I am a proud owner of a brand new Sansa clip 2GB black. I love its sound, but I hear everywhere that upgrading to better earphones make a world of difference. So my question to you guys:
Which earbuds/IEMs would you recommend for use with the clip?
My constraints are:
I want them to perform well unamped.
My budget is definitely not more than what I’ve paid for the player. Preferably under $25.
I mostly listen to classical as well as rock. I love both bass and treble being present in the right amount!
From researching, these are some people have suggested
I have KSC-75’s…as you can see below in my “sig” and with the Clip and Fuze, no amp required. I’m the same way…bass is great but not when it drowns everything else out, but too much treble is a bad thing too. They’re very well balanced, and that’s leaving the EQ set to “normal” (your best bet unless your 'phones aren’t very good) The preset EQ’s…the only one I ever, occasionally use, is “Jazz”. (And the custom EQ drops overall volume a bit). The only drawback to these 'phones is after 3 or 4 hours, they can become a little uncomfortable, being “clip-on”(outer ear ) . The stock buds aren’t that bad, a little light on the bass if I recall, but I stopped using them 'cause they wouldn’t stay put…my ears apparently aren’t shaped right to keep them in place. The KSC-75’s were on clearance at Radio Shack for $5.47 recently, but even normally are less than $20 online. In all fairness, I can’t give any advice on the in-ear buds 'cause they bother my ears. So enjoy your Clip with whichever you end up getting(I hook mine into the home stereo all the time too)
Message Edited by Marvin_Martian on 11-22-2008 01:08 AM
I’ve also heard good things about the KSC75. Thanks for clearing my doubt on whether it can pair un-amped with the Clip. I’ll definitely search for these.
Apart from this, I’m also searching for a cheap earbud/IEM for use with the clip. I might use that in the gym.Any suggestions, anyone? How about JVC Marshmallow or Creative EP630 IEMs?
I have the Creative EP630. They are a good pair of earphones. They have plenty of bass and treble, whatever you are looking for thanks to the clips equalizer. When I had a creative player the sound was different than with the clip but I am much happier with the clip itself. I hear distinctive differences in sounds between the left and right that I could not hear when used with the Creative Zen Stone. I find the in ear buds more comfortable which is what these are. All in all, not a bad set of earphones but everyone likes something different in sound. I like to hear that background music if you know what I mean and I do get that with this set of earphones.
I use a pair of sony headphones for mine with it in normal eq setting and volume setting on high but the over all master volume control button setting is lower. I get some great bass and treble with them. I have noticed that most sony headphones usually have great bass and treble sound. the ones I have go into the ear but hang on your ear with hooks or loops which ever you want to call them. they sit nice and comfortabley no pain or anything and stay on nicely. I spent 22 bucks on mine. just a word of caution regarding sound stuff and that is you usually get what you paid price wise ie if you spent a cheap price chances are that that its going to be a cheap or bad sound. I generally go with brand names known to be good and check pricing from there. hope that helps
i’ve also heard a lot of good things about the ksc-75, but they are clip-on headphones. if you want earbuds, i can personally recommend the jvc fx-66 canalphones, however they are priced at around $35. you may find a better price for them with some hunting.
For classical music, the Sennheiser PX100 compact folding headphones, or Sennheiser MX560 earbuds would be good choices. These are also quite efficient, so they would give you plenty of volume with the Clip.
