Studio Earphones

Studio Earphones

When it comes to the world of high-end sound, all those little things that you previously didn't think much about, now make a HUGE difference in your listening experience.

As all the audiophiles out there will confirm, the quality of the sound reproduction has do with the quality of your equipment AND the quality of the sound recordings.

Now when it comes to your equipment, there's two things to consider:

1. The earphones themselves.

As we all know, not all earphones are created equally and even though most in-ear studio earphones are a quantum leap ahead of iPod earbuds in terms of their sound quality, there are still vast differences between the different models out there especially in the entry-level category.

The trend since the revelation that is the iPod as pretty much an essential part of our lives, is that nearly all the big names in the in-ear studio earphones market namely Etymotic Research, Sennheiser, Shure and Ultimate Ears have each released a line of entry level IEMs targeted at consumers as a replacement for those crappy white earbuds.

The standouts in this field are the Etymotic Research ER-6is and the Ultimate Ears Super Fi 3 Studio Earphones, both of which are under $100 and represent the best bang for your buck IEMs in the market.

There are of course your mid-range and high-end models including the custom fit Ultimate Ears models where you send an actual casting-mold of your ear canals (which is conducted by an audiologist) to them and they produce a pair of high-end earphones that fit your ears perfectly. But for the majority of people just looking to get introduced to high-quality sonics the etymotic earphones and the ultimate ears IEMs will more than satisfy.

2. The quality of your audio files.

What most of us have been accustomed to when it comes to our iPods is that we almost never really notice the difference in a 192kbps mp3 rip to a 320kbps file since it all sounds pretty much the same with those earbuds. With in-ear earphones, the difference will be VERY obvious as in the difference between 1ply toilet paper and 3 ply (don't ask me why i used this analogy).

So when you do decide to buy a pair of in-ear studio earphones or even if you currently own a set of high quality headphones/earphones, you will want to (if you haven't already done so) re-rip all your music files at 320kbps or better still uncompressed audio formats like FLAC (Free Audio Lossless Codec).

Summing it all up...

And there you have it. These are the two things will allow you to TRULY experience finely nuanced deep bass, richly textured mid-ranges and treble that shimmers and sparkles. Such an experience that when it is finally had, you will wonder how you ever LIVED without it.

Note: There might be some technical terms and acronyms within this article that you might not recognise so check out my blog (the link in this article) and it'll all make sense :).