Headphones - Canal or Cans?

[akh8039]

I am in the middle of re-ripping my CD collection in Windows Media Player to variable bit rate (240-355kbs). I am considering buying some new headphones before I buy a new MP3 player later in the year. What kind should I go for, mainly home use. Full size cans or the in ear canal type? I have been reading reviews of Shure Se210/310 and Ultimate Ears Superfi 3 & 5 but I have never used the in ear canal type before and I am a little unsure about buying. My current 'old' headphones I have are Sennheiser PMX100 and some big 485 full size (which I hardly use) and a Samsung YP-Z5 Mp3 player. Any recommendations?

[cribeiro]

"Mainly for home use".
Well, full-size cans should only be used at home... So if you plan to go out with them, you should look at something smaller, like the px range of Sennheiser or similar.

IEMs are great because they isolate, but this feature also eats up a good part of the budget. If you want to get the best quality for the money, you'll need full sized cans. Then again, full sized cans usually need a dedicated amplifier to truly "shine".

Now you need to decide what are your priorities

[akh8039]

Originally Posted by cribeiro

"Mainly for home use".
Well, full-size cans should only be used at home... So if you plan to go out with them, you should look at something smaller, like the px range of Sennheiser or similar.

IEMs are great because they isolate, but this feature also eats up a good part of the budget. If you want to get the best quality for the money, you'll need full sized cans. Then again, full sized cans usually need a dedicated amplifier to truly "shine".

Now you need to decide what are your priorities

Thanks. Can you get portable headphone amps to help with running full size cans off a MP3 player?

[cribeiro]

Originally Posted by akh8039

Thanks. Can you get portable headphone amps to help with running full size cans off a MP3 player?

Yes, but it won't sound as good as a home amp. I can run my Sennheiser 650HD with my small Corda Porta, and it sounds much, much better than directly to the mp3 player. But it is still far away from the possibilities of my cans.

Note: full size cans are Sennheiser HD650 and similarly sized headphones. Portable headphones are Sennheiser px100 and similarly sized headphones (which will benefit of a good portable amp, but will not be as power hungry as the big ones). Do not mix the two!

[Reano]

This is the case where you would 'ideally' need two headphones. One for portable use and a dedicated home one. If you can't go for top ones for both then go down the secondhand route. Maybe Westone UM2 for portable use and HD600 sennheiser for home use. A cheapish amp to get would be the Musical Fidelity V3 for home use. I wouldn't bother with a portable amp unless you use it a lot at say your work but if manily for the commute then those are a good place to start.

Secondhand market is good at the mo.

[akh8039]

Originally Posted by Reano

This is the case where you would 'ideally' need two headphones. One for portable use and a dedicated home one. If you can't go for top ones for both then go down the secondhand route. Maybe Westone UM2 for portable use and HD600 sennheiser for home use. A cheapish amp to get would be the Musical Fidelity V3 for home use. I wouldn't bother with a portable amp unless you use it a lot at say your work but if manily for the commute then those are a good place to start.

Secondhand market is good at the mo.

Thanks. After your response, last night I grabbed a spare hour and plugged my old Sennheiser HD485 into my exsisting mp3 player (Samsung Yp-Z5). Listened to some new CD's I bought: Melody Gardot, A fine frenzy, Beck & Nicole Atkins. I must admit I had a great time, as nowadays I don't get a lot of spare time on my own just to listen to my music. Even though the sound was 'ok', it just felt as though it all needed to sound a bit more 'open' and the bass seemed a bit muddy (Ihope I'm making sense here). This led me to my decsion to consider upgrading my fullsize 'cans' to one the Sennhesier HD595, 600 or 650's. I thought that the 'in ear' canal design would probably get on my wick eventually. However I am not sure which would suit an Ipod Classic or the new Cowon S9 due out, as one of these will 'hopefully' be a nice crimbo present off the missus this year. I have read some reviews on the Sennhesier models and they seem much the same but there is at least £100 difference between the 595's and the 650's. I don't mind strectching to te best, if they will last and I can get years of enjoyment out of them and ultimately are worth the extra expence.

Anymore advice out there people?

[psikey]

Originally Posted by cribeiro

"Mainly for home use".
Well, full-size cans should only be used at home...

At home I use my speaker system for personal listening at home, work or out & about I use my Shure SE530's which are better than anything I've tried before and absolutely perfect for use with a new Nano 4G or Touch 2G without an AMP (or even my Walkman phone).

[cribeiro]

Originally Posted by psikey

At home I use my speaker system

I said "full-size cans should only be used at home...", this is not the same as
"at home only full-size cans should be used..."

[psikey]

Originally Posted by cribeiro

I said "full-size cans should only be used at home...", this is not the same as
"at home only full-size cans should be used..."

But seriously, I know the likes of the Shure SE530's, UE Triple.FI 10 & Westone UM2 arn't cheap and I did loads of research before going for the Shures but going to this price level is a massive step up in SQ* from anything below £150. Will be interesting to see if the new £59 Apple dual driver ones due out soon amount to anything.

Keep going back to my old pairs (various sub £100 ones) for a try-out and either bass is too weak, too strong or its like listening through cotton wool compared to the clarity, separation & sound stage of the Shures and I've read the other 2 are just as good.

IEC are most certainly the way to go if your going to use outside or in noisy environments but you need to be more aware of your surroundings because when the music is playing I really can't here anything else!

* Need to state that until you've listened to music through some of these high end earphones you might not realise that some of the cheaper ones don't offer perfect SQ. I was perfectly happy with some sub £100 Sony ones but wanted to see what high end audio was supposed to sound like. Once you step over to the dark side (i.e. Expense!) there's no going back

[LFC_SL]

Sold: Shure E4G, Ultimate Ears Super fi.5 Pro, and a selection of cheap ear canals
Own: Westone UM2, Senn PX100 and Audio Technica ESW9's

Due to the AT's I am back in the full sized heaphones camp. IEMs have their uses but on SQ, their limitations show up

[psikey]

Originally Posted by LFC_SL

Sold: Shure E4G, Ultimate Ears Super fi.5 Pro, and a selection of cheap ear canals
Own: Westone UM2, Senn PX100 and Audio Technica ESW9's

Due to the AT's I am back in the full sized heaphones camp. IEMs have their uses but on SQ, their limitations show up

Don't tempt me I see the SW10's are out!

AudioCubes.com - Audio-Technica ATH-ESW10JPN Black Cherry Wood

MUST.........R..E...S....I.....S......T ......................

[LFC_SL]

Twice as expensive as the ESW9's and I doubt twice the sound, though you never know as AT say they have refined the bass and treble. Plus it is in limited quantities - yes that ruse

Going into the price range of a lot of heavyweights in the £300 region so personally I would stay away. I am still deliberating HD600 v HD650 here