Mackie 0 Report post Posted December 2, 2003 (edited) My job requires me to stay abreast of news and views that can make an impact on the financial markets and on this note, I always wear a ear bud listening to world news on the internet. The cheapo Philips gave up the ghost and it was replaced by an Aiwa HP-EC1 owing to its low price. I bought the pair at the other (not Gramaphone) cd shop at Raffles Place mrt mall for a mere S$15.90. It serves its purpose well and for the fun of it, I brought it home and placed it under tighter scrutiny. I was flabberghasted by its sound quality given the price I'd paid. I remember ear buds at this price range tended to sound like the old Rediffusion box.......boxy, harsh and totally devoid of finer details. The HP-EC1 offers a balanced and smooth sound owing to a slight roll-off in the highs. It's also very open sounding closer to headphones than ear buds. Bass is tight and sufficiently punchy while mids are clear and colouration is negligible on a casual stance but a tad laid back. All in all, I don't expect much from a <S$20 pair of ear budes/clip-ons but the HP-EC1 has certainly awaken my senses how much gears of this category has improved in the past decade. Btw, HP-EC1 is known as HP-EC101 in regions outside China. Features Clip-type headphones for ease of use The HP-EC1 fits the users' ears perfectly thanks to its clip-type design; it hooks neatly over the ears without a headband Four fashionable color variations The HP-EC1 is available in four pleasing colors. The headphone housing in the black, blue, and pink versions has a beautiful hologram design, while the metal white version's is enhanced by a luxurious pearl coating finish 30mm-diameter neodymium magnet driver unit reproduces high-quality sounds Specifications Type: Open-Air, Dynamic Driver Unit: 30mm diameter Neodymium Magnet Cord length: 0.5m (Single) (OFC) (remote friendly) Plug Gold-plated, Stereo Mini Straight Plug Impedance: 32 ohms at 1 kHz Sensitivity: 102 dB/mW Power handling capacity: 100mW Frequency Response: 15 - 24,000Hz Accessories 70cm extension cord (gold coating , L-shape plug) (1) Colors available: Blue / Red / White / Black Edited December 7, 2003 by Mackie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mackie 0 Report post Posted December 2, 2003 Alrighty guys, did U have similar experiences to share? Let's talk about the cans/ear buds/clip-ons that had sprung a surprise when U least expected it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lekguan 0 Report post Posted December 2, 2003 The Aiwa V743. I have a pair, and at the mini meet i had a short comparison with the MX500. Hm, not very conclusive for we were not able to try in total quiet environment, plus we did not have a chance to hear both earphones with and without the foam pads, what difference it made. But me and kenshinz did both preferred the aiwa V743. It sounded great for a $28 earbud. Of course, not the forget N3w's moded KSC35. Can't quite describe the sound because it was kinda noisy then. People talking... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blues 0 Report post Posted December 2, 2003 That would be the koss ksc-35. Actually the story goes like this. I secured a deal with ting on the koss sometime back. But then I was too lazy to make a trip down so I asked my friend to collect it When he brought that home , I quickly snatched that phone and connected it to my laptop headphone jack. WOW! Strings sound very very nice(still remember I used fujii fumiya - true love). Much greater realism than the budget portable phone I previously owned - the mx500. And to think that mx500 is highly regarded for its price. The koss is leaps and bounds better(Well-almost) as compared to the sennheiser. If I remember correctly my friend paid $45 for the koss. Amazed by the magic of ksc-35, I psycho-ed my friend to sell me his newly acquired ksc-35 in exchange for my mx500. The top up came from me of course. 10 dollars. That means I only paid $40 for my koss ksc-35. And I daresay it's unbeateable in the <100 dollars price range(those that I've heard) and might even extend to some <150 dollars category! And I have to thank ting because he has included spare pads along with the modded pads . The modded ones sound better of course . Midrange sounds cleaner, bass sounds clearer. Now the ksc-35 is in the hands of N_T since its sole purpose has been replaced by my ety er-4s Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mackie 0 Report post Posted December 2, 2003 (edited) I just located a Chinese link (please view in Simplified Chinese HZ encoding) on the most popular economical ear buds for portables. http://tech.qianlong.com/28/2003/08/05/71@1522596.htm U can translate the entire pages via babel-fish. Edited December 2, 2003 by Mackie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sipher 0 Report post Posted December 2, 2003 for me it's the ksc-55 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mychew 0 Report post Posted December 2, 2003 hmm...wondering how they sound...do they worth a try? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tropicalrips 0 Report post Posted December 2, 2003 The Aiwa V743 sounded real good with my amps at the mini meet, it did not hav the hissing noise like all the other earphones i tried on the cmoy/cha47 those that i did try : most of the sony range of earphones (including the one kenshinz use the ear-plug type) koss plug cheapo phones that came with the players even my A-T FC7 @ 32ohms hav hissing sound on Cmoy all of the above did not sound good when amped Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mackie 0 Report post Posted December 7, 2003 (edited) For the fun of it............. Edited December 7, 2003 by Mackie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
N@Z 0 Report post Posted December 7, 2003 Hehehe... Mackie, you need a kid! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mackie 0 Report post Posted December 8, 2003 Not sure if wifely is ready to handle another........when she has to contend with this one! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
