In the exciting world of headphones, in-ear buds are getting a lot of attention, which kind of bugs me since I find this style very uncomfortable and they have a tinny sound.
Well, the fine folks at Marantz and Maxell would like to try and prove me wrong. Marantz just released aluminum earphones with 9.5mm drivers that produce a frequency response of 20Hz-20,000Hz, and a pressure sensitivity of 98dB. On June 25th Maxell will release their HP-CN40 with 13mm drivers, which provide a frequency response of 10Hz-25000Hz and a sensitivity of 105dB.
I have yet to put any of these in my ears, so I don’t know if they improved the comfort, but it’s nice to know companies are working on making these mid-range earphones sound better.
You’re not alone, Jason. I also can’t stand these.
No way, man. I’ve had three pairs and if you wear them right they have brilliant sound. Look up the Shure E2c’s. And Klipsch is actually coming out with a pair that I’ll be reviewing real soon as well. I was converted long ago.
My Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pros are the tits. Stop buying cheap-o in-ears, dude.
I second that, Peter Ha. I’ve got a pair and they’re awesome. Since they don’t fit the dumb iPhone jack, I also have the new Etymotics (hf6? something like that), which are also … as you say … the mammaries
These are great for causing severe ear damage… 105 decibels right next to the ear drum… are they serious?
Jon
http://woodmarvels.com – Create Unique Memories
Yes, in-ear phones are the best, but I can possibly understand the author’s dislike of the style after buying a completely horrific pair of emergency in-ears when I forgot my Sennheisers on a trip.
If in-ear headphones are tinny for you, then throw away your apple buds and buy a decent pair, etymotics, ultimate ears, schure, anything but the crappy apple buds.
If they still sound tinny, then you’re not wearing them properly!
Apple buds damage the ears, in-ear isolation headphones allow you to listen to your music at a lower volume, saving your hearing while still allowing you to bask in the wonderous goodness that is the music.
Bear in mind though, that most mid/high end buds will deliver music to your ears “as is”, what that means is, you’ll get a flat sound, like a musician would hear in a studio, if you want more bass/mid/high or a different sound, then you need to do it yourself with tweaking the EQ.
In ears are the way to go, I could work 8 hours a day with in ear and not feel a thing. As for the tinny sound wow can’t imagine what your listening to maybe Shure’s. They came with a massive rep and yes they sound good but they have NO BASS. I spent over £150 on mine and have been dissapointed.
Honestly I’d recommend finding the most expensive sony fontopia (they do cheap crappy ones). They are very comfy, sound great and but out beautifully smooth baselines. Mine cost about £70 and remain one of the best purchases, sadly they fell apart. Will be buying another pair soon. Like the idea of a marantz set.
As for sound damage, because they are so close to your ears you can hear everything perfectly and therefore need less volume, thats my take anyway.
Can we have a login for cruchgear too? You could use the same as TechCrunch so i dont need to setup another profile.
i was on about these Sony’s Ultimate MDR EX90LP. Very good. Think I’ll buy some Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pros, they look good.
But do they do good bass?
“I have yet to put any of these in my ears, so I don’t know if they improved the comfort…”
Why don’t you come back and see us once you have something to say about the new buds, bud.
I have a hard time finding comfort with crap in or on my ears at all. The most comfortable sound output devices I know of are sitting on my desk at work or on the floor at home. I don’t go enough places to pay for the expensive comfy in ears, I’ve had some cheap ones that fell apart and the apple buds I have yet to use. Sucks to be me I suppose