Not long ago, I had the opportunity to review the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 headphones.  Now, I have reviewed quite a few higher end headphones, and I still wasted almost no time declaring the Super.fi 3 the best I had ever used.  In facts, at the time, I had this to say:

I found these headphones created the perfect escape.  I slipped them on during my walk to work and suddenly, I was not walking to work, I was ringing the Division Bell, I was Over The Hills and Far Away, I was standing in that sweet November Rain.  It is like creating an oasis of music in an otherwise chaotic world. Don’t just listen to your music…experience it!

Pretty high praise.  And to be honest, I have been using those headphones ever since.  They are just amazing.  Really, I never expected to find the Super.fi 3 discarded in the nether regions of my desk, forgotten amongst my other papers and old review items.  But that is exactly where they are now.  So, what headphone could possibly make me completely forget these once best headphones I had ever used? 

The truth is, the only thing better than Ultimate ears headphones are…more Ultimate Ears headphones.  And in this case, we are talking about the amazing Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5, which is the top of the Super.fi line (they also offer the Triple.fi line, which is just a step down from their custom monitors).  Here is what Ultimate Ears had to say about the Super.fi 5:

Ultimate Ears SUPER.Fi 5 uses the same custom speaker technologies and sound signatures found in our professional monitors.  The top fire armature produces a detailed and full soundstage making it perfect for listening to a broad range of music genres. The liquid silver body with UE logo is stylish, low profile and ideal for a person on the go. The earphones are color coded (Red is Right) and makes for easy left and right identification. Cables can be worn down for casual listening or over the ear for active lifestyles.

Obviously, these earphones are not designed for the casual listener.  These are some serious earphones for the real audiophile.

Let’s start with the buds, themselves.  Because really, that is pretty much the most important part of the earphones.  The Super.fi 5 has a significantly smaller profile than the super.fi 3.  These practically disappear into your ears. 

Even with this small profile, however, Ultimate Ears has done a fantastic job of making sure you achieve the perfect fit in your ear.  They have even included several different sizes of silicon earbud tips, and a Comply foam ear tip (which I highly recommend).  The Comply tip forms itself to fit your ear.  Ensuring a perfect fit every time.

With these earbuds, the Super.fi 5 offer noise isolation of up to 26 decibels.  This is ideal for higher noise areas, such as airplanes or trains.  To put these to the test, I wore them while walking on the train platform (past the engine).  The Ultimate Ears remain the only headphones which allowed me to enjoy my music, even while standing next to the train engine, without interruption.

There is one other small detail I want to mention here.  The inside of the earbuds are subtly color coded.  Red is right and black is left (it is hard to see in the pictures).  This is important, because the earbuds are angled so that they will only fit in the correct ear.  One of my big complaints about the Super.fi 3 was that it was difficult to tell the right and left earbuds apart.  This color coding makes that easy.  This may seem like a small point to make.  But when you are walking down a busy street, carrying a briefcase and trying to insert your earphones while wearing a heavy coat and gloves.  Well, I think you get the point.  This just eliminates a lot of fumbling and frustration.  It is a small point, but one which was very much appreciated.

What this all means for you, is that these are just incredibly comfortable.  Because of the molded tips and small profile buds, you can slip them into your ears and forget about them.  One of my big complaints about a lot of earbuds like this is that they do not fit well and scratch the sides of my ears.  The Super.fi 5 just disappeared into my ears.  You can almost forget you are wearing these…aside from the sweet melodies flowing into your ears.

So, the next question you are wondering is what kind of sound quality these tiny earbuds deliver.  Well, to answer that, let’s start with a look at how these deliver the sound to your ears.  The Super.fi 5 use a unique top fire armature, which is designed to, “produce a detailed and full soundstage making it perfect for listening to a broad range of music genres.” 

To fully test these headphones, I went out and bought a headphone splitter, so I could connect two sets of earphones to my Zune at the same time.  Then, I listened to the Super.fi 5 simultaneously with several other earphones.  And not just any headphones.  Without naming names, I tested the Super.fi 5 alongside several similarly styled earphones which have been reviewed on this site, most of which received extremely high marks from us here at JAMM.  There was simply no comparison.   In essence, you are going to hear every detail of your music.  The highest highs and the lowest lows, even tones which many headphones drop, are picked up with perfect clarity.

I cannot say enough how much I liked these earphones.  They are comfortable, lightweight, attractive, I could go on.  But the most important part is they sound incredible.  Ultimate Ears has put together the only earphone which could possibly make me stop using the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3.  And that impressed me more than anything else.

What I Liked:

• Attractive
• Lightweight
• Color coded left and right earbuds
• Incredible sound quality
• Multiple tips ensure a great fit

What Needs Improvement:  There were two small things which I did not have time to mention in the main body of the review.

• The cables are standard plastic and rubber, which are very prone to tangling.  I really hope Ultimate Ears moves to a nylon cord.
• The case is really not up to the standards of these headphones.  It is a small, cheap plastic case.  For these high caliber headphones, I thought Ultimate Ears could have done better with a case.

Where To Buy: Ultimate Ears

Price: $169.99

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