Ultimate Ears rolls out top-firing Super.Fi 5 earphones
By Donald Melanson 
posted November 19th 2008 2:05PM
posted November 19th 2008 2:05PM
It looks like those still on the hunt for that perfect pair of sub-$200 earphones now have a rather intriguing new option to consider from Ultimate Ears, which has just rolled out its new Super.Fi 5 and Super.Fi 5vi models that boast a top-fire-armature speaker design -- the first such buds on the market. In addition to that stand-out feature, both sets pack a frequency response range of 15 Hz to 15 kHz and a top sound pressure level of 115 dB, while the Super.Fi 5vi adds a mic to mix to let you use 'em with your phone of choice. You'll also get three interchangeable soft-silicone ear tips and two Comply foam ear tips with each to ensure just the right fit and, of course, a carrying case to keep 'em in pristine shape. If those sound like the buds you've been looking for, you can grab either the Super.Fi 5 or Super.Fi 5vi right now for $170 and $190, respectively.
[Via I4U News]
[Via I4U News]
I have a pair of really good headphones, but I see where most of the people in this thread are coming from when they say that they would never pay that much for a pair of headphones. I'm sure $200 headphones don't make THAT much of a difference to the average Joe who downloads his crappy radio-pop at 128 kbit/s. If sound quality actually matters to you, then stock iPod headphones are way out of the question.
I've upgraded earbuds about 5 time in 2 year and I can tell I've seen an improvement between mostly all pairs. with 70$ in between
sony sheniser, audio technica, and m-audio IE-30..
It's not about having the music sound good, It's having it as close as to the original...
Maybe pop music is meant to be played on 1$ crap.
with sheneiser I fist said ..., basss wow , the audio technika had less , but I could push them much higher with the eq without distortion.
And say this is how it's meant to sound ie. IE-30 = UE5
I have had my pair of ultimate ears super.fi 5 pros now for about a year and have never had any problems with them and they sound fantastic. You really can't compare, or even comment on these vs. the stock apple earbuds or similar unless you have actually heard the difference. Not to mention you don't have to turn the volume up hardly at all to hear your music, so it helps save battery life as well. Only thing I'm kind of concerned with is that these new iem's only have one driver vs. the two drivers that are in the pro's. I wish they would come out with the pro's in a vi series so I could have the pro's with a mic. I would also like to hear the difference between the 5 and 5 pro.
Uh these have been out for quite some time. I had a pair and immediately returned them before opening because I found www.sleek-audio.com
wonder what people's reactions would be when they visit head-fi and see discussions where people are pondering whether to go for midrange ($150-200) IEMs or the top of the line (~$500) ones.
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I see good headphones info at http://www.cheapproducts.co.cc
you can visite.
How is the Super Fi 5's any different than all of the Ultimate Ears products? Granted now they look cool and come in a pretty package, but they still use the same old drivers used in all thier other models. And they've been notorious for having shrill top end and no low bass at anything less than rip your head off volume. And when you do turn them up to 11 to get any bass, the highs get distorted. Top firing? Yea firing off the top of your skull maybe, but if you listen some old skool Miami Bass music. All you get are farts of bass and the highs are distorted worse than when they were recorded . They might sound better than the earbuds that come with your ipod, but they don't come close to sounding as good as your Ipod can sound with some of the other earbuds on the market.