Letters from the Equator

philips she9500
Originally uploaded by jaremfan.

I got these just last week from a LYN bulk sale. It sure beats my older earphones which came with my RioVolt SP100 (which were stolen, ugh). The bass has a lot of kick, the highs are not too shrill (not like Sony’s), and it has an even, warm tone.

Vocals are quite clear. The bass really adds to the warmth. The mids are well pronounced, sometimes bleeding into the vocals, but only for less hi-fi recordings. It really suits the kind of music I listen to.

The SHE9500s sound a lot better on my ipod and home computer than it does on my office PC, but that’s because of the player, not the earphone. The poorer performing sony V250s and Audio Technica ATH-FC7s (same price range) have performed ‘better’ on some of the lo-fi tracks because of the clearer highs. But I much prefer the warm tones of the SHE9500, especially when you play it at high volumes.

It’s almost 50% cheaper than the Sony’s best-selling in-ear MDR-EX71SL, and a few people like the SHE9500s a lot better. It doesn’t isolate sound as well as the Sonys, but it really doesn’t matter once you push up the volume. I really couldn’t hear ANYTHING.

players:
ipod mini 1st gen
NF7s built-in AC97 audio chipset with Soundstorm

other personal-listening phones:
Sony MDR-V250
Audio Technica ATH-FC7
Riovolt bundled earphones