It is one thing when you don’t BYOiP (bring your own iPod), and another when you do to the gym with its own music. That is when an isolated earplug works its wonders. Unfortunately, the “nice” cable of the Etymotic ER-4P thumps too much during a workout and therefore not suitable for the occasion. The original Apple’s just can’t cut the background gym music craps (Rain Lee’s “You Don’t Love Me La”, and Chan Siu Chuen’s “Faan Jin”. F!), which drove me up the wall and made me determined to get a less expensive set of earplugs for gym use.
The determination, however, had left me with another dilemma – assymmetric cables. Friends have been saying that there should only be negligible differences if any at all between assymmetric and symmetric cabled earphones. Yet hardly anyone makes a symmetric cabled earplugs. Most of them are earbuds without isolation, not earplugs with isolation. So if I were to get a set, I am pretty well stuck with a set with assymmetric cables.
Upon suggestions by the salesman, I bought a pair of HK$250 Pioneer SE-CL30-J3. TBH, I can’t see anything different other than cosmetic between the Pioneer, Sony and Panasonic ones. Granted the specs are slightly different, but their designs are essentially the same. At least they all have a short main cable and then a long extension cable. That extension alone, if you must use one, is already a minus point.
Anyway, back to the sym and assym cables. Now hear this with your own earplugs and experience the differences if any for yourselves. Make sure you switch sides to different ear and clean out any ear booger before you audition it. Granted, with complex passages while you were busy with other chores like during a jog, there could possibly be no noticeable differences. And true, you may call it placebo or anything – just pick any name for it – unless my Pioneers are faulty, it’s there.
Am I satisfied with the Pioneer? Adequate isolation at home but remains to be tested in the gym. Same old veiled sound with forward, bulgy, muddy and distorted bass one would come to expect from the likes that most of the general public may like, which is OK for Pop, crap for Jazz and Classical. Much better than the 12 year old HK$350 Technics set I had. Not sure if I would trade the originals for them though until I could find a better isolated earplugs for gym use at about the same price with a much flatter frequency response curve. And until then, the originals are still fine during an isolation-is-a-danger kinda situation like street walking, street biking or driving.
I have a Pioneer SE-CL30-J2. I find the original iPod ear-phone is better than the Pioneer.
I seem to have similar findings with the J3. The bass of the Pioneer is definitely exaggerated with a veiled mids. It does isolate the gym noise enough when I was in the gym just now to allow for a not too loud a playing volume but then the mids are even more veiled than otherwise in louder volume.
The lop sided cable has another non-sonic problem, the weight of the entire hanging cable rests on the one side pulling on that ear a bit but still in a not too uncomfortable fashion.
Well, it’ll just have to do for now for gym use.
Some info to add: my Pioneer ear phone had been washed in my washing machine, completed the ‘quick wash’ cycle.
A great way for an excuse to get a new set.
I find the contrary with my J2. There’s actually more detils in the mid, but the bass can’t compare to that of ipod one even it’s sealed. But the sensativity of the j2 is low. Guess mind is different to yours.
No I don’t find much difference after the washing machine test. I’d been using it for a year since then.
Will see how it goes after a few tens of hours of running it in.