EAR BUDS

[goodkarmap...@gmail.com]

I get annoyed to wear my Sony cans when it's hot, im sweating, and all
i'm actually recording is nat sound.. been doing some research on good
ear buds... the shure E5 seem to be great but extremely pricey! anyone
has any advices... i think having a good pair of small and light ipod
style earphones in your kit is important when there's no real need to
have big headphones making your ears drip sweat all over your mixer...
right? advices and recommendations anyone? please

[bent....@gmail.com]

as a passionate music listener, can honestly say after trying many
pairs that the Sennheiser CX300 ear buds
are the best, and for the $! obviously they sound great but but its
their excellent attenuation of
outside noise/ambiance that is most impressive. very comfortable even
after hours, they have changed the way i listen to music.
they'd be my choice for sure should i use them for monitoring location
recording.
... and no, i dont work for sennheiser

[Sergio Sanmiguel]

I use the Shure SCL3 Sound Isolated Earphones, light & comfortable and
very useful in noisy environments... You can also get "garfield
Softies" http://www.trewaudio.com/store/product.php?productid=651&cat=97&page=1
for you Sony 7506's they work as advertised...
~
SS

[Soundhaspriority]

<bent....@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:39d725ae-b87a-41af...@y18g2000pre.googlegroups.com...

I second that. Much better noise attenuation than any phones I've tried,
with the exception of the Remote Audio HN-7506. Very comfortable.
Sennheiser actually makes the ear cushions, which come in three sizes,
readily available as replacement parts.

Bob Morein
(310) 237-6511

[yepthisi...@gmail.com]

Try the Garfield softies.
ian

[Jason]

Hi there,

I agree about the 7506's feeling rather hot after a while. A popular
mod - & one which I've tried & agree works very well - is to
replace the MDR foam pads for Beyerdynamic's velvet pads for their
DT250 headphones. They're a bit fiddly to fit because the backing-
piece (that immediately covers the driver) is separate from the main
padding-ring. However, I held the backing-piece in place with a
couple of small bits of tape before fitting the main pad (which fits
perfectly & hides the tape too) & they've been fine since. Comfort is
increased, the sound doesn't change in any way, & prolonged use is
much better because your ears don't get hot anywhere near as much with
the Sony pads.

I tried the Garfield softies with the 7506's, & they went straight in
the bin I'm afraid. They certainly felt very soft & comfortable to the
touch, but they prevented my ears from sitting into the 7506's earpads
properly, thus altering the sound & fit of the headphones. No matter
how much I tried to stretch the Softies to get around the problem,
they didn't work for me...

Regarding earbuds, from an accuracy rather than comfort point of view,
I didn't like the CX300's at all; their bass-end sounded over-
inflated, but it wasn't low bottom end like the Sony 7506's; more low
mids, & muddied things up a bit as a consequence. I was listening to
music rather than speech though, so perhaps they are fine for general
recording purposes. Comfort was good though.

The most accurate sounding (& giving the best isolation) earbuds I've
found are Etymotic Research's ER4 headphones. ($180 from amazon.com).
They are certainly not as comfortable for extended wear as the CX300s,
nor as flattering (sound-wise) as the MDR7506, but isolation is
excellent... I can travel on the subway in London & hear more of the
music (at a low-to-normal listening level) than the tube itself, which
is pretty remarkable imho! Regarding comfort, the ER4's don't feel
particulary comfortable to start with, but once your ears get used to
them, I find I can continously wear them for about an hour.

All the best,

Jason

[glen...@comcast.net]

It seems this is branching in two directions:
How can I make my headphones more comfortable,
and what are some good in-ear monitoring solutions.

I for one, hate the feeling of earbuds crammed in my ear
so I wouldn't consider ear buds the "comfortable" alternative
to headphones.

When the situation does call for earbuds, I do like the Etymotic.
I think all in ears sound quite a bit different than full sized
headphones, so it's important to get yourself somewhat
accustomed to them in a more controlled environment
before you find your self needing to use them.

Glen P.

[gregs...@gmail.com]

i've been using the Sennheiser CX300's with my ipod for at least a
year now. they are very comfortable, not at all something you have to
cram into your ears.
i've never used them for location work really though i might give that
a shot

overall they sound rather good for $50...they have a bit of a 4k boost
but otherwise sound very clean and not over-hyped.

-greg-

[David]

Another product I found last year was custom molded to your ear,
earphones by a company called Livewire. For me they have several
unique features, custom molded, you get to pick the colors, dual
drivers, and removeable cables that can rotate 360 degrees using MCX
connectors. Plus they offer 25db of isolation. Price $249,
replacement cable $30. They have offices in Castro Valley, CA and
Mount Juliet, TN.
I am just a satisfied customer and have no ties to the company.

David Rogers

[freeheel]

I'm going to put my vote in for the Etymotics as well - excellent
speech reproduction - no hyped low end ( if anything a little sparse)
and I've been wearing them for almost 2 straight years. I'll never
wear headphones again...
Only down side is you have to keep your ears abnormally clean.
Brent C

[bent....@gmail.com]

and just a note, i bought some CX300's as my second pair
from ebay and take my word, they are fakes. Very convincing
but not the genuine article. Pay the RRP for the real product
and for piece of mind.

[G. John Garrett, C.A.S]

I use the Etymotic ER6 with custom-molded musicains' earplugs that also fit the
ER6 when I use IEMs for mixing. So far, so good.

John