, the highest quality universal fit IEMs (in-ear monitors) you can get from Ultimate Ears without going for custom molds. I will only post my personal opinions and leave you to read reviews at reputable places like These earphones are fantastic! I had previously come from the Shure E3C, which I thought were a fantastic upgrade from stock Apple iBuds. I used them for over two years. Now, with an impending trip to Japan, I wanted my girlfriend (who doesn't really listen to music) to have the Shures for the flight (to reduce fatigue from engine noise), and so I needed to look for some new buds.
Throughout the last year, I had heard about the Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5 Pro and how great they were for the price, so even before I wanted to buy anything I had been looking at them longingly. I found them on Costco for a reasonable price, and given the awesome full refund policy that Costco has, I decided to give them a twirl. They're really a fantastic upgrade. My E3Cs were put to shame, and I was hearing music like never before. The soundstage or size of the incoming sound was a lot bigger, as if you were sitting in front of a full-size concert stage, rather than a small recording room.
Then one day I left the SF5s plugged in while the volume was up so I could listen with my speakers. I was afraid I might have blown out the SF5s, so I ordered another pair from Costco.com, but at the last moment decided to give the Triple.Fi a whirl, again, because of the awesome refund policy. (I used to feel bad about doing this sort of stuff, but after reading on the net about how Costco is very proud of their refund policy, I figured I ought to use it, but not abuse it.) The difference between the SF5s and the TF10s is less pronounced than that with the E3Cs, but there was still a big difference. The full sound became much "deeper", in effect making it even fuller. I guess the best metaphor I can come up with is that now the stage goes further back. Instead of all the instruments in a wide arrangement close in front of you, the instruments are spread out in a larger area and just add even more detail to the music. It's seriously auditory ecstasy.
With both UE phones, you'll hear the slide of fingers or the scrape of bowhair on strings, crisper snaps and claps, and the impact of drumsticks on drums. You'll even hear the musicians screw up on occasion, especially in live concert recordings. The details will amaze you, particularly if you haven't had any good earphones before. The UEs are relatively neutral in their sound, in that they don't overemphasize any particular frequency. Some have have said the mid-range is recessed, but I have no problems with the vocals in all my music.
My advice to those of you who are interested in a much better music experience: give the Ultimate Ears earphones a shot. If you are budget conscious, stay clear of the Triple.Fi or you will start making up excuses to keep them. The Super.Fi 5s are already quite excellent and probably represent the best value, since the Triple.Fis are about twice as expensive.
Pros:
- Clean, crisp sound that really brings out details
- Flexible, memory wire helps keep the tips secure in your ear
- Doesn't go as far into the ear as the SHures
- Replaceable cable: mod your cable to your heart's content without worrying about damaging the monitors
- Very comfortable (for me, flip-modded)
- Not as noise-isolating as Shure E3C
- Will make it painfully obvious when your MP3s are sub-par in quality, and make you want to buy an amp to get better sound out of your player (iPhone is barely good enough for these phones, and iTunes is crap compared to foobar2000)
) in November, and it's been a blast snapping pictures. Check out 
