lekguan

I have bought some generic ones from one of the CD shops in Suntec. IMO they were thick. In fact too thick. The 2 pairs which came with my iRiver mp3 player (for the iRiver-branded Sennheiser MX300 which came with the mp3 player) were one of the thinnest kind I've ever come across and IMO they were great. They served their purpose, making the earbud more comfortable to put on, yet minimizing the muddling and vieiling effect. Just some pointers worth considering, and also in hope that someone might know of some place to get the thinnest foam pads.

I did try introducing them as hearing aids (and a laugh after that) so they don't get the fun of lauging at them being "hearing aids". It seems it worked out, but one of my friends calls me "agent smith" when I put on my E1c I guess you can audition but it'd be a little more difficult for canalphones compared to full sized cans. Yet I believe if you would post something in the forum, someone help will be willing to let you have an audition. IMO canalphones are sometimes a "hit and miss" kind of things. Either you love them or you hate them. Some people simply can't stand canalphones no matter how "hifi" the sound, because of the poor ergonomics (of some), or because of the in-head sound.

I dare say its better though I haven't tried it. Especially with high impedance cans as this is plugged into AC and hence I guess voltage wouldn't be a bottleneck unlike portables which use batteries. But I can also say quite surely that the true potential of the player can only be found through the line out.

Of the 3 canalphones I've tried, E3c, E1c and ER-4, only the ER-4 has a pleasant signature. The e1c and e3c are both weird-sounding in their own ways. The E3c being muddy and lacking in bass depth and the E1c being somewhat awkward (metallic) in the upper mids. Not that other cans do not have these problems but the way canalphones present it is very prominent, more so when compared to cans around similar price ranges. In some ways, (eg resolution) they are very good while in other aspects can be very cheap-earbud-like, unlike most cans which usually have a pleasant signature even at low price range and often with increasing price ranges, present more refinement. In a way, it can be seen that it is indeed not easy to design a canalphone providing excellent isolation and good sonic signature at a low budget. In fact from what I've tried, none has been able to. (that said, the ER-6 might be worth a try). The workaround for me would be using a source which has equalizer function and attempt to mask the flaws of the phones and at the same time adjust the signature to one which I find most pleasing to listen to, given the limitations of the setup. Coincidentally, I got a pocket-sized source (so I am able to go around the school not having to worry if someone might take my discman from my bag) quite a while ago, and it happens to have this equalizer function (albeit limited), which came in handy when I got my E1c. Eventually one has to face a decision. To EQ or to stick with the good old discman. Tough decision? You bet. BTW yongchris: I find the over-the-ear design very very useful due to the much-reduced microphonics, and it spreads the weight of the cable over the top of my ears instead of on the bud itself which might in fact affect the seal. I find looping the cable over the ear and in front of my neck quite comfortable.

Well I guess you can DIY either using 2 mono 1/4". Or 2 stereo 1/4", if I'm not wrong you can just use a short wire to short the cold (RING) to ground (SLEEVE).

Yes, bullet plugs need soldering. I heard some people say that its harder to work on Bullets as compared to other plugs, though I haven't tried terminating anything with Bullets. Just a point for consideration.

Isn't it 2 core + braided shield(tinned copper, this is the 3rd core?)

I have tried using L2T2S before and it does make the sound slightly toward the warm side. Other than that it should be very good as an extension. It seems its the 2-core brother of the L-4E6S.

IMHO MP3 is usually garbage (except maybe alt preset extreme and above). If you really need (as in MUST HAVE) something which you have to keep in your pocket, you can look at iPod mini which should be able to store some 7 albums uncompressed. If iPod mini is still too big you can look at iRiver series of players (700 series or 300 series. These have equalizer ) which can hold .ogg files. From my personal experience i find .ogg VBR 192kbps quite damn good. Muvo (this would have to good with high bitrate MP3s) is another option except without radio. Of course if you are not size-limited you might want to consider a good PCDP (in terms of line out, IMO D-EJ1000 is one of the good options) or iPod (like rameish suggested) with the SIK cable, with an amp. From what I've read from head-fi there seems to be quite a number of people having poor fit with E5c and end up being unhappy with it. So My feeling here is since few have experience with this earphones PLUS etys are so highly rated, why take the risk? Also you can play around with the different kind of sleeves the etys offer because some might prefer one over the other. My experience with shures is that they do change the sound of the buds.

You wouldn't even need to A/B You might want to consider using a cheap hifi set or PC for the burn in or else you would be just burning off the life of the player (esp laser) considering HD650 needs some 500 hours to fully burn in...

Not true. Screwing/ crimping can be superior (although not sonically) to soldering if the person who terminates the cables does not solder well. Pressure from the crimping/ screwing can provide more contact area between the conductors. A good method for terminating is to crimp and solder. You'd wrap the wire around the contact (if possible) use a pair of pliers to press the conductors together for a good contact. Thereafter, you'd use solder to form a good mechanical contact. Hence, the conductors already have good electrical contact and the solder if just to hold them together. If you surf the Echoloft forums, you probably came across my post that Vampire stuff are available at SLT. That is true for their low-mid range of products. Most of these are manufactured for Vampire by factories that also supply these parts to other unknown brands. Therefore, it's not impossible to find identical products that are labelled under other brands for much lower prices. Hmm I read from jon risch's website that he thinks that even the best solder will not beat a good crimp, and that soldering a good crimp will degrade it. I guess its debateable then?

There might be some loss, its usually the case in recompression. But the question is if you convert to 320kbps AAC you will not get any better quality (and even risk losing some quality) what's the point?

Hey firefox nice stuff there. The PTFE teflon insulated 6N copper is it multistrand or solid core?

IMHO pc as source provide more value for money until the higher end. Of course PC sound cards can't reach as high end as hifi sources. But for most of us here, we're nowhere near that higher end. One big pro is that most jitter can be reduced as compared to CDP because the music is read directly from the hard disk. Besides for the lower end, we have creative sound cards which are darn value for money because of obvious reasons. One good example would be Creative sb digital music.

The problem with running, whether microphonics is present or not, is the occlusion effect. This is inherent with all isolating cans. Even with the full sized cans. The new er4 has braided cable which is supposed to reduce microphonics. To put it simply, for running, the best is to use open cans.

portables seldom have problem driving canalphones because of their efficiency (dB/mW). The only concern is how much it will improve with amping. But with my limited experiecen with these canalphones (ER-4 & E1c ), IMO, amping does not improve them as much as i'd expect. The whole point is whether you think you will upgrade eventually. If you will, just save the trouble and get ER-4P straight. OTOH er-4 and shures have different signatures (IMO, with the exception of E1), so you can ask if some helpful members here are willing to let you audition their phones. Note: trying out is almost a must because not all people can get used to canalphones due to the comfort issue for some, and also the in-head lack-of-air sound. Unless of course you get them 2nd hand, so if you don't like you can sell at almost no loss.

There is no fixed rule about how much impedance is max, it all depends on how efficient is the cans and how well the output can drive the cans. The good about usign closed design is the isolation it provides which means you can hear more of the music/details at low volume. In simple terms, your music will sound better.

A PC can be used to replace a CDP and hece the files do not have to be compressed. They can be lossless or totally uncompressed. Guys this is getting a little long, we might need to start a new thread.

I was wondering if you connect the cayin to receiver, wouldn't the cayin act like a variable gain control, and if you turn it low enough, and adjust volume from receiver, it should not be dangerous right?

My only concern would be for cans like Beyers with velour pads which are said to have some sort of a memory effect, won't it mould the pad in the wrong way?

Well you can use a PC with a good soundcard and tonnes of uncompressed audio files ripped from CDs as a source instead of a CDP.

N@Z though you might want to try the tri flange sleeve. For the e1c I tried the foamies and flex sleeve as well as tri flange and I thik tri flange is way better. If I'm not wrong e1c and e5 use same foamies/tri flange, so it might be worth a try. YMMV. Oh BTW, how do you compare the reception of the SR84 to other portable tuners?

I guess if they had a sample open few would dare to try too.

Sorry for hijacking this thread, but any local shops carry the sleeves for shure earphones other than #01-28? I asked hung bros and #01-01 all don't carry sleeves. #01-28 ran out of stock. I'm particularly looking for the tri flange for e1c.

Pencil also works and its safer. When you place foam, cut as small piece as you need because the more foam you pack into the canal the more the highs will be affected. Unless you find the highs too much, cut only enough to fill without compressing too much.