Anyone have these IEM earphones?

[GTaudiophile]

I am considering the following sub $200 IEM ear/canalphones.

Can anyone comment?

Listing in no particular order:

Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro
Jays Q-Jays
Denon ATH-C700K
Future Sonics Atrio M5/M8

Yes, I have been to headfi.org already.

 

[abaez]

I have the Super.fi 3 and they are very good. Not that bassy though but I prefer it that way.

I got them at Radioshack for $50, so if you can snag some to try before getting the 5's it'd might be a good idea.

 

[vajrakilaya]

Just ordered q-Jays, mostly because the 2ft length is perfect for using with the bluetooth pendant I just got. (A Jabra BT3030, a bluetooth pendant shaped like a military dog tag framed in black rubber. Looks like man-jewelry from Urban Outfitters or something.) If I don't like them, headphone.com will take them back within 30 days, minus shipping fees. I'll post what I think.

I'm replacing Etymotic ER4s. Incredible sound, but the cable is just too long and unwieldy for a pendant.

My first attempt to do bluetooth stereo was a Plantronics 855. Convenient, but bulky in my shirt pocket, and nowhere near audiophile quality. Completely incapable of handling interference -- the sound would cut out every time I walked into an intersection. And flimsy. The ear loop/connector to the ear bud for the other ear snapped after two months.

The Jabra is the first bluetooth pendant I'd wear. The dog tag styling is a bit over-the-top SUV butch, but at least it doesn't look like an outsized brooch. Best of all, since it has a standard headphone jack, I can use it with my choice of earphones. Great audio quality and I didn't have a single dropout all afternoon today -- compared to every few minutes with the Plantronics. It's paired with an HTC/Cingular 3125.

The one thing that worries me about the q-Jays is the durability of the cable. The ER4s are easy to pull out since they have huge stems on them. I'm afraid I'm going to have to tug on the q-Jays' wires to get them out of my ears. We'll see.

 

[vajrakilaya]

*** REVISED: I'm sending the q-jays back ***
After an hour of listening I was impressed by the clarity and strength of the bass with the q-jays, and I wrote a positive review. Later in the day I listened to two very densely produced pieces of music that I love -- Brian Eno's "Burning Airlines" (back when his own work was glam and interesting, before he started cranking out art school muzak) and Catherine Wheel's "Heal". They sounded AWFUL on the q-jays. Midrange and high frequency instruments all blurred together into mush, overwhelmed by the low frequency ones.

With the Etymotics, every instrument in Eno's kitchen sink of sound is distinct. Each time Rob Dickinson yodels the chorus, "it's how high you are and the time it takes to heal," it's the way his voice cracks that makes it heartbreaking. You don't hear it with the q-jays. They completely obscure the breathiness in his voice, which is a sin.

So the q-jays are going back. (Thank goodness headroom.com lets you return them) The SE530s are more expensive and big, but they have a 2' cable plus they would give me the strength and clarity of the q-jays bass without giving up the airiness and separation of the ER4s at the high end. I have to go to Brookstone and listen to them again...

I'm also considering the M-Audio IE40s (UE triple.fi's, clear rather than teal, sold in music stores). They're more uncolored and revealing, supposedly -- closer to studio monitors, which is what I use at home (KRK VXT6's). I'll have to cut the cable to 2' and solder a plug onto it, but at least the cable is replaceable so I won't be doing permanent damage to them. Anybody have these? If you hang them inside your shirt, do the memory wire ear loops look freakish, or do they lay flat pretty well?

The q-jays sounded great playing reggae. If all you listen to is bass heavy music, you might really like them for the price. But they're not for me.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I have the Super Bass version of the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro. Bass is muddy but it can get incredibly deep at the right frequency, but only at the right frequency. I don't find the bass tight or punchy at all.

I tried a friend's regular Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro, and it produced sounds that I've never heard before in songs that I usually listen to with my bass version. Sounds were definitely crisper. However, there was more or less NO bass.

So:

Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro Super Bass: muddy
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro: clear, no bass

Both have excellent noise isolation and the cables are detachable from the IEMs, so you can replace small components instead of the whole thing if something breaks, like the wire.