Eleven Best Portable Headphones - $100 to $200
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Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro earphones - Around $190
These Super.fi 5 Pro earphones from Ultimate Ears have simultaneously delighted and amazed most who have tried them. The company was founded by Van Halen sound engineer Jerry Harvey, and those professional roots can easily be discerned in its consumer product line.
Sitting right at the top of the range, the 5 Pro is designed to be "the closest thing you can get to professional grade stage monitors." Each earphone is equipped with sound-shaping audio filters, a passive crossover and two drivers. They are also full of neat and impressive features such as position-switchable cables that can be worn hanging straight down or over the ears, extreme noise isolation and an included cleaning tool.
Of course this quality of reproduction requires a clean sound source, meaning that many poor-quality low-bitrate MP3s will sound exactly like what they are. The other down side is that to make room for all the electronics - remember there are two drivers in each earpiece - UE has had to make the housing quite chunky. Some users have reported difficulties getting the earpieces to stay in place.
Summary: Audiophile sound quality at a price.
Etymotic Research ER-4P - Around $180
Like Ultimate Ears, Etymotic Research is another audiophile company with its roots in professional audio. Its products are based on the closed canal principal, meaning that a full air seal is formed in the ear that completely blocks out background noise.
The ER-4P is ER's top of the range phone, offering extreme noise isolation, a frequency response curve adjusted to boost volumes in the lower bands for improved on-the-go listening, and professional quality specifications. Etymotic approves this model for mixing, stage monitoring and live performance. The ER-4Ps are supplied with a comprehensive set of accessories, including 16 interchangeable ear tips, four replacement filters, a filter changing tool, a cable clip and a zippered carrying pouch.
The main criticism that has been leveled at the ER-4P and its less expensive cousin the ER-6i is the lack of bass response. If this is an important element of your listening you may prefer to look elsewhere.
Summary: High quality at a high price, but the bass could do with a boost.
Klipsch Image - Around $195
Arkansas-based Klipsch made its reputation by specializing in high end and professional loudspeakers. A natural progression into the headphone market has led to the development of the Custom and Image series, of which the Image are the more expensive, higher quality product.
Klipsch claims that the Image is the smallest in-ear headphone ever made, which ought to be enough to qualify it for the portable top ten on its own. The tiny size doesn't diminish the sound quality, which is deep and powerful across the frequency range.
As with many in-the-ear phones, the quality of the sound is highly dependent on obtaining a good seal between the earbud and the skin. Klipsch has gone out of its way to ensure this by providing five sets of anatomically designed ear gels in varying sizes for improved fit, and the company claims that more people will find a good fit than with most in-ear phones.
Summary: Small, light, great-sounding and truly portable.
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