"...Like Sex in Your Ear Canal"
That sounds kinda uncomfortable. That's really all I have to say about that one.

Some people are actually into that (not me). But I don't think someone would shell out almost a grand for that unless they're a really rich perv.

Why would you spend so much money to hook up awesome headphones to the MP3 equivilent of an 8-track?

I prommise your 128kbps MP3 files will sound the same on $100 ear buds that they do on the $1000.

But if iPod users were in it for the value, they wouldn't buy an iPod.

i think brad is an "I" hater. what happened brad, did your stock get sold off too early?
you are funny tho.

Just look at all those crazy ear-sex adapters. That big, brassy one looks ribbed and pointy.

brad brad brad
a guanrantee?
a promise?
you aren't the guy with the ear sex thing are you?

Fotunately, sound is the only thing comming out of those earphones.

Well Brad, you may have issues with the folks at iLounge, but the fact is that Ultimate Ears products work for more audio sources than iPods. Production engineers are turning more and more to IEM's for the benefits of their flat frequency response; audiophiles use them in ramped-up home systems; musicians use them in concert to reduce ambient noise.

And ALL of the above groups of users tend to own portable players with which their IEM's also work. If you've got a great pair of cans that happen to work with your iPod, why not take them along?

And your "prommise" that they won't sound any better than $100 'phones is unpersuasive, even with the extra "m" in there.

Three years ago I bought Etymotic's ER4Ps. The sound was outstanding! It's not that they make 128kbps track sound like a lossless file played through a fancy stereo, it's that they make any iPod track sound so much better. However, these darn $300 things lasted exactly three years!

I can not see any external damage but the joint where the left and right cables connect to the single cable leading to the plug must be loose. I need to hold it tight at the "y" spot or else I don't hear anything!

From now on, I'm not spending over $50 for earbuds.

Fortunately, sound is the only thing comming out of those earphones.

Brad:

more knee-jerk ipod bashing. come up for air once in awhile and learn that ipods are perfectly capable of lossless playback. your 8-track analogy is bogus as my 30gig holds strictly lossless AFLAC files which are indistinguishable from WAV or AIFF. but yeah why listen to me i'm just some idiot sheep who wanted an ipod so I could look cool. have fun with your creative player!!!

Music-Lawyer

I'm sorry, audiophiles wouldn't touch those with a ten foot pole. First and foremost a good pair of speakers sound much better than any set of headphones. If they were to use headphones, they would be something more along the lines of open air grados. These cost $900 and any situation where IEMs would be useful (monitoring for musicians) They are too expensive as they tend to get destroyed after a while.

People who've had sex in my ear canal have reported that it's not all that pleasurable an experience.

1. UE-10s are the best ever!!!!!! (and unless any of you have had these or similar in your ear you can't or really shouldn't post negatively about them)
2. I have been to there place and when you see the clientele they have there, you will realize that people do touch it with a "ten foot pole". A majority of people can't afford or don't justify spending 1000$
3. You guys should read the post clearly, it says it won't cost 900$, referring to the UE-10s. There is no pricing on the Triple.Fi's

There=Their

sorry

SoundGuyDave:

Audiophiles don't use IEM's? There are dozens (if not hundreds) of people over at www.head-fi.org who disagree with you.

If IEM's don't work for you, don't use them! However, it's silly to insult those who like IEM's by saying they're trash.

The problem with IEMs is that many people like to audition expensive audio equipment before they buy it. That's not really practical with IEMs. (That said, I bought a pair of Shure e5s without listening to them first, and I love them.)

To Brad: most people who are spending several hundred dollars on headphones don't listen to 128kbps MP3s on their ipods. Ipods also support higher bitrate MP3s and WAV files, and while FLAC support would be nice, 320kbps sounds perfectly good to my ears.

To SoundGuyDave: audiophiles do leave the house occasionally, you know. ;) Open-back headphones may be great at home (I love my HD600s, and they definitely sound better than my e5s), but they're not so good in the library or on an airplane.

I own a pair of Super.fi 5 pros and couldn't be happier. I wouldn't consider myself among the most hardcore of audiophiles, but I do consider myself a novice.

While I can understand your argument for over-the-ear, open style phones offering increased driver sizes, and arguably increased frequency response and quality, they aren't suited for all environments and situations.

Really the only situation the above style of phones are good for is home listening in a place with substantially low ambient noise. You can't even really use them in a library or work situation due to the high amount of noise they leak due to their open design.

Closed-ear options aren't that comfortable over long periods of time, and often leave you feeling hot.

Anyways, this is getting way too long and preachy.

Morale of the story, I use Super.fi 5 Pros with my iPod and can tell a huge difference over any other style of headphone I've tried. ... and this being with measely 192kbps minimum vbr encoded mp3s.

To be clear, sex of the ear canal is known as "shinshi shinshi." Duh!

These earphones may be really good; no one will know for sure until they come out and people have a chance to put them to the test.

But as far as people who spend the bucks for a good pair of earphones/earbuds, I'm one of those people, and I believe it was one of the best purchases I have made.

A couple of years ago, I bought the Shure E5c Sound Isolating Earphones which I found for $500 (list is $549), and I could not be more pleased with them! They make every song sound so much better, even the basic iTunes music files. But I have also enjoyed re-importing some of my favorite CDs using the lossless encoder. I can now hear sounds on these songs that I never heard before!

Regular speakers in a room are great, but to "fill you" with the music, you have to really turn the music up loud. I will not do that out of consideration for my family and neighbors. Plus, I like a little privacy with some of the songs I listen to. The Shure E5c earphones block out any external sound and completely fill me with the music to the point I am absolutely immersed in it - while simultaneously retaining my privacy and courtesy to others around me.

Imagine buying groceries at the grocery store while your completely filled with your favorite music and no one can even tell (the wires run down your back so it's hard for others to even see the earphones). You absolutely cannot do this with regular speakers or with cheap earphones. Quite honestly, I think most people who are very negative about higher-end earphones are those who have never truly experienced the luxury of owning them. I know for absolute certainty I will never go back to using cheap earphones. Once you've had a taste of the higher quality, you just cannot go back.

Complexity:

That's absolutely untrue about music's "filling" effect requiring just a volume bump with speakers. There are an enormous amount of variables that drastically fluctuate the sound quality of speakers (as well as earbuds, for that matter) and rarely are two brands ever the same. I have sat in audio-ized rooms for the purpose of delivering shockingly great sound and I've worn top of the line expensive earbuds ($779 when I wore them) and I personally exclusively prefer the potential of speakers.

Also, if your argument is that you were referring to "regular" speakers (thus implying some kind of cheap quality to them), then I would see nothing but hypocrisy in defending the purchase of $900 earbuds. However, cost against cost, I can see top-quality 8.1 channel clearing out someone's budget.

"...Like Sex in Your Ear Canal"
I'm afraid even of imaging that terrible feeling... Has someone experienced it?
Nevertheless this phrase works good as image-metaphor... Can I say: " I smells so tasty, like sex in your nose"?

signature: "Having sex is like playing bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand (at least adult toys"