Smoking Buds

Those are great prices, and the return makes it close to a no-brainer...

...and now an update which points up the reason I take all reviews with a large bowl of sea salt. The reviewer of the Ultimate Ears 5Pro, Phil Gold, admits in his new review of the Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pro that he forgot to mention a few not-so-positive aspects of the 5Pro.

Now I must tell you that I was misleading in my earlier review of canal earphones. I omitted to tell you that while the canal earphones can be comfortable for long periods, I found they took time to locate properly in the ear canal, sometimes falling out or losing position. When the position of the earphone is the canal is not optimal, you lose the proper sealing, and with it the isolation from external sound and the full bass response. This is not a problem when you are listening from the comfort of your own living room, but it is certainly an issue when you're out and about. The second issue I missed at the time is microphonics . By this I mean that with every footfall, the phones move slightly in the ear canal, and you hear this as a noise during exercise.

Hence, my caveat that the 5Pro may be close to a no brainer. They may or may not be appropriate for use during running. An opportunity to return them would be a prerequisite to my purchase.

Note to reviewers: Please don't omit less than positive attributes of a product to be political. I doubt I'll ever again trust a review written by Phil Gold.

Warren I smoke Shure E4C's when I have the hankering to move and groove. Mighty happy with em'. Grant, per Gold's review, those are shortcomings of most in-ear phones. The UE-10 use custom ear molds to seat the phones deeper in with greater isolation and greater stability. I use custom ear-molds to block out sound when I'm riding my motorcycle (for those who don't know the sound levels in a helmet with 60+mph rushing wind as the source can reach in the 75-95db range - this is regardless of how loud or quiet the bike's engine is). I have also used foamies and various other forms of ear plugs. The custom's are best for sure, but they don't aleviate the attenuation of your own movements, breathing, internal noises and those loud voices inside your head telling you to... They do not move much themselves, and they maintain a very good seal no matter how you move, and that helps a whole lot. The audiologist who made mine, at the time, was offering to install any in-ear headphones into their custom molds. It took two weeks and cost an extra $200 over the $75 price of the standard molds. This was five years ago. I don't know if this is a standard service that many audiologists offer, but it may be worth looking into, since it would seem like those UE10's are charging a mighty steep price for that service. Also be aware that that type of earplug is VERY isolating, which may not be appealing to those who want some sense of hearing the world around them. That said, the other part of Gold's statement is also true: Most in-ear phones do depend upon a good seating of the phones in the ear to produce the best sound. Even a slight break in a good seal will change the sound significantly (you'll loose bass first, which is not there in abundance in the first place on most in-ears). All the in-ears will come with a handfull of different (replaceable) ear canal-interfaces to try out. Which is most effective may depend upon your ear canal...most folks seem to like the foamies. I like the rubber ones that came with my Shures which are difficult to describe. Also, some folks just don't like the in-ear phone sound. It is quite different from conventional over-the-ear headphones. It can be alarmingly immediate. I sure wouldn't skimp there as poor sound in an in-ear phone could be painfully annoying.

You can read much more on this subject as well as numerous reviews of various models over at Headfi.

Marco

thanks Marco. Thinking back to my experiences running, I tend to concentrate on the music, rather than the sound. I am much more forgiving and tolerant of poor sound. Just the reality of not having any commercials, plus every song being a winner (since I chose them) is very cool. Grant, I appreciate the follow up information. warren

Warren - I am a pretty picky audiophile... but I love the Shure e5. I like using them just about as much as my Senn 650s.

Purchased the Shure E3c. Not impressed. Poor bass. Highs and mids were nice, but not worth the price. At least while I'm running. Are there lightweight headphones that would work well with the Nano for home listening (not running) and the like?