{"id":636,"date":"2008-01-09T00:10:32","date_gmt":"2008-01-08T16:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog2\/http:\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog2\/archives\/2008\/01\/2008_01_09_0010.php"},"modified":"2008-01-09T00:10:32","modified_gmt":"2008-01-08T16:10:32","slug":"headphone-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2008\/01\/09\/headphone-talk","title":{"rendered":"Headphone talk"},"content":{"rendered":"<div align=\"center\">\n<a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2239\/2085730724_3755635a16_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"You may click on the image for more details\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2239\/2085730724_985c9edc97_m.jpg\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p>As I <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/gallery\/picture.php?\/2085730724#comments\" title=\"what's all this about?\">promised Arjay<\/a>, I&#8217;m posting a blog entry of the story behind my new headphones. But first, let me give a brief &#8220;history&#8221; of my life and pricey headphones so that readers can make more sense out of this entry.<!--more-->[2]: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2005\/07\/2005_07_01_2103.php\">http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2005\/07\/2005_07_01_2103.php<\/a> &#8220;view post&#8221;<\/p>\n<h1>Preamble<\/h1>\n<p>Basically, I&#8217;m an audio fanatic. I hesitate to call myself an <em>audiophile<\/em> because such a title [usually] demands a much more anal dedication to everything audio. But for the most part, you can say I enjoy and love audio to an extent that I <em>do<\/em> put serious thought to it, and invest in it whenever I can.<\/p>\n<p>The iPod phonomena has been going strong ever since it started. As a result, it has become very trivial for people to immerse themselves in music. Listening to music this day and age, is akin to using cellular phones [I guess].<\/p>\n<p>But what a lot of people don&#8217;t realize is that the music they&#8217;re listening to through their regular speakers, or stock white [iPod] earbuds really don&#8217;t do justice to the actual source material. It may also be a factor of their ears not being trained to notice the difference, lossy compression, or even the simple fact that they <strong>don&#8217;t care<\/strong> (perhaps they have better things to do, which is perfectly fair).<\/p>\n<h1>THEN<\/h1>\n<p>I&#8217;m obviously not one of those people, and the first time I [invested in decent IEMs][2] <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_636_1('footnote_plugin_reference_636_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_636_1('footnote_plugin_reference_636_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_636_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">1 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_636_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">In Ear Monitors. Not to be confused with regular earbuds. IEMs are are also known as &#8220;canalphones,&#8221; because they literally are inserted into your ear canal (which can be quite uncomfortable for new-timers) <\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_636_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_636_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> was when I purchased my <a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/45\/182100041_d6fadbe516_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"You may click on the image for more details\">FutureSonics EM3<\/a> for $100, pretty pricey since most &#8220;normal&#8221; people already consider $20 as expensive for any type of earphone.<\/p>\n<p>I eventually noticed the EM3&#8217;s limitations and ended up <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2005\/07\/2005_07_18_0022.php\" title=\"view post\">going to the next level<\/a> when I got myself <a rel=\"lightbox\" href=\"http:\/\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/48\/182164388_446236b510_o.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"You may click on the image for more details\">Etymotic Research ER-4Ps<\/a> for about $300. A huge jump in price, but of course to my ears, it was worth every penny.<\/p>\n<h1>NOW<\/h1>\n<p>To cut a long story short, the Etys (the ER-4Ps) got damaged, and I had to send it back to the USA. And I had to revert back to my EM3s as backup. I figured it would take a long time for the Etys to be fixed, let alone how to even get it back to the country once it&#8217;s fixed. And I didn&#8217;t want my ears to get used to the EM3s because while they are fun to listen with, they&#8217;re kinda bass-heavy, which again is <em>fun,<\/em> but <strong>not<\/strong> <em>accurate.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Anyways, a friend&#8217;s relative was coming home for the holidays and I thought I might as well buy myself a new, <em>better,<\/em> pair of IEMs. After all, it&#8217;s been <strong>two and a half-years;<\/strong> surely audio has progressed since then. Sure enough, I found myself going up a notch <em>yet again<\/em> to the $500 range of IEMs. And the two top contenders were the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shure.com\/PersonalAudio\/Products\/Earphones\/SEModels\/us_pa_se530_content\" title=\"view product\">Shure SE530<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ultimateears.com\/_ultimateears\/products\/triplefi\/triplefi10pro_description.php\" title=\"view product\">Ultimate Ears Triple-Fi Pro<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A lot of reviews said that either of the two would be a good choice (but more were partial to the Shures), but ultimatley it would be a subjective decision&#8230; and after factoring all the issues I could think of that applied to how I listen to my music, I decided to get the Triple-Fis<\/p>\n<p>Now my headphones are actually <a href=\"http:\/\/www.m-audio.com\/products\/en_us\/IE40-main.html\" title=\"view product\">M-Audio IE40s<\/a>, which are rebranded Triple-Fis. Suffice to say I chose the M-Audio version because they were the only Triple-Fis that came in black and chrome.<\/p>\n<h1>WHAT&#8217;S SO SPECIAL ABOUT IT?<\/h1>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Triple-drivers.<\/strong>\nMy EM3 and ER-4Ps (and most if not all regular earbuds) are single driver headphones. Since 2&#189; years have passed, I actually skipped the whole &#8220;dual-driver&#8221; phase of IEMs.\nTriple driver is exactly as it states, you&#8217;ve got 3 separate drivers that produce your highs, mids, and lows <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_636_1('footnote_plugin_reference_636_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_636_1('footnote_plugin_reference_636_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_636_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">2 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_636_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Technically speaking, it&#8217;s 1 driver for highs and two low drivers. If I&#8217;m not mistaken Westone is coming out with three-way drivers, which is basically the same, only they claim that the three channels are true high, MID, and low&#8230; I have yet to hear if it will really make a difference.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_636_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_636_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> So you get excellent bass response while being able to maintain clarity. Honestly if you ask me, given the TYPE of earphones these are, dual-drivers might already be enough&#8230; but I&#8217;m not complaining. The more the merrier \ud83d\ude09<\/li>\n<li><strong>User-replaceable cable<\/strong>\nThis is one of the major reasons I chose this over the more [publicly] popular Shures. Given the experience I just had with my Etys, the option of just buying the cable, and replacing the damaged one is a god-send.\nLet&#8217;s face it, these types of IEMs are built like rocks; they&#8217;re basically components encased in <strong>solid slabs of hard plastic.<\/strong> So short of CRUSHING them with a hammer, you&#8217;d have a difficult time accidentally &#8220;destroying&#8221; them. The cables on the other hand have <em>always<\/em> been a problem for <strong>any<\/strong> type of headphone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>More resolution<\/strong>\nDuring it&#8217;s time, the ER-4Ps were vaunted as king of the mids and highs, which is why a lot of engineers liked to mix with them. And until now, they still have a place as far as &#8220;respectable&#8221; IEM models go (a lot still prefer them over the over-bassy dual-driver models from other brands).\nThe Triple-Fis however, just like the SE530s, are the cream of the crop at that price-point, so there&#8217;s no question that they&#8217;re better.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sexy<\/strong>\nIf you have seen the track record of my previous IEMs, they all look like shit. This is probably the first set of IEMs I had that actually looked quite stylish (the Shures look even better, but these still look good nonetheless). I guess the Apple user in me shines through here, can you blame me?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>So there you go, the story behind my new earphones \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>Oh and the ER-4Ps have returned as well, they replaced them entirely with their newer design which is now all black (as against the red, blue, and green) of the older version. I have to say Etymotic Research has <em>excellent<\/em> customer support. Those phones were out of warranty and everyone knew that. But they replaced and returned it free of charge!<\/p>\n<p>Suffice to say, my ears are <strong>so spoiled<\/strong> at this juncture. I literally can&#8217;t stand listening to music with plain earphones. Trust me, if you experience really good earphones (doesn&#8217;t even have to be IEMs, they could be buds or cans as well) you&#8217;d feel the same way.<\/p>\n<p>The only question now is if I&#8217;ll ever consider going up to the $1k line of IEMs&#8230; only time will tell.<\/p><div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_636_1();\">Notes<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_636_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_636_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_636_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">Notes<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_636_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_636_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_636_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">In Ear Monitors. Not to be confused with regular earbuds. IEMs are are also known as &#8220;canalphones,&#8221; because they literally are inserted into your ear canal (which can be quite uncomfortable for new-timers) <\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_636_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_636_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_636_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Technically speaking, it&#8217;s 1 driver for highs and two low drivers. If I&#8217;m not mistaken Westone is coming out with three-way drivers, which is basically the same, only they claim that the three channels are true high, MID, and low&#8230; I have yet to hear if it will really make a difference.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_636_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_636_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_636_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_636_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_636_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_636_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_636_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_636_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_636_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_636_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_636_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_636_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_636_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_636_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As I promised Arjay, I&#8217;m posting a blog entry of the story behind my new headphones. But first, let me give a brief &#8220;history&#8221; of my life and pricey headphones so that readers can make more sense out of this entry.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,8,13],"tags":[373,473,576,713,803],"class_list":["post-636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-music","category-technology","tag-earphones","tag-general","tag-ie40","tag-m-audio","tag-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}