Imagine this scenario... you've just dropped $250 on a brand new 30GB MP3 player. You rush home, excited to try out your new toy. You plug it into your computer and begin to import and sync everything you can. Thousands of songs, hours of videos, endless pictures have been transfered to a device the size of a pack of cards. You plug in the stock headphones that your MP3 player, find your favorite song and are treated to... mediocre sound?
What happened to your favorite song? The highs are shrill sounding, the mids muffled, and the bass (or lack thereof) is distorted. You go to another song, hoping for better results, but get the same thing. After a while of listening, you consult the owners manual. Maybe you did something wrong. As you turn for it, the headphones fall out of your ears. They're way too big for any normal person. You put them back in and start reading, but everything seems okay. Your ears hurt. These headphones just don't cut it. You need something better.
There's a reason those headphones are free you know...
I've always been a big proponent of after-market headphones. The stock headphones with any MP3 player are just plain awful, and wouldn't retail for more than $5 at any respectable outlet. Now, I am not a true audiophile, I just know good sound. At my side for the past three years are my Grado SR-80's (my review
http://www.epinions.com/content_131193343620). I love them. They are amazing in sound, seperation, and lack any type of distortion. Still, they are too big to use on any mobile usage, and because they are open-air, I hear everything around me and people hear my music. If I want to be mobile I use a pair of Sony MDR-EX70LP's (
http://www.epinions.com/content_86322941572) that I've had for almost 4 years (the MDR-EX71LP have since come to replace them, but are the same headphones). Easy to use, they slide into the ear quite easily and provide great sound with good isolation. I can run with them, exercise, be generally active, and they stay in my ears and provide good sound.
When I bought my Zune (review to come), I used my Sony's for a while with them and loved it, but something was lacking. I would have to put the volume at about 18 (out of 20) to get the sound I wanted. I listen to my music loud. If I'm going to rock, I want to rock. If I listen to classical music, I want to be there. At 18 out of 20 I could rock and be there with Beethoven, but I noticed that I was draining the battery of my Zune fairly fast. I needed headphones that could block out sound and provide solid sound at lower volumes. After extensive research I settled on Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro. Truth be told I was a little scared about my purchase since it seems that Shure and Etymotic Research have the high end earbud market, but I am 110% happy with my purchase.
Right out of the box
The Super.fi 5 Pro's come in a small light plastic box. It opens at the top (no need for scissors or a kitchen knife) and everything that it comes with is there waiting for you. Included are... 1) A metal tin to keep your buds in. It seems heavy duty but is a little small for the Super.fi 5 Pro's. Still, I use it when I go places and I know that nothing is going to break. 2) Extra sets of silicone earbuds. You get a small pair, medium (on the Super.fi 5 Pro's to start), large, double flanged silicone buds, and a pair of disposable foam pads. I've tried all of them and find the medium ones to work pretty darn well. 3) You get a 1/4" adapter, a sound attenuator tip so you don't blow your hearing in unknown situations, and a cleaning tool to pull out any earwax build-up. 4) A well constructed manual. 5) And the Super.fi 5 Pro's themselves.
The earbuds (or canalphones if you want to call them that) are light and look great. The cord is clear, and a bit thinner than I would like, but it doesn't matter too much. The earbuds themselves can be disconnected from the cord, so if you break the cord you can buy just that and not the entire set again. Good thinking. The cord is a bit harder at the top so you can hang them over your hears avoiding rubbing noise. The earbuds themselves are slightly large looking, but (at least mine) are a stylish black that looks good.
All your life, people have said to keep things out of your ear
The Super.fi 5 Pro's go into your ear. Not around, over, or near, I mean into your ear canal where you've been taught to keep things out of. They work my providing a seal in the ear, and by doing this they block out outside noise, and the tiny drivers in the earbuds are able to provide big sound to your ear without having to be overly loud. There are two ways to insert the buds into your ears. The first, and in theory the way you should do it, is by placing the correct earbud into your ear. This is hard to do because the L/R marking is very small. A little twist into your ear canal and you are done. It's a bit jarring the first time, but you won't notice the headphones after a while. The only downside of this is that the headphone stick out of your head like bolts from Frankenstein's neck. There is a simple solution to this. Because the buds can be disconnected, you can switch them backwards, allowing you to place the earbuds upside down, and thus place most of the outer parts into your ear. I know that sounds confusing, but the Ultimate Ears website shows you how to do it and even supportive of this idea (http://www.ultimateears.com/videos/index.htm).
One thing to add is the isolation you get when you put these into your ears. With my Sony's I notice that everything is much more quiet, but I can still hear the outside world a good bit. I can hear myself breathing, I can hear the cord rubbing on me. While the seal the Sony's create is good, it's just that. The Super.fi 5 Pro's block out so much noise it's scary. Even with nothing playing a lot of noise is blocked out. No breathing noise or anything. When I walk around town I can barely hear cars going by. People try to ask me for the time and I walk by unable to hear them. While 18 out of 20 rocked my world with my Sony's, I can barely listen to anything past 10 now, as the sound is far louder and everything in the outside world is now irrelevant. Sorry to all those who try to call me when I have these in, I can't hear you. I can't even hear myself typing right now.
How do they sound? Get to it
Okay, I'm rambaling and need to get to the point. The Super.fi 5 Pro's sound amazing. Leaps and bounds over my Sony's. I hate to admit it, but they sound as good, or even better, than my Grado's (which I have hyped to every person that would take the time to let me put it over their head). Everything is amazingly seperated. Nothing is muffled, but rather, it's especially sharp and clear. The bass never distorts, and I'm amazed to hear bass lines in songs where you could never find them. The highs are never shrill or bright, but well balanced. The mids are just as good. The Super.fi 5 Pro's use two drivers, one for the bass, and the other for the mids and highs. It shows, as everything is super clear.
As I said before, these earbuds really isolate you from the outside world. They block out alot of noise without the usage of noise cancelling. I never turn the volume up past halfway for fear of blowing out my eardrums with clean sound. I find myself hearing so much more than I ever thought I could. Reverb in a solo. Artist taking light breaths. Small errors in the audio masterings. Honestly, it's like having $1000 speakers in your ears. I don't know if I've ever heard sound like this. I've rediscoved my music. Even tracks that I don't care about I listen to with excitement, finding beauty in every corner. I know that sounds a little flowery, but I don't remember the last time I was so hyped over something that enhanced my life in such a enjoyable way.
No one is perfect
I only have a few gripes with these headphones. The cord is short which is great for my Zune when I have it in my pocket. It is too short for most other applications. I can sit at my computer and plug them in the back as long as I don't plan to move at all. My Grado's give me about a foot of extra cord which is great for listening and grabbing things a little bit away.
The cord is also very thin. To thin for the price you pay. Still, you can replace the cord if you want to and not have to pay full price for everything, so it's easily forgiven.
My final issue is the price. On the Ultimate Ears website they retail for $250. You can get them for about $180-ish if you don't mind digging a bit, but still, that's a little high for someone who doesn't appreciate or understand the difference that high end headphones can offer.
Let's wrap this up
I'm sure I've missed a bunch of technical and non-technical points, but at this point I'm too tired of typing to continue. No one reads one review and buys a product, so I urge you to read anything/everything you can about these buds until you buy them.
In conclusion, the sound and comfort these headphones afford is nothing but amazing. I've been listening to them the entire time I've been writing this review and I couldn't have enjoyed the last hour any more.
