Will superior earphones matter with my Nano


I have been looking at the various Shure earphones: the E2C, E3C, and the E4C. Given the amplification limitations of my Nano, do you think there will be major sound differences between all three earphones. I realize the music coming from a headphone amp would have significant sonic differences between inexpensive and major league earphones. Will there be significant differences with just a plain ole Nano?
warren :)
128x128warrenh
I have EC2 and recently gave these to my wife and bought a pair of EC3s. They are better, more isolation, clarity improved and bass extension was better. I wouldn't go crazy in pusuit with this though theres only so much purse you can make from a sow's ear. BUT this little micro system saves me when I am traveling on business, especially long plane rides.
The farther you go up the headphone/earphone chain you will likely require an external headphone amp of some sort (e.g., any from Headroom) to take advantage of any improved sound reproduction capabilities. You would also be urged to rip using a lossless format or you will easily notice sound degradation due to compression.
Hi Warren- IMO, the answer is yes you will hear the diff (I did with Ety 6s) but I would not go to far up the line, esp. if you use the Nano as portable, travel type music or background at work. If you go to a high res earphone, you will be able to hear the limitations of the format and machine more and more clearly.
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Agree with all above, I went for Ultimate Ears Super Fi5 (2 way driver system).

This was my fourth set of ear buds before settling on these.

My first were the Apple buds (suck), second was the next to most expensive Shure, then the best Shure and then the Sennheiser CX300 before settling on the Ultimate Ears.

Don't let anyone tell you these headphones don't sound radically different, some have serious inconstancies in tonal balance and on some music make the iPod unlistenable.

The Ultimate Ears (to me) have low distortion and a pleasant top end. They don't like the bass boosted nor do they need to be played at high volume to sound balanced. They are not impressive on a 30 second audition, but have staying power to last through a two hour workout without making my ears hurt.

Even with lossless files and moderate volume the iPod can be brutal with bad phones.