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I just had to post about these things.

As many of you know I spend a long time on trains commuting so my iPod is going for several hours a day. The headphones that come with them are pretty awful so I upgraded to Sennheiser CX400s for around C$120 about a year ago. They come with a two year warranty, but I have had nothing but trouble with them - my fourth pair have just failed. While Sennheiser and the retailer have been good about replacing them, I just couldn't be bothered to go through it again.

This time I thought if I am going to spend more money on headphones then I am going to get the best I can. They need to be in ear for portability, so that limited me slightly, but yesterday I picked up a pair of Shure SE530s.

All I can say is that they are absolutely incredible - even if you have no intention of buying them, go to your local store and try them out - I was absolutely blown away.

We all know that mp3 sound quality isn't great, but I want to get the most out of them that I can, and these things sure as heck do that. I tried the comparable offering from Ultimate Ears, but for me the Shure's sounded more natural and I never realised that an iPod could sound so good.

I know we have a lot of audio fans on BreitlingSource, and while these things aren't cheap (heck they're expensive), they blew me away with the sound quality.

I will def take a listen sometime! I love all these Beat by Dr. Dre. At first I thought they were just crap headphones with an artists name but they are amazing! I think im getting the studio style for Christmas!

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SA-Baton White Dial/ProII
Tissot Le Locle

Tried those as well - they're good, but the Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10s and the SE530s are a clear step up.

I will def give them a try. I was looking at all the Bose noise canceling headphones but after not being happy with my Bose computer speakers and replacing them with Klipsch for half the price adn 10 times better sound I will not buy bose again. As they say no highs no lows, must be Bose! I have been waiting to pull the trigger on some nice studio headphones but hopefully that time will come soon! Thanks for the heads up!

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SA-Baton White Dial/ProII
Tissot Le Locle

The place I got the Shures had a nice pair of Grado PS1000s if you want something for the studio

HAHA Ya I would love to hear something like those. Don't tempt me though honestly I like my music and I like to clear crisp and loud!

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SA-Baton White Dial/ProII
Tissot Le Locle

You were not kidding, they ARE expensive. Do you really get the difference out of them for an iPod/mp3?
I fly a bit (not to the Arctic Circle, but around the country a couple times a month) and better sound than my Klipisch's would be great. I always thought they were pretty good within the limits of the available stream.

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Chronomat, Steel/Gold, MOP Dial, 2-tone band (2008)
Super Avenger Black Baton Dial (2009)
Bentley B04 GMT Silver Dial (2013)
Avenger Blacksteel Baton Dial (2014)

It's obviously personal preference, and what you listen to also makes a difference, but for me it was worth it. I started off listening to the Ultimate Ears and had their three most common high end earpieces for comparison - the Super Fi 5, Super Fi 700 and Triple Fi 10 (progressively better). For me the 700s just didn't work, and the Super Fi 5s were close to the Triple Fi 10s in sound quality - not as good, but not worth $200+ more for the Triple Fis.

When I put the Shures in though it was a completely different story. The have dedicated bass with two woofers and a tweeter in each ear. As I listen to a lot of rock / NWOBHM, etc the sound really worked for me (heck even Metallica sounds like it has bass!!). The bass is there on the Ultimate Ears, but it's not so crisp (they have two tweeters and a woofer), and the Shure's bass has more of an acoustical feel to it. The Ultimate Ears don't roll off so much on the highs, but it's marginal.

The soundstage is great on the Shures and there are 8 different ear pieces to ensure a tight fit - obviously sound isolation phones depend on the seal, and you won't get the bass without a good seal either. They also have a neat 'Push to Hear' feature that stops the music and enables a microphone for brief conversations without removing the earpieces.

Are they better with a sound system, of course. Are they better with an inline amp, yes - but not really necessary. Are they really necessary for mp3 sound quality - well that's down to personal preference - they do (in my opinion) sound better than anything else, and according to my iPod I have listened to over 14,000 songs so far this year. Even if the headphones only last for the two year warranty period I think it's worth the price difference for that much listening.

Yikes... you were right the first time....

Go look at headfi.org and read what people have to say about Dre. compared to other brands. Shure SE530 >>>> Beats

To be fair though Shure SE530 $$$$ >>>>>>> Beats $$$$

I was just thinking of buying a set of Klipsch's Boney. I would like to follow Roff's recommedation on the Shures but that's a bit out of my price range. Should I rethink this?

Regardless of the price point that you go for you are going to want to try and listen to them. Depending on the type of music you listen to the different sound of the different models will either work or not. I don't have experience with Klipsch so I'll let BD reply to that, but if you go to a decent stereo place (as opposed to a place like Best Buy) then they should have demo pairs that you can listen to - just make sure that they sanitize them in front of you!!

Take your iPod and listen to the music that you listen to and figure out what works best for you. The Sennheiser CX400s that I had were great sound quality for the money ($100 give or take), but I just got fed up with the quality problems. Klipsch, Ultimate Ears, Shure, etc all have offerings that can match a $100 or so budget, and they will also allow you to listen to the pricier ones and let you decide for yourself whether it's worth it.

At the end of the day, while more money buys you supposedly better earphones, the sound is very personal - if they place I went to hadn't carried Shures then I would have happily walked out with the far cheaper Ultimate Ears Super Fi 5s.

Thanks Roff.
Unfortunatley Best Buy is about as good as it gets around my neck of the woods. Honestly I can't think of a stereo store within at least 150 and maybe 200 miles so I'm somewhat reliant on the advice and experience of others in this regard. I value sound quality of course but my big beef is comfort. My Ipod ear buds absolutely kill my ears after just a few minutes of use and try as I may I cannot find a comfortable way to wear them. I realize that each person is individual in the shape of their ear canals so it's going to be difficult for somenone to make recommendations in this aspect but I did look at some Klipsch's on the internet and thought the soft plastic ear pieces certainly looked more comfortable than the stock Ipod pieces. I'm willing to accept loss in sound quality or even pay out of the wazoo if I can find something that I can wear longer than a few minutes. How are the Shures on comfort?

If you find a good fit then you will not only get better comfort, you will get better sound quality as the outside world is better isolated - particularly important with bass.

The SE530s have 8 different exchangeable ends in different types which obviously makes it easier to find one that fits better. I am using one of the foam ones - it's not regular foam, it's like a 'memory foam' that actually fits to your ear and is very comfortable for the more than 2 hours that they are in.

As you go up the quality range the seal become even more important because the units themselves become bigger and therefore heavier so if you don't get a good seal then they can fall out.

Of course you can always get some Ultimate Ears UE 10 Pros - they come with custom made ends moulded to your ear canals

The Shures certainly sound tempting. I like the idea of having so many end piece options. Surely with that variety I could find something that would be comfortable. I may give them a try. Might make a good Christmas present suggestion to the wife.

Thanks Roff.