Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Head Phones Recommendations

A couple of years ago, I bought some Shure, inner-ear headphones that I am very satisfied with for presenting crystal clear sound. The trick is that they have to fit just right into your ear or you lose a lot of bass. Some people do not like the sensation of squishing something into your outer ear canal but if you can get used to it, this also makes them excellent as doubling as ear protection (with the added bonus of music) when you cut the grass.

I think I payed $120 but I recall that being a very significant sale. Maybe even 50% off.

They are also great for airplanes. I don't use them at work because I feel too isolated.

And of course, I meant to say that I find it very hard to compare any headphones to speakers. There is just something about hearing music in the middle of your head as opposed to hearing it presented from in front of you that changes everything for me.

Hi Murph, Ken, and all,

I entirely agree with you, Murph, on the ear-canal earbuds and the peculiar feeling of isolation as well as trying to compare them to speakers, although if they fit your ear canals and you get a good seal, you can certainly judge the tonal balance and lack of coloration--bass, smooth midrange and treble--and compare that to a neutral speaker like Axiom.

I reviewed some ear-canal earbuds some years ago and liked the Shure SE310, which was wide-range, smooth and uncolored, albeit fairly expensive at the time.

I got into an argument with the Etymotic folks because none of the supplied flanges fit my narrow ear canals, and I felt in a $139 earbud, they should have supplied a good range of flanges. So they sent me some narrower ones which still didn't fit well and I downgraded the Etymotics because I heard no bass. I've had a good-natured argument with Dr. Floyd Toole over this (he is a big Etymotic fan). Anyway, I bought some new "Baby Blues" hi-fi ear protectors from Etymotic and the narrow flanges do fit my ear canals great, so if they're now supplying those with the ear buds, then I could become a fan, of sorts.

All this ramble is meant to suggest that getting the right fit to your ear canals is crucial to getting good performance. During my discussions with some of my colleagues, I pointed out that a $20 Koss ear plug came with a big range of flanges and I got a perfect fit, plus the Koss had plenty of bass, a tad too much in fact, and was quite neutral.

I still don't like those things stuffed into my ear canals, but they are effective.

Cheers,
Alan

It's kind of like the "room" interaction with speakers.

I never thought it would be an issue when my ear doctor told my mom 40 years ago that I had "square ear canals".


Damn.


Again.

Ha, ha!

I have these and they are available again. Pretty close to the Axiom sound if you ask me.

http://www.ttvjaudio.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28_64&products_id=292

Alan,

Etymotic do indeed supply their iems with the small blue flanges now.

I purchased a pair of the etymotic ear plugs also (Maybe a couple of months ago). I purchased the full size ones and I got my wife the baby blues. They seem to work pretty well, and they definitely seal good in my ears.

I hope I am satisfied with the Etymotic HF5's that I will be getting next week. I almost went for the ER4-P which was $179 on amazon, but stuck with the HF5's for $115.

Looking at the two models there doesn't seem to be a huge difference.

Wid, That was the exact reason I didn't buy the $175 model. Based on the graph comparison from headroom I didn't see a justifiable reason to fork over another $60. I've been listening with the supplied apple ear phones forever now so I am sure I will be pleased with the HF5's.

It's a damn slipperly slope I tell yah.. I was eyeballing $419 Ultimate Ears but decided that was WAY over my budget.