MaximumPC 2006 10

reviews Tes Ted. Reviewed.

92 MAXIMUMPC october 2006 XXXXXXX 2006 MAXIMUMPC 00

W

e recall our mother’s admonish-

ment every time we shoved a

set of earbuds into our head:

“Don’t stick that in your ear, you don’t know

where it’s been!” There’s nothing quite like

listening to music through such wee head-

phones; but if you’re still relying on what-

ever el cheapos came bundled with your

favorite player, you’re probably not getting

your money’s worth.

—Michael Brown

creative Zen aurvana

Creative has pulled together a very nice

audio package here. The Aurvana’s are a

terrific-sounding set of headphones that

deliver crisp, well-defined audio across the

sonic spectrum.

They deliver very good balance—no

instrument is emphasized at the expense

of another. We dug how Walter Becker’s

intricate guitar work sounded on Steely

Dan’s “Jack of Speed” as it floated over

that studio band’s incredible rhythm sec-

tion. And we heard many acoustic elements

that we’d previously missed in Beck’s

“Nicotine & Gravy;” but when that song’s

bass becomes one of its defining elements,

it reveals one of the Aurvana’s few weak-

nesses: The bass tends toward muddiness

when it gets hot and heavy.

Creative provides six pairs of silicon

plugs for the Aurvana, but only three

sizes. Do they think buyers will share the

earphones, swapping out plugs? Eew!

Whatever the case may be, we had no

trouble finding a pair that was comfortable

for our smallish ear canals—and they did

a very good job of blocking ambient noise.

Creative was the only company thoughtful

enough to provide an adapter for plugging

into airline sound systems, and they earn

kudos for their hard-shell carrying case—the

best-designed of the bunch.

etyMotic er-6 isolator

The relentless snare drum crack on “Jack

of Speed” was enough to make some of

the lesser earbuds beg for mercy, but the

Etymotic ER-6 Isolators delivered it nearly

perfectly. More importantly, they served up

Beck’s bass with equal authority.

But if you decide to give these buds a

shot, make sure the store has a satisfac-

tion-guaranteed policy: Etymotic bundles

just two sets of plugs with them. The silicon

tips fit us well and did an outstanding job of

preventing fan noise and other audio detri-

tus from intruding on our consciousness,

but we couldn’t stuff the foam ones in our

ears with a jackhammer. This two-sizes-fits-

all policy is a let-down for a $140 product,

as is the absence of a carrying case (unless

you consider the reusable plastic container

to be a case).

Etymotic was also the only manufacturer

that didn’t provide a cleaning tool with its

product; a replaceable filter is included,

instead. When the filter becomes sufficiently

clogged with ear gunk—double eew!—to

impact the earphone’s performance, you pull

it out, throw it away, and snap in a new one.

We’re guessing that the process is at least

slightly less disgusting than reaming out the

earphone itself.

extreMeMac Fs1

It’s been our experience that you get what

you pay for, more often than not. The

ExtremeMac FS1 earbuds, however, fall

into the “not” territory. The $150 for-sale

sign hanging on these little buggers eas-

ily qualifies them as the most expensive

earphones of the group, but they certainly

didn’t sound like it.

While it’s true that bass forms the foun-

dation of most any tune, an audio-produc-

tion system shouldn’t clobber you over the

head with it. Wearing the FS1 buds was

like listening to a band while sitting inside

the bass player’s amp. The lows in Beck’s

“Nicotine & Gravy” were fuzzy, ill-defined,

positively amorphous blobs that threatened

to smother the song’s inherent complex-

ity and precise timing. And that cracking

snare drum attack on Steely Dan’s “Jack of

Speed”? Positively neutered.

But there’s one lesson Etymotic could

Earbud Ear-otica

The very latest in intimate apparel for your ears

we really like creative’s Zen aurvana ear-

buds, but their bass response is a tad shy

of a Kick ass rating.

$130, http://www.etymotic.com

etymotic er-6 isolator

Bee’s wax

Great sound; even better

noise isolation.

ear wax^8

Limited fit options; no extras.

$100, http://www.creative.com

zen aurvana

earrings

Great sound; nice extras;

comfortable.

earwigs^9

Tendency to be overwhelmed

by heavy bass.

etymotic’s er-6

isolators deliver fan-

tastic sound and noise

isolation; it’s a shame

there’s not a wider vari-

ety of fit options.