Last month while coming back from London my favorite pair of traveling earphones, my Shure E2’s stopped working properly. They lasted me for three years and I guess it was time I got a new pair. Following that trip I tried flying with another pair of headphones but they just weren’t the same. My AKG 81’s were too big and bulky while my PX100’s barely isolate any sound. I needed to get another pair of in-earphones and after a lot of research I decided to go with the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro (really long name).
Why and what are in-earphones?
Unlike the regular earphones that come with the iPod, in-earphones actually go into your ear canal, they don’t just sit on the outside. Some people find it strange and uncomfortable having something placed inside the ear but I never had that problem. If you want to know how they feel just take two fingers and place one in each ear. First thing you will notice is how they isolate sound and thats one of my favorite things about in-earphones. It makes them perfect for traveling since they block out the plane engine noise and anything else inside the plane. With music playing loudly you could have someone standing in front of you and screaming at the top of their lungs and you wouldn’t hear them.
The reason I went with the Super.fi’s and not another model is mostly because of the price to performance ratio. I didn’t want to pay over $200 for my earphones and I didn’t want something under $100. In my price range the Super.fi’s had the best performance according to numerous reviews online. In fact it sometimes even outperformed more expensive models.
USWS delivered my Super.fi’s two days ago and the first thing I noticed when I took them out of the box were how much lighter and smaller they were compared to my older Shures. When I put them on I also noticed they fit a lot better into my ear compared to the Shures and since they were lighter after a few minutes it felt like they weren’t there. I was really impressed at the build quality and the snug fit and I still hadn’t experimented with the other rubber sleeve sizes included in the pack or my usual favorite foam ones. Sound wise I also noticed a big difference. The Super.fi’s ran louder than my Shures at the same volume and they also sounded a lot more clearer. My old Shures had a single driver for every ear which handled the lows, mids and highs all alone. The Super.fi’s on the other hand have dual drivers for every ear, one to handle the lows and one to handle the mids and highs. The much more expensive Triple.fi 10 have three drivers for every ear, one for every range.
So far I am really impressed with the Super.fi’s. I only listened to them for a few minutes but it was instantly obvious how much better they performed compared to my Shures. Currently I am burning in my Super.fi’s, they’ve been playing music non stop for around 48 hours and they still have another 48 to go before they are ready to start using.
What is burning in?
You know how when you buy new jeans or shoes they are not very comfortable the first few times you wear them? Then the more you wear them the more comfortable they get? Well the same with earphones/headphones. When you first buy them they are stiff and over time the diaphragms loosens up. Since I don’t want to wait a weeks for them to loosen up I just plug them to my stereo and leave them running for nearly 100 hours. You can find more info [Here]
Anyway, once I get back from London later this month I will post a full review on the Super.fi’s. I got my black ones from Amazon for $169, they also come in red, white and clear. [Amazon]
15 replies on “First impression: Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro”
Cool !
~ Soul
Nice, I was looking for a new pair of headphones for when I ride! I have ran into some issues with my other ones!
really awsome but u do know theyre gonna F**k your ears up…ur seriously gonna go deaf
i was looking to get an earphone, after an extensive research i narrowed my search down to either shure’s e4 or this UE fi5pro, abut then shure’s new SE series were released so i gave up at the time and the urge of buying an earphone cooled down 🙂 have any1 tried an earphone from shure’s new SE line?
i know this has nothing to do with the post, but do you know where i could find the best price for an ipod touch in kuwait?
The first in-earphones I used were those which came with my Sony Ericsson phone. Ever since then, I started loving the in-earphones.
kwt23.. i think you should check the forums.
Mark: i start loving these kind of earphones when i got Apple one. But a friend of mine, who is a doctor, told me that they will lead to hurt your eardrum, so watch out… i am still using them but i am trying my best not to raise the volume all the time 🙂
i’ve been using the shure e4c’s for the past couple of years and they have been great, but slightly lacking in bass response (would definitely recommend them to anyone who doesn’t listen to too much heavy electronic music). i got my se530 headphones today and so far they’ve been great, but beyond the $200 mark.
regarding the issue of ear-hurting, because of the natural sound isolation (the earphones block your ear canal), you can actually play your ipod at a much lower volume; because of the quality of the earphone, you’re actually getting really good sound attenuation at a lower volume.
between shure and ultimate ears, the difference really comes down to personal taste. they have different frequencies and stress different parts of the music in general (bass vs. treble).
you need to burn them before you use them? in real fire?
I got one of those, some personal notes about them:
1) the airplane “sponge” covers, or whatever they are called, (the last two gray one’s shown in the pic) wear out too soon.
2) you have to wear the wires behind your ears to get maximum performance, which might feel annoying for some people.
other than that, they are pretty solid, music never sounded better without them.
Yeah the sponges get dirty, but you can buy a pack from Amazon. They are not airplane covers.
you also HAVE to wear the wires behind your ears or else they wont stick inside.