What a difference good head phones make

[diechipmunk]

OK, relatively good. Up until this weekend, I was using 3 year old Creative EP-630s, and I thought wow, compared to the stock earbuds that came with my Clip+, the 630s were amazing.

After a month or two reading ABI, I was overwhelmed by the urge to upgrade. I don't consider myself a serious audiophile; and I really questioned how good earbuds\canal phones could be, so I didn't want to spend more for headphones than I spent on my player.

After some research, mostly reading reviews, I settled on NuForce NE-6. I have seen the light, or heard it anyway. These are at least as big a step up from the EP-630 as the Creatives were from the OEM.

Now I'm thinking "should I have paid out for the Sennheiser IE7?" No complaints, though; the bass is clear and crisp without being overwhelming, the highs and midrange are crystal clear and sound isolation seems to be pretty good. I've evolved.

[CrowdAds]

[Satellite_6]

The NE-6's are a nice upgrade from stock earbuds. You don't really need anything better.

I tried upgrading to the HJE900's from the NE-7M's but I was disappointed with their performance/cost ratio. I'm not sure it's worth spending a lot of money on IEMs but YMMV.

[bennyboy]

Generally, it's a slippy slop you're now on. Lock your wallet in the nearest safe.

[IDvsEGO]

from what I have read, there is a definite price/performance drop off once you get past around $100. Not that Ihave had the bones to give that theory a test yet or anything

[Syndrome]

Now you need some custom fitted IEM's, Others may be able to produce sound on par with customs, but they can never achieve the isolation, which makes the customs sound great.

[lestatar]

@diechipmunk: Welcome to the club and congrats. Your reaction mirrors my own experience - I too had EP630s and for the longest time thought they were just dandy.

My, how things have changed in a very short period of time for me. Put a seatbelt on that wallet though, especially if you stick around ABi

Enjoy!

[musichound]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Now you need some custom fitted IEM's, Others may be able to produce sound on par with customs, but they can never achieve the isolation, which makes the customs sound great.

Don't be an enabler.

[diechipmunk]

Originally Posted by lestatar

Put a seatbelt on that wallet though, especially if you stick around ABi

Enjoy!

I'm planning on enjoying these for a while before I test the deeper (aka more expensive) waters; although ABi has given me a little PmP envy. Currently, my only player is a Clip+. I don't need anything more, but ...

[EddieE]

I'm not convinced there is anything better than a Clip+, except for a Clip+ with Rockbox...

[pseudohippy]

Originally Posted by IDvsEGO

from what I have read, there is a definite price/performance drop off once you get past around $100. Not that Ihave had the bones to give that theory a test yet or anything

Ive pretty much tested this theory. You can check my profile for my current inventory. Id say dont waste your money as I do. I love wasting money and I love owning the crap that I do, and amazingly a lot of it has pretty good resale value. I know I could get what I paid for the HJE or my K1000 in a matter of days. But still, it is all a waste in my mind, unless of course you like wasting.

[Satellite_6]

The HD 650's aren't a waste. They're worth every penny. :P

[pseudohippy]

Originally Posted by Satellite_6

The HD 650's aren't a waste. They're worth every penny. :P

Well, I thought we were mostly just talking about IEM's but Ill still stand by my opinion which is shared by very few, in that it is all a waste. I owned 650's along with a raptor for almost a year and I still think it is a waste. Dont worry, Im probably just crazy.

[diechipmunk]

Originally Posted by EddieE

I'm not convinced there is anything better than a Clip+, except for a Clip+ with Rockbox...

I've got no complaints. I did try to install Rockbox on my old Clip v1, but it fails on step 1. It says to select the drive mapping for the Clip, but my PC doesn't map a drive. I don't know if it's a Windows 7 thing, but the Clip opens up like a device, but no drive maps to it in the Rockbox install screen.

I haven't tried the manual install, mostly because there appear to be more steps than I'm willing to go through to fix something that isn't broken.

I'm curious though, what are the benefits of Rockbox on a Clip?

[dfkt]

Manual install is actually *way* easier than using Rockbox Utility. You just pop the bootloader and Rockbox firmware on the MSC drive, and you're done.

[EddieE]

Benefits of rockbox are so numerous you should have a look at the site. My favourite things about it are - file/folder browsing, gapless playback, volume as a - from clipping point, smaller text allowing more files per screen when browsing, better now playing screen, great EQ and Meier crossfeed with dfkts patch... And that's just scratching the surface.

[lestatar]

OT, but yeah...RB reigns supreme

Back on topic, I think the consensus here might be a bit of diminishing returns with IEMs over the 100-150USD price range. That is not to say that more expensive IEMs are a waste all the time - rather, it depends on:
- how sensitive/critical a listener you are;
- your planned application for the IEMs;
- how well/how badly you take care of your stuff.

For me, IEM-wise I am done, having found my dynamic IEM soulmate in the Panas. I worry at the day when/if they die on my.

Only IEMs I am planning to buy and keep at the moment are quality balanced armature IEMs so I can compare to dynamics [Phonaks looking good here] and possibly one day customs.

$$$$$

[diechipmunk]

Originally Posted by dfkt

Manual install is actually *way* easier than using Rockbox Utility. You just pop the bootloader and Rockbox firmware on the MSC drive, and you're done.

OK, I did it. My old Clip is now running Rockbox. I can't read the menu now. If I can't find a way to increase the font to near where it was, I'll have to back it out - if I can.

Now where is that magnifying glass?

[skip252]

How to change fonts. Link to Font pack. Themes, some are set for high visibility for some of us more "seasoned" vets.

I'd dig into that manual in the first link. I wouldn't try a cover to cover read but definitely through "The Main Menu". The more you know about Rockbox the further you can go in using it to unlock the potential of your player. It's decent out the box but once you tweak it to your tastes...

[WalkGood]

Funny how "What a difference good head phones make" changes into how great rockbox is, lol ... btw I concur

[nodirectionhome]

I'm yet to try out some BA iems, but I'm happy with the ie8s.