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belgarion

Recommendations for Earphones below $100

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Sony 888 is not bad but they are not ear canals but regular buds. They do not fit all ears though so be careful. I do have a pair which you can try in for size only (not for sale). Can;t remember the price exactly as I bought these on a whim some 1 1/2 years back - they were S$64? or S$67 (something under S$70).

 

Everything else I've tried under that suck - do not know anything about Koss or Senn earclips. Sorry but that's the limit of my knowledge in the price band - of course Etys are nice but the price - ouch. There's one selling in the Classifieds section. It's the 4P so it's easier to drive than the 4S (probably does not need an amp). Sound wise ( I only listened to Abalze's for a short while using the foam tips when he had them sometime in Jan ) was quite good. Excellent isolation and very good sound for the price and performance.

 

Bring your portable to the seller's place to try it out if you can afford it.

 

Otheriwse buy the Sony MDR E-888 LPS.

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ic, cool ... hows the sound quality if u compared it with a pair of headphones , lets say grado sr-60 ?or headphones below $200.

 

and where can i get this pair of earphones from ?

 

cheers

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Presently I have the ER-4S (higher impedance version which works better with an amp but basically the same as the ER-4P) & previously Grado SR80 was the closest I had so I will offer my comparisons based on them.

 

Sound wise the Etys sound totally different from the Grados. The ER-4S sound is Neutral (Not too much of any particular frequency range) & very detailed. The downside is it can sound a little dry & some people find that it lacks (visceral) bass. The SR80 on the other hand sounds forward, slightly bright & the bass is punchy. In my experience both can be used unamped but they will work & sound significantly better with a headphone amplifier. More so in the case of the Etys due to it's higher impeadence.

 

Direct comparison between then two is not really fair as the price performance is not in the same league. The ER-4P are alot more expensive than the Grado SR80 however each one has it's pros & cons which I won't go into for the moment since your last question is on sound quality alone.

 

Taking aside price & practicalities. The ER-4S have an excellent sound quality compared with the SR80. Use it with a good source, cables & amplification... it will reward you with amazing sound quality.

 

Bare in mind this is my opinion only. I like Grados too, my RS-1 should attest to that. It's just that I use the Ety's more than them. Try before you buy if you can, you may find you might like the Grado sound or some other headphones better.

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I think you forgot to mention about the Etys unparalleled isolation. they're basically ear plugs (very good ones at that) and once properly sealed in the ears, the Etys are possibly the most transparent phones around. After a while you forget you're wearing earphones, you don't hear any external noise, if you close your eyes, it seems like you're in your own special place with nothing but music flowing all around you headphone.gif very cool happy.gif

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I have sony 888, 70; mx500; ksc35.

888 died within one year, right chanel sound softer, cause centre image shift left side. So I'm worried about the durability. sound wise, compair to mx 500, bass is tighter but not as strong, mid is a bit thinner and a bit more high extension. Consider the price and durability, not recommend.

EX70, died after 3 years heavy use, quite OK. you need to mod to get the best sound, otherwise it sound too bassy and bommy. Good for outside listening, it's comfort and the isolation is good.

mx500: Good value for money, balanced sound, very good mid. Without amp sound is about the same calss as 888 with pro. and con. of themself, with the amp, it's better than 888, highly recommend.

ksc 35: sound like a big phone, big sound stage, stong bass (too strong sometimes). I use mx500 more because mid is soo good on it.

Hope this helps. headphone.gif

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Agrees with ting.

 

EX70 is fine only if you mod it, else the bass would be unbearable at times.

 

But begarion, I believe you should at least tell us what requirements you have or what you want to achieve with the set of headphones, for example, do you need :

 

Isolation?

Bass head?

Comfortable?

Fashionable?

Sound Quality?

etc...

 

Because this way, it would be easier for us to recommend the right earphones for you.

 

You can still set your budget but that's just a criteria, ultimately, it is the sound it reproduces that matters to you.

 

 

 

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Im looking for vocals clarity and high mids.

 

Isolation - i dont mind both types.

 

Bass head - u mean bass ? average will do, i listen to jazz and some pop

 

comfortable and fashionable is not really a factor to me.

 

I have owned a pair of mx-500 before, and although the mids and bass are good, their vocals sucks in my opinion.

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From what I see , sony 888 is my recommendation for you. It's just slightly under a S$100.

 

Clear vocals and high mids. Isolation is not fantastic though.

 

All these are based on my little experience with my buddy's 888 and the posts that I have read on other forums.

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the 888s go for quite a bit less than $100 I think. popular bookshop sells for $75 I think, even sls shops like ATF multimedia have it for $70 or less .. so if you know where to look, prob $60+ I'd estimate.

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I got mine at the Sony shop for less than S$70 but that was 1 1/2 years ago so prices may have gone up or down.

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This is what i jotted down after some researching ...

 

Canal Ear buds (ear bud that are fitted right inside your ear canal)

 

- Koss The Plug (USD$15)

- Sony EX70 (USD$50)

- Shure E2C (USD$70)

- Etymotic ER6 (USD $120)

 

Open Ear buds

 

- Sennheiser MX-400 (USD$10)

- Sennheiser MX-500 (SGD $30)

- Sony MDR E-888LP (SGD $70)

 

 

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Just another suggestion - you might also try the Sony MDR-7056 (basically a V6 with gold-plated plugs I'm told). It used to be available at Mustafa for S$125. But they were sold out about 2 weeks agao. New stocks may have arrived but I really don't know. These are not ear buds or ear canals though but the foldable nature of these cans do make them portable and they offer isolation (not in the Ety league soundwize or isolation wise).

 

Don't you need isolation for travel or do you mean once you reach the hotel you then whip out the cans?

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