Not absulutely sure what "in-ear-monitors" are? I have seen a line drawing
of the Shure one and it does look like the Philips ones I have at the moment
which fall out continuously: This could of course be because the Philips
ones are too heavy? Especialy if all the noise cancelling technology has to
be built in to the head piece.

Ths Philips ones have two rims of convex cups around a central monitor. Is
there a (foam rubber?) noise blocking plug as well? Is the transducer in the
Philips just NBG? It does give quite good highs but that annoying switch
just seems to turn the volume down. Do I need an amplifier or will none of
these things work properly without one as suggested by headphones.com? This
is why I was looking for a comparative and independent review/opinion.


In-ear monitors, if fitted properly, give something like 20
dB supression of outside noises, and are a proven solution
for high quality music listening.

"news.rcn.com" news.rnc.com wrote in message
...
Not absulutely sure what "in-ear-monitors" are? I have seen a line drawing
of the Shure one and it does look like the Philips ones I have at the
moment
which fall out continuously:

Musicians have to solve the problem on stage, where sound levels can be
high. I read that some in-ear monitors can be used with a custom mold.
Here's one user's experience:

http://www.drumdojo.com/reviews/iem.htm

here's one supplier

http://store.yahoo.com/earplugstore/cusfitearmol1.html

Tim

"news.rcn.com" news.rnc.com wrote in message
...


Not absulutely sure what "in-ear-monitors" are?

Here are some pix:

http://vista-1041183.vista.com/store...75&item=370255

http://www.shure.com/psm/earphones/default.asp

http://www.etymotic.com/

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...51950?v=glance

I have seen a line drawing
of the Shure one and it does look like the Philips ones I
have at the moment
which fall out continuously: This could of course be
because the Philips
ones are too heavy?

These ones?

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...clickfrom=name


An IEM is supposed to have a tip that fits relatively
tightly into the ear canal. If properly fitted (most
earphones come with a range of tip sizes) they don't fall
out.

Do I need an amplifier or will none of
these things work properly without one as suggested by
headphones.com?

Most people use earphones with just the digital player. If
your hearing is poor, or your player puts out a weak signal,
or you like music vary loud, then an amplifier can help.
Also, there are some effects related to the acoustics of
your head that some more complex headphone amplifiers
address. If you can't adapt to headphone listening, they can
help.

These ones?


http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...clickfrom=name

No, the ones I have are shown at
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW
and seem to have active and passive noise cancelling technology (unless that
is an exaggeration for something which doesnt work?)


They do look suspiciously like the ones which work by plugging rather than
by listening and counteracting. Which makes me wonder what the on off switch
is for (it doesnt actually do anything which is odd as the reviews I read
before purchase said that they work quite well).

and seem to have active and passive noise cancelling technology (unless that
is an exaggeration for something which doesnt work?)

Passive noise cancelling: They get in the way of other sounds. Most
headphones will do that to some degree, some more and some less.

Active is the "listen and counteract" thing. That works for some sounds
(machinery) better than others. I have a friend who was an early adopter
of Bose's entry in that field and loves it; my experiments with cheaper
knock-offs have been in conclusive (they definitely make a random-noise
environment such as a shopping mall sound _different_ but I'm not
convinced they actually make it less distracting).

Haven't checked the eBay link so I have no opinion about that particular
unit.

Well the general climate of opinion seems to be that EITHER they are
impossibly difficult to fit into the ear properly OR that they are too heavy
to stay in for longer than a few seconds

No one has given an opinion on quality yet: The highs and mid range seems to
be OK but they might be a bit lacking in bass OR possibly the iPod Mini
doesnt put out enough to drive the bass drivers in there?

Haven't checked the eBay link so I have no opinion about that particular
unit.

"news.rcn.com" news.rnc.com wrote in message
...

Well the general climate of opinion seems to be that
EITHER they are
impossibly difficult to fit into the ear properly OR that
they are too heavy
to stay in for longer than a few seconds

I already have about a quart of IEMs in a gallon plastic
bag, and some of them sound pretty darn good to me. So, I'm
trying very hard not to buy any more. I just bought a pair
of Panasonic IEMs because I ended up in Manhattan for 3 days
with my Nomad3 and darn it, no 'phones. Dummm! I'm not
going to buy a pair of the Philips IEMs we've been
discussing just to find out what is wrong with them. I'm
promising myself that! ;-)

As a rule IEMs aren't inherently heavy or hard to fit. Fit
is probably the most variable part of the sound quality and
comfort equation. Basically, moderately tight is good, very
loose is bad. Some people get along with this better than
others. If you can learn to live with it, so much the
better.

No one has given an opinion on quality yet: The highs and
mid range seems to
be OK but they might be a bit lacking in bass

This is either a design problem or a problem with fit. Some
IEMs, particularly the cheap ones, are light on bass.
However, even the good IEMs can be light on bass if the tips
don't fit the ear tightly enough.


OR possibly the iPod Mini
doesnt put out enough to drive the bass drivers in there?

There's no bass driver in low and mid-price IEMs. They do
it all with one itty-bitty driver. The most common symptom
of a a digital player that can't handle the load of the IEM
is for the sound to completely cut out at times. This
symptom seems to be very infrequently reported with Shure
IEMs, and even less frequently with competitive units.