New headphones for a Zen?

[The_Bell]

Hi there,

I just bought a Zen 8gb model, and my old earphones happened to die right just now. Considering the ones that come with Creative won't be of the best quality, any of you could recommend good new earphones? The last ones I had were Sennheiser Mx440 I think, and they sounded pretty good, so anything from the same company would be good I guess?

[CrowdAds]

[advcomp2019]

This might be a bad location.

Anyway, how much do you want to spend?

[Almoxil]

Thread moved!

[The_Bell]

Sorry for posting on the wrong forum!

About how much to spend, about 50€ top.

[Hodgie]

Well Sennheiser CX300 if you want to stay with same company.

All the talk at the moment is about Mylarone earphones at Jaben.net

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Hodgie

Well Sennheiser CX300 if you want to stay with same company.

All the talk at the moment is about Mylarone earphones at Jaben.net

The cx300’s are good iem’s for the price (what kills me about them is the cable microphonics and the J-cable), imo the MylarOne XB’s are better, but then again you have others that are better than the MylarOne’s – v-moda vibe, q-Jays, atrio’s...

I think you’re first consideration needs to be your budget, how much are you willing to part with? Followed by what type of music you listen to? Do you prefer a bright or a dark sound signature in your music, what type of definition and detail are you willing to pay for, do you need good isolation, etc, etc, etc…

[Aardvark]

WalkGood is right, we need a logical approach to helping you and other people with these Headphone questions.

1 What sort of Music do you like? Is bass important? Is a wide soundstage with lots of instrument detail important? Does music mean fun to you or does it mean critical listening and hifi?
2 Where do you use your headphones? eg inside, outdoors, in the street, on trains.
3 What activities do you do with your headphones on? eg walking, jogging, working out, making out.
4 Do you like ear buds or inner ear types?
5 Do you like bigger sit on the ear or huge cover the whole ear types
6 Do you have a need for open or closed back designs with some isolation
7 Do you need then to fold up for storage or portability.
8 How much would you like to spend, how much more would you go to for something better?

If you want bud style, I can make a claim for Sennheiser MX500, we have a pair. Great fun and much more bass than the standard ear buds. No isolation at all and can be used for covert listening during classwork for one ear only. My son runs the lead up one arm and out of his sleave. He rests his head on this hand during lessons. if a teacher approaches he can move his hand and the bud pops out and up his sleave, like a rat up a drain pipe.

The CX300 IEM are very good, but as WalkGood points out they are subject to microphonics unless you take steps to correct this. For me the most annoying aspect of the CX300 is the wind whistling noise when you wear them outdoors for walking, jogging or cycling. This problem can not be overcome and seems particular to the CX300 and its clones. I love mine, but I will not wear them outdoors anymore.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Aardvark

...For me the most annoying aspect of the CX300 is the wind whistling noise when you wear them outdoors for walking, jogging or cycling...

Varkie, excellent points and observation Thanks for reminding me as I keep forgetting to mention this most annoying trait of the cx300's, guess I’m not using mine enough any more

[advcomp2019]

If you are looking at the CX300, be careful. There is a lot of fakes out there that is sometimes not as good as the real ones. I know this because I got fakes when I thought they was real and was told that they was real. Plus the fakes are getting very real looking, too.

[Assassassin]

Here's a good way to avoid fakes... DON'T BUY FROM EBAY!!!!!!!

[Assassassin]

Just wondering but how well do the Mylar XB's isolate?

[advcomp2019]

Assassassin, I did not buy them from eBay. I got them from Amazon's Marketplace.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Assassassin

Just wondering but how well do the Mylar XB's isolate?

I really think this depends on how good of a seal you can achieve. I wear mine as deep as they go and I achieve a very good seal, so for me they isolate very well. I actually have to remove one to hear someone speaking to me.

[4ki]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

I really think this depends on how good of a seal you can achieve. I wear mine as deep as they go and I achieve a very good seal, so for me they isolate very well. I actually have to remove one to hear someone speaking to me.

Just don't use stock tips. Order an ultimate ears universal fit kit, and you'll be able to actually block quite a bit of noise out without sacrificing comfort. I used the bi-flanges on my EP630s for a while, until I started to get sick of the sibilance and lack of sound stage.

You might want to see into some Yuin pk3s even if it's a bit more money. As of now along with the older brothers pk2 and 1 (that cost a lot more) they are the best earbuds on the market; and this isn't a preference issue as much as it is hard testimonials. pk1 is said to be closed to a full set of cans. pk3 sounds like a ksc75 in earbud form.

If you look around you might be able to find a pair of v-moda vibes in your price range, but that requires a bit of patience.

Otherwise you can just get a pair of cheap ksc75s. Not earbuds, but sound incredible after a little bit of modification.