Man thank to SWLing Post contributor, TomL, who notes that C. Crane CC Buds-Pro earphones are on sale at Amazon.com today (affiliate link). Tom notes that the price is the same as thoseon the C.Crane website, but with Amazon, you can get free shipping.
Thank you for the tip, Tom!
I just received the amazon package and tried listening to some shortwave and ham traffic. Sounds more mellow than the Panasonic ErgoFit but still very articulate for voice. They are not music earbuds but they are not horrible either. I actually had to cut the EQ bass response to sound more clear for ham radio use. They do not distort as easily as the Panasonic’s, so that is a positive. Will be using the CCrane earbuds for ham and shortwave listening. FM stereo I will use my Sennheiser earbuds. The Panasonic ergofit will be used for any field (outdoor) shortwave listening.
No bump in the base response, a moderate bump at ~2.5KHz, and a steep roll off starting at ~8KHz.
https://ccrane.com/content/images/other/cc-buds-response-curve-lg.jpg
Assuming the measured frequency curve is truly representative and not cherry picked, these likely would fare decently with typical voice comms and talk radio content.
If wanting closer to flat, I like Etymotic ER3SE IEMs. Forget the somewhat ridiculous MSRP, as they often on sale at various vendors for like $49-$69 dollars. Measured frequency curve here:
https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/etymotic-er3se/
I think they are optimized for Voice.
Like their CCRADIO 2e, for example.
Great for listening to voice.
Once while listening to music on an FM station, my wife commented on how the CCRADIO2E didn’t sound right.
Not meant as a rhetorical question, but is there anything special about these earbuds? I
Not really Peat, these are rebranded Sangean earbuds. I also once had a pair bundled with a Samsung phone years ago. They sound fine for voice though. For music, I’d look elsewhere.
I think the last time I bought them, C Crane was having a 2 for 1 sale – don’t remember how much for the two pairs, though.
On amazon.ca they are expensive too and the shipping is NOT free.
They are $53 in UK for same! Ouch.