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Best earphone for the value




https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K2LHB1J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



I bought the earphone after reading rave review on it.


SoundMagic E11C review | What Hi-Fi?


The review is spot on.


The most remarkable difference between this and free earphone distributed by Delta Airline is detailed treble.


I also compared this with Grado SR80E headphone that I have.


Grado have slightly more open bass but this one seems to have more details.


Due to the limitation of luggage, I would rather bring earphone than regular headphone  for long travel.


This one fit my need at the cost of 60$.

I found that the music through Youtube or Amazon prime using SoundMAGIC E11C earphones is quite enjoyable.


I highly recommend this for travel.


Thomas
128x128shkong78

Showing 15 responses by shkong78

shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
Somebody also recommend  Etymotic Research ER4P-T microPro.

https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-microPro-Precision-Earphones/dp/B004CXBJ6A

I may order it through Amazon to compare it with Soundmagic.

If Etymotics is better than Soundmagic by 50%, I may keep it, although the former is two and half times more expensive.


But 1K$ earphone is too much for me since I use it only during travel.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
Come on Shure-Se846 is too expensive for earphone.

I use earphone only if I travel out of town.


shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
@ folkfreak 

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/campfire-audio-io.905408/page-10

I am going to try out  Campfire Audio Io after being back to my home.

Thanks a lot for your recommendation.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
@ jaybe 

Thanks a lot for recommendation. 

There may be many affordable choices.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
This one has enough isolation in the airplane.

The most important thing is that  its sound is musical with classical music like violin concerto.

I can live with this one for at least one year.

There is no need to rush into rabbit hole of earphone since I use earphone only during travel.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
@ prpixel 

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/periodic-audio-beryllium-be.22397/reviews

Thanks a lot for your recommendation.

300$ may be sweet spot for earphone newbie.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
@ prpixel

Periodic Audio Be and CA Io are almost same price around 300$.

I may want to try one of them.

Do you have any preference between them?

You may not have tried CA Io yourself but you know their lineage sound.

Thanks a lot in advance

Thomas
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
@ folkfreak

It will be good idea to attend T.H.E. show in LA to experience various earphones.



There appears to be 4 or 5 nice earphones at 300$.

I would like to choose one or two and compare them at my familiar settings.

Thomas


shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
Since I use earphone only during travel, I will limit the budget to 300$.

It seems that there are many good ones including "Final E4000".

I wish to choose one which fit my needs of soothing mind during travel.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
So far SoundMAGIC E11C meet my needs pretty well.

The only downside of it is not enough bass.

But it could be blessing not to hurt my hearing.

Thus I am not in a rush for new earphone.

It appears that there are many good ones under 300$.


I will audition one or two earphone after being back to my home using my laptop, Samsung Note and Lyngdorf 2170.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
With so many choices of nice earphones, it is hard to choose one for another audition.

Some of earphone has a good reliability record, while some other excellent sounding earphone may not have good reliability.

I am not considering any on ear headphone right now since it is going to take too much space during travel.

I am going to choose one more earphone to compare with the sound of SoundMagic at the end of this month.

Thomas
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
After using Soundmagic 11 earphone with Dell Laptop for 1 week, I had got more favorable impression.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tctk3Uy1w5s

I am listening to the above Youtube music.

Violin sounds natural without too much overtone.

Orchestra sound also balanced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSFIHTjc74I

With this kind of highend demo music, this one work well with natural details.


After going back to my home at the end of May, I will order one more earphone around 300$ from Amazon(it is easy to return using Amazon if I do not like it) to compare it  with Soundmagic.

But now I am quite happy with Soundmagic earphone for overall performance at 80$.

Thomas
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 

I had already been looking up  https://www.head-fi.org/  to find review of some nice earphones around.

I found one candidate and will compare it with Soundmagic after being back to my home at the end of this month.


shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
After listening to earphones for a while, I wish to compare it with decent headphone.

I pulled the trigger for Hifiman Sundara

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077XDWT7X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,463 posts
 
@ big_greg

I fully understand that headphone could be big rabbithole.

Thus I am not willing to try expensive ones.

I will drive Sundara with Lyngdorf 2170 which will have enough drive.

I also may drive it with Chord Dave for test.

Let us see what happens.
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