I suspect evaluating earphones is about as subjective as comparisons of anything can possibly be. Hearing is such an individual experience. Read virtually any set of reviews of any pair of earphones sold on Amazon and they usually range from "Astounding" to "simply crap sound". When I bought my first iPod (5th Gen) 3-4 years ago, one of the first things I did was to replace the standard Apple earbuds with a pair of Bang & Olufsen earphones. That proved to be a major improvement in my listening enjoyment. Those standard Apple earbuds really did not provide the sound quality I was looking for and the B&O phones did. What I did miss, though, was the convenience of quickly getting the Apple earbuds in place in my ears as compared to the Bang & Olufsen earphones.
Moving forward to a couple of weeks ago when I finally gave in and purchased a 3Gs iPhone (which truly is amazing)... I immediately began reading all the reviews on earbuds and in-ear phones for the iPhone, searching for what might be a perfect pair for me... something giving great, well-balanced sound and with decent low-end support. I also wanted earphones with a mic and remote for sake of convenience, as well as a pair which would be very comfortable to wear for up to a couple hours at a time. Oh yes, and finding a pair of earphone which looked great would be a nice bonus, too.
I first tried using my Bang & Olufsen earphones but felt it was time to move to something different, plus I really did want earphones with a mic for phone conversations. While I am not flush with money, I decided to leave the price range fairly open - within reason. I put my arbitrary limit at around $[...]. bottom line is I was prepared to spend some money to get something which looked good and sounded even better. After reading all the many reviews of various earbuds and in-canal earphones here on Amazon, I made my choice in going with the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5vi headset. I placed my online order full of hope and enthusiasm over what I knew just had to be a stylish headset with amazing sound and comfortable to boot.
While waiting for my new UE earphones to arrive, I decided to unwrap the Apple earbuds which came with my new iPhone. Certainly they had to sound like crap because it seemed like just about everyone said they did. Imagine my surprise when I discovered they had a richer, much more detailed sound than my Bang & Olufsen earphones... and they were not that uncomfortable either. I decided to try them out in public. I made a trip to the local Target for some shopping where I am usually blasted by the screams and cries of small children running amuck around me. With my Apple earbuds in place and my iPhone in a front pocket of my jeans, I had a most enjoyable shopping experience. The earbuds were not noise-isolating but the sound was rich and full and allowed me to completely tune out the sounds coming out of the mouths of kids around me. The experience was so enjoyable that I continued on to a Central Market store for my grocery shopping, and again it was a most enjoyable experience... listening to my tunes as I shopped. Before my new UE Super.fi 5vi headset arrived, I had an opportunity to have a few more shopping experiences with my stock Apple headset and each time I was amazed at how enjoyable the experience was. Still, I knew that once I had my new UE earphones, those trips to the store listening to my tunes would be so much more satisfying.
Yesterday, my new UE earphones arrived. I was immediately impressed with both the look and the comfort of Super.fi 5vi "monitors". But once i had them in place (and yes, properly sealed in my ear canals using the Comply foam tips), my heart sank some as I started listening to one of my favorite playlists. The mid-range and highs were pretty decent, though definitely what i would classify as "somewhat tinny", but there was virtually no low-end support that I could detect. I usually don't require a great deal of base and don't listen to much rock or recordings with heavy base... But, I want my music to sound rich and full and with at least some resonance to it. First impressions was that was totally lacking with my new Super.fi earphones. For me, without question, the stock Apple earbuds which came with my new 3Gs iPhone sound MUCH better than the relatively expensive Ultimate Ears headset. Btw, I did try getting more base using the EQ for "Deep" and "More Base" along with other settings without success.
I really wanted to love the new earphones, though. I decided to go out on another shopping trip to the local Home Depot and Target store before heading back to Central Market for grocery shopping. This would be a good test for me to compare the listening experience in public with the UE earphones to what I had experienced while using my Apple earbuds. Maybe I would begin to really enjoy the new earphones as i listened to more of my music. Turns out that for me it really was no contest. The Apple earbuds simply sound better to me. And I've decided that for me the sound-isolation feature of in-canal earphones is not necessarily superior to the Apple earbuds which don't seal out all the external sounds.
No doubt there will be some who read this review and will think, "this guy must be nuts to give the nod to standard Apple earbuds over a pair of Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5vi earphones", but it really is how my ears are hearing it. When home, i listen to music (and home theater) with my Paradigm Studio 60 monitors, so I believe I do have some sense of quality sound reproduction. Oh well, I do plan to give these new earphones a full week to win me over. Maybe with some more use they'll suddenly start to sound rich and full spectrum as I had hoped they would. If that happens, I probably will keep them. If not, they will be the first item I've ever returned to Amazon. If only my Apple earbuds were black to match my iPhone rather than white which everyone knows are the stock headphones. lol But wait, if they are good enough for Michael Phelps to wear while getting psyched for a swimming event, they should be good enough for me. :)
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