The Quest for the Perfect Headphones

I don’t know about you but I love music. I have loved music for a long time and the act of listening to and engaging with music is important to me.  With all the travel and busy commutes, I also listen to a lot of audio books and podcasts. But ever since my first iPod to my current iPhone, I have been through a lot of headphones.  My confession: I have lots of headphones.

I’ve spent way too much money trying different ones, but I still can’t find the perfect pair. I have owned Bose Noise Canceling and in-ears, a variety of Skullcandy, Sony, and Shure (Sc110 and eC2). I have had various levels of success, to-date the Shure’s have made me most happy, but the cable noise and fit problems have meant that for both exercise and some other activities they are not the right headphones.

I truly hate how hard it is too find good one and in truth  with every new Apple product I have purchased, my first action is to stuff the headphones into a drawer. I have been shocked one too many times and the fit leaves more than something to be desired.  It is no offense to Apple, it is just not their strength. I want a better experience Apple is ruining the sound of music. Want proof check out this page on get satisfaction.

What makes a good earphone?

It comes down to those drivers. Gizmodo did a really nice article that if you are looking for some advice in what to look for.  Here is how they describe drivers:

Whether you’re talking about headphones or earbuds, they work a lot like loudspeakers, just miniaturized. The key element in both are drivers, though earphone drivers are a lot smaller, and do a lot less work to make the same music.

There are two main types of drivers: The a dynamic driver works just like a traditional one in big ol’ speaker. The benefit of the dynamic driver is that it produces a nice bass response, though it can be hard to miniaturize.

A balanced armature driver is pretty common in serious in-ear monitors, since it’s easy to shrink down. Originally found in hearing aids, it houses a magnetic armature that moves when an electric current runs through the coil, putting pressure on the diaphragm, creating sound. It can be, and often is, paired with a dynamic driver.

(Source: Gizmodo Giz Explains: Why You Can’t Get Decent Earphones for Less Than $100)

There are lots of sites out there that advise you on how to select a headphone that works for you.  For example check out this nice Amazon help guide designed to make sense of the choices.  I consider myself very lucky, because I get to work with a headphone manufacturer now in the form of Ultimate Ears.  I love it when I get to work with products that I am so passionate about, I also know that it makes me biased, but I thought I would share my experience learning about these headphones and my next step toward the perfect headphones. I am trying to experience them with fresh eyes and provide feedback to the team.

So my first set of Ultimate Ears are one of the most popular items that Ultimate Ears makes; the model 700s.  They are so small and light they are perfect for travel and for use with my iPhone (no mic on this model) and the sound is really well balanced.

I have noticed that the cable makes a bit of noise when I run, but not like any of the sub-100 models and they are not stiff like the SC110s.  I am really happy about the performance of these.  I wish they had a deeper bass, but for deeper bass there are models like the SuperFi 5vi that has iPhone controls.

When I’m walking around in the airport with my iPhone, these have replaced a pair of Sony’s as my everyday set.  Voice quality is significantly better in the mix than previous headset and I find I like the fit of the tips. They don’t solve all my problems yet though, because I do need more sound in some situations. While I am not a musician, I do like to play with the occasional mixing board for musicians.  The Yamaha OVi that I play with has a Aviom set up for personal mixes and leveraging the monitor out I like to hear the different mixes in hope of creating a better sound.  For this I want something a little more professional. 

An evolution

So I am moving to Custom in-ear monitors; which is fancy talk for awesomesauce custom earphones.   Check out what wikipedia says:

In-ear monitors (IEMs) are devices used by musicians, sound engineers and audiophiles to listen to music or to hear a custom crafted mix of vocals and stage instrumentation for live performance or studio mixing. They are often custom fitted for an individual’s ears and provide a high level of noise reduction from ambient surroundings.

The reality is that getting custom headphones is an investment, but these headphones are the closest thing to having sound injected directly into your brain. On a recent trip down to the office in Irvine I was fitted by Noy the on staff audiologist at UE. Since I don’t have the headphones yet I thought I would share some pics and a video showing how a fitting works.  The picture below shows the studio where I was fitted at.

In the video you will see them check to see how clear my ears are, make a silicon putty, and inject it deep in my ears.  The whole process took about 7 minutes, but in about three weeks I will have a custom set of UE11s.  I don’t know what the experience of them will be like, because it is hard to share something that is meant fit only in your ear. That is part of the point though the custom fit and 4 drivers should help create incredible sound.

So are these the perfect headphones?

Well that is a tough question, really perfect for headphones comes down to where you use them and how well they fit.  But it is really cool to get to have an impact on the products.  As soon as I get my in-ears, I will update you dear reader on the experience. Also if you have an iPhone you should check out the new iPhone App that will help you get the most out of your earphones.

More importantly tell me in the comments what your favorite set of earphones is and why you like them.

Jeremiah

Update: Check out Notcot’s cool review and photo series of the 700s.

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