Buying $550 headphones

[SLCentral]

How crazy am I? Here's how I see it. All people have hobbies. Some people are obsessed with their comptuers (I used to be, but now I'm bored of it, haven't upgraded in a year), some with TV's, some with cars, the list goes on. I'm into music, and headphones are really important to enjoying music.

I'm gonna grab the Ultimate Ears UE5c custom-fit earphones. I have an appointment with an audiologist on Thursday to make impressions/molds of my ears to send over to Ultimate Ears. They'll then create a handmade molding of my ears for the earphones, and they'll then send it back to me. Total cost is $600, since the impressions cost $50.

Everyone says they sound AMAZING though, and provide great noise isolation as well. It'll be perfect for me for my upcoming trip to the South of France with the family.

Call me crazy, but I'm really into good-sounding music .


Update: Just got back to NYC, where I had impressions of my ears made. Basically, they put a little string with a little piece of cotton on the tip in your ear. They then take silicone putty, and put it in a syringe, and inject it in both your ears. You're biting on a little brick, so your mouth is open, and you wait a few minutes. They say this is the closest feeling to being completely deaf. It sure as hell was pretty weird. The audiologist then gave me my mold samples, which looked pretty nasty, and I sent them over to UE. Cost $50, and took ~10 minutes.

Update 2: Sent the impressions to UE yesterday via 3-day express saver, and I'd like to say that Fedex kicks ASS. I shipped from NYC, but they arrived in Irvine, CA, OVERNIGHT. I shipped at 3PM EST, and they arrived the next day at 10AM PST. That's excellent service right there. UE sent over an email saying they've accepted it into the lab, and they'll be making the impressions now. Should take 10-12 days, they said, but I hope thats just an estimate.

 

[So]

$550 is really crazy. I am very happy with my $70 Senns...

 

[SZLiao214]

Break them in then tell us how they are. Ive always wanted to hear those 500 dollar headphones.

 

[EvilYoda]

Nice...I always like listening to a set first, but it's your call...I'd be wary of just buying them for the sake of portability - I'd look into a pair of AKG K1000's, Grado RS-2/RS-1's or Sennheiser HD650's, the usual suspects.

Either way, congrats.

 

[dighn]

the pursuit for good sounding music is not crazy, up to a certain point depending on how rich you are of course. I don't think that's quite there yet, close though

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Nice...I always like listening to a set first, but it's your call...I'd be wary of just buying them for the sake of portability - I'd look into a pair of AKG K1000's, Grado RS-2/RS-1's or Sennheiser HD650's, the usual suspects.

Either way, congrats.

Why are you wary about portability? I think they're much more portable then canphones.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

What kind of setup do you have to use on a daily basis?

My issue with portable audio is that while it may sound like heaven, it's still missing all the bass that you can get with large cabinet speakers and a true subwoofer. The headphones may reproduce all the sounds insanely better than a $5k 2.1 system, but it still won't shake the floor or anything.

Obviously we're talking two completely different things but it's for those reasons that I haven't been able to bring myself to buying a good set of headphones. I have the Shure E3C's and this is probably the most I'm spending for the time being.

Tell us how the custom molds are, that's one thing I might do for the E3C's I have. From what I hear, you can't even feel them being there for many hours at once. (lol, no pun intended)

 

[mryellow2]

Note that he said "for the sake of portability". From the list of high quality cans that he lists I'd say that he's implying sound quality should be of the first importance.

In any case, congrats! My first pair of good headphones were the HD600's which I still swear by for home listening. Enjoy your earphones.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Nice...I always like listening to a set first, but it's your call...I'd be wary of just buying them for the sake of portability - I'd look into a pair of AKG K1000's, Grado RS-2/RS-1's or Sennheiser HD650's, the usual suspects.

Either way, congrats.

Why are you wary about portability? I think they're much more portable then canphones.

I meant more like "don't just get them because they're portable, as an at-home set of cans might be better to you"...get a cheap pair of Shure e2c's for the trip and look at other options, is what I meant.

I'm just saying

 

[Nebor]

I have several sets of expensive headphones that I never use. Sennheiser HD550s, RS85s, etc.

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
What kind of setup do you have to use on a daily basis?

My issue with portable audio is that while it may sound like heaven, it's still missing all the bass that you can get with large cabinet speakers and a true subwoofer. The headphones may reproduce all the sounds insanely better than a $5k 2.1 system, but it still won't shake the floor or anything.

Obviously we're talking two completely different things but it's for those reasons that I haven't been able to bring myself to buying a good set of headphones. I have the Shure E3C's and this is probably the most I'm spending for the time being.

Tell us how the custom molds are, that's one thing I might do for the E3C's I have. From what I hear, you can't even feel them being there for many hours at once. (lol, no pun intended)

Yeah, I understand that no IEM's will ever be able to match the bass of a dedicated home theater enviornment, but I'm no basshead. The bass that my Super.Fi 5 Pro's currently provide is ample for me, and considering that the 5c's actually give MORE bass becasue of the better fit, I think I'll be more then happy.

Now, I will be running the 5c's off of an ampless iPod Mini. I know, I know, I need to get an amp, but that really detracts from the portability of the product, to the point where I'd accept a lack of optimal sound quality for the portability.

I'll also be using the 5c's with my PC, once I get a dedicated soundcard.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

By the way, avoid putting a large price tag in the title, it's just asking for undue attention from people looking to explain that there's no need to spend any more than $20 at best buy on sony headphones

 

[PrinceofWands]

Man, and I felt sick coughing up the $90 I payed for my HT820's.

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Nice...I always like listening to a set first, but it's your call...I'd be wary of just buying them for the sake of portability - I'd look into a pair of AKG K1000's, Grado RS-2/RS-1's or Sennheiser HD650's, the usual suspects.

Either way, congrats.

Why are you wary about portability? I think they're much more portable then canphones.

I meant more like "don't just get them because they're portable, as an at-home set of cans might be better to you"...get a cheap pair of Shure e2c's for the trip and look at other options, is what I meant.

I'm just saying

Most of the time when I'm listening I'm out of the house, whether its on a bus, a train, a plane, in the car, etc, so I'd prefer to have my main source of audio being portable. I'm not gonna let myself be seen in public with Grados; they've gotta be the ugliest things I've ever seen.

I own e2c's right now, and I upgraded from them to Super.Fi 5 Pros (Ultimate Ears), which I'll be giving to my dad to use. My e2c's will now be my backup headphones, in case I'm going somewhere where I don't feel comfortable bringing my 5c's along.

 

[Ika]

The good thing about IEMs is that the more money you spend, the less diminishing returns plagues you. With headphones, above the $300 mark, diminishing returns really comes into play. IEMs, however, keep improving (this is partly due to the fact that IEM quality starts lower ).

I'm looking into getting some K81DJs and SR225s as well as a good amp, so that's around $400. If I have the means and money, I'll pick up some Shure E500s, which are $400.

I'm a DIY foamie maker, so I don't really need customs - I have some earplugs that are perfect for my ears.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: SLCentral
Call me crazy, but I'm really into good-sounding music .

I'm the opposite. I'm really into good-quality music. Music with great beats, wonderful rythms, lyrics that make me want to sing along, and that gets stuck in my head for hours. I could be quite happy listening to that on the most awful static filled distortioned speakers.

Quality music with any random sound system >> great sound system with any random music.

But whatever floats your boat.

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: SLCentral
Call me crazy, but I'm really into good-sounding music .

I'm the opposite. I'm really into good-quality music. Music with great beats, wonderful rythms, lyrics that make me want to sing along, and that gets stuck in my head for hours. I could be quite happy listening to that on the most awful static filled distortioned speakers.

Quality music with any sound system >> great sound system with any music.

But whatever floats your boat.

Quality music with great sound system >> both

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: EvilYoda

Originally posted by: SLCentral

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Nice...I always like listening to a set first, but it's your call...I'd be wary of just buying them for the sake of portability - I'd look into a pair of AKG K1000's, Grado RS-2/RS-1's or Sennheiser HD650's, the usual suspects.

Either way, congrats.

Why are you wary about portability? I think they're much more portable then canphones.

I meant more like "don't just get them because they're portable, as an at-home set of cans might be better to you"...get a cheap pair of Shure e2c's for the trip and look at other options, is what I meant.

I'm just saying

Most of the time when I'm listening I'm out of the house, whether its on a bus, a train, a plane, in the car, etc, so I'd prefer to have my main source of audio being portable. I'm not gonna let myself be seen in public with Grados; they've gotta be the ugliest things I've ever seen.

I own e2c's right now, and I upgraded from them to Super.Fi 5 Pros (Ultimate Ears), which I'll be giving to my dad to use. My e2c's will now be my backup headphones, in case I'm going somewhere where I don't feel comfortable bringing my 5c's along.

Have you ever owned Grados? At first, I thought they were kind of retro-messed up - like they were going for the cool retro look but screwed up somewhere in the process. Now, I've had my SR60 for around... oh, 9 months? And I can say that I've really grown to love the Grado look. That, on top of the greatness that is the Grado sound, and I'm sold on Grado.

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: SLCentral
Call me crazy, but I'm really into good-sounding music .

I'm the opposite. I'm really into good-quality music. Music with great beats, wonderful rythms, lyrics that make me want to sing along, and that gets stuck in my head for hours. I could be quite happy listening to that on the most awful static filled distortioned speakers.

Quality music with any sound system >> great sound system with any music.

But whatever floats your boat.

Ah yes, but let me fix your comparison:

Quality music with great sound system > Quality music with any sound system > great sound system with any music

 

[sygyzy]

I think that's fine. What sort of rection did you expect from ATOT? Most people her don't think anything can beat their white Apple earbuds.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: SLCentral
Quality music with great sound system = Quality music with any sound system > great sound system with any music

Fixed the fixed. They'd be equal to me. And then I look at price and I'd go with the cheapest route.

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: SLCentral
Quality music with great sound system = Quality music with any sound system > great sound system with any music

Fixed the fixed. They'd be equal to me. And then I look at price and I'd go with the cheapest route.

To each his own .

 

[UTmtnbiker]

A hobby's a hobby is a hobby. If it's something you enjoy, isn't breaking the bank, and doesn't hurt anybody else...what do I care?

For me a, $550 pair of headphones is nuts, Shure's e3c's are about as nice as I want and since I'm losing some of my high frequency hearing anyways, it's not like I could hear the difference. But everybody's got to do what they love.

Mine's bicycles right now (along with computers...but who here doesn't like computers?)....just plunked down some change for a $600 pair of wheels, and I had to hold myself back to not drop the money on the $1k carbon wheels.

 

[mugs]

I think you're crazy, but then I can't stand earphones.

And I enjoy a song more or less regardless of the sound quality. It could be on AM radio for all I care - the song is the song.

 

[James3shin]

you're not alone, I bought the E4C's when they came out. Once you experience good sound quality, it's very hard to go back.