A Compendium of Audio Zone Reviews and Rankings: IEMs, Headphones & Sources

itsvel06 said:
MH1c is a brilliant iem no doubt about it. It improves with proper amplification too! From what I've read xba 4 is very picky about its source and the way you describe its sound to be, makes it seem like you've matched it with the wrong source! Can you let us know which source units You've tried them with... And btw, If you are ever looking to trade the ck100pros for anything I'm your guy :)
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Although i have amps, but i didnt feel the difference enough, actually mh1c can be driven very easily, it goes pretty loud with 60% on my xperia SP. will check them with powerful amp.
i tried ie8 with iphone 4s, JSYK
About ck100pro, what do you have to offer?
 
Alright guys, i have something that might surprise you, if you havent heard it before that is,
i was cleaning my mh1c today, i have heard several mods before so i did myself one out of curiosity.
i took out the nozzle filter along with the mesh from the bore tip, and am all game :)
Before i mention anything about SQ, neither am prolific reviewer nor i'm good with audiophile terms.
SQ: the difference is noticeable, treble roll off has decreased to good extent, there is good amount of treble energy. Personally am not a fan of treble but these monitors made me smile the moment i put them on :) I wont say much and would ask you to try them out yourself, if you dont like the mod you can put them back on later, there nothing to loose:) So give a shot.
These little monitors gives me eargasm, "ck100pro gives me the GLARE". Sorry mate, you might have to sit on this.
Till date i would say this far, mh1c is the best deal i have ever done in my life, period
 
jared said:
Although i have amps, but i didnt feel the difference enough, actually mh1c can be driven very easily, it goes pretty loud with 60% on my xperia SP. will check them with powerful amp.
i tried ie8 with iphone 4s, JSYK
About ck100pro, what do you have to offer?
Click to expand...

I havent used the Xperia SP so no comments there, I listened to it with the corda2 stepdance and I loved what it did to the MH1c's sound. The main improvement was not the volume, The C2SD made the bass more taught and impactful, and the amp itself has this tendency of shifting the focus of music to the upper mids, which I actually dont like usually when paired with other earphones but I loved it when paired with the MH1c.
I was curious about the XBA-4 not the IE-8.
 
jared said:
Alright guys, i have something that might surprise you, if you havent heard it before that is,
i was cleaning my mh1c today, i have heard several mods before so i did myself one out of curiosity.
i took out the nozzle filter along with the mesh from the bore tip, and am all game :)
Before i mention anything about SQ, neither am prolific reviewer nor i'm good with audiophile terms.
SQ: the difference is noticeable, treble roll off has decreased to good extent, there is good amount of treble energy. Personally am not a fan of treble but these monitors made me smile the moment i put them on :) I wont say much and would ask you to try them out yourself, if you dont like the mod you can put them back on later, there nothing to loose:) So give a shot.
These little monitors gives me eargasm, "ck100pro gives me the GLARE". Sorry mate, you might have to sit on this.
Till date i would say this far, mh1c is the best deal i have ever done in my life, period
Click to expand...

Wow, thats good to know!! Personally I found the treble to have a good treble extension. Even my shure SE535 ltd's treble seems to be rolled off compared to the MH1c! Besides the treble, have you noticed any improvements in other aspects??!
 
itsvel06 said:
I havent used the Xperia SP so no comments there, I listened to it with the corda2 stepdance and I loved what it did to the MH1c's sound. The main improvement was not the volume, The C2SD made the bass more taught and impactful, and the amp itself has this tendency of shifting the focus of music to the upper mids, which I actually dont like usually when paired with other earphones but I loved it when paired with the MH1c.
I was curious about the XBA-4 not the IE-8.
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sorry I meant to say XBA-4, actually I never tried IE-8 with iPhone, come to think of it, I gave up on iOS as soon I found out that I can use USB dac with Android.[DOUBLEPOST=1390587027][/DOUBLEPOST]
itsvel06 said:
Wow, thats good to know!! Personally I found the treble to have a good treble extension. Even my shure SE535 ltd's treble seems to be rolled off compared to the MH1c! Besides the treble, have you noticed any improvements in other aspects??!
Click to expand...
I thought Ltds had more treble extension compared to original. Never heard either of it so don't know.
 
jared said:
sorry I meant to say XBA-4, actually I never tried IE-8 with iPhone, come to think of it, I gave up on iOS as soon I found out that I can use USB dac with Android.[DOUBLEPOST=1390587027][/DOUBLEPOST]I thought Ltds had more treble extension compared to original. Never heard either of it so don't know.
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I havent heard the original SE 535 but the SE 535 ltd from what i read, has a more extended treble. But the thing is it has a peak in the 7-8k range, Because the peak over shadows the upper highs the transition from the upper mids is not seamless and as a result its not as open sounding and seems less well extended as it should. So I listen to it now exclusively with EQ (borrowed from lunatique on head fi) :
13000 Hz, 8 dB, 0.55 oct
7000 Hz, -8 dB, 0.25 oct
40 Hz, 2.5 dB, 3 oct
The difference is night and day!
 
Apart from highs I do feel vocals sound a little upfront but am not sure. The overall spectrum sounds better. BA200 are known for vocals for the price range, to me, mh1 just takes the BA200 vocals with same details but with sweetness in them to give you pure audio bliss. Okay, enough hype, here comes the smolder, the mh1c mod is susceptible to wind noise, before I used to get frustrated with the wind noise and now it is more prominent. I would still advise to try them out yourself since we have ears of different geometry and then it comes to choice of tips, so to speak
 
itsvel06 said:
I havent heard the original SE 535 but the SE 535 ltd from what i read, has a more extended treble. But the thing is it has a peak in the 7-8k range, Because the peak over shadows the upper highs the transition from the upper mids is not seamless and as a result its not as open sounding and seems less well extended as it should. So I listen to it now exclusively with EQ (borrowed from lunatique on head fi) :
13000 Hz, 8 dB, 0.55 oct
7000 Hz, -8 dB, 0.25 oct
40 Hz, 2.5 dB, 3 oct
The difference is night and day!
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cool, so in general, to avoid the peak, the graph goes u shape from 4KHz to 13KHz, nice. I thought BAs don't react much to EQ in my experience, if they do they loose details. May be you hit the right spot ;) As soon as I'm allowed to create threads, my first one would be sound mod for Android, I ll post soon and would eat my hat if any one who properly used said she didn't like it.
 
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It actually makes it kinda flat devoid of peaks and that post 15k get that much more audible! :) Also with that wide bandwidth minor sub-bass boost, the bass seems to have more impact too :)
 
Just put the money down for an AMR DP-777. This is my biggest blind buy till date. Hope it doesn't dissapoint me. Wallet feels significantly lighter now :-(.
 
Hi All.

I am guessing this is the right section for Audioholics ;). better term than Audiophiles. :D.

Is any of you guys willing to write some article reviews, video reviews or unboxing video sorts for the forums? I see no dearth of gear here. But no reviews.
This is a open call. I wanted to open a thread but seeing this thread, thought be a nice place to start. PM or post here if anything can be done.

I know it takes effort. So consider this as a request.
 
Disclaimer: The ranking is extremely subjective and biased.
Ranking key: Number indicates rank. Because of similar/different signatures one IEM may not be a level above the other. Decimal point indicates subranking. Smileys indicate ...well...

IEM Rankings:(does not include IEMs that I have tried/auditioned)

1.1 HiFiman RE-272::artist: Mini impressions here
1.2 HiFiman RE-400: :singing:Full TE/ Headfi review here
2.1 LG Quadbeat 2: :joyful: Early and Full TE review here
2.2 Vsonic VSD1S: :headphone: Full TE review here
3.1 Sony MH1C:cool:
3.2 Xears TD4 Ebony Blackwood :happy:
4.0. Brainwavz R1 :jimlad:
5.0 Sony MDR-EX35LP:)
6.0. Sony MDR-E818LP:)
7.0. Creative EP-630 :wacky:
800(Yes, eight hundred).:sour: JVC HA-FX35-B Marshmallow

@esanthosh : Now put me up on the OP before it gets deleted again! :)
 
kenpachiroks said:
Disclaimer: The ranking is extremely subjective and biased.
Ranking key: Number indicates rank. Because of similar/different signatures one IEM may not be a level above the other. Decimal point indicates subranking. Smileys indicate ...well...

IEM Rankings:(does not include IEMs that I have tried/auditioned)

1.1 HiFiman RE-272::artist: Mini impressions here
1.2 HiFiman RE-400: :singing:Full TE/ Headfi review here
2.1 LG Quadbeat 2: :joyful: Early and Full TE review here
2.2 Vsonic VSD1S: :headphone: Full TE review here
3.1 Sony MH1C:cool:
3.2 Xears TD4 Ebony Blackwood :happy:
4.0. Brainwavz R1 :jimlad:
5.0 Sony MDR-EX35LP:)
6.0. Sony MDR-E818LP:)
7.0. Creative EP-630 :wacky:
800(Yes, eight hundred).:sour: JVC HA-FX35-B Marshmallow

@esanthosh : Now put me up on the OP before it gets deleted again! :)
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The price difference between ur no 1 and 2 is 200$:p
 
Got the loaner O16 :
Initial expression :
Different sound signature from other IEMs at this price point which generally tends to be congested . Soundstage is open , airy , spacious.
Vocals are crisp , Low end seems adept .
Nozzle is bit big for me , hence poor isolation (which has its merits and demerits)
Will try to do a more detail expression later.
 
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