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Post by madmac on Nov 10, 2013 21:11:58 GMT
Okay, I hear you think: what the hell ? I bought my brothers iPhone 5 cause he bought the S. And I was not eager to use those earpods cause I tried them once when my son got them with his iPod 5. But somewhere this week I decided to give 'em a try while driving my truck and I have to admid I like them a lot ! They sound pretty neutral to me and the soundspectrum which the iPhone provides is nicely present in these. No harsh highs, but also not recessed. Nice bassrespons and enough dept for allday MP3 listening. But the one thing that really got my attention was the wide soundstage for being in ears. Sufficient for what I want to hear No need to drag along bulky headphones if these small things sound this good. Not great, but simply good. And they're €30 retail which is not too much IMO.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Nov 10, 2013 22:04:25 GMT
I don't have any I-stuff but understood there is an app for these earbuds that lifts them to very high levels. Similar to Accudio it is called 'Dirac Player' and is said to improve the SQ of the earpods.
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Post by madmac on Nov 11, 2013 8:03:09 GMT
I read that on head-fi in the appreciation tread. But seems other people consider the stock player providing better SQ over the Dirac. Have to try for myself to be shure.
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Post by madmac on Nov 11, 2013 8:49:16 GMT
Just tried the Dirac lite player just briefly with a song I've listened to a lot lately and I can clearly hear the difference. The Dirac player softens the peaks and makes them sound even more neutral and less fatiguing. I guess the spikes at the high end are flattened: But looking at his chart that's acually what I hear: good respons from 100 hz till 10Khz, the area where an average MP3 shines
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Post by madmac on Nov 12, 2013 13:39:02 GMT
So, that Dirac player thing is a real tone-sucker. It cuts so much volume that the overall sound becomes dull. No, the stock IOS music player is the way to go and to be honest, I like that "loudness-like" sound sig the ear pods give in combination with the on board player ! I can even say these ear pods sound 95% the same as my modded Superlux HD681-B, only the Superlux has a more open sound.
Damn decent ear phones, certainly for being free with iDevices.
If I compare them to the earplugs that came with my Sony-Ericsson Xperia Ars S (also a +€600 phone when it came on the market) you get this:
Sony-Ericsson stock cellphone earphones: - Muffled bass, therefor no punch. - Recessed mids, not clear and veiled. - Extremely recessed highs and a roll of at 5k of something like that. - Soundstage inside the head, very narrow. - Only one switch to pick up a call and the mic on the cord.
Apple stock iDevice Ear Pods: - Punchy bass, no subbass but perfect in most cases. - Clear mids, vox and guitars sound straight up. - Highs a tad boosted but not harsh. Doesn't get tireing. - Good out of the head soundstage. - Theres a multiswitch on the cord which can play/pauze tracks, +/- volume and pick up a call.
There's one negative with the ear pods: they are very sensitive to correct placement in your ear. If you put the right in correct and the left a bit turned in- or outwards, stereo image and bass respons will suffer a lot from it.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Nov 12, 2013 18:56:33 GMT
The earpods do not measure that bad really. Uncorrected and corrected (not by Dirac but Accudio) Distortion is very highs though and lows extension is nowhere near that of HD681 about 1% (is audible) in the mids and 10% in the lows. That last value is quite common though. At higher levels the distortion increase rapidly so seem intended for low level listening.
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Post by madmac on Nov 13, 2013 17:40:07 GMT
That last remark seems logical to me, Apple is known for pampering their buyers, so the iPod/iPhone has a volume limit. And when you go full volume, then go down one click it sounds best. I would even assume that these will not sound good when driven too loud by an amp for example.
But hey, they work perfect with my iPhone and that's all they will have to do. If I want more I put on the Somic MH489.
And Frans, I didn't mention that they sound alike the HD681-B when plugged into the iPhone. If I plug the Superlux into my reciever it's a complete different story.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 16, 2013 9:31:17 GMT
Funny thing - I have a pair of these and now I'm wondering whether they are fakes. After reading your posts, I got mine out and listening to them is disappointing.
No bass and pretty tinny. Also .... very surprising considering that they are supposed to be used with an IPod..... quite insensitive compared to other buds.
The Senn cheapo earbuds are louder at the same setting and have more bass.
I see now that the Yuin OK types aren't around in the UK much now. Have they disappeared? I used to have a nice Audio Technica open bud earphone, but they were difficult to keep in.
Are there any decent open buds around nowadays?
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Post by madmac on Nov 16, 2013 10:13:01 GMT
Don't you have the old ones ? Left Ear Pods, right Ear buds.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 16, 2013 10:32:36 GMT
No, they are supposed to be the new pods. The one on the left of your picture.
I now really wonder if there are a lot of fakes on the market? I'll see if I can find some old buds and compare, but these don't sound right to me.
Maybe it's because I normally use the Senn ie8 with custom ear pieces that fit my ears? The senns are one of the only buds that I feel sound like big headphones and do tend to make cheapos sound a bit tinny by comparison. Then again, they cost a helluva lot of money really!
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Nov 16, 2013 11:05:00 GMT
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Nov 16, 2013 11:45:06 GMT
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jan 5, 2014 15:20:36 GMT
Just to follow up and warn anyone thinking about the Amazon buds.
I bought a proper Apple one today and directly compared and there is a MASSIVE difference. The Amazon ones are really bad fakes for sure. They are less sensitive, more distant sounding and have comparatively no bass. In fact, they are awful.
So don't buy the earpods from Amazon since I have wrongly assumed that Amazon would check for this kind of thing, but it seems that they don't.
The real thing is way better and much easier to listen to.
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