Forgive my noobness. I want to clarify something thats been puzzling me for a long time. From what I gather on this forum am I correct to say that most audiophile sifus don't recommend consumer brands like Sony, Philips, Panasonic etc. Why?

The reason I ask is because many years ago, I started out listening to 5 ringgit made-in-china earphones. At that time I already knew that they were probably the bottom of the heap in terms of sound quality. Then I bought my 1st Sony Walkman and I thought the headphone that came with it was really good. Since then I have bought Philips earphones in the region of 40-50 bucks and I think they sound quite brilliant (compared to my 5 ringgit earphones of yesteryear). So why is it almost everyone is recommending 'niche' (I don't know if this is the correct word but what I mean is the smaller companies than the giants like Sony, Panasonic, Philips etc) brands which easily costs upwards of RM300 right up into the stratospheric levels of RM2-3K!! Is it purely marketing hype? Can such small companies match the the bigger consumer brands in terms of R&D? If not, then how can they be better sounding then? Are the consumer brands I mentioned really no match for these 'newer' and far more expensive brands?

Finally I would like some recommendations for earphones/headphones (I don't even know which is more suitable whether earbuds, earphones, IEM or headphones?) in the region of RM300.
I like separation(is it called soundstaging?) and I value clarity in the mids & highs above all else.
I like:
1. Pop
2. Classical
3. Jazz
4. Folk

I hate the loud boom boom bass reminiscent of the 70's when ppl were making their own huge wooden speaker boxes to house the woofer units in order to listen to Chinese pop songs!
I hate:
1. Rap
2. Grunge
3. Punk Rock
4. Hip-Hop


Thank you for bearing with me.

can ask something... will this Philips SHP 8900 work off the iPod Shuffle or do I need to get a headphone amp in order to drive it? Thanks.

thanks 4d info

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Added on November 11, 2010, 1:12 ammucho gracias!

This post has been edited by wongpeter: Nov 11 2010, 01:12 AM

If you can find the Philips SHP8900 for a cheaper price (than what we find on forums) please let me know cos I am considering buying either Philips or Sony headphones. Too much hype already in headphones as some of the asking prices are in excess of $1K. I do believe Philips or Sony technology can match with some of these ridiculously expensive hyped up brands!
Thanks.

This post has been edited by wongpeter: Nov 12 2010, 03:15 PM

wow! I read some good review about the Sonicgear HP600, maybe I should just buy that and save some money at the same time!

thanks for the info.

"For that price, should I get that brand?" - The Hippo salesman will recommend Hippo brand, the AKG salesman will ask you to get the AKG brand etc.....

Since I'm not earphones salesman I think this is very good cos got good reviews

Philips SHE9700 - RM108

I have a nagging feeling aztoiozalan is a Jaben employee doing his poisoning all over the lowyat forums!

No need to go to Sony Centre lar, why not just order online? 100% original!
http://www.sonystyle.com.my/ProductListing....aspx?catid=101

yes yes everything is fake....sony, akg, philips, denon, jvc etc etc.... only hippo is genuine!

just kidding around lar so don't take it so serious and somemore I very sad all the time cos kenot even afford to buy the gumstick so have to make do with some 20 ringgit mp3 player (somemore got fm radio one + incl earbuds.... terror onot?) from China! so I have to joke a bit lor if not I start crying!

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Added on November 26, 2010, 5:28 pmI don't see the price of the AKG K321 in your thread. How much is it? Your AKG K319 is already RM3XX so does it mean that the K321 is in the region of RM4XX - RM5XX?

This post has been edited by wongpeter: Nov 26 2010, 05:28 PM

Recommendations and promotions goes hand in glove. How can they recommend and not promote or promote without recommending? Thats like saying you want some water but not H2o.

Since you're based in Australia you can easily order from amazon.com. They have a good choice of earphones in the RM1K range. For that kind of money you practically cannot get anything bad. Its only peeps like me on a tight budget that has to be extra fussy when it comes to choices cos in the real world there is no such thing as 'cheap and good'. If it's cheap it's not good and conversely if it's good it is definitely not cheap. Don't know about you but for me RM1K is definitely NOT cheap so whatever you decide on should be GOOD! It's only logical....

Is the iSpark same specs as the Spark plug but just with additional inline play/pause/skip cntrl or does it actually have better specs? Thanks.

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Added on January 31, 2011, 6:55 pmI stand corrected. Was wondering if you are positive the SE530 you bought online is genuine?

This post has been edited by wongpeter: Jan 31 2011, 06:55 PM

Buy this Salar K92 for RM15! Fantastic sound and comes with mic! Don't worry about reliability cos you can buy 7 of this for RM105. If each one lasts you 6 months then 7 of these can last you for 3½ years!

Excellent for Movie/Music/Gaming/Skype!

You will be amazed at the sound. Can compare with headsets costing 10 times more!

This post has been edited by wongpeter: Feb 1 2011, 08:23 AM

not just pretty good ..... VERY GOOD!

This post has been edited by wongpeter: Feb 3 2011, 07:41 PM

Either SHE9550 or SHE9620 is good.
Excellent reviews here:
SHE9550

SHE9620

Nice guide, thanks for sharing!

For around RM100 give these a try. You can enquire with Mr Edifier on this forum.

Edifier Coolware Bud 260



Very comfortable to wear but one word of warning, needs long burn-in time before they start sounding sweet.

Read the REVIEW here