Ultimate Ear / Green Leopard ????

[Paullyfuzz]

Ive just got some moulds done of my ears and am in the market for some in ear monitors / plugs.

I know a lot of people on here rave about UE and Green Leopard, but what are the differences, if any, in the quality of audio between the two as they are made differently, ie, one has the speaker in the actual monitor/ear piece and the other has it in the wiring prior to the plug ?

Another question is this, when not wanting to listen to music, but still wanting a good ear plug, can the monitors simply be used as plugs on there own. The reason i ask is that some times i just wanna go out there with out any wires or interference at all, but still need a good set of plugs. I cant believe that after spending £150 that i would have to spend further in order to get some plain old plugs aswell. Surely UE or Green Leopard do a deal if you have a set of plain custom plugs aswell as monitors ?

Cheers all.

Paul

 

[John Armstrong]

Had UE ones, old style, they are very effective at noise reduction I found in Boeing aircraft. Only faff will be the cables left without autocom / mp3 player to plug into.

 

[Rod]

I phoned UE yesterday & they told me that if you get a pair of monitors for £150-00 they will sell you a pair of earplugs for £35-00 instead of £55-00
I will get a fitting on Saturday.

 

[Paullyfuzz]

Monitors

Can anyone offer any advice on the differences, if any, in audio quality between the two systems ?

Cheers,

Paul

 

[digga]

Hey.... i can only afford 1 pair.. and they are UE..
I'll be chasing them 2moz regards a pr of plugs for £35 though??

 

[Old Paddy]

.....

 

[judge]

I phoned UE yesterday & they told me that if you get a pair of monitors for £150-00 they will sell you a pair of earplugs for £35-00 instead of £55-00
I will get a fitting on Saturday.

For clarity Ultimates monitors are priced accordingly:

UEP75's = £155 + £5 p&p
UEP75QT (soft tips) = £170 + £5 p&p

If you have an existing set of impressions (moulds) which are suitable you will gain a further £10 off those prices and yes the second set offer is a set of blockers (UEP 87) for £35 instead of their regular price of £59 + £2 p&p but they must be ordered together.

 

[judge]

Hey.... i can only afford 1 pair.. and they are UE..
I'll be chasing them 2moz regards a pr of plugs for £35 though??

If the order hasn't been fulfilled you will be able to take advantage of the 2nd set offer, if an order has been submitted and produced you will have missed the boat.

 

[Paullyfuzz]

Monitors

Can anyone offer any advice on the differences, if any, in audio quality between the two systems ?

Cheers,

Paul

Can anyone actually help with the above ?


Paul

 

[judge]

Can anyone actually help with the above ?


Paul

Paul,

Its fairly unlikely many people will have shelled out the best part of £200 with two different manufacturers to be able to provide a meaningful comparison. More likely someone will have bought one or the other and have an opinion on the one they have but no experience of the other.

So responses like "I have UE/GL monitors and they are brilliant/crap or somewhere in-between" is likely but I've had both and one is better/worse than the other is not likely.

I know Ultimate Ear have been pushing for the bike press to do so but it will still only be one person's opinion and based on short term usage won't carry much weight. So far UE have provided sets to all the biking press who have promised just such a review and it doesn't happen.

I can offer a comparison between the 'air tube' monitors as offered by Scianini (though I haven't used his ones but Ultimates' version the 'caterpillar'

My opinion is the 'air-tube' monitors are perfect for voice work (intercom/bike2bike radio/sat nav voice prompts) and are OK for music via an Intercom system as a lot of detail is lost when you plug your mp3 player into the intercom system.

Where the Ultimate UEP 75 monitors come into play is when plugged directly into an MP3 player, where the detail and range of the music is exceptional making them an obvious choice off the bike as well as on the bike.

The air-tube monitors require you to site the cables with some thought as the sounds are carried up the tube by vibration and the tube is susceptible to vibrations from external sources impacting quality. In the trial I did with the 'caterpillar' I had to be careful of the air tube 'pinching' and affecting sound quality.

That's the trade-off against the perceived fragility of having drivers inside the plug with the monitors (being susceptible to wax) and the cable handling (being susceptible to failure when handled poorly).

Ultimate's Air Tube Monitor 'Caterpillar' are £110 + £5 p&p against the electrical UEP75 which is £155 & £5p&p or £170 & £5 p&p for the soft-tipped version.

That's about as much as I can offer to your conundrum but it is hardly objective given my involvement with Ultimate, I've no doubt Fil (Schianini) could do the same with a GL perspective

 

[CBFer]

My opinion is the 'air-tube' monitors are perfect for voice work (intercom/bike2bike radio/sat nav voice prompts) and are OK for music via an Intercom system as a lot of detail is lost when you plug your mp3 player into the intercom system.

I have Green Leopards (as supplied by the excellent Fil Schiannini ) and in my view, what Judge says is spot on. Rider to Pillion speech is crisp and clear, music less so - but then a bike isn't what you would describe as the ideal music listening environment, so for me this is not a problem. I place greater value on what I believe is the more rugged - and much more cheaply replaceable - air tube system.