullbuds" But what can i expect they hold ipods up to the golden standard

heh, they are followers and you are a leader

[Confispect]

I have another question Martin if you felt the UE11 were the best then why give the Phonak Audéo PFE's the Editor's Choice? Why because of the price of the UE11's? Another thing I read every single In Ear review and I picked the Phonak Audéo PFE's do you think I made a good pick? I had 600 dollars at my disposal so was it a good decision (waiting on them in the mail...when they arrive i'll answer that myself but until then.....) think I should have got the Shures.... don't know.... oh yeh another question I read the spreadsheet of course the q-jays had Editor's Choice at first but was lower on the list then the Shures and Atrios an a couple others so why was this considered Editor's Choice instead of one then rated higher then the q-jays basicly like you did with the Phonak Audéo PFE's ya know picking them instead of the UE11's....

[dfkt]

Yes, the price of the UE11 of course is the reason they can't be editor's choice. A car magazine won't give a Rolls Royce editor's choice when a Mercedes or BMW performs equally well for most people. Bad comparison, but you get my drift.

The q-Jays simply got beaten/replaced by the Phonaks. They're still good, but the Phonaks are even better, and cheaper.

It's a hard decision giving an editor's choice to a single pair of phones, and not everybody is going to be happy with the decision. I tend to give phones editor's choice that are serious high-end for a reasonable price. So bassheads certainly won't be happy, but people seeking good clarity and precision in audio reproduction should be more than pleased.

The editor's choice should be a neutral, unbiased award - it doesn't necessarily have to be the same as my personal preference list here in this thread. That's why I put the big red caveat in the first post, as this list is only my personal opinion/preference.

[midib]

Martin, seems like you could expand "Editor's choice headphones" to (few) price ranges. It is true that some of us may be limited within certain price limit and some just don't care that much about the price. I have ordered Phonaks, as already stated in another topic, exclusively on abi's recommendation and I surely want best value phones since my budget is limited, so present Editor's Choice philosophy suits me good. BTW; my wife doesn't know about Phonaks......yet
Also one question;
I had a feeling you prefer dynamic driver headphones over armature driver. Is there something different in Phonaks over "regular" armature driver headphones?

[a_tumiwa]

Please update this thread , really helpfull

[dfkt]

Added the JAYS s-JAYS to the list.

[BSdV]

I've just had a look at the spreadsheet and I'm a bit suprised to see that dfkt gave the custom fit UE11 only a medium for comfort.
I don't have custom fit iem's myself, but what I do have are custom fit ear plugs which I use at work instead of regular earmuffs. They are exactly the same thing, excepts of course the speakers that mine are lacking. To me, when a good cast of one's ear canal is made they provide ultimate comfort. I use my custom made earplugs at least 10 hours per day / 180 days per year and never even notice I'm wearing them. I would assume the UE11 should provide exactly the same comfort.

[dfkt]

I do have custom acrylic ear plugs as well, from Sonus. They're the same as the UE11 for me - comfortable enough, but they also don't "disappear" and I don't forget about them being in my ears. Guess I might be more sensitive to these big things in my ears than some other people.

The "comfort" column in the spreadsheet also is meant for how comfortable the phones are while sleeping. Only the ones that are really comfy enough for that application get a "good".

[a_tumiwa]

hope someday mr. admin will add Yuin brand (ok series) to the list

[SansaRulez83]

LOL @ the skullcandy advertisement at the top of this page!