Ear phones comparison

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Here are the competitors.

1. Creative EP-630
2. V-Moda Bass phones
3. Cross roads mylar Xbi.
4. Xtrememac Future sonic FS1

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Specs:

Creative EP-630: Cost ~ 960 taken from GauravT tech enclave

Driver Units: 9mm Neodymium magnet transducer
Frequency Response: 6Hz ~ 23kHz
Impedance: 16ohms
Sensitivity: 106dB
Input Plugs: 3.5mm stereo gold plated miniplug

V-Moda Bass phones: Cost ~1600 taken from Amazon

Headphones Type Headphones - Binaural
Headphones Form Factor Ear-bud
Headphones Technology Dynamic
Connectivity Technology Wired
Sound Output Mode Stereo
Response Bandwidth 8 - 22000 Hz
Diaphragm 0.4 in
Magnet Material Neodymium
Cables Included 1 x Headphones cable - Integrated Included Accessories Modawrap cable manager,
3small, medium, large silicon fittings

Cross road Xbi: cost ~ 2700 taken from Jaben,singapore

Driver: 10mm dynamic Mylar driver
Sensitivity: 95 +/- 4dB/mW
Impedance: 16 Ohms
Frequency response: 20Hz - 22kHz
Cable: 135cm, Y-style, straight 3.5mm gold plated stereo plug
Accessories: case, cable wrapper, shirt clip, silicon sleeves (S, M, L, double flanges), airline adapter

Xtrememac Future sonic FS1: Cost ~ 2700 from Amazon.

Headphones Type Headphones - Binaural Headphones
Form Factor In-ear canal phone
Headphones Technology Dynamic
Connectivity Technology Wired
Sound Output Mode Stereo
Response Bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz
Signal-To-Noise Ratio 25 dB
Sensitivity 112 dB
Impedance 32 Ohm

Isolation and comfort:
Ep-630s are really very comfortable and gives nice fit for blocking the noise. 8/10
The Xbi’s are almost as comfortable and as nice fit as the Creatives. 7.5/10
Vmoda bass frequency ones are very uncomfortable. My ears started paining after 2 hours of usage 5/10
Future sonic FS1 are OK to use but I used the Shure Foam sleeves and these are excellent. Very impressed with the quality. They are blocking the noise very well and great fit too…9/10

Sound

Clearly all these are made with Bass heads in mind. All are good in their own way. The source used for these is Cowon D2 and my computer.

Creative EP-630 --- 7/10

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Ep-630s as most of the members are very much aware, they sound good. Good bass, nice treble. But after a certain volume, the high will take over the Lows. The bass produced is more of drum based one. Until i made my next buy these are the great phones for bass and very happy with these. I tried upgrade and found the V-moda bass phones.

Vmoda Bass frequency ---- 6/10

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Vmoda bass phones are my next investment and they sounded too bassy than the Ep-630.The bass produced is from all the sources not from the drum only. Guitars and some other instruments started to produce great bass compared to Ep-630s.
But the bass produced here is too unpleasant. I was not able to use these for more than 1 hour either due to Bad comfort or due to harsh bass. The treble produced is also harsh .I was not able to find the right equalizer setting for these. After some burn in time these settled a bit and even then these are too bassy than Ep-630
I guess these will produce good bass for the low powered sources. They are very poor in build quality. While inserting the phones every time i used to hear a plastic paper moving in side the Phone, i guess it might be the plastic paper on the driver.

Crossroads Mylar XBi --- 8.5/10

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Cross road Mylar Xbis were my next phones. Out of box these sounded not so good. But after 40 hours of burn in time, these started to sound very good. These has twice as bass as the Ep-630s and surprisingly the treble produced is too pleasant. The mid range is a bit masked up but these are excellent sounding phones if you are a bass lover. You can work around with the equalizer settings to get the full spectrum. Double flanged ear tips block the noise very well but as these goes in to very deeper parts of our ear, you feel a bit uncomfortable.

Xtrememac Future sonic FS1 ---9/10

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I got them through a friend. It’s a OEM version. The manufacturer has stopped this product, but looking at some reviews and user opinions I went for these. The supplied ear tips are complete crap, but the shure replacement foam sleeves that I ordered with these are very good. The bass from these phones is too good. These are blocking almost 80% of the noise and I am getting a feeling like I am listening to a Hi-Fi system rather than a portable device. I worked around with the equalizer setting, to get the best output. The Bass is very good but the treble is OK. As I am a bass lover, its fine for me.
Conclusion:

Clearly it says that Xtrememac Future sonic FS1 has better bass, but they don’t have any customer support I guess, as the manufacturer has stopped its production. Xbi comes very close to these and have a great service as most of the users say, I recommend to go for XBi.

Within the above four,
If you are looking and Good bass, Good treble, Good comfort and isolation of sound Go for EP-630
If you are looking for Great bass, and great treble, Good comfort and isolation of sound go for XBi.
If you are looking for Great bass, and better treble, Great comfort and isolation of sound (only with shure buds) go for Xtrememac Future sonic FS1.
 
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Actually, the FS1 model was an OEM product created by Future Sonics for XtremeMac a few years back. It's run came to an end and we are now creating new products with our next generation of dynamic drivers in both fully custom-made Ear Monitors® brand (our brand, by the way) and universal-fit Atrio® brand professional earphones. We're really proud of what we put into our products given our history in pro-audio, but as the new guys for advanced consumers.

We're proud that so many have come into this category from other brands, but there is so much hype out there (as I'm certain you all know) that reading about them is just one piece of the puzzle. Hearing them..."auditioning," as I like to say, may just be your best bet. If you don't like whatever brand you choose, take them back. Don't settle.

This was a great, thorough review. We appreciate the inclusion. If any of our team can be helpful, feel free to give us a shout. Again, just listen for yourself and find what you like.

Thank you for listening.

Daniel East
Director of Marketing & Artist Relations
Future Sonics
press_at_futuresonics.com
Ear Monitors (R) brand, Atrio (R) professional earphones - the original musician personal monitors only by Future Sonics
Toll Free: 877.374.EARS
Outside the USA: +1(215)826.8826

A little history on who we are?
All You Need Is In-Ears: Marty Garcia, the man who brought Ear Monitors to the world, talks about the evolution of the technology.
ProSoundNews Online Daily - Future Sonics Marks 20
FOH online
 
One final addition -- the sleeves included with the FS1 were updated to our latest designs which I did not see in your images. We now include them in our later models as well as offering custom-fit sleeves for FS1.

Thanks again!
 
@FutureSonics, Welcome to TE

Yes, It's a OEM version and Hardly found a Piece from some user. But As i mentioned the BASS is outstanding, which makes me feel happy for my investment..

After using FS1,I am really curious to try the Atrio series....
 
Very nice review;

By the way has anyone tried Ep630 with sansa clip?

I have read reviews where The clip sounds best with shure 530, but they are way too costly....
 
aka911 said:
Very nice review;

By the way has anyone tried Ep630 with sansa clip?

I have read reviews where The clip sounds best with shure 530, but they are way too costly....

If you are using the stock buds, then you will definitely find a nice improvement.
If you try the high end ones, you will neer listen to the low end ones..
After i started using FS1 and XBi, i never laid my hands on the EP-630s...
 
what is the difference between x3i and xbi? i heard xbi has more bass but less clarity...and with sufficient burn in, x3i's bass equals xbi...so let me know if i should buy x3i since its 12$ cheaper...
 
^^you got it wrong

they have equal bass...but once the x3i burn in, they have less bass

the x3i have slightly more clarity, and the xbi have slightly more bass

the choice should depend on the source of music also

for example : an ipod being slightly treble heavier....if thats the source then choose the xbi
 
To be frank, If the source is really powerful like Cowon D2(which use hardware enabled Equalizer), You can make the earphones sound the way u want....
I mean XBi to sound as Ep-630...

If you are using a device like IPOD...u can not....
 
^^dont compare them to creative first of all :)

if its a good source, then even the x3i will be good....the wbi then maybe too much

it depends from person to person
 
as the manufacturers(CrossRoads) & the distributors(Jaben) of the said earphones put it..

  • Mylarone X3i with the Red/Blue Rings
  • Mylarone X3i with the Silver Rings
  • Mylarone X3i Ruby
  • Mylarone SVi with the Red/Blue Rings
  • Mylarone SVi Ruby
  • Mylarone LBi with the Red/Blue Rings
  • Mylarone LBi Ruby

Ooops... some have asked what the differences are... in a nutshell, using bass as a reference, the XBi being the heaviest bass, then here's how they all compare:

  • Xbi --> LBi --> X3i --> SVi

I'm using the X3i and have used a Xbi as well. XBi has extra bass. its slightly more muddy. if you are a basshead, go for it. If not, stick with the X3i. it has more than sufficient bass for a normal user. added advantage would be if you had a player with a tweakable EQ.

or you could be the first person here to try out the LBi :)
 
^^ Im getting the LBi from Jaben ! I am not eagerly awaiting its arrival.

Also I have an Ipod and with Rockbox, I can tweak the sound to my hearts content ! The X3 which has no bass to speak off, is sounding much better once I tweak the settings in Rockbox. I may even keep the X3 since it sounding so nice after all those tweaks.
 
BF1983 said:
^^ Im getting the LBi from Jaben ! I am not eagerly awaiting its arrival.

Also I have an Ipod and with Rockbox, I can tweak the sound to my hearts content ! The X3 which has no bass to speak off, is sounding much better once I tweak the settings in Rockbox. I may even keep the X3 since it sounding so nice after all those tweaks.

wat do u mean i am NOT eagerly awaiting its arrival :P
 
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