EPH-100

Comments about Yamaha eph-100_silver_w:

Love 'em, wish the cord was a bit longer.

Comments about Yamaha eph-100_silver_w:

Highly recommmended! Delightful to listen to/through for anything: rock, country, classical! Really clear and wide soundstage when used with a low-audio-distortion chipset such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 found in smartphones like the US AT&T version of the HTC One X, and the US version of the Samsung Galaxy S III. Bass is solid and crisp. Highs are clean and enjoyable and don't hurt, even with a little distortion in source material such as rock music over Pandora streaming radio, which sometimes caused pain on Klipsch S4i earbuds. Also sound good with the iPhone 4S, though I think the One X beats it for musicality with this headset. Have not tried the EPH-100 with the Nvidia Tegra 3 phone chipset which has been reported elsewhere as having much higher distortion than the Snapdragon. Can be a little uncomfortable when pressed in deeply enough to make a good seal, which is needed for good bass; however I can happily listen to them for 2-3 hours or more without wanting to remove them. Good enough isolation on planes to leave my Bose QC-2 over-the-ear noise canceling headphones at home. They stay in ears well even when working out. Well worth the money for the sound quality!

Comments about Yamaha eph-100_silver_w:

Impacting noise canceling, especially for places like NYC. Superior audio quality: Picks up every single effect in songs. Great if you are a percussion, piano and Guitar lover. Don't need to use EQ unless you love exaggerating certain frequencies which this pair does nicely.
KEEP IN MIND that after 3-5 days of use is when the truth pops out from this great earphones. so, burn an notice difference.

Comments about Yamaha eph-100_silver_w:

The clarity of these earphones are amazing. In my own extensive comparison with the VSonic GR07, these came out on top (for me). I rambled a bit on this in another forum, but I'll just pick a few excerpts instead of linking it. First, the comparison against the GR07:

The guitar in "Collide" sounds muffled or dampened on the GR07. Similar effect in "Under My Bed" by Meiko - the intro sounds much clearer on the Yams. The guitar intro in Michelle Branch's "Breathe" is markedly cleaner on the Yams. And when the vocal lines come in, they again sound sharper on the Yams. So on and so forth for other songs. After adding in my EP-630 into the testing, the GR07 is not as noticeably clearer than the EP-630 as the EPH is. Especially for The Duhk's "The Wagoner's Lad", which I have in .flac, the EPH is by far the sharpest, followed by the GR07, and then finally the EP-630.

Did another long A/Bing session today, and the Yams are the clear winner [against the $180 VSonic GR07]. Retested "Collide" and "Cosas Que Suenan A..." numerous times, which really showed how much better guitars sound on the Yams. I also A/Bed the Feed Me remix of Robyn's "Call Your Girlfriend." The Yams again sounded clearer, this time on both the snares and the electronic synth notes. I felt the sub-bass was better on the Yams as well - when the bass line comes in I get a much more visceral feeling when I'm wearing the Yams. I also A/Bed the instrumental version of Radiohead's "High & Dry", and the guitar is more clear and crisp on the Yams.

And another excerpt of some of my thoughts of the EPH-100 against a pretty hyped up product, the Sony MH1C:

The EPH-100s sound clearer than the MH1Cs. From the songs I've A/Bed so far, guitars and vocals sound slightly better on the Yams and there seems to be a sense of overall improved clarity on the Yams. When a slew of instruments enter the mix ("Por El Miedo A Equivocarnos", ~35 sec in and ~2:40 in; "Entertain The Pain", ~50 sec in) however, the difference becomes much more noticeable. The MH1Cs become congested while the Yams keep everything separated and clear. In addition, the Yams are less fatiguing, which I noticed after many, many repeats of sections of several songs, over and over. The MH1Cs sound harsher ("Por El Miedo A Equivocarnos" ~2:40 in, especially) and its inability to keep all the instruments from running over each other contributes a bit to this as well.

Only two cons. First, I got this condensation problem after extended periods of listening (maybe >5 hours or so), which would dampen one side of the earphones. This problem has only happened a handful of times, and has always resolved itself by simple drying. I'm listening to the EPH-100 right now, and loving it. This not a dealbreaker at all (especially since most people never get this problem, I think I have slightly wonky ear canals, but that's another story), and even considering this I put the Yams above the GR07, Shure SE215, and the Mtymotic MC2/3/5.

The second con is barely worth a mention, but it's that the cable is not amazing. The GR07 has undoubtedly a better cable. The MH1C, on the other hand, has a godawful cable. The Yams' cables have never bothered me - I never even thought of them as a con, until some other people pointed it out and I thought, "Hum, I guess the cable's not the best."

At the end of the day, these IEMs are absolutely phenomenal, and I'd buy them again in a heartbeat (I'm actually considering buying a 2nd pair of these for working out. I bought the GR07 for that purpose, but the sound was so much worse than the EPH-100's I had to return them. Probably something to do with my ear canals that don't play nice with the GR07. Alright sorry, I'm rambling off now.).

Comments about Yamaha eph-100_silver_w:

My opinion is torn when it comes to these earphones. They sound amazing. The separation between high, mids, and bass is easily the best I've heard for under $300. However, they are not very comfortable and they have the worst cable I've seen. That's even compared to a $10 set of WalMart specials. If the cable rubs against anything (even your shirt), you hear it! If the cable taps against something hard, you hear a noticeable "thud". The cable will not lay flat or fully unwind. it feels like a cheap plastic covering the whole length. I just don't get it. It's pretty hard to screw up the cable part, but they nailed it. So disapponiting. I'll keep them as my work/casual listening device, but man these could have really been something.

Comments about Yamaha eph-100_silver_w:

These are the best dynamic driver IEM's under $200 hands down. They have such a nice sound in that there very detailed like a balanced armature but very fun, warm and dynamic with excellent bass that goes deep with good punch and texture. I like these more than the Vsonic GR07, JVC HA-FXT90 and Monster Turbines, these and my UE TF10's are my favorite IEM's I just can't say enough about how good these sound. Their super comfortable, light and have a cool look also.

If your looking for a detailed, fun, dynamic sound with super clean and well defined bass the EPH-100's are the way to go for under $200.