Suggest me earphones or headphones

[bennysachdev]

iPhone is a decent source. In that case you can just go for a good iem.

 

[fLUX]

@Avi

At that budget go get a Brainwvwz M3 and you need not have to look back or go for a upgrade till it breaks down , very good IEM atleast i was really satisfied with it.

 

[santhoshr]

Avi, if you are still wondering whether upgrading Hp will make a difference, it may not initially, because there are many factors involved, starting from the headphone you choose, burn-in time, audio file, the audio player handling the file, eq settings. So choose ur Hp wisely read many reviews and don't ignore build quality issues, because having a good sounding Hp just for few months is not your goal. It is very addictive space, you will always wants to upgrade a Hp mostly with inc budget, that's why you can take benny's advice and start slowly with entry level good Hp, so when it is time for up-gradation the expenditure will not be drastic, you can also enjoy many hps.

 

[chiron]

Brainwavz M4 seems really interesting iyam.

 

[avi]

Still my main question seems to be unresolved.

1. Can headphones give god experience compared to IEMs ? Most replies say here yes, so I would like to chose them over IEMs.

2. Can iPhone drive HPs ? Some here saying yes & some here no. I want to know how good they are. If they are NOT good enough, then I have no problem buying IEMs. Please don't put me in confusion saying they are decent enough etc

His first post states he plans to use it with iphone 4 'mostly'. IMO iphone 4 is a decent source.

Yes.

iPhone is a decent source. In that case you can just go for a good iem.

Decent source for IEMs but not for HPs ?

@Avi

At that budget go get a Brainwvwz M3 and you need not have to look back or go for a upgrade till it breaks down , very good IEM atleast i was really satisfied with it.

I won't br upgrading like for years I used EP630 for 3+ years. I can't upgrade, so have to buy good one.

Avi, if you are still wondering whether upgrading Hp will make a difference, it may not initially, because there are many factors involved, starting from the headphone you choose, burn-in time, audio file, the audio player handling the file, eq settings. So choose ur Hp wisely read many reviews and don't ignore build quality issues, because having a good sounding Hp just for few months is not your goal. It is very addictive space, you will always wants to upgrade a Hp mostly with inc budget, that's why you can take benny's advice and start slowly with entry level good Hp, so when it is time for up-gradation the expenditure will not be drastic, you can also enjoy many hps.

Thank you ! but problem is I cannot upgrade frequently, may be after 2+ years. So... I have to buy good one now only.

Brainwavz M4 seems really interesting iyam.

Actually I am still confused whether I should buy IEM or HP

@all - thank you very much again !

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@Avi

At that budget go get a Brainwvwz M3 and you need not have to look back or go for a upgrade till it breaks down , very good IEM atleast i was really satisfied with it.

BW M3 costs 90USD, way out of my budget...

Lemme give you the best suggestion I can think of, get a Sansa Clip+, upgrade the storage and get a JVC Marshmellow. When you feel the itch to upgrade again after months/years, get a better iem. That way you have a good player and a good iem rather than just a good iem and not a good source. Trust me its about synergy. You can't have a maruti 800 engine powering a Hummer right? I'm assuming your using a cellphone or ur laptop with the iem since you haven't mentioned your source yet. The SQ of a Clip+ will be a good step up. You can fetch both from pristinenote on TE.

Personally I think the marshmellows are excellent VFM.

Thank you ! I don't want to buy music player & carry along iPhone always. I already carry iPhone + Nokia 1650 And also I cannot buy one more music player, cos I already have iPod Classic 80GB.

And my source is iPhone

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There is a lot of difference between 128kbps and 320kbps files, if you hear it even using a mediocre source!( even when i connect my iem to china phone , i can feel difference)

@avi - with EP630 + iPhone, I couldn't figure out any difference Something wrong with my ears ? :'(

 

[santhoshr]

If you are going keep worrying about finding a difference in music or about your ears (lol), you are in for great disappointment, because even the costliest headphone would not be sounding awesome at the start, for that you have to listen for long time (short cut is burn-in). Dude, don't worry about it, pick a good headphone that has excellent review and trust in God you should be in your path to musical discovery. Regarding buying hp or iem, since your source is going to be portable players, it is best to go for IEMs. Since you are not going to upgrade your hp for 2+ yrs go for IEM known for excellent build quality, also I would suggest to go for IEMs in 4-5k price range (increase once again ), because this is magic mark $100 where hp manufactures wants to cash in where they will find many users, so SQ is drastically improved in this range. Rem hp is always a risky investment always lottery, hit or miss, it your luck counts too! many things can go wrong from product, build issues, SQ! Go for it only if you can take that risk, if you are not prepared for that, you need to reduce your budget till the point where the impact is less !

 

[chiron]

@avi; since you are using it with iphone I expect that you will be using it outdoors at least on occasion, in which case headphones are cumbersome(even the so called portable models) in addition to getting stares from passerbys and imo that is reason enough to discard that idea. However, if you are still set on going the hp route then there are enough headphones that work perfectly fine with iphone(and other mp3 players/mobiles), so don't worry about amps. If you plan to use it indoors and sound leaking/isolation from them isn't an issue then open circumaural headphones are your best choice as they are really comfortable(large pads, less clamping force) and give good clarity and since bass isn't an issue for you those might also provide the sound you like the most.

I think you need to give some more detail regarding your listening perferences/usage to get better replies.

 

[edge111hussain]

Op, at a similar price point, iem;s will outperform hp's. Consider this as a thumbrule in your case (there are exceptions).

For eg, if a klipsch s4, m2, m3, N7, PL-50, perform at a X quality, a similar priced HP will be below par in quality.

Headphones are higher priced and you wont find anything decent at below 6-7k. For eg, to match the quality of a m3 s4 etc, you will have to pick up something like a ath-50 or senn hd-555 or 515 which are all 6k or higher.
In headphones under 4k, i can only think of sennheisers px-100 or koss porta pro.

I Hope this answers your basic question...

PS: suggestion, keep ur eye on ebay.com. With black friday gone and cyber monday coming up, a lot of folks will look to shell off their excess purchases to make a quick profit.. You might just nick something el-cheapo there.

 

[esanthosh]

Increase it to $150 and get EX-600 / FXT90 / GR07 and be done with all the questions

You can increase it to $1000 and still could have plenty of choices to confuse you today. So..

a) Is 4K the final, final budget?

b) Want to stick to locally available choices? Need warranty? Or can take a risk with IEMs which can be under 4K shipped from eBay or online stores?

c) What kind of sound signature are you looking for? Heavy bass? Better vocals? Rockin' ones? Softer toned ones?

 

[avi]

If you are going keep worrying about finding a difference in music or about your ears (lol), you are in for great disappointment, because even the costliest headphone would not be sounding awesome at the start, for that you have to listen for long time (short cut is burn-in).

What shall I do, from what I feel about IEMs is completely different than what you guys say. Firstly I couldn't make any difference with 128 & 320 KBPS file & secondly, I felt Ep 630 less bassy.

Dude, don't worry about it, pick a good headphone that has excellent review and trust in God you should be in your path to musical discovery. Regarding buying hp or iem, since your source is going to be portable players, it is best to go for IEMs. Since you are not going to upgrade your hp for 2+ yrs go for IEM known for excellent build quality, also I would suggest to go for IEMs in 4-5k price range (increase once again ), because this is magic mark $100 where hp manufactures wants to cash in where they will find many users, so SQ is drastically improved in this range. Rem hp is always a risky investment always lottery, hit or miss, it your luck counts too! many things can go wrong from product, build issues, SQ! Go for it only if you can take that risk, if you are not prepared for that, you need to reduce your budget till the point where the impact is less !

And no I cannot increase my budget now.

@avi; since you are using it with iphone I expect that you will be using it outdoors at least on occasion, in which case headphones are cumbersome(even the so called portable models) in addition to getting stares from passerbys and imo that is reason enough to discard that idea.

Nah, music mostly indoors. Outdoors on very less occasion.

However, if you are still set on going the hp route then there are enough headphones that work perfectly fine with iphone(and other mp3 players/mobiles), so don't worry about amps. If you plan to use it indoors and sound leaking/isolation from them isn't an issue then open circumaural headphones are your best choice as they are really comfortable(large pads, less clamping force) and give good clarity and since bass isn't an issue for you those might also provide the sound you like the most.

Yep, mostly indoors. And can suggest few such headphones which work fine it iPhone ?

I think you need to give some more detail regarding your listening perferences/usage to get better replies.

Listening preference / usage :

Most of the time bollywood / Indian music, Instrumentals, very less heavy bass etc. Most of the times I will be using indoors.

Op, at a similar price point, iem;s will outperform hp's. Consider this as a thumbrule in your case (there are exceptions).

For eg, if a klipsch s4, m2, m3, N7, PL-50, perform at a X quality, a similar priced HP will be below par in quality.

Headphones are higher priced and you wont find anything decent at below 6-7k. For eg, to match the quality of a m3 s4 etc, you will have to pick up something like a ath-50 or senn hd-555 or 515 which are all 6k or higher.

In headphones under 4k, i can only think of sennheisers px-100 or koss porta pro.

I Hope this answers your basic question...

I think this what I wanted. So no to HPs ?

Increase it to $150 and get EX-600 / FXT90 / GR07 and be done with all the questions

You can increase it to $1000 and still could have plenty of choices to confuse you today. So..

a) Is 4K the final, final budget?

b) Want to stick to locally available choices? Need warranty? Or can take a risk with IEMs which can be under 4K shipped from eBay or online stores?

c) What kind of sound signature are you looking for? Heavy bass? Better vocals? Rockin' ones? Softer toned ones?

a) Yup, 4K is final if HP. If IEM, then max 2.5K.

b) Not worried about warranty & all. Wouldn't mind buying an old piece too. And ready to take risk buying online.

c) Soft toned > Better Vocals > Rockin > Heavy bass

Again, if iPhone cannot drive HP, then I wouldn't mind buying an IEM. How good BW M1 is ? Do I feel any drastic changes as I have used EP 630 from past ?

If HP, then how are Skull Candy HPs ? They look killer !

and what is this sub woofer thingy : http://www.ebay.in/itm/Skullcandy-S...tDomain_203&hash=item3f0f83f541#ht_3759wt_916 ?

TIA

 

[edge111hussain]

This might be ur lucky day.. Run to the mp4 nation site and check out the H3, they r selling for 50$. Was abt to pull the trigger on it till santosh moved my glaze on the h5 which is selling at 99$ pre order.

This seems to be a good deal .. Check all reviews though. And dude, u just missed the ie6 sale at 99$. Even the m2's are going really cheap today.. Go get 1....

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The m2 and s4 will out perform the skull crushers, skull kandy have a fun signature to it, but i doubt their durability. My cuz is a big fan of em, but he got 2 and broke both of em under a year..

What shall I do, from what I feel about IEMs is completely different than what you guys say. Firstly I couldn't make any difference with 128 & 320 KBPS file & secondly, I felt Ep 630 less bassy.
And no I cannot increase my budget now.
Nah, music mostly indoors. Outdoors on very less occasion.

Yep, mostly indoors. And can suggest few such headphones which work fine it iPhone ?

Listening preference / usage :

Most of the time bollywood / Indian music, Instrumentals, very less heavy bass etc. Most of the times I will be using indoors.
I think this what I wanted. So no to HPs ?


a) Yup, 4K is final if HP. If IEM, then max 2.5K.

b) Not worried about warranty & all. Wouldn't mind buying an old piece too. And ready to take risk buying online.

c) Soft toned > Better Vocals > Rockin > Heavy bass

Again, if iPhone cannot drive HP, then I wouldn't mind buying an IEM. How good BW M1 is ? Do I feel any drastic changes as I have used EP 630 from past ?

If HP, then how are Skull Candy HPs ? They look killer !

and what is this sub woofer thingy : Skullcandy SCS-SCBP3.5 Skullcrushers Subwoofer Ste-HBU | eBay ?

TIA

 

[avi]

This might be ur lucky day.. Run to the mp4 nation site and check out the H3, they r selling for 50$. Was abt to pull the trigger on it till santosh moved my glaze on the h5 which is selling at 99$ pre order.

This seems to be a good deal .. Check all reviews though. And dude, u just missed the ie6 sale at 99$. Even the m2's are going really cheap today.. Go get 1....

IE6 99$ is way out of my budget... though I am checking H3... Thanks for this !

EDIT : So we are talking about this : BRAINWAVZ HM3 Headphones [Brainwavz-HM3] - $49.50 : MP4 Nation!, :: Low Priced MP4, MP3 Players and the latest scoop on the newest MP4 Player

Can iPhone drive this ?

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

and BW m2 at 40 USD - BRAINWAVZ M2 IEM Earphones [Brainwavz-M2] - $39.50 : MP4 Nation!, :: Low Priced MP4, MP3 Players and the latest scoop on the newest MP4 Player

 

[edge111hussain]

Yes this is what im talking abt. From reviews it seels the h3 can be driven easily out of portable devices and m2 too is a steal at that price.

OP, you finally got options and good ones... You can thank me later

 

[avi]

^Checking out, thanks again

 

[avi]

Okay, lots of people saying iPhone 4 can drive headphones. So I have decided to go with headphones.

Any suggestions ?

 

[edge111hussain]

Ya but dude, back to the same question, at your budget you dont have too many options in hp's/

 

[W@rrier]

^^ what are the options at around 6k?

 

[bennysachdev]

Your question whether iphone4 can drive headphones or no is not entirely correct. My answer would be, depends on what headphones.

As a simple rule of thumb, a headphone with a Sensitivity (dB) above 100dB and Impedance(Ohms) less than 45ohms, can be driven well from an iphone, and the same would apply to players like cowons, sansa, ipods, etc.
The higher the sensitivity and lower the ohms, the better it is power wise. When I say better, I mean the fuller it would sound and both ends of the frequency spectrum. After that, its the headphones own characteristics and how the tuning has been done which comes to play.

 

[avi]

Ya but dude, back to the same question, at your budget you dont have too many options in hp's/

So what should be my budget ? Time for budget hike again

@avinash - +1

Your question whether iphone4 can drive headphones or no is not entirely correct. My answer would be, depends on what headphones.

As a simple rule of thumb, a headphone with a Sensitivity (dB) above 100dB and Impedance(Ohms) less than 45ohms, can be driven well from an iphone, and the same would apply to players like cowons, sansa, ipods, etc.

The higher the sensitivity and lower the ohms, the better it is power wise. When I say better, I mean the fuller it would sound and both ends of the frequency spectrum. After that, its the headphones own characteristics and how the tuning has been done which comes to play.

Thanks for detailed reply

 

[chiron]

I use the Audiotechnica T500 with my Fuze without any problems. I just need to put the volume just a couple of db more than why I listen to when using the M2/PL30 iems and same as that of the ne700x. In terms of detail and clarity it is superior to iem's in that price range. However since your want to use it outside too you could check out the M35 too which is supposed to have similar quality but can be carried more compactly. I've tried the XB500 and even that was easily fine by the fuze/mobile phones though apart from the bass and comfy pads there wasn't much to like about them. Reviews for all of them are there on te.

imo get something like the pl30 for under 1k and get a decent headphone at aroud 3k and get a better experience that the ep630 both indoors as well as outdoors. I'm saying this as carrying headphones around outside is really too much hassle even if you only do it once a month only. And yeah, the pl30 might not wow you but its sq is noticeably better than that of the ep630.