esanthosh
Skilled
A Compendium of Audio Zone Reviews and Rankings: IEMs, Headphones & Sources
The seed for this thread was born long ago when I asked Faheem if he could post a condensed review of all IEMs with his personal rankings. Even if that idea has not come to fruition yet, we thought it would be nice to have an Index of sorts to all the reviews and impressions posted over time. In addition to this, we also plan to have our own subjective rankings of IEMs or Headphones or whatever we feel like.
Index of Ranking List and/or Review Links
I will start with my own list of reviews and impressions:
Reviews on Head-fi - Ordered by date of review (most recent first):
Reviews of Sources and Amps - Ordered by date of review (most recent first):
Reviews of IEMs - Ordered by date of review (most recent first):
Initial Impressions of IEMs - Ordered by date of thread (most recent first):
Impressions from the Random IEM/Headphone Rants thread (most recent first)
warning: Not fully formed opinions, On the surface A:B comparisons or none at all. Take with a pinch of salt)
Disclaimer: This list is purely based on my listening preferences. It ignores things like build quality, comfort, isolation and is solely based on my subjective opinion of sound quality. This is not entirely based on technical abilities either, though they do play a part. Since individual preferences differ, my ranking could be entirely unsuitable for somebody else. Just take this as one man's opinion. I'll maintain this list updated as far as possible. My Blog post includes a more verbose version of this list.
About my preferences: I think it's very important to know my musical taste and preferences before reading this list. I generally like a healthy mix of melody and heaviness. I like to experiment with different genres and generally like music that does not follow a set pattern or norm. I can't stand most of pop music. I can take too heavy music or too mellow music as long as they are in the right doses and not monotonous. Although not a complete list, this post should give an idea about the music I listen to.
Note:
Ranking
The seed for this thread was born long ago when I asked Faheem if he could post a condensed review of all IEMs with his personal rankings. Even if that idea has not come to fruition yet, we thought it would be nice to have an Index of sorts to all the reviews and impressions posted over time. In addition to this, we also plan to have our own subjective rankings of IEMs or Headphones or whatever we feel like.
Index of Ranking List and/or Review Links
- My Review Links and Ranking - This Post
- Faheem - Review Links and Ranking
- Brendon (BF1983) - Review Links and Ranking
- Mephistopheles - Ranking
- Benny Sachdev - Ranking
- Mukul - Ranking
- strategy - Ranking
- nizarp - Ranking
- hzant6681 - Ranking
- krisballa - Ranking
- santhoshr - Ranking
- fluX - Ranking
- hzant6681 -Ranking
- lepermessiah - Ranking
- Ritvik - Ranking
- Phan7om - Ranking
- Arjan Singh - Ranking
- sardar17 - Ranking
- itsvel06 - Ranking
- jared - Ranking
- abhi_jollyguy - Ranking
I will start with my own list of reviews and impressions:
Reviews on Head-fi - Ordered by date of review (most recent first):
- Hifiman RE-272 (24 Aug, 2011)
- Sunrise Audio XCited (Compared to RE0/ZERO) (07 Aug, 2011)
- Blue Ever Blue "Red" (22 Jun, 2011)
- VSonic GR07 (12 Jun, 2011)
Reviews of Sources and Amps - Ordered by date of review (most recent first):
- Hisoundaudio RoCoo-P (28 Mar, 2012)
Reviews of IEMs - Ordered by date of review (most recent first):
- Shure SE535-LTD-J (29 Dec, 2013)
- Shure SE-535CL (07 Aug, 2012)
- Yamaha EPH-100 (Comparison to EX-1000, FX700, FXT90, MG7, A161P, Tandem, TF10, FXD80) (14 Jul - 01 Aug, 2012)
- MEElectronics A151 (02 May, 2011)
- ECCI PR401 and comparisons to many IEMs (23 Apr, 2011)
- MEElectronics M31 (16 Apr, 2011)
- 9 IEM Comparison - Brainwavz (Pro Alpha, M1, M2, M3) and Xears (TM2, Bullet XB120, XT120, Turbo Devices TD100, TDII) (12 Feb, 2011) (Updated version with 11 IEMs can be found here)
- Head-Direct RE-262 (and comparison to SM3, DBA-02, FX700, e-Q5, Triple Fi 10, RE-252) (04 Feb, 2011)
- Hippo Epic-Sparkle (12 Nov, 2010)
- Head-Direct RE1 (09 Nov, 2010)
- Panasonic RP-HJE900 (26 Oct, 2010)
- Head-Direct RE-252 (17 Oct, 2010)
Initial Impressions of IEMs - Ordered by date of thread (most recent first):
- Radius HW-TWF21 / W n°2 Pro / DDM2 (25 Jun, 2011)
- Monster Turbine : Quick Review (14 Jun, 2011)
- VSonic GR07 (31 Mar, 2011)
- Audio Technica CK10 (15 Mar, 2011)
- JVC/Victor HA-FX700 (14 Jan, 2011)
- Ortofon e-Q5 (13 Jan, 2011)
- Earsonics SM3 (20 Dec, 2010)
- Fischer DBA-02 (27 Sep, 2010)
- Radius HW-TWF11KPro / DDM / W Pro (24 Aug, 2010)
Impressions from the Random IEM/Headphone Rants thread (most recent first)
warning: Not fully formed opinions, On the surface A:B comparisons or none at all. Take with a pinch of salt)
- Noble 4C: Diary of my first Custom IEM and Initial Impressions (01 Feb, 2014)
- Brief comparison of single BA IEMs: Phonak PFE 111 vs Etymotic HF2 vs MEElectronics A161P vs Sony XBA-1 (19 Aug, 2012)
- Brainwavz Pro Alpha vs SoundMagic E10M (17 Aug, 2012)
- Philips SHE3570 vs SoundMagic ES18 (17 Aug, 2012)
- Initial Impression: VSonic GR06 (06 Aug, 2012)
- Very initial impressions: JVC HA-FXD80, JVC HA-FXD70 (01 Aug, 2012)
- Brainwavz Old vs New: Pro Alpha vs M4 (28 Jul, 2012)
- Two Short comparisons: Brainwavz M4 vs SoundMagic E30, Dunu DN-18 Hawkeye vs SoundMagic E10M (27 Jul, 2012)
- The Three Loaners: Dunu DN-18, MEElectronics A161P, Final Audio Design FI-BA-SB (25 Jul, 2012)
- First impression of Brainwavz M4 (18 Jul, 2012)
- Short Comparison of Budget IEMs : SoundMagic ES18 vs SoundMagic E30 vs Brainwavz M1 vs MonoPrice 8320 (22 Jun, 2012)
- Sony XBA-1 and XBA-3 (31 May, 2012)
- Tekfusion TwinWoofers (05 May, 2012)
- MonoPrice 8320 / MEP-933 (04 May, 2012)
- SoundMagic E30 and Comparison to SoundMagic ES18 (01 May, 2012)
- SoundMagic ES18 (20 Apr, 2012)
- SoundMagic PL11 and SoundMagic E10 (16 Apr, 2012)
- Sony EX-1000 and JVC HA-FX700 (03 Apr 2012, 04 Dec 2011, 27 Jul 2011, 23 July 2011 Post #1 and #2)
- Fischer Audio DBA-02 MK-II (19 Feb, 2012)
- Brainwavz HM5 (31 Dec, 2011)
- Beyerdynamic DT880/600 (2005) (24 Dec, 2011)
- Yuin OK1 Ear Bud (On Rediscovering Ear Buds Thread) (05 Dec, 2011)
- Sennheiser HD600 (04 Nov, 2011)
- First Listen: Atrio MG7, Brookstone Clear Dual Driver, Etymotic HF2 (07 Sep, 2011)
- Etymotic MC5 #1 #2 (04 Aug, 2011)
- JVC HA-FXT90 Dual Dynamic Driver (18 Jul, 2011)
- RE-262 : A second try after 6 months (09 Jul, 2011)
- Fischer Audio Eterna: First Listen (20 Apr, 2011)
- VSonic GR07: First Listen - #1, #2 (25 Mar, 2011)
Disclaimer: This list is purely based on my listening preferences. It ignores things like build quality, comfort, isolation and is solely based on my subjective opinion of sound quality. This is not entirely based on technical abilities either, though they do play a part. Since individual preferences differ, my ranking could be entirely unsuitable for somebody else. Just take this as one man's opinion. I'll maintain this list updated as far as possible. My Blog post includes a more verbose version of this list.
About my preferences: I think it's very important to know my musical taste and preferences before reading this list. I generally like a healthy mix of melody and heaviness. I like to experiment with different genres and generally like music that does not follow a set pattern or norm. I can't stand most of pop music. I can take too heavy music or too mellow music as long as they are in the right doses and not monotonous. Although not a complete list, this post should give an idea about the music I listen to.
Note:
- * - indicates the IEM is under evaluation and can move up or down. The current position is just a placeholder.
- I have also tried to group IEMs into Tiers based on how I consider their SQ. "___" indicate the separation between tiers, while "..." indicates sub-divisions within the same tier.
- It is safe to assume that I consider the IEMs within the same tier as almost equals. Within that, sound signature preference would play a role in choosing the right IEM. The differences are much lesser within the sub-division of a tier. While I don't follow the point system for SQ, let's say for example if Tier-I averages between 9.26 - 10.00 / 10, Tier-II will be 8.75 - 9.25 / 10. Within Tier-I, the top sub-division IEMs would range from 9.76 - 10.00 / 10 and the next one would be from 9.26 - 9.75 / 10.00. These are just examples.
- In the closing, there are two things I believe in - "Take all opinions with a pinch of salt" and "Let your own ears be the judge". So, remember them when reading this list
Ranking
-------- Favorites --------
- Noble 4C
.......... Other Favorites ...........
- Custom Art Music Two
- Sony MDR-EX1000
- JVC Victor HA-FX700
.......... Almost Favorites ...........
- Earsonics SM3 v1
- Audio Technica CK10
- Head-Direct RE-272
-------- Almost Great -------
- Fischer Audio DBA-02 MKII
- Fischer Audio DBA-02
- Head-Direct RE-262
- Radius HW-TWF21 / W n2 Pro / DDM2
- Ortofon e-Q5
- VSonic GR07
- Shure SE535-LTD-J
- Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10
-------- Excellent IEMs Level 1 -------
- Final Audio Design FI-BA-SB "Heaven S"
- Shure SE-535
- Phonak PFE 111 v0
- Hifiman RE-400 *
- Etymotic HF2
- MEElectronics A161P
- Yamaha EPH-100
- JVC HA-FXT90
- Futuresonics Atrio M5 (MG7)
- Radius HW-TWF11K Pro (or) DDM
- Head-Direct RE-252
.......... Excellent IEMs Level 2 ...........
- Sony XBA-3
- Panasonic RP-HJE900 (Foam mod)
- Sunrise XCape V1
- Head-Direct RE-ZERO
- JVC HA-FXD70 *
- JVC HA-FXD80
- Sunrise XCited
- Head-Direct RE0
- Fischer Audio Tandem
- Sony XBA-1
-------- Very Good IEMs Level 1 -------
- Fischer Audio Silver Bullet V2
- Xears TD100-II
- Steel Series Flux In-Ear *
- Sony MH1C *
- VSonic GR06
- ECCI PR401
- Hippo VB
- Fischer Audio Eterna V1
- Xears Experience XE200Pro
- Xears TDIII v1 / v2
- Monster Turbine
- Brookstone Clear Dual Driver
- Brainwavz M3
- MEElectronics CC51
- MEElectronics A151
- Xears TD100-I
.......... Very Good IEMs Level 2 ...........
- Signature Acoustics C-12 LE *
- Brainwavz M4
- Playaz N1
- Head-Direct RE1
- MonoPrice 8320
- Brainwavz M2
- SoundMagic E30
- SoundMagic PL50
- Brainwavz M1
- SoundMagic E10M
- Dunu DN-18 "Hawkeye" v2
- Brainwavz Pro Alpha
- Etymotic MC5
-------- Good IEMs -------
- Hippo Shroom EB
- Klipsch S4
- Microsonics Epic X
- Hippo Pearl (amplified)
- Crossroads Woody Two
-------- Nearly Good IEMs -------
- Playaz N3
- Xears XT120Pro (Equalized)
- Xears Bullet XB120Pro
- NuForce NE-7m
- SoundMagic ES18
- Brainwavz Delta *
- Blue Ever Blue 866B "The Red"
- MEElectronics M6 (Some foam + Equalization Less Memory Wire)
- Head-Direct RE2
- Philips SHE3570
-------- Casual Listening IEMs -------
- Tekfusion TwinWoofers
- MEElectronics M31
- Fischer Audio Daleth
- SoundMagic PL30
- SoundMagic PL11
- Brainwavz Alpha
- V-Moda Vibe
-------- Other IEMs -------
- JVC HA-FX34 "Marshmallows" (Kramer Mod)
- Xears TM2Pro
- Hippo Epic-Sparkle (MEElectronics M9 Balanced Tips)
- Creative EP-630
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