High-end monitoring: Sennheiser´s HD 380 pro for audio professionals

The new HD 380 pro headphones from Sennheiser offer high-end quality for professional monitoring. With their wide frequency response, high sound pressure level and excellent passive attenuation of external noise, these collapsible professional headphones are the ideal tool – even in noisy environments.

Perfect sound without interference from external noise: with this aim in mind, Sennheiser has developed a new set of high-end headphones for audio professionals such as sound engineers, musicians and music producers. The new headphones are specially designed to meet the high demands of monitoring applications. “Professional headphones have to fulfil a wide range of requirements,” said Ivan Kuan, product manager at Sennheiser. “They have to provide excellent but accurate sound, effectively attenuate external noise and yet still remain comfortable even after hours of monitoring work.” To ensure that they offer detailed, linear sound reproduction, the dynamic HD 380 pro headphones have a very wide frequency response of 8 – 27,000 Hz. Sennheiser’s specially developed ‘Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement’ (E.A.R.) technology makes sure that the sound is also optimally channelled. Acoustic baffles inclined at a slight angle guide the audio signal directly to the ears. A further highlight of these professional headphones is their high sound pressure level. Audio signals are reproduced at up to 110 dB, thus guaranteeing precise monitoring even in noisy surroundings. The closed-back design of theHD 380 pro also ensures that external noise is attenuated by up to 32 dB.




Comfortable and convenient
As a constant companion during hours of use, professional headphones need to be as comfortable as possible. The HD 380 pro offers exceptional wearing comfort. Weighing just 220 grams and with soft padding on the ear cups and headband, the headphones still remain comfortable even after lengthy monitoring sessions – ideal for audio professionals who need to wear headphones for hours on end. The space-saving collapsible design of the HD 380 pro also makes them very easy to transport. After use, the headphones can simply be folded away and conveniently stored in the carrying case provided. The headphones also come with a one-sided detachable coiled cable with a 3.5 mm jack plug and a 6.3 mm screw-on adapter. The ear pads and cables are easy to replace, ensuring that these sturdy monitoring headphones continue to provide perfect monitoring sound even after years of use.


The HD 380 pro headphones will be available in stores from January 2009.


The Sennheiser Group, with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. The family-owned company, which was established in 1945, recorded sales of over €395 million in 2007, 83% of which were generated abroad. Sennheiser employs almost 2,000 people worldwide, around 55% of whom are in Germany. Sennheiser has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA, and is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as by long-term trading partners in many other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones), K + H Vertriebs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (Klein + Hummel studio monitors, installed sound) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centres).

New image of Sennheiser HD380

Click on the photos below to see larger versions.

Vacuum Tube Amplifier iPod Speaker from RockridgeSound

Here's the ultimate iPod speaker, the ISR-VT02! Not only does it have a unique design, but it's also a vacuum tube amplifier type speaker! Thanks to two 12AX7(ECC83), these speakers provide a softer sound, more natural to your digital DAP. 
The speaker output is 2x12W, and it also features an AM/FM radio.

The ISR-VT02 supports all iPod and iTouch range DAPs, but not the iPhone.

Live Jam 3 Pack: an orchestra for walkman

Rather than to invite an orchestra which will ânonnera songs of end of banquet at the time of your midnight suppers, make-therefore rather confidence in Live Jam 3 Pack, is a guitarist, a beater and a keyboard, which will play your preferred songs - finally, which will mimeront as much as they can it the titles resulting from your walkman… However, they integrate out of standard a few well felt pieces. Each one of these plastic musicians has a loudspeaker and ensure even the show light! Dispo for approximately 50$.

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Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 Review [New Version v2]

By: Martin Sägmüller on December 2, 2008 11:56 AM

Since the reader comments on my Ultimate Ears UE 11 Pro review were quite polarizing (“best thing ever” vs. “who is insane enough to buy such an overpriced thing”) I thought it would be a good idea to give one of the less expensive Ultimate Ears universal fit earphones a closer look. We at abi aren’t entirely made of money – and neither are many of our esteemed readers, so it’s probably good to keep the reviews in balance, financially speaking.

Enter the Super.Fi 5, the newest (and cheapest) member in Ultimate Ear’s series of medium-priced earphones. The name couldn’t be any more confusing, considering there are two other phones from the same range available, the Super.Fi 5 Pro and Super.Fi 5 EB. It’s no surprise these new Super.Fi 5 “Without A Suffix” are often called “SF5 v2”, “2.0”, or “The New One” in blogs and internet forums to avoid confusion.

Read on for the in-depth review.

* Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 Specs
* Driver: single custom balanced armature, top-firing
* Sensitivity: 115dB @ 1mW
* Impedance: 13 Ohm @ 1kHz
* Frequency range: 15Hz – 15kHz
* Cable: 120cm/46” (Y-style), straight 3.5mm gold-plated plug, microphone (optional, on the VI version)
* Accessories: Carrying case, silicon tips (2xS/4xM/2xL), Comply foam tips (4xM), cleaning tool

Accessories

The Super.Fi 5 come with a small plastic box with rounded edges. I don’t know how long it will take until the thin latch on the box breaks, but the size and form factor is very nice for use on the go. It's certainly more secure than storing earphones in cloth or leather bags. Next to the earphones you can store the ear wax cleaning tool in it and there might still be some space left to store a spare set of tips.

The included silicon tips are typical Ultimate Ears quality: thick and sturdy, yet soft and comfortable, with no injection mold ridges. I’ve always been a fan of UE’s older gray Super.Fi tips, and the new white ones don’t disappoint either. They’re certainly my favorite kind of silicon tips. Due to the thickness of the silicon material they might isolate a tiny bit more than thinner tips, but this might also depend on one’s ear canal shape. All in all, their isolation is pretty much average, same level as most other canal-phones out there provide.

Same as with many other medium/high-class earphones nowadays, the SF5 come with some fancy and expensive Comply foam tips. Too bad there are only two pairs of the same medium-sized Comply tips in the box. They’re too small for my ears and don’t seal at all – even if the equally large medium-sized silicon tips are perfectly fine for my ears. I'd appreciate it if Ultimate Ears packed a pair of large foamies with the SF5 instead. Comply foam tips give good isolation and are easy to compress and insert – but they don’t last longer than about a week or two with constant use and are therefore in my opinion seriously overpriced at about $15 for three pairs. So better save them for your next flight or train voyage and don’t waste them on everyday use.

Design, Build, Specs

Contrary to the older dual driver Super.Fi 5 Pro and EB variants, the new Super.Fi 5 use single armature drivers to reproduce audio. Time doesn’t stand still; armature technology is getting better, so it must not be a bad thing having fewer drivers in a phone. The Phonak Audéo for example shows that a single armature can even surpass some dual- or triple armature phones in certain aspects. I’ll say more about that in the sound chapter below, but in general the new SF5 don’t have to fear the comparison to their more expensive dual driver siblings in the SF5 range.

The one detail where the new SF5 completely stomp all over the older SF5Pro and SF5EB (as well as the Super.Fi 3 and Triple.Fi 10, for that matter) is comfort and fit. My personal opinion is that the SF5Pro and EB are the most uncomfortable and anatomically incorrect phones ever created. Their designers appear to never have seen a human ear in their life, which resulted in phones that are – both form- and comfort-wise – a blend of Lieutenant Uhura’s humongous “communicator” earpiece in Star Trek and the head screws of Frankenstein’s monster.

The new Super.Fi 5 are the exact opposite: very comfortable, easy to insert, and they don’t stick out of one’s ears in an unsightly manner. They might not fit exactly as securely as the other SF5 models with memory wire on the cables, but they certainly won’t fall out of one’s ears with normal use. I’ve been using them for some weeks now, even in bed – I couldn’t wish for a much more comfy phone for sleeping, my ears aren’t sore at all in the morning. Kudos to Ultimate Ears for creating an entirely different housing from scratch and not reusing design parts from the older SF5 models.

The left and right earpieces are easy to tell apart because of the distinctive bend in the housing. Nevertheless Ultimate Ears added another subtle visual cue: the inside of the right earphone is translucent red, the left one translucent gray. It’s quite unobtrusive having this color coding on the inside of the phones – contrary to defacing the outside, as seen on some Etymotic or MylarOne phones.

On the outside, the Super.Fi 5 are really quite fetching. I’m usually not a fan of blingy stuff, but the mirror-like chrome finish of the plastic (Ultimate Ears calls it “liquid silver”) and the minimalist UE logo look great. Of course the chrome is a fingerprint magnet, but it can be easily cleaned. My SF5 aren’t scratched yet; I hope they are going to be shiny for a bit longer…

So far, build quality appears to be fine. The phones’ housing feels solid and well manufactured. Strain reliefs should work reliably and the cables have a good diameter. The cables feel a tad stiff and rubbery though – but because of that they don’t tangle much, which is always a very welcome feature. Unlike the older SF5Pro and EB, the new version’s cables aren’t removable. I never had durability issues with any of Ultimate Ears’ cables, so I wouldn’t say this is a real disadvantage.

Personally, I prefer to wear the phones with the cables over my ears, which gives a better fit and reduces cable noise (“microphonics”), but the SF5 can be worn the traditional way as well, with the cables hanging down. With the cables hanging down they transfer a bit too much noise for my taste, but worn up around the ears they’re quite well behaved.

A few explanations concerning the technical mumbo-jumbo might be in order as well. An impedance of 13 Ohm and a sensitivity of 115db/mW means the Super.Fi 5 are loud – really, really loud. There are certain disadvantages to phones with ridiculously low impedances like this: background hiss, stereo separation issues, and bass roll-off could happen on many portable audio players. I really don’t know why companies even make phones with these kinds of exaggerated impedance/sensitivity specs – all modern MP3 players work perfectly fine with phones that provide “reasonable” specs, somewhere between 30 and 60 Ohm, and a sensitivity below 110dB/mW.

This being said, the Super.Fi 5 work fine on my Sansa Clip, with negligible background hiss and deep bass. On my Cowon D2 (and many other players) however they hiss a bit more, and their bass response isn’t as deep and massive as it could be. To fix these issues I use a portable headphone amp in between the Cowon D2 and the phones, then they perform even better than plugged directly into the Sansa Clip. An impedance adapter dongle could help as well. Of course they probably would sound perfectly fine for most people without an amp or impedance adapter; it’s rather subtle, not a “night and day” difference. It’s just sad to see these issues could be easily avoided with slightly higher impedance ratings. There’s really no advantage in using 13 Ohm instead of, say, 32 Ohm for earphones.

Sound

As strange as it seems, the Super.Fi’s armature drivers need some time to settle down (or “burn in”, as some people like to call it). I was honestly shocked how muddy and clogged they sounded right out of the box, but they got better over time – a lot better. After a few hours of listening they sounded fine – something I experienced with only one other armature phone before, the Shure SE530. Usually armatures don’t change their sound characteristics, but as it seems there are exceptions to this rule. Maybe it’s not only the phones but also the listener’s brain that “burns in” and gets accustomed to the new sound. In any case – give them some time; don’t judge them by their sound after the first few minutes you listen to them.

Of all single armature phones I heard to date the Super.Fi 5 certainly are among the bass heavier ones. They have about as much bass as the Phonak Audéo, slightly more than the dual-driver q-Jays, and a lot more than the Etymotic ER-6.The SF5 are almost on par with the dual-armature Super.Fi 5 Pro (just a bit less), the dynamic driver MylarOne X3i, or first generation V-Moda Vibes. The usual deficiency of low frequency impact in single armatures doesn’t apply to the SF5; they should satisfy most casual listeners’ tastes. It’s an enjoyable bass response for MP3 players on the go, even for players that don’t have a decent EQ or a rolled off bass response with low impedance phones.

Ultimate Ear’s claim that the SF5’s bass goes down to 15Hz is of course not true, the bass starts at about 27Hz. This is good enough, since portable players (and even professional sound cards) usually can’t reproduce frequencies below 20Hz anyway (and hardly any music track contains frequencies below 30Hz).

The midrange isn’t really recessed despite the phones' slight loudness curve or “fun” sound character. Vocals, guitars, etc. aren’t so much in the background that something would appear to be missing from the music. It’s a nice midrange for rock, pop, and also many styles of electronic music work well. Where the SF5 midrange lacks a bit is with dense, layered music, like string ensembles, choirs, or pipe organ chords. The armatures seem to be somewhat overwhelmed by such complex sounds, and the result is a slightly veiled or “nasal” presentation. However, solo guitars, vocals, and similar materials work well and sound good – when they’re not embedded in too dense background music.

Even if in some cases there seems to be a slight veil covering their clarity, they are definitely more detailed and precise than any average dynamic driver earphone. The difference might not be as obvious as with "surgical" precision phones, like the Phonak Audéo or Etymotics, though. Nevertheless, the SF5's dynamics, instrument separation, and attack speed is certainly a lot better than what can be found in most dynamic driver IEMs, and that’s what makes armatures so appealing, at least in my opinion.

An interesting feature about the treble is that it hardly ever seems to get veiled or lose its crispness. It’s usually quite clear and not influenced by the midrange and bass – not a bad feat for a single armature, covering the whole frequency range. The treble can be somewhat forward sounding, but it isn't too bright in general. It can get a bit harsh and sibilant with some badly recorded material, but for most recordings it’s very enjoyable. I didn’t notice any roll-off, Ultimate Ear’s claim that the driver reaches 15 kHz seems quite reasonable. All in all, the SF5’s treble is quite a bit better than what average dynamic driver IEMs usually are able to reproduce, just as one would expect from an armature.

Similar to the Phonak Audéo, the Super.Fi’s armatures don’t blast their sound directly into one’s ear canals, it goes around some corners in the housing. Ultimate Ears calls them “top fire” armatures. This might be a factor in the better than average stereo positioning and soundstage width of the SF5. While the music of course is still pretty much “in your head”, the Super.Fi manage a noticeably wider soundstage than most of the small direct-firing armature phones, like the q-Jays, Etymotics, or the older Super.Fi 5 Pro/EB models. Soundstage is one of the strongest points of the SF5. I sure hope to see more “indirectly firing” earphones in the future.

Compared to their more expensive dual-driver siblings, the new Super.Fi 5 are a tiny bit less precise (detailed, textured) and punchy than the SF5 Pro, but they have way better soundstage and are somewhat more “fun” to listen to. It might just be me, but because of their "exciting" sound the new SF5 even seem to have slightly better instrument separation than the SF5Pro. Compared to the bass monster Super.Fi 5 EB, the new SF5 of course have less (yet better defined) bass, but also better clarity and treble. Furthermore, considering the quite bad form factor and fit issues of the two older Super.Fi 5 models, I personally prefer the new version in any case. Besides the arbitrary name, they don't share many similarities with the other two SF5 variants anyway.

In my opinion they are a step up from the older two SF5 versions in most aspects – not a step down, despite their lower price.

Conclusion

So… who are the Super.Fi 5 actually made for? Ultimate Ears’ claim of the SF5 being made for “fashion minded consumers who listen to a variety of music genres” seems about right. In my opinion the SF5 are a good upgrade for people who used some of the inexpensive, higher quality dynamic driver phones like the V-Moda Vibe, MylarOne X3i, or people who want a less analytic, sterile sound than the q-Jays, Etymotics, or similar ones provide. The Super.Fi cater to people who like an “euphonic” loudness curve style that works well with portable players. They are tuned for “fun”, not for analyzing sound waves – which clearly must not be a negative thing, depending on one’s personal taste.

If you’re fed up with your dynamic driver earphones’ lack of instrument separation, dynamics, punch, or treble, but also don’t want overly analytic phones that aren’t “exciting” to listen to, then you should take a good look at the Super.Fi 5. They are really nice performers in general. Maybe not the best choice for critical listening, mixing, and mastering – but great for enjoying music on the go. All in all, they’re really precise compared to dynamic driver earphones and they’re really fun sounding for single armatures. Over the last few weeks I have grown to like them a lot - in my book they're a keeper.

Pros

• “Fun”, “exciting” sound signature, slight loudness curve character
• Very good soundstage for an earphone
• Good comfort and fit, fetching chrome looks

Cons

• Impedance is very low, may result in background hiss and rolled-off bass response with some audio players (can be fixed with an amp or impedance adapter)
• Slightly veiled midrange with certain complex audio materials

Purchase

MSRP of the Super.Fi 5 is $169.99 ($189.99 for the VI version with microphone); Amazon.com has them for cheaper, as usual.

Phonak Audéo PFE (Perfect Fit Earphone) Review

By: Martin Sägmüller on November 19, 2008 12:53 PM

Phonak, a market leading Swiss hearing aid company that has been around for over 50 years, recently joined the competitive in-ear monitor game with the release of their single armature based Audéo PFE (“Perfect Fit Earphones”).

While Phonak’s high-end hearing aids go for several thousands of dollars, their earphones are quite reasonably priced at $139 for the regular phone version and $159 for the headset version with microphone.

Read on for the full lowdown, but hold on to your wallet if you’re easily excited about earphones with near-perfect clarity and resolution – for a lower price than most of the competition offers…

• Phonak Audéo PFE (“Perfect Fit Earphone”) Specs
• Driver: single balanced armature
• Sensitivity: 107 dB @ 1 mW
• Impedance: 32 Ohm @ 1 kHz
• Frequency range: 5 Hz – 17 kHz
• Cable: 110 cm / 3.6 ft (Y-style), straight 3.5 mm gold-plated plug, microphone (optional)
• Accessories: Carrying case, silicon tips (S/M/L), Comply foam tips (M), cleaning tool, acoustic filters, silicon ear guides

Accessories

The Audéo PFE come with the usual accessories one would expect with a medium-priced ear monitor – but the items that stick out in a very positive way are the ingenious silicon ear guides which provide a proper over-the-ear fit and reduce cable noise. These silicon “memory wires” are removable and fit on most other earphone cables as well. All other in-ear phones I tried them with did also benefit from a better cable fit and reduced cable noise transmission. Phonak had a quite bright idea with those, and it seems they are going to sell these cable guides separately – if you have cable noise issues or cables slipping you should give them a try.

The carrying pouch is quite nice as well, as it has two compartments – one for the phones, the other one for the accessories. Since it’s made of quite thin fabric it won’t keep your phones from cracking when you sit on them, but it’s a good way to keep all the tiny parts in one place.

Silicon tips are very similar to the ones that come with Shure earphones, thick and sturdy, with unobtrusive injection mold ridges. They do their job very well and aren’t likely to tear. Foam tips supplied with the Audéo are of the fancy, expensive Comply kind. The PFE only come with medium sized Comply foam tips, which are probably too small for a lot of ears out there. Well, they give you a “fix” of the good stuff and expect you to buy the ones fitting your ears separately…

Phonak took a welcome modular approach with the Audéo PFE’s sound signature. They provide two varieties of acoustic filters and a filter changing tool with the phones. One kind of filter (white) gives a more midrange-centric signature, the other one (black) is more of a loudness-contour kind of sound presentation, boosting bass and treble a bit. It might not be as sophisticated as the Sleek SA6’s tweakability, but it gets the job done – and the difference between the filters is audible, to a certain extent.

The downside to these filters might be that they need to be replaced over time, but I can’t say how long the filters hold up, and how much some replacement filters are going to cost (two pairs of both filter variants come with the Audéo, four black, four white).

Design, Build, Specs

Phonak claims their single armature drivers go from a 5 Hz earthquake-simulation straight up to 17 kHz. While I (and probably many other humans) don’t hear these absolute extremes or have music that contains these bass frequencies, the Audéo’s drivers certainly cover the audible frequency range perfectly well. A 20 Hz bass is no issue for them; neither do they lack the upper-most treble extension.

Their decent impedance of 32 Ohm and their not overly exaggerated sensitivity of 107dB means one thing for real-life usage: they don’t hiss much, even with problematic players. They behave very well on the Cowon D2, known to be a somewhat hissy player with many low impedance phones, and they even passed the most devious of tests: plugging them into the epitome of hiss-inferno, the Nintendo DS. The Phonaks aren’t the loudest phones available, but of course they perform well with any modern player, being more than loud enough for anyone’s needs. Trading a little sound pressure level quantity for noiseless background quality certainly is the right thing to do.

Build quality is ok on the Audéo PFE; they’re neither the shabbiest nor the best built phones around. They’re all-plastic, with a decorative metal plate hiding two screws underneath, for access to the armature drivers. There aren’t any other in-ear phones I know of that use standard Phillips screws to hold them together. This might be a welcome target for DIY repairmen or other “tweak-a-holics”, since recabling the Audéo seems like a very easy task, compared to other earphones which are usually glued or snapped together.

The Audéo’s cables are top notch. They remind me of Shure’s SE530 cables in certain ways: thicker diameter than usual, very soft, little noise transmission, and virtually tangle-proof. The strain relief on the 3.5mm plug appears to be a bit stiff, the Y-splitter has no strain relief, and the part of the housing where the cable enters the earphones is rubberized… I’ve seen better solutions, but it work so far. Cable length is 110cm, which is slightly shorter than what most other companies use. I find this to be a great length, as there is no excess cable getting in the way, be it with the player in my trousers’ or in my jacket’s pocket. It might not be the perfect length for a basketball player or similar beanpole, but for me it’s just right.

On a side note: the Audéo PFE are made in Vietnam, which is somewhat out of the ordinary. Most other mass-manufactured phones usually come from China, Taiwan, Japan, or Korea. Vietnamese quality control certainly seems up to the task, no complaints there.

Let’s talk wearing comfort. The Audéo are marketed as “Perfect Fit Earphones” with “exceptional comfort” – well, they don’t really come close to that bold claim, at least for using them while sleeping. Phonak might be a company that has 50 years experience with hearing aids, but they sure failed at making their first earphones as comfortable as their advertisements promise. It’s rather simple, actually: doesn’t Phonak’s design team know that you don’t put sharp edges on earphones?

When using the Audéo for sleeping my ears feel like they’ve been resting on a two-by-four piece of lumber for the night. Anatomically speaking, these phones put pressure on some sensitive parts of my ears, specifically the inner side of the tragus, the part above the tragus, and the anti-helix. “Simple” shaped earphones like the Sennheiser CX300 or V-Moda Vibe are more comfortable for me and even bigger, bent ones like the Shure SE530 provide better comfort while sleeping.

However, to be fair: for regular use they’re ok and don’t hurt like when using them in bed, but my ears still get slightly irritated after some time when using them on the go. The bottom part of the housing is the main culprit here, the lower edge of the metal veneer tickling my ear’s anti-helix. It might just be me, though – people with bigger (or less sensitive) ears might have fewer issues.

This being said, the other part of Phonak’s “perfect fit” claim is true – they fit securely and aren’t likely to fall out. I’ve been working out with them, and they never even broke their seal. The silicon ear guides aren’t really necessary for a secure fit since the phones stay put on their own (well, I didn’t do cartwheels and similar capers). The guides are more useful for counteracting cable noise, but that might vary depending on a person’s ear shape. In any case, the Audéo PFE are a very good choices for people looking for workout phones.

The amount of outside noise isolation can be altered to fit one’s needs. With silicon tips the Audéo isolate about as much as every other IEM out there, with Comply foam tips they attenuate quite a bit more. They won’t block noise as efficiently as Shure SE530 foamies or Etymotic triple-flange tips, but they work well enough for reducing road, train, and similar noises so you don’t have to turn the volume on your MP3 player to unsafe levels.

Which brings me to a point that’s quite important to me personally: I hate having to listen to dangerously high volume levels; I want to preserve my hearing for years to come. Fortunately, the PFE are phones that work quite well even at very low listening levels. Many other earphones don’t sound good at quiet levels (especially when driven by a wimpy MP3 player amp); they often lack bass impact, detail, and dynamics. The Audéo are an exception to this rule, they sound very acceptable at low volume settings. Some day your ears will thank you for that.

Sound

Phonak sent me a prototype version of their Audéo PFE a few months ago. Back then I wasn’t overly pleased with the small amount of bass this preproduction unit delivered. Now, a few months later I was quite surprised when I put the bass-enhancing filters onto my new final-version Audéo, started listening, and noticed these things now actually got some of the desired “oomph” going on. The prototypes had about as little bass as Etymotic ER-6, and the various filters didn’t really help much. Now they have about as much as the q-Jays, but with slightly deeper bass extension and less roll-off. Furthermore, none of that silly midbass exaggeration that can be found in cheap boomy phones is present in the Audéo’s sound; it’s all the real deal, all the way down to 20 Hz, tight and punchy. However, as good as the quality is, the quantity certainly won’t please a diehard basshead – at least not without some EQ tweaking.

Midrange is very neutral, detailed, and smooth. Where phones like the q-Jays might sound “hollow” and Etymotic “too forward” with certain audio material, the Audéo sound very natural and balanced. They’re not quite up to the glorious smoothness of the SE530’s midrange, but considering the Audéo’s price range, they’re more than fine. Even very complex music like orchestral pieces or dense heavy metal tracks sound good and are reproduced with ease. It seems as if Phonak’s history in creating hearing aids shows here as well, as human voices seem to have a particularly great intelligibility on the PFE. I would say the Audéo fit well in the noble “ear monitor” category; a mere “earphone” denomination is a bit of an understatement.

Treble quantity is just about right – less than the q-Jays, more than the SE530, about as much as the UE11. The actual quantity depends a bit on the acoustic filters used, but I didn’t notice as much difference between the two filter varieties as with the bass response. Treble quality is great, in every way. It’s never harsh or sibilant, yet there’s no detail missing in the music. They sparkle without hurting, so to speak – and that’s a good thing. I didn’t notice any significant roll-off, which isn’t the norm with single armatures trying to reproduce the whole audible frequency range, but the Audéo don’t disappoint; right up to my hearing’s limits (ca. 16.5 kHz).

From the above paragraphs you might already have guessed that the PFE’s clarity, resolution, and instrument separation is nothing to sneer at. Usually you find this kind of precision only in a higher price segment, but the Audéo take on the big boys with ease. The PFE do match the clarity of my personal reference – the Ultimate Ears UE11 – to a certain extent, so that’s probably as good as it gets for earphones (to the best of my knowledge). They stomp all over dynamic driver IEMs when it comes to detail and precision. They even make some of the medium-priced “benchmark” armature phones like the Etymotic ER-6 or Super.Fi 5 Pro sound a little muddy and anemic in comparison.

The Audéo’s armatures are “edge-firing”; they are mounted at a right angle to the nozzle that leads into the ear canal. I can’t be certain this has anything to do with the rather decent stereo imaging (“soundstage”) the PFE’s deliver, but it might be a contributing factor. As it is the case with all other ear monitors, the soundstage is pretty much in your head and doesn’t psychoacoustically expand beyond the physical limitations. However, I’ve certainly heard worse ones. The Audéo’s soundstage isn’t as wide as the SE530’s, the V-Moda Vibe’s, or similar phones, but it is wider than the Etymotic’s, Super.Fi 5’s, and even the UE11’s. However, it doesn’t deliver the pinpoint accuracy and 3D feeling of the UE11; the PFE is more of the usual “three blob” soundstage.

Conclusion

Bassheads have perhaps stopped reading this review already a few paragraphs above – but to reiterate: these phones are probably not for you. The PFE are the right phones for people who appreciate the sound signature of, say, the q-Jays, Etymotic ER-4, or the AKG K701. They do have a certain quantity of bass, with better quality than many other earphones, though.

Considering the comparatively low price of the Audéo PFE, it’s a no-brainer: they give you the perhaps best clarity and precision in the sub-$150 earphone price range. They have better treble than the SE530, better midrange than the q-Jays, and a decent soundstage for an IEM. They are definitely worth their price. Sure seems like certain single armature implementations have come a long way… Higher priced multi-armature IEMs like the UE11 or the SE530 are of course better in certain aspects, but the improvements stand in no relation to their price.

With the bass boost filters I find them to be reasonably fun and exciting to listen to, with the midrange boost filter they are a little more “polite” and analytical. Both variants sound quite punchy and dynamic to me; however I do prefer the more bass heavy approach. I wouldn’t mind if they had slightly more bass quantity overall – let’s wait and see if Phonak releases some bass heavier filters in the future. In the meantime, a little EQing won’t hurt.

If you have a good source and properly encoded audio files you will enjoy them – mostly when listening to classical, jazz, folk, or other varieties of acoustic music. Various genres or rock and heavy metal are equally well reproduced (as long as you can live without an overly visceral “oomph” in the lowest octaves), since the Audéo’s armatures handles dense, complex material quite well. A personal anecdote: the Audéo almost appear to be specially made for listening to the band Opeth – they handle both their airy acoustic interludes and their brute metal parts equally well. I can’t say the same about too many other earphones.

They might not be the most comfortable (despite all of Phonak’s marketing speech), but they should be comfortable enough for most people, and the price/value ratio is very fair. So I can say with good conscience: highly recommended. Phonak Audéo PFE are among the nicest things to come from Switzerland since wristwatches and cheese.

Now excuse me while I’m off to slap an “Editor’s Choice” badge on them.

Pros

• Very good dynamic midrange and treble, decent bass
• Excellent clarity, precision, resolution – perhaps the best in this price range
• Acoustic filters to change the sound signature
• Barely noticeable background hiss with problematic sources
• Ingenious silicon ear guides, little cable noise

Cons

• Not quite as “exceptionally comfortable” as advertised (but very secure fit)
• Acoustic filters might need to be replaced over time

Purchase

At the time of writing Phonak only sells the Audéo directly on their website, there's no other resellers yet. Price is $139/€119 for the standard version and $159/€139 for the version with microphone. I assume in the future the usual suspects like Amazon will stock them as well.

Ultimate Ears UE 11 Pro Review

By: Martin Sägmüller on October 16, 2008 12:23 AM

Here they are, the Ultimate Ears UE 11 Pro: reference ear monitors worshipped by recording artists, sound engineers, and audio nuts alike.

Besides the EarSonics EM3 and ACS T1 they're the most expensive in-ear phones available at the moment. Ahead of all others in the ear monitor race however, the UE 11 raises the ratio of drivers per earpiece to a whopping four armatures. That’s more drivers than many full-sized floor standing speakers have.

Do I notice similarities to the marketing stunts of certain shaving utensil manufacturers, adding one more blade to every new razor model? While these delusions of grandeur appear a bit nonsensical for something you waggle around your face to get rid of stubbles, let’s see how the old “more is better” applies when it comes to professional ear monitors.

• Specs
• Drivers: custom quadruple balanced armatures (2x bass, 1x mids, 1x treble), passive three-way crossover
• Sensitivity: 119dB @ 1mW
• Impedance: 18 Ohm @ 1kHz
• Frequency range: 10Hz – 16.5kHz
• Cable: 122cm or 168cm (Y-style), user replaceable, angled 3.5mm gold-plated plug
• Accessories: Engraved carrying case, storage box, cleaning tool, printed manual

Accessories

One would expect some rather upscale accessories to come with a phone like the UE 11. While you don’t get a diamond encrusted mahogany chest with them, the included aluminum carrying case is probably the next best thing. It’s about 14x17x6 cm and has the owner’s name engraved on top. In my opinion it looks really classy. It’s not exactly the equivalent of a Storm or Pelican case, but it should withstand any moderate abuse. The foam padding on the inside of the case has two pre-cut compartments – one for the smaller earphone storage box and another one that’s (not surprisingly) cut to the dimensions of an iPod. Of course it will fit other players as well; it just needs some utility knife surgery to fit a larger player.

The smaller quadratic aluminum box, measuring 7x7x3 cm, is lined with some flock/felt material. This is not a good thing. The flock fibers come loose and stick to the earphones. When I first received my UE 11, they were covered in that dust. It might become a serious issue if too many of those particles enter the sound ports.

Good thing Ultimate Ears also provides a cleaning tool for these dirt/dust issues. It has a wire loop on one end for removing gunk from the sound tubes and a very rigid brush on the other end – which purpose eludes me. Not even the manual mentions the brush. In any case, cleaning the exterior of the phones with an antiseptic wipe seems to be a better method than brushing.

On a side note, to protect the phones from moisture I use a few bags of desiccant material in the storage box. You can get these from any hearing aid specialist, probably for free. They also come with computer parts, in shoe boxes, and so on.

One accessory I’m missing with the UE 11 is a 3.5 to 6.2mm adapter. I can’t be the only person using the UE 11 with a desktop headphone amplifier sporting a 6.2mm jack; these phones are just too good to be used only on the go. Furthermore, UE’s cheaper Super.Fi and Triple.Fi series includes that adapter – it really shouldn’t add more than $1 to the cost of the phones.

Design, Build, Specs

First things first: you can’t just waltz into a store and buy the UE 11. Their housings are custom molded for your ears, requiring you to get ear impressions made by an audiologist and sending those to Ultimate Ears in California.

These impressions are scanned with a 3D scanner and stored in Ultimate Ear’s database for future reference. A negative mold is made and filled with liquid acrylic that hardens when exposed to UV light. This gives the basic shell, which then is manually processed to get rid of imperfections. The armature drivers are individually tuned to narrow tolerances and put into the housing, together with the passive crossover. Some more tweaking is done to the two sound tubes going from the drivers towards your ear drums to achieve the correct sound.

I want to thank Martin Zwettler from audiophon.at for making perfect impressions of my ears, free of charge. It can be quite a hassle getting your impressions rejected by Ultimate Ears because they don’t match their quality standards... especially for people like me, living on another continent, where flawed impressions would add several more weeks of waiting time.

Of course Ultimate Ears custom phones can be blinged out for a little extra cash with different colors, logos, or even gems. There’s an entertaining Ear Art Gallery on UE’s website showing the possibilities (and also the questionable taste of a few well known recording artists). I chose the standard silver UE logo and a translucent grey shell. A true geek doesn’t hide the inner workings of these phones.

With the cable you get some options as well. You can choose between two lengths (122/168cm, 48/66”) and five colors (beige, black, brown, clear, white). The cable sleeving is made of an excellent soft and flexible material; it doesn’t tangle as much as most other IEM cables. It is user replaceable, so damaging the cable is only a minor issue and doesn’t mean the whole phone has to be replaced or sent off for repair. Unfortunately there’s no choice when it comes to the 3.5mm plug on the cable – only an angled plug is available. If you want a straight plug you might as well start warming up your soldering iron now.

The cable’s Y-splitter is a bit of a botched design (see photo above). It really is Y-shaped and thus doesn’t play well with the small plastic tube that’s used for joining the two cables going to the earphones. Westone uses a very similar splitter on their cables, but without the pronounced Y shape – this one seems more reasonable. Other than that, the UE 11’s splitter seems to be sturdy enough and the strain relieves are of the tried-and-proven kind.

On the earphone end of the cable we find the gold plated prong connectors and the memory wire. That’s the plastic tube with a flexible wire inside, used to direct the cable up around your ears. The memory wire might be a nice feature for some people, but I don’t like it much. It’s hard to bend into a really comfortable position and it increases the transmitted cable noise for wearers of glasses. Needless to say, I removed the plastic tube and wire and enjoy my UE 11 without it. The cables stay in place perfectly fine without the wire.

The aforementioned cable noise, often referred to as “microphonics” is my biggest gripe with the UE 11. Together with bone conductivity made audible by the phones, due to their large surface contact area with the ear/skull and their hard acrylic shell, this accounts for quite a bit of unwanted noise transmission. The cable rubbing against a shirt is pretty loud, your own footsteps can be heard as bassy thuds when running (better wear soft sneakers instead of leather soles), and eating cornflakes while wearing the UE 11 can almost lead to noise-induced tinnitus. When I use the phones while working out, I even can hear my own blood pulse clear and loud in the ears. Of course there’s not much one can do with a shell construction like that. Maybe a soft silicon shell like used on Sensaphonics IEMs is less susceptible for these unwanted noises, but it seems I have to learn to accept it with the UE 11.

I have to mention that I usually listen at very low volume levels, probably much quieter than many people are used to. If I turn the volume up to levels that are uncomfortable for me (but perfectly fine for other folks, such as my girlfriend) these noise transmission issues disappear.

Besides those issues, the phones’ construction is great. They’re comfortable enough for regular use and they stay securely in one’s ears, no matter how heavy of a headbanger one might be. Granted, for my taste they’re a bit too big for use in bed, the way they fill one’s ears with hard acrylic. For me they stick out a little too far to be used comfortably while sleeping, but other people have no issues with that. Don’t get me wrong – they’re far from being uncomfortable, it’s just that they don’t “disappear” like smaller phones. Some universal-fit IEMs have an advantage there.

Isolation from outside noise is probably as good as it gets for an in-ear phone. The UE 11 block noise a bit more than the best isolating non-custom phones, like the Etymotic ER series, or the Shure SE530 with foam tips. It’s still not quite as much isolation as, say, sticking your fingers in your ears, but they block wide-range frequencies like car traffic, wind, or water very efficiently. Active noise-canceling phones don’t come close to this amount of attenuation – not to mention those need batteries and generally don’t sound as good as the UE 11.

The low impedance and high sensitivity rating of the UE 11 might suggest that they hiss with lower quality sources like portable players. I’m glad to report this isn’t the case. Sure, there’s a little background hiss with some MP3 players, but it’s almost negligible. Compared to some other hyper-efficient phones the UE 11 are very well behaved.

The armatures used in the UE 11 might come from Knowles Electronics, manufacturer of armatures for almost all IEMs and hearing aids in existence. However, they bear the UE logo, so they are most likely custom made and tuned to UE's specifications.

Amplifying the UE 11 isn’t really necessary; they work fine with most portable players. Of course an amp might squeeze even higher quality sound out of them. But in the end this last bit of quality is what it’s all about, I believe… otherwise one wouldn’t consider using phones that cost more than a thousand bucks anyway.

Sound

For me the most convenient feature about the UE 11’s sound is that it takes the guesswork out of which phone to choose for certain kinds of music or listening situations. Until now I used to pick a specific IEM for certain tasks, like critical listening/monitoring contrary to enjoying laid-back muzak, I had to choose if I prefer a lot of bass at the cost of reduced precision or vice versa, I had to keep in mind that some IEMs don’t work well with very dense orchestral pieces, and so on. With the UE 11 it’s easy – they work well with any audio material you throw at them, with hardly any compromises. A drawback would be that the rest of my earphone collection started gathering quite a bit of dust.

The bass response is very fine, both in quality and quantity. Speaking in relative terms, I would say we’re dealing here with the performance of a precisely tuned Velodyne or Hsu subwoofer, reducing many other IEMs’ bass performance to the equivalent of a cheap boomy car sub. The UE 11’s bass attacks fast, it is punchy and textured – everything you expect from a quality low frequency reproduction.

I’ve noticed some reviewers complaining about the UE 11 having too much bass. I definitely cannot agree with these opinions. The UE 11’s frequency response reminds me of full sized speakers, not some tiny bookshelf monitors. People who believe that a perfectly flat bass response means a “true to the source” or “faithful” sound reproduction should look up the definition of “Fletcher-Munson equal-loudness contour”, or the ISO 226:2003 standard. The human hearing doesn’t interpret a completely flat response as such; the bass needs to be slightly elevated to be perceived at natural sound pressure levels. The UE 11’s bass response is certainly closer to the dubious audiophile ideal of “how the artist meant the recording to be heard”, than many other phones with less bass. The UE 11 aren’t basshead cans, but they have real bass – bass that goes down to 20Hz without breaking a sweat and without making the rest of the frequency range muddy. It can’t get much better than that.

The midrange is a bit on the “dry”, analytical side. They don’t have the lush silky tonality of, say, a Sennheiser HD650 driven by a tube amp. Here it’s most apparent that the UE 11 were designed as professional ear monitors and not as regular Hi-Fi phones with tendencies to color the sound in an euphonic way. This isn’t a bad thing – it’s just that the old “crap in, crap out” rule applies: with badly mixed/mastered recordings you will notice the inferior sound quality; the UE won’t sugar-coat it. On the other hand, with well produced tracks you will hear the proverbial angels singing – every detail, every nuance delivered in all their glory. No matter if voices, acoustic or electrical instruments, jazz trios, orchestras, metal bands, drum’n’bass acts, or anything in between. For me this is a more welcome approach to sound reproduction than compromising audio quality for the sake of “polishing” muddy or hot-mastered material to become more or less listenable. Excellent clarity and dynamics is what describes the UE 11’s midrange sound best.

The UE 11’s treble is very… “fast”. A phenomenon I usually experience from phones like the q-Jays, which for me are top notch in treble reproduction. Cymbals, hi-hats, and similar material is delivered with attack speeds like on very few other phones. It sounds like the real thing on the UE 11, not like a reproduction. If you think Etymotic ER-4 or AKG K701 have proper treble, you might need to test the UE 11… Not to mention phones like the Shure SE530 or almost all “slow” dynamic driver IEMs, which don’t even come close. Admittedly, the UE 11’s treble is slightly recessed (but not rolled off). It doesn’t hit you with its full weight (like the q-Jays), but this doesn’t mean that any sonic cues are missing at all. Everything is there, every little bit of detail. It just isn’t as fatiguing as with some other phones. It even has that nice “shimmer” that I really appreciate with certain female vocals, violins, and other material. The UE 11’s treble is more or less perfect. Not to mention Ultimate Ear’s honesty of rating them up to a range of 16.5 kHz, which is perfectly fine – not the usual standard claim of a 20 kHz response or some similar half-truth.

Stereo imaging is a remarkable feature on the UE 11. It may not be the widest soundstage, defying the laws of physics by reaching a mile to the left and right of your head (the V-Moda Vibes or MylarOne X3i are slightly more expansive), but it does one thing right that most other ear monitors don’t: getting rid of the “three blob soundstage”. Music really pans smoothly between both ears, contrary to the usual crude distinction of “left-ish/middle/right-ish”. Furthermore, the UE 11 are the only IEMs I know that have a slight sense of dimensionality to the front and back, up and down. It’s even noticeable with mono recordings: some sounds are right behind your eyeballs, others are in the back of your head. This might sound unappealing in an anatomical way, but it sure is a pleasant sonic experience.

The UE 11 might not exactly have the soundstage of the AKG K701, the smooth midrange of the Sennheiser HD650, the bass impact of the Ultrasone HFI-780, or other characteristics that make quality full-sized headphones generally better than in-ear monitors. But then again, you can’t put the HD650 in your jeans pockets or use them in a noisy subway. It is an unfair comparison anyway: the UE 11 are not the exact equivalent of big cans – nevertheless they’re very close despite their comparatively tiny form factor. That’s better than it usually gets, considering most other IEMs don’t even compare to way cheaper headphones than the ones I mentioned above.

Comparing other IEMs to the UE 11 is difficult. That’s why I used these slightly far-fetched references to full-sized phones instead. All other IEMs I know – even the best – do a good job in certain aspects, but lack in other ones. Not so with the UE 11. When I listen to music with these earphones I never found myself wishing for “more”, I just enjoy the sound.

You have to hear the UE 11 to believe it. They’re seriously good.

Conclusion

Are they worth the immense price tag of $1150? In my opinion they are, especially when considering the law of diminishing returns in high-end audio. Certain other ear monitors – no matter if $50 or $500 – might be overpriced in my opinion, since they all have their fair share of flaws, but with the UE 11 I can’t find anything major to complain about. The UE 11 sound the best of all ear phones I know. If money is no object, they wouldn’t be a bad choice for almost any application. There aren't many ear monitors that deserve the commendation “reference”, but the UE 11 would be one of them.

There’s nothing specific to mention like, “aaah, the treble” or, “whoa, the bass” – since everything is just very fine with the UE 11. They sound better and isolate better than most other IEMs – cable noise and bone conductivity are an issue, but other than that I couldn’t think of any flaws. It’s kind of boring trying to describe phones that do almost everything right. Four drivers (and some quality engineering) indeed do make a difference; they’re not a marketing ploy by any means.

Well, now that I’ve listened to the UE 11 I can die happy. Don’t expect any more headphone reviews from me… or maybe you should, now more than ever.

Pros

• Excellent sound quality with hardly any flaws
• Excellent clarity, instrument separation, dynamics
• Very detailed, accurate stereo imaging
• Good noise attenuation

Cons

• Cable noise and bone conductivity could be better (at low listening levels)
• You can’t share the experience with other people.

Purchase

Your best choice is ordering them directly from Ultimate Ears. There are some resellers for Europe and other regions, but their asking price is in general considerably higher than ordering them directly from UE, so I wouldn’t recommend going that way.

Thanks to Lauren Kamm and Austin Appel for their help in making this review possible.

Westone Westone 3 Three-Way Speaker Earphones

Nearly two years have passed since we first wrote about Westone's Westone 3 ($400), a "three-way driver" earphone with drivers specifically dedicated to lows, mids, and highs respectively, unlike "triple-driver" solutions with two bass drivers and a high-end driver. We tested a prototype, found the audio to be very warm and bass heavy, and expected a final version by May 2007. Since then, 3 has apparently been through a pretty major retooling process, and has finally emerged as a final product in final packaging, complete with an insane collection of different ear tips -- single-flange and triple-flange rubber, as well as Comply foam -- plus a carrying case, cleaning tool, headphone plug adapter and volume attenuator gear. The headphones remain roughly the size of Shure's SE530s, now made in black with red numbers on their sides, and use braided cords with an L-shaped headphone plug. We'll report on the sound when we've had a chance to give them a good listen.

I want Beats

Extremely Happy success growing of Monster, Dr. DRE gives cover with the futures Monster Beats Turn In-Ear which will be on sale on an unknown date, with still unknown specifications also, for a price bordering the 150$. And as there are only unknown factors for the moment, some photographs of the animal in the continuation.



Note the shape of the cable which with the air quite sympathetic but not very ergonomic and very… indicator. If not always at Monster and for the same price you will have also Monster Turbine, slightly less less ostentatious who leave this month Ci. They are out of black chromium-plated metal with a cable in duraflex© for a greater solidity.

250€ white painting…

Which it will be necessary to add the price of Happy the by Dr. DRE which is already of 350€ what nevertheless assembles the invoice to more 600€ to have excluded to obtain the white version of the headphone, without counting the voyage to Los Angeles to beat you in order to tear off the 20 specimens put on sale only in only one shop. You think of a limited version and it is well the case but it there also the limited ultra version of Happy By Dr. DRE RED and unless being a star of Hip Hop you can always run because they already found purchasers and considering the price of the white at Monster one even will not try to know that of red painting.

Via Gearlive

New year E from Iriver

We have just learned that iriver will leave in January, a new walkman MP3 named E50! This last with a design close to E100 (our test) and a brushed metal case, embarks a memory of 2Go, 4Go or 8Go, a screen TFT LCD 262k colors of 1,8 ″ (176×220px), a tuner/recording FM, a microphone, 10EQ and a compatibility MP3, OGG, FLAC, WMA, WAV, SMV (video), JPEG, BMP, GIF. USB 2.0, its autonomy is of 52h in audio and its dimensions are of 38,8 X 88 X 7,7 Misters Comptez 69 euros the version 4Go.