 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: mkybrain
Date: 2005-05-23 00:01
Ok before i say anything else, the money i am to use for this is separate from the money i plan on using for what is discussed in my other thead "Lap Top recording". THis is actually money i have recieved as gifts for graduation.
I have been studying different "mp3" players over the past few days(its consumed hours and hours of my life). I initially, largely based on thread from this board, considered the iPod very seriously. However they seem to make all their money in accesories and i have read that all music going onto the iPod must come from iTunes(i still doubt this is true but i havent dismissed it yet). Besides that i didn't want to limit myself to just the popular apple. I have looked at dell, not that impressed. iRiver looks nice, but the top rated model(8.7 on cnet, the h140) is not available anymore for whatever reasons. I have finally come upon the cowon x5. It seems to be the best deal, period. Do any of you know anything about this product? It very new, just came out i believe a little earlier this month.
I of course am also looking at earphones. I have looked at shure and etymotics. It depends on how much money i have left over(the lowest price is the e2 pair from shure at around 100 dollars). I can't spend 300 on earphones though. Does anybody have any suggestions on what i might want to look at?
Thank you very much
-Chris
Post Edited (2005-05-23 01:58)
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Author: EEBaum
Date: 2005-05-23 00:38
Re the iPod:
- I've spent $40 or so on accessories: a radio transmitter to play in my car.
- You can play music from iTunes, or from any other source that does not have device-specific Digital Rights Management on it. I've had no trouble putting a couple hundred CDs on mine, as well as a good number of tracks from eMusic.com and tracks fetched by indy.tv.
I'm happy with a $30 set of headphones from the local Circuit City. Look at the specs on the back and find the ones with the greatest dynamic and frequency response range. A built-in volume switch along the cord is also a plus. There are also some very nice, very expensive headphones available... it just depends on how much you want to spend.
-Alex
www.mostlydifferent.com
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Author: msloss
Date: 2005-05-23 17:51
Treat yourself on the earphones for two reasons -- first, the quality of the transducer makes all the difference in the world. A good pair of 'phones on a bad player will give you a much more satisfying result than bad 'phones on a great player. Second, comfort. The more versatile the earphones, the more likely you can get comfortable wearing them for long periods. You've picked two very good options in Shure and ER.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2005-05-23 18:21
msloss wrote:
> You've picked two very good options in Shure and ER.
I have both, and I'd pick the Shure e3c now on a price only basis. I picked up an "open box" pair of the Shure for $110 at my local Micro Center for my MP3 player, and can barely tell the difference between those and my more expensive Etymotics.
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Author: mkybrain
Date: 2005-05-23 18:57
What about the E2c. I can get those for 64.99 at amazon, but E3c costs i think 124.99. Would that extra cost be worth it or is the E2c a very good set as well.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2005-05-23 20:27
mkybrain wrote:
> What about the E2c. I can get those for 64.99 at amazon, but
> E3c costs i think 124.99. Would that extra cost be worth it or
> is the E2c a very good set as well.
The e2C is significantly less comfortable than the e3c due to the way the wires route (the e2c has stiff wires that you form around the ears, the e3c has soft, flexible wire that you lay over the ear), and the response, though pretty good, isn't up to the same level as the e3c.
The comfort is very important to me for an in-the-ear headphone, and well worth the extra expense IMHO.
If you don't mind regular headphones, get a Grado SR-60. Ugly and (at the beginning) horribly uncomfortable, but the best sound for the money. You can't wear glasses while wearing these cans or you'll end up with sore temples, and the felt takes a few weeks to conform to your head, but if you can stand the break-in period you'll be well-rewarded by sound.
I hear the newer SR60s come with a softer pad instead of the felt, but I haven't seen them yet. It would be a welcome relief from the felt ones ...
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Author: mkybrain
Date: 2005-05-23 20:55
Have you tried the ER-6, by etymotic? How do those fall in the sound and comfort level. I am particularly looking for earphones. I have a set of Sony MDR-7502 headphones that I am satisfied already. I generally use these for my laptop. I want earphones for their portability with an mp3 player.
Post Edited (2005-05-23 20:56)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2005-05-23 23:15
mkybrain wrote:
> Have you tried the ER-6, by etymotic?
Never tried their low end, but I'm sure they're fine.
I'd still lean towards the Shure since they're much easier to find (and return if they don't work out for you).
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Author: msloss
Date: 2005-05-24 03:02
ER-6 sounds pretty good. No match for the ER-4, but neither is the price. I concur with Mark about the availability of the Shures. You can get them from a number of discounters as well as music retailers like Sam Ash and Guitar Center.
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Author: mkybrain
Date: 2005-05-24 05:13
Ha guitar center? That store just moved here within the last few months. Ill check that out. Right now i don't know of any retailers, but ill check our galleria and the guitar center. Thanks
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Author: mkybrain
Date: 2005-05-25 21:43
Well I went to guitar center. There happened to be a shure rep there when i came so i talked to him a little bit. He reccomended that i get more flex sleeves i think it was. He said the foam can get nasty. However, they wanted to sell me it for 179.99. I know i can get it for a lot less at places like Amazon.
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Author: mkybrain
Date: 2005-05-31 22:09
Got my E3c's today. Absolutely satisfied. These things are great. Thanks so much for the suggestion.
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