Super-Fly super.fi.5

Christmas gifts have been opened. Now I can write a review. I gave my brother some super.fi.5 pro earphones for Christmas. I A/B tested against my shure e5c’s. I paid $365 for the Shure’s; I need to be around people sometimes while working, so I gravitated towards coffee shops, and camped out with my laptop. The sound of the roaster or grinder started to get to me so I bought the Shures to dull the din. They worked very well, and after 3 years of ownership I’m positive they have paid for themselves in productivity increase. Ear plugs would have worked too, but silence is boring.

The fit

Both are canalphones. Both come with a wide fit kit ( 4 different sets of silicone and foam eartips ) I found the Shure darker light weight silicone eartips to be the most comfortable amongst the Shures. The super.fi.5 pro have eartips made of the same material as the Shure. The tips are quite comfortable as well. The Ultimate Ears tips are better secured to the earphone, this is a big deal. They won’t slip off. My Shures have a friction fit for the ear tip. The tip sometimes just slides off the Shures.

The Shure fits flush, actually in the ear, they look like hearing aids. The Ultimate Ears I likened to having baby carrots stuffed in my ears. I looked like Uhura on Star Trek. They look like earbuds, not hearing aids.

Both have a flexible wire that wraps around the ear to secure the canalphone. Just like Secret Service agents. the Ultimate ear wins here. The wire is smaller in gauge and more comfortable. The wire is so light that it doesn’t transmit the sound of the wire rubbing against the skin to your ears.

The cord on the Shure’s is 2 feet longer than the UE’s. If you are using the canalphones for an ipod in your pocket, both work, but the Ultimate Ears have the advantage, less cord to get caught on stuff. If you are using these on a laptop, The Shure’s have the advantage, the cord can comfortably fit behind the back, and snake up to the plug.

The price

This is weird, the Ultimate Ears are WAY WAY cheaper. The retail for the UE’s are $250 ( I found mine for significantly less ). The retail for the Shure’s are $599. Given the price difference I thought the sound quality would be different, I was wrong.

About the price of the Shures. A while back I needed service for my Shure’s. Shure doesn’t fix these, they replace them for $120. The $600 price most likely is 2 middle mans worth of markup.

The sound

Both sound great. You can definitely hear difference in MP3 sample rates. You can hear the fingers brush against the texture of a guitar string. The difference vs normal ipod buds is amazing. There is texture and presence to the sound that either have.

That said I prefer the Ultimate Ears, just. The sound is open and bright yet still has lots -O- Bass. They sound alive, like a really good studio monitor. The sound has more presence than the Shures, Presence like Sennheiser HD 600’s or Magnaplaner speakers. That good.

Both have ridiculous sensitivity, you can hear if the earphone is plugged in, even if no music is playing. That said, start with the volume OFF, loud == pain with either of these. Both seal your ear canal, If you don’t hear lots of Bass, the fit is wrong. Try wetting the tip with saliva ( ick ). They block as much sound as normal earplugs when properly fitted. You can listen to very quiet music in very noisy locations.