Korean Job Discussion Forums

freebeerandchicken · Joined: 02 May 2005 Location: Seoul

The time has come: I need a high quality set of earphones. I come to you, users of Dave's ESL, for advice on what to buy!

These are necessarily for computer usage.. More for my MP3 player, when I'm cruisin around.

I need the small "ear bud" style, so that I can wear them under my toque when I'm back in Canada.

So I'm looking for the highest possible quality ear phone that comes in the "ear bud" style that fits right in your ear (without the strap thing going over top of your head).

Any advice?? I don't know much of anything about ear phones.

Thanks!

fb&c

harryh · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: south of Seoul

What's your budget?

Do you want earbuds, in-ear phones, or ones that isolate?

Earbud recommendation is 'Yuin PK 1'

In-ear - cheap 'Cresyn LMX-E630, Creative Labs EP630, JVC HA-FX33 Marshmallow (20-30 dollars)

In-ear - more expensive 'Audio Technica ck7ti' (75 dollars)

Isolators - check out Shure, Etymotic Reasearch, Ultimate Ears, Westone or the ones I favour Altec Lansing IM716 (75 dollars - up)

A good place to search is either www.danawa.com or www.enuri.com

freebeerandchicken · Joined: 02 May 2005 Location: Seoul

I'm thinkin' isolators but I don't really know.. What's the difference between the three?? (In terms of quality, sound, price, etc) My budget is about 120,000 won TOPS. Thanks.

rocklee · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul

Don't buy Cresyn (in fact don't buy any Korean headphones). The one mentioned was absolute rubbish. The AT is great if you listen to detailed music like classical where bass is not important. If you want bass, then go with the Creative, as its a re-branded version of the Sharp MD33 that I have (Sennheiser also uses the exact same drivers for a higher price). Most of the Sonys are pretty good but some people have accused them for being too colour with a smudge overdose of bass, well they;re audiophiles who spend too much time listening to the realism of water drops instead of the music. Anyway who isn't a basshead these days? I like my in-ear but I disliked being totally disconnected with the world and air. Music needs air to travel and they sound more natural so wearing over the head type headphones gave me a more realistic sound. Sorry to crap on your screen with the jargons and chatter but I just spent most of the day playing around with installing XP and tweaking the crap out of it oh my eyes.

Thunndarr · Joined: 30 Sep 2003

Nice write up here:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/the-complete-guide-to-earphones-part-1/

I'm using Sennheiser CX-300s. They are in-ear style and cost around 90,000 won (at the time I bought them.)

Wrench · Joined: 07 Apr 2005

freebeerandchicken · Joined: 02 May 2005 Location: Seoul

Yeah I don't wanna get any over-the-head style (as I mentioned) cuz of the winters. I need bass but not crazy bass IE i don't really listen to house music or especially electronic bass-heavy music. I just want high quality sound. I was reading up on those Shure EC3's, they seem good... yay or nay?

Thunndarr · Joined: 30 Sep 2003

rocklee · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul

If your budget is around $120 then maybe take a look at these :

- ULTIMATE EARS super fi 3
- WESTONE LABS UM1
- Etymotic Research ER-6i (these uses form earbuds which are more expensive to replace but I hear you can use normal buds with some modifications)
- Shure E3C
-V-moda Vibes

I'm not a huge fan of IEM earphones even though they can produce some of the most accurate sounds, but I once compared the ER and Shure and the ER came out a little better. Many have said that the ER was more accurate than the Shure, less muddy on bass and better treble. That's probably what you're looking for in a high quality pair of earphones.

P.S. I wasn't trying to tell you to buy an over the head headphone, just sharing my experiences of upgrading from in-ear phones.

harryh · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: south of Seoul

Considering your budget, my vote would go to the Westone UM1, if you need a touch (but not too much) of bass. Very comfortable I might add.

You can always head over to www.head-fi.org to get some valued opinions.

In Korea, there is www.headphoneshop.co.kr

Check out there website or go to the store and listen to some. Let your ears decide. What is good for some people isn't so got for others.

freebeerandchicken · Joined: 02 May 2005 Location: Seoul

After doing a bunch of reading (mainly that iLounge guide, thanks for that), I am heavily leaning towards the Etymotic ER-6, with Shure E3C or E2C a close second. Today I'll try to find that shop in Yongsan and see if I can try em all out. Thanks for the help!

faster · Joined: 03 Sep 2006

The Etymotics are the best of that bunch, but I agree with the poster above who recommended the Westones. I personally hate in-ears, but I've heard the Westones and they sound great.

freebeerandchicken · Joined: 02 May 2005 Location: Seoul

Thunndarr · Joined: 30 Sep 2003

The I-Park mall. There are a few different headphone shops there. There are two small ones on the floor you walk in first after getting out of the subway, then there is a larger one a couple floors up that has things set up so you can listen.

freebeerandchicken · Joined: 02 May 2005 Location: Seoul

For anyone following along, I ended up getting the Shure E2C earphones.. And they sound sweet! A bit awkward figuring out how they go in your ear though, and also having to put the cable behind your ears but I can get used to it.

I left for Yongsan before that last reply so I didn't really know where to look.. Looked around in all sorts of buildings for like 2 hours with no luck at all finding anything made by Shure or Etymotic! Lastly I ended up in the iPark place and bought E2C's off the first booth I found that sold SHures. He asked 110,000 won but I got it down to 95,000 won.. Not a steal but about average.

Wish I'd checked upstairs though! At that point I was getting pissed off and needed to get out of there.