radioactive28

I was pretty much hoping for the hearing aid look, less likely to get mugged. Like why some people are avoiding white earbuds. But. Looking slick is good too.

Hmm, I don't quite see how the logic works, but you have made a Decision in any case. Go well, my good man.

How does it compare to the 4G iPod? I just heard an iPod the other day, and compared to my H320, it was just thin and anaemic.

Back to the topic at hand... eugen3, you said you're probably not going to get the ES1 if it sounds like the UM1? Thing is, they won't be the same (judging by the comments on ES2/UM2), but no one has an answer as to how different they are. And have you done any maths on the comply expenses? Assuming you use 1 pair a week, and SE sells them at $16 for 3 pairs, the estimated cost of an ES1 given above ($640) can buy you 120 pairs - about 2 years' worth.

Sweet! The toy car(?) and its rock look really out of place though

You could always get a custom mold for your UM1 if the cost is prohibitive. No doubt the sound signature will be different, but i'll still come in useful if you decide to switch to another IEM. Don't take this the wrong way, but speaking practically, unless you can really spare the cash, and have no expectations on sound signature, you're better off not taking the risk of an investment with potentially no returns (in both sound and money). Put in another way, I see threads like these ("Is this custom for me?" or "How does this custom sound?" or something like that) as a sign that the OP might not stomach the possible loss/disappointment very well. Personally, I see the cost of a custom as a toll to find out what the custom sounds like. (Unless you have blessed ears that can take other people's custom...) No review can be objective and tell you what exactly the custom will sound like to your ears.

Thing is, now, I think no one really knows for sure because ES1's are just so damn rare. People normally just jump for the ES2. Xiao_Catz started this thread to get some opinions for that.

I've been rather curious about this. Bass extension I can tell: it goes to the point where I feel more than hear. Now, treble extension, how do you look out for it? I can hear up to 18kHz pure tones on my IEMs, but in actual music, I only notice its absence, not its presence. A 16kHz-low-passed track seems lacking in 'air'.

Hey, one of them looks like the iPod. I wonder if Apple gives any rewards

I think the point is not that newbies shouldn't own customs. It's more like newbies usually aren't prepared to shell out that much in the first place (e.g., yours truly). The thing about customs is that they're too personal. And sound perception can never truly be objective. So, the only way to really find out what customs sound like is to take the plunge. And given a limited budget, it seems fair to want to go for the perceived best (so says me). Without budget constraints though, I would gladly make a pair of every customs just to sample their sound.

Hoping for good takings; more power and business for SE and Jaben

Oh, by the way, just to add a point: a max of 20mW is rather powerful, considering that your typical bud rated at 16ohm and 95dB/mW theoretically reaches 95dB even at 5% power. The recommended safe hearing level is usually 80~85dB. If you're using good IEMs, the efficiency is usually higher, about 110dB/mW, with impedance of maybe 32ohms. Just do the math. And I doubt you're going to find earphones with less then 16ohms easily. kevyan, you're using iAudio X5?

No, it just means that with drivers rated at 16ohms, you can get a max power output of 20mW per driver. You're free to use earphones of any impedance, but the max power output and max volume will change accordingly. Try coupling a 300ohm headphone to an iPod. It'll work, but you'll probably only hear people squeaking at max volume.

Well, I went down to the Atlas at Junction 8 for testing. The guy there was rather friendly, as was the lady I spoke to at PS. If they suspected anything out of the normal (that I was a kid dying to try out something expensive, with no spending power [which is true ] ), they didn't show it. But the guy did comment on my H320 ("Wow, that's an MP3 player? How old is it?") LOL OT: One of these days, I've got to try out the Bose 901 at their main showroom. My father fancies it as one of the best stereo speakers he's ever heard. And the Bose IE should be there soon too. Head-fi didn't kill it, so it could be a surprise. And this entire Bose experience reminds me of an R.E.M. title

They're rather a long shot from the SR80, a very long shot. They sound closer to my ATH-T4, which is pretty generic-sounding, except the bass is on overdrive. If you read my post on the QC3, they costs about 4 SR80s. Time to try out the SF5 EB. I have a good feeling they might be on the same level.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=130998 This is a review that went from HTML to PDF, from headphones to various audio-related aspects. Towards the end of the PDF file, the author touches on damping, a.k.a. impedance-related issues.

You should find a chance to try them out. The Ultimate Ears aren't for everyone's ears (ironically) because of their form factor. The UM1 fares much better here.

About 4 pairs of SR80s. Or a set of E500. Or about 15 pairs of KCS75 bought locally. To put it in perspective. For some twisted reason, I'm really tempted to sink my money into these so I can try tweaking the sound. They present an interesting challenge.

Yep, as the title says. I've put this off for months now, 'cos SE doesn't carry them I don't have a detailed review, just something of a brief impression. For starters, it works with active noise cancellation which cannot be disabled. For this reason, I suspect there's an internal amp in the housing, which already carries a small battery pack to start with. The QC3 is supra-aural and comes with very soft pleather pads. It's not a cup like Grados or Sennheisers, not even like the PX100/200. Certainly, it has all that comfort that we often hear about. It feels like something any owner of serious gear would put in a heck of a lot more money for, if it would fit over. The touch was so light, I thought they were going to just slip off. The noise cancellation did fairly well. The crowd outside the showroom was sufficiently muffled to get the isolation you would with any good IEMs. I didn't have my portable amp along, so I wasn't able to try whether amping would distort the sound. (I have no idea if anyone even does that in the first place, but something tells me results could be very disappointing.) The first thing about the sound that I noticed was the copious bass. It's bloated around the mid- and high-bass, without sufficient extension. It's not very muddy as I thought it would be though. Vocals would have sounded warm and acceptable, but the high-bass/low-mid gave the impression of echo. It felt as though the singer was singing into a wall. The mids and highs were acceptable, nothing too remarkable. Treble extension was wanting (but then, my e4c doesn't do all that well here either), and I suspect any sparkle would shine through if only the bass could be toned down by, say, half? The headphone came nicely housed in an all-black [classy-looking] zipper case, together with the battery charger and the airplane stereo adaptor. It probably works out well if targeted at the travelling business who can afford it. Otherwise, the only thing I want is its comfort, and what I think is true for most of us here, is that comfort isn't always top priority.

Oh, these soft cases... I have one for my ER6i, since a year ago.

@ OP: If you already upped your volume all the way (correct me on this, but I assuming you're asked 'cos you want it louder still) and you're using canalphones, then the important issue isn't the music any more. @ Xiao_Catz: interconnects don't always have to be about quality. They can also serve as hardware EQ/filter depending on the material and design. I use my LDM+ wiih the given ICs and my e4c still sounds better than without. Adding an amp may make your music louder, but on the PSP I have doubts about whether it'll be clearer or better.

The Head-Fi thread has, if nothing else, the merit of being a mature, thoughtful discourse. Here, I think it's a case of basically having evac'ed and sealing the exit from the outside. @ OP: If you're trying to start an appreciation thread, you should probably flesh out the thread appropriately. Judging by your puerile dismissal of the only meaningful post in the thread though...

I'm not so sure anymore... From the LCD, it looked surreal enough to be IR, but CRT tells a different story. Great picture to my eyes, either way =)

The second pic, IR with artificial coloration? That always gives the coolest results.

@OP: In the first place, what earphones do you use? And do you already blast away the volume? This should help determine your next step, and if there's indeed any point to taking a next step.