Earphones/Headphones - Without them its not music.

I do not consider myself a hardcore audiophile, but I am quite crazy when it comes to music (audio in general) - high quality music that is. To enjoy high quality music, you need many things including:

• Good Audio Production – This is done in the studio, by the recording company
• Good Audio Representation – This is the format in which we store music we have – digital mostly these days – it could be MP3, AAC, FLAC et al.
• Good Audio Player – This is very important and it requires separate treatment
• Good Audio Reproduction – This is where speakers and headphones kick in.

Using a speaker is not always a good option when you are living with family/roomies etc to thoroughly enjoy the music. Ambient noise may interfere in your listening which may ruin the show.

So, headphones or earphones are the best best in these cases. I am crazy about headphones I admit it. So, here is a small review about all the headphones and earphones that I have.

First up: It is many a peoples' favorite, highly recommended across the forum:

Creative EP 630
Everybody buys MP3 players by paying hefty sums of money – iPods, Zens and what not – but do not invest in a good pair of earphones. The bundled earphones that come with most of the players are crap and some are absolutely horrible. I see no point in this as this is like making the entire purchase of the player not worth it. This is true even in the case of the all famous iPod – actually Sony, Creative bundles better earphones with their players.

But, in any case I recommend ditching the bundled earphones and replacing them with decent ones. And, the best replacement considering both quality and value for money is you guessed it – the EP 630. It costs about 750 bucks – you can buy it online at several sites (primeabgb, itdepot) – avoid eBay if you ask me – lots of fakes. Creative has an official store in rediff shopping – pretty safe IMHO – I bought it from there – at a slightly higher price than other sites (Rs. 990 when last checked).

These are in-ear earphones which goes in your ear canal and stays there forming a vacuum. This provides great isolation from outside noise. The noise isolation is really good – even in a noisy train or a crowded bus stand. Three sizes of ear buds are bundled to fit different ear sizes.

The music performance is gorgeous – perfect for an MP3 player. The bass performance is impressive, the mids are pretty good and I personally feel they do a bit too much on the higher end of the spectrum – the treble – too sharp for my liking. The frequency response of these phones are from 6Hz to 23Khz which is a wider range than many other earphones – most of them doing 20Hz to 20Khz. The drivers do their job pretty well.

I have paired these earphones with my Sony Walkman MP3 player – a match made in heaven, my PSP and my laptop. It works well on all three. The cable is long enough (1.2m) for almost all uses.

If you have Sony Ericsson Walkman phones, you must be bragging about the headphones that come with it – HPM 70 – but believe me – once you hear the EP 630, you'll start hating the HPM 70. HPM 70 is all Bass and nothing else, while the EP 630 spans its performance across the spectrum.

When I initially bought these, I was just not able to play these for long. I have sensitive ears and these produced a lot of high frequency sounds that my ears picked up. And... to be frank they were giving me a headache. I almost gave up on these. But, after some 50+ hours of use, the phones started to get better and better with each listening. The high frequency sounds – must be because of the freshness – settled down and now I can use them without any problems.

Verdict:
Best cheap entry level in-ear noise isolation earphones – which work fine as replacements for bundled earphones.






Onto the next one. So, if the EP 630 performs well, then why do we need another earphone/headphone? Many many reasons – one of the major reasons is 'Room'. I don't know how exactly to define 'Room' – you just have to know it. When listening to music, room determines how well separated and distinct the different instruments are – you feel as if the sound is coming from a distance – I don't know how to define it perfectly.

I love my music with lots of room and the EP 630 does not have this. Don't blame the EP 630 – how much room can a closed in ear earphone provide?? It does what it is supposed to do.


Sennheiser PX-100
Senns are considered to be the best among headphone manufacturers – producing some of the best audiophile grade headphones out there. And.. believe me – it is no hype like some other phones (*cough*Bose*cough*).


The PX-100 is a open design supra-aural headphone (not earphone) which look quite simple and humble when you see it. But, inside lies a performance beast. This is my favorite among my headphone collection.

Once you hear the EP 630 – you think music is great and how can it get better? Hear the PX 100 and you'll start to know how better music can get. As these are open cans, they have much more room to play the music and they do a good job here. These are not audiophile grade headphones – not by a long shot – but could be termed as a stepping stone into the audiophile world.

The first thing you'll notice about these phones when you wear them is that they are very light. Fire them up in your player and then, the thing that will impress you is the Bass. They can handle a large amount of Bass smoothly and this is probably I love these phones. They have an awesome performance across the spectrum – though a little muddy on the highs for me – but most people wouldn't mind it.

It costs Rs. 2690 and is worth every single rupee you pay. The music quality is the best you can get at this price point. It does a good job at movies too. As the bass is good, action movies are really enjoyable. But, the cable length is not really good for movie viewing – but perfect for listening music on your MP3 player.

I have let my friends use these phones – and the first time that they hear it – it always manages to put a wide grin on their face. Most of them are just blown away. Somehow, these are not entirely comfortable for using for a long time – for my ears. Remember - this could be just for my ears – they start paining after long listening – maybe the headphones are putting a tad bit too much pressure on the ears. I am pretty sure that this is a problem with my ears though. Please remember – these are open headphones and so, they leak sound in and out.

You can buy them from a Sennheiser dealer. Go to http://www.sennheiser.com/india/icm_...e_dealersearch to fin the dealer in your city. You can also buy online at theitdepot.com

Rs. 2690 may seem too high for many people for headphones – but consider it as an investment – for enjoying music the way it is meant to be enjoyed.

These headphones are foldable and can be folded and put inside a case which comes bundled. It is really compact when it is bundled – looks like a sun glass case – perfect for traveling.

Verdict:
My Favorite – absolutely gorgeous sound across the spectrum – especially the bass – good room (not the best). Just Awesome!




Onto the next one:
I said the PX 100 performs very well in movies – but I really do not prefer them for watching movies because of several reasons:

1. Not comfortable enough for me.
2. Room is not good enough for movies – movies require a better, wider room to be thoroughly enjoyable.
3. Cable length is not really good to lay back on your bed with a cushion and watch the movie on your PC/TV.

This is where my next headphone comes in.

Philips SHP8900
This is my personal home theater – and I just love it! Well, these are open circum-aural headphones, that is, they cover your ears completely. On first look these look huge and bulky. But once you wear them, you'll know that these are really comfortable. The cushions are well placed and they do not press too much against your head or anything – the comfort is very pleasing. They are a bit heavy though and so, fatigue can kick in when used for very long viewing sessions.

Oh, did I say 'viewing' and not listening? Yes, that is because I use these extensively for watching movies on my PC. They are comfortable, have good room for movies and have a 4 meter cable length (all 3 points solved!). Perfect for watching TV or movies on your PC.

Having said that, it is not that these are bad for music – they perform well in that department too. The room factor kicks in when you play music on these and is an absolute treat.

The Bass again is probably the best factor in these headphones – and that makes it even better for movies. Action movies are a treat to watch with these on.

All headphones have this property – they just get better and better the more you listen. It takes somewhere around 50+ hours of listening before a headphone can perform at its best. And, the SHP 8900 is no different. They are so much better sounding now – than how they sounded when I first used them.

Many of the movies that I have are AC3, DTS surround sound encoded movies. With the proper 'Dolby Headphone' codec, the SHP 8900 does a marvelous job at surround sound also – the room factor comes into play here too.

These are priced at Rs. 3600 odd and is the most expensive of my headphone collection. They are widely available in Planet M and Music World showrooms. So, getting them won't be a tough job – I think theitdepot.com also has these.

Verdict:
Awesome for lying on your bed and watching TV or watching movies on PC. Really comfortable too. Well spent Rs. 3600 – probably the best spent among my headphones – because I am more of a movie buff than a music buff



Others:
Others include HPM 70, Philips Bass Vent earphones, Sennheiser HD 201 (closed), and some more.
Don't fall for the Sennheiser brand always – all Senns are not good. The HD 201 is closed, so that it does not leak sound in/out. But, that is almost it. Nothing much to brag about – sounds muddy once you have heard better headphones. Costs Rs. 1450 – good for giving away as a present though.

Source : http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94359