Peddler
1000+ Head-Fier
I have been a keen IEM user for many years now and have owned perhaps the top three IEM headphones - the Shure E500's, Etymotic ER4P's and the Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10's and out of all of them I definitely prefer the Triple Fi's over the others.
Each model has a very distinctive personality though. The Ety's are a very dry and detailed. Although they are efficient they still respond well to amplification and make an excellent tool for diagnosis purposes thanks to their almost invisible sound character. They certainly don't respond well to a poor source as their resolution is second to none. The main problem with the Ety's is that they tend to need a real commitment from you when You want to listen to some music because you really have to take care when inserting them in order to get the best sound quality out of them. They are certainly not for casual listening. I have found that if you insert them too deep into your ear canal the sound can become somewhat thin - although the detail and sound isolation is second to none. By ensuring there is a little ‘air’ between the earphone and your eardrum, the sound opens up producing more bass and midrange detail without losing the detail.
Their sound characteristics are lean, detailed and punchy. Many people feel that they are bass shy - whilst there is more than a grain of truth in that statement you have to realise that these phones are designed to offer a completely flat response and offer no characteristics of their own to the mix.
The Shure’s have a completely different characteristic. They are very bassy and have a limited top-end. They are extremely efficient and easily driven by pretty much any music player. They have a nice mellow sound and are very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. They tend to lend themselves to rock music (perhaps thanks to the mellow top-end).
The Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10’s take everything to the next level. They are easy to drive and offer perhaps a halfway house between the Etymotics and the Shures’. They have a very sweet top-end and impressively deep bass. They may be slightly ‘u’ shaped in their sound but in my opinion the effect is fairly subtle. They are very easy to drive - perhaps even easier than the Apple Earpods - certainly they are as efficient as the Shure E500’s and you shouldn’t have any problems driving them to very high levels through your portable players. Whilst they to scale up with additional amplification is used, the effect is not as pronounced as say adding an amp to the Audio Technica’s ATH M50X’s for example.
One thing I really like about these IEM’s is the fact that they offer a very non-fatiguing sound. Most headphones which offer this amount of detail tend to be somewhat overwhelming after listening for so long - that’s not the case with these and you can genuinely listen to these for many hours without problems.
The biggest problem with the Triple Fi’s is the fit. The bore is larger than those found on many other IEM’s and this means that they don’t go as far into your ear canals as say the Etymotics for example. Additionally the stock cable is very stiff and unforgiving - the end result is that these IEM’s are really designed for use whilst sitting still rather than walking around. The cable problem can be solved with the use of a third-party thinner and more pliable cable which in turn allows you to wear the headphones with the cables dangling down like a conventional set of earbuds rather than having to route the cable around your ears.
I have experimented with many different tips over the years with these headphones - trying to find the ‘holy grail’ set which offer comfort, isolation and sound quality and, to be honest, have reverted to using the standard double-flanged set that came with the unit. Whilst I have had some success with Sony’s and even some cheapo ones which came with a set of bluetooth headphones I recently purchased, the stock ones appear to offer the best overall combination of fit and sound quality.
Having owned these headphones for quite a few years now I think it’s fair to say that I still find them excellent and, generally speaking, have stopped me looking at upgrading. Don’t get me wrong, I still look at other models on the net and think to myself “they look nice - I’d like a pair of those”, to be honest the rational part of me then says “but I would need to upgrade my other hardware in order to hear any improvement over the Triple Fi’s”. Surely that’s a good thing?
In conclusion - if you see these headphones advertised anywhere at a good price - bite their hand off. If you see a pair advertised at full retail - they still represent excellent value for money and you should seriously consider purchasing them.
Each model has a very distinctive personality though. The Ety's are a very dry and detailed. Although they are efficient they still respond well to amplification and make an excellent tool for diagnosis purposes thanks to their almost invisible sound character. They certainly don't respond well to a poor source as their resolution is second to none. The main problem with the Ety's is that they tend to need a real commitment from you when You want to listen to some music because you really have to take care when inserting them in order to get the best sound quality out of them. They are certainly not for casual listening. I have found that if you insert them too deep into your ear canal the sound can become somewhat thin - although the detail and sound isolation is second to none. By ensuring there is a little ‘air’ between the earphone and your eardrum, the sound opens up producing more bass and midrange detail without losing the detail.
Their sound characteristics are lean, detailed and punchy. Many people feel that they are bass shy - whilst there is more than a grain of truth in that statement you have to realise that these phones are designed to offer a completely flat response and offer no characteristics of their own to the mix.
The Shure’s have a completely different characteristic. They are very bassy and have a limited top-end. They are extremely efficient and easily driven by pretty much any music player. They have a nice mellow sound and are very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. They tend to lend themselves to rock music (perhaps thanks to the mellow top-end).
The Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10’s take everything to the next level. They are easy to drive and offer perhaps a halfway house between the Etymotics and the Shures’. They have a very sweet top-end and impressively deep bass. They may be slightly ‘u’ shaped in their sound but in my opinion the effect is fairly subtle. They are very easy to drive - perhaps even easier than the Apple Earpods - certainly they are as efficient as the Shure E500’s and you shouldn’t have any problems driving them to very high levels through your portable players. Whilst they to scale up with additional amplification is used, the effect is not as pronounced as say adding an amp to the Audio Technica’s ATH M50X’s for example.
One thing I really like about these IEM’s is the fact that they offer a very non-fatiguing sound. Most headphones which offer this amount of detail tend to be somewhat overwhelming after listening for so long - that’s not the case with these and you can genuinely listen to these for many hours without problems.
The biggest problem with the Triple Fi’s is the fit. The bore is larger than those found on many other IEM’s and this means that they don’t go as far into your ear canals as say the Etymotics for example. Additionally the stock cable is very stiff and unforgiving - the end result is that these IEM’s are really designed for use whilst sitting still rather than walking around. The cable problem can be solved with the use of a third-party thinner and more pliable cable which in turn allows you to wear the headphones with the cables dangling down like a conventional set of earbuds rather than having to route the cable around your ears.
I have experimented with many different tips over the years with these headphones - trying to find the ‘holy grail’ set which offer comfort, isolation and sound quality and, to be honest, have reverted to using the standard double-flanged set that came with the unit. Whilst I have had some success with Sony’s and even some cheapo ones which came with a set of bluetooth headphones I recently purchased, the stock ones appear to offer the best overall combination of fit and sound quality.
Having owned these headphones for quite a few years now I think it’s fair to say that I still find them excellent and, generally speaking, have stopped me looking at upgrading. Don’t get me wrong, I still look at other models on the net and think to myself “they look nice - I’d like a pair of those”, to be honest the rational part of me then says “but I would need to upgrade my other hardware in order to hear any improvement over the Triple Fi’s”. Surely that’s a good thing?
In conclusion - if you see these headphones advertised anywhere at a good price - bite their hand off. If you see a pair advertised at full retail - they still represent excellent value for money and you should seriously consider purchasing them.
