esanthosh
Skilled
Thread Index
Impressions of RE-262
First off, many thanks to mukul for parting with his favorite IEM and making this thread possible. I'll continue to update this first post later. Let's get the important things out of the way first.
Build Quality and other factors
Cable: I am first off happy to report that the cable on 262 is indeed the best cable in their entire line-up. I don't think it measures up-to the FX700 cable, e-Q5 cable (from memory) or the braided SM3 cable. But, it's a good effort from Hifiman to move away from thin cables that are lifted off $10 ear buds. It's a step in the right direction and I hope they continue. The cable is terminated in a gold colored right angled plug. Oh! There's a chin slider as well. But it was so fond of the cable position that it clung onto it refusing to move. So, it's as good as being not there.
Housing: The 262 comes with a housing that reminds me of the 252, but fortunately let's go off the gummys and what I call the "ear pressure extension" from it. The strain reliefs are proper.
Comfort: The housing is very easy to fit in the outer ear and I feel slight pressure on my outer ear after this long listening session, but nowhere uncomfortable as the 252. It snugly fits in and stays without any trouble. With 252, one needed to ensure that the housing was fitted in the outer ear and also ensure that the tip provides a proper fit and seal in the canal. RE-262 is far better and easily fits in, even with the single flanges, something I could not do with 252.
Microphonics: The cable is still a bit microphonic when worn straight down. But, I've trained myself to wear even the "royal pain master" RE-252 over the ear. So, 262 was a walk in the park in comparison. It still can be fitted in the outer ear in one direction only, but it's much easier for me to run the cable over my ear and wear the housing in the straight down position.
Isolation: Isolation is so-so, but not great due to the shallow fit required by the housing. It gets a bit 'windy' when I walk fast or am outside.
Sound Characteristics
Barring the one range wonder RE1, I never had an issue with any of the HiFiMan IEMs I've tried so far (including the lower-end RE2) when it comes to sound. But, broadly speaking, RE0/ZERO/252 more or less share the same Hifiman house sound. I was frankly expecting a RE-252 with RE0 treble and better depth in sound stage when they announced RE-262. But, what I heard is indeed a nice departure.
Let's begin with the bass. All Hifimans I've tried thus far have been weak in the bass department in varying degrees. Finally, 262 steps up and gets it right. The bass is still a bit restrained when it comes to impact. It does not extend into sub-bass to rumble and rattle the brain. But, it has good texture and body without humps and bumps - something I can call quality, rounded bass. I could never say about the RE0 and to a lesser extent about RE-252 (which had some quality, but never felt enough or rounded). For those who want "BASS", stay off and save yourselves - this is a softie.
The treble is recessed and more laid-back even when compared to a similarly recessed SM3. I thought it'd be devoid of sparkle, which is not the case all the time. At times, there's some quiet revolt or in this case, sparkle. But, all I had to do was to switch to FX700 to know what I am missing. In the Hifiman line-up, after the rolled off RE1 and RE2, this has got to be the quietest treble I've come across.
We come to the meat of the presentation, the Mids. It's smooth, lush, organic and well, liquid. They are forward, but not 'In your face' forward like SM3. Unlike the smoothm but unexciting e-Q5, RE-262 actually injects life into mids like a good mid focused IEM should. It's slightly on the warm and well bodied side, but nowhere near the warmth of SM3. Vocal sibilance present in the recording seems to come through (To check - directly out of Clip+, could be more when amped?), but nowhere near alarming levels.
Presentation:
The presentation aspect of RE262 is something I like very much. The dynamic range is very good and the good aspect is it manages to stay clear and loud through out the range. The way it portrays distances is excellent. Speed is not much of an issue either, it wasn't for even RE0.
So how good is the RE-262? Western classical music is something a bit difficult to produce for IEMs accurately. They have waxing and waning sections, with sounds varying from very quiet note to a very loud note. I generally like to use Gustav Holst's "Mars" from the Planets Suite as one such example - it is like a crescendo. Usually IEMs either produce all sections without much difference in loudness or muffle the quiet parts (i.e., not clearly audible). With RE-262, the notes are very clearly audible from beginning to the end. At the same time, you can still differentiate between quiet and loud parts. Similarly, the RE-262 is very good at presenting the difference between sounds that are 'distant' and those which are 'close'. The best thing about this driver is that it manages to do all this without sweat. Effortless is the only word that comes to my mind.
Sound Stage is non-existent on the RE-262. What it has is space and loads of it. This is one thing Head-Direct got very, very right. While FX700 is open like a headphone, RE262 seems to expand a sound space before you. If I call FX700 as "headphone like", I'd call RE-262 "speaker like". Like a good speaker positioned properly above your head, it places sound along all three dimensions. I generally stay off the high horse and not describe about the feeling of 'being there' or 'being on stage'. Most times, I dismiss such claims because only speakers can 'take you there', and only good ones at that. But, RE-262 comes close to that because it manages to present a sound stage that does not seem to suffer from many limitations when it comes to height, width and depth. It's not artificially encircling your head as SM3 or constrained within the ears as most IEMs. Sounds are not limited to "in your ear" or "the back of the head". Several times, RE-262 manages to sound 'out of the ear' and 'behind the head'. RE-262 is also effortless in presenting sound stage height.
The best thing with RE-262 is that it does all of this without sounding artificial. Compared to RE-262, RE-252 is a wide screen to display the sound (no depth, lateral presentation), RE0/2 have a normal sound stage. RE1 had wide sound stage, but it was wrong in some aspects. For example, I remember that when I tried Diana Krall, it placed the instruments far wide as if it was acting like a security team clearing up stage for centered Diana Krall. RE262 does not feel closed in or too intimate either, but it does not feel wrong when it comes to sense of space.
After all the praise for the way it presents sound, it goes without saying that separation, imaging or placement are excellent. With placement in all three directions, there's never an overlap between foreground sounds (vocals, guitars) and background (drums, cymbals). Moving to something like Miles Davis' "So What", you don't have to guess who's where in the stage - sitting or standing. The thing I most like about RE-262 is that it never sounds artificial when trying to achieve this feat.
Perhaps one minor complaint, which may be personal is a slight bump at 5-6 Khz. I am very sensitive to this range and generally cannot tolerate any bumps or spikes in the region as it sounds harsh and bites my ear. With Rockbox's EQ, I adjusted 5500 Hz to -1.0 dB and increased 10.0 Khz by 1.5 dB.
Amplification:
RE-262 is actually more efficient than the equal impedance, but power hungry, volume hungry and still insatiable RE1. I can drive it to satisfactory, listen-able volume levels straight out of Clip+ (RB-ed Clip+ Volume: -13 to -8 depending on the recording's level). It should be noted that my general listening levels run from -31 to -17 with various other IEMs. Rockboxed Clip+'s volume goes from -88 to +6. So that makes it approx 60-75% for other IEMs and 79-84% for RE-262. If your normal listening levels are more than mine, the following may not apply to you as you'll need an amp anyway.
I tried to run it through with iBasso T3 (More on this in Post #30). There was not much difference in sound stage as I specifically checked for sounds that were out of the right ear and sounds that were in deep. They were in a similar position whether amped or not. What it adds though is more tightness across the spectrum which results in the RE-262 sounding more refined. At times, I felt that mids sound slightly recessed with an amp than straight out of Clip+, but it could be due to the fact that Clip+ can actually sound louder at -5 to -10 than through iBasso T3 unless volume in T3 was increased much more than my normal listening levels.
RE-262 used directly out of Clip+ cuts the battery life by half, perhaps a bit more. That sure is an incentive to use an amp compared to charging both my Clip+ every day. But IMHO, it's not necessary to use T3 every time. A portable source with lot more power, like S:Flo2 or one of the Hifimans would not require an amp either. So, if you already own a good amp, there's no reason to run RE-262 un-amped. But, if you don't have one and are not ready to spend, what you are missing may be deriving the last mile out of an already capable IEM. If you are OK with charging your portable players (a couple of players actually) every night, you are still good!
Conclusion
In my e-Q5 impressions, I mentioned that I need to check RE-262 before pronouncing judgment on e-Q5's worth. RE-262 is everything I expected e-Q5 to be and then some more. Build quality wise, e-Q5 may be better, but I usually prefer great sound and crappy build over not so great sound and great build quality. In this case, the build quality too is not that bad. I am not going to rank RE-262 now as I've more time to do that leisurely. What I don't have any doubt about are two facts - This is the best to come from Head-Direct / HifiMan and this belongs in my top-tier.
Value for Money
Really? How am I supposed to "value" a $250 MSRP IEM? It's a better choice compared to the equally priced e-Q5 (pending direct A/B). But, if you can grab one for less than $200, it's a steal.
Is it for ME?
I need plenty of bass impact / I need brighter presentation / I need plenty of sparkle / Analytical or I am out / I need sub-bass like Hippo VB - Oops! Sorry!
I own a HifiMan IEM and you know the vocals? They are life-less / I own RE1 and it has the bestestest mids in the world
/ I hate aggressive treble / I don't like bass that pounds my head / I need good, lively mids / I have loads of money - Try RE-262
- Impressions of RE-262 - This post
- Comparison vs RE-252 - Post #32
- Comparison vs e-Q5 - Post #47
- Comparison vs TF10 - Post #52
- Comparison vs DBA-02 - Post #61
- Comparison vs FX700 - Post #70
- Comparison vs SM3 - Post #80
Impressions of RE-262
First off, many thanks to mukul for parting with his favorite IEM and making this thread possible. I'll continue to update this first post later. Let's get the important things out of the way first.
Build Quality and other factors
Cable: I am first off happy to report that the cable on 262 is indeed the best cable in their entire line-up. I don't think it measures up-to the FX700 cable, e-Q5 cable (from memory) or the braided SM3 cable. But, it's a good effort from Hifiman to move away from thin cables that are lifted off $10 ear buds. It's a step in the right direction and I hope they continue. The cable is terminated in a gold colored right angled plug. Oh! There's a chin slider as well. But it was so fond of the cable position that it clung onto it refusing to move. So, it's as good as being not there.
Housing: The 262 comes with a housing that reminds me of the 252, but fortunately let's go off the gummys and what I call the "ear pressure extension" from it. The strain reliefs are proper.
Comfort: The housing is very easy to fit in the outer ear and I feel slight pressure on my outer ear after this long listening session, but nowhere uncomfortable as the 252. It snugly fits in and stays without any trouble. With 252, one needed to ensure that the housing was fitted in the outer ear and also ensure that the tip provides a proper fit and seal in the canal. RE-262 is far better and easily fits in, even with the single flanges, something I could not do with 252.
Microphonics: The cable is still a bit microphonic when worn straight down. But, I've trained myself to wear even the "royal pain master" RE-252 over the ear. So, 262 was a walk in the park in comparison. It still can be fitted in the outer ear in one direction only, but it's much easier for me to run the cable over my ear and wear the housing in the straight down position.
Isolation: Isolation is so-so, but not great due to the shallow fit required by the housing. It gets a bit 'windy' when I walk fast or am outside.
Sound Characteristics
Barring the one range wonder RE1, I never had an issue with any of the HiFiMan IEMs I've tried so far (including the lower-end RE2) when it comes to sound. But, broadly speaking, RE0/ZERO/252 more or less share the same Hifiman house sound. I was frankly expecting a RE-252 with RE0 treble and better depth in sound stage when they announced RE-262. But, what I heard is indeed a nice departure.
Let's begin with the bass. All Hifimans I've tried thus far have been weak in the bass department in varying degrees. Finally, 262 steps up and gets it right. The bass is still a bit restrained when it comes to impact. It does not extend into sub-bass to rumble and rattle the brain. But, it has good texture and body without humps and bumps - something I can call quality, rounded bass. I could never say about the RE0 and to a lesser extent about RE-252 (which had some quality, but never felt enough or rounded). For those who want "BASS", stay off and save yourselves - this is a softie.
The treble is recessed and more laid-back even when compared to a similarly recessed SM3. I thought it'd be devoid of sparkle, which is not the case all the time. At times, there's some quiet revolt or in this case, sparkle. But, all I had to do was to switch to FX700 to know what I am missing. In the Hifiman line-up, after the rolled off RE1 and RE2, this has got to be the quietest treble I've come across.
We come to the meat of the presentation, the Mids. It's smooth, lush, organic and well, liquid. They are forward, but not 'In your face' forward like SM3. Unlike the smoothm but unexciting e-Q5, RE-262 actually injects life into mids like a good mid focused IEM should. It's slightly on the warm and well bodied side, but nowhere near the warmth of SM3. Vocal sibilance present in the recording seems to come through (To check - directly out of Clip+, could be more when amped?), but nowhere near alarming levels.
Presentation:
The presentation aspect of RE262 is something I like very much. The dynamic range is very good and the good aspect is it manages to stay clear and loud through out the range. The way it portrays distances is excellent. Speed is not much of an issue either, it wasn't for even RE0.
So how good is the RE-262? Western classical music is something a bit difficult to produce for IEMs accurately. They have waxing and waning sections, with sounds varying from very quiet note to a very loud note. I generally like to use Gustav Holst's "Mars" from the Planets Suite as one such example - it is like a crescendo. Usually IEMs either produce all sections without much difference in loudness or muffle the quiet parts (i.e., not clearly audible). With RE-262, the notes are very clearly audible from beginning to the end. At the same time, you can still differentiate between quiet and loud parts. Similarly, the RE-262 is very good at presenting the difference between sounds that are 'distant' and those which are 'close'. The best thing about this driver is that it manages to do all this without sweat. Effortless is the only word that comes to my mind.
Sound Stage is non-existent on the RE-262. What it has is space and loads of it. This is one thing Head-Direct got very, very right. While FX700 is open like a headphone, RE262 seems to expand a sound space before you. If I call FX700 as "headphone like", I'd call RE-262 "speaker like". Like a good speaker positioned properly above your head, it places sound along all three dimensions. I generally stay off the high horse and not describe about the feeling of 'being there' or 'being on stage'. Most times, I dismiss such claims because only speakers can 'take you there', and only good ones at that. But, RE-262 comes close to that because it manages to present a sound stage that does not seem to suffer from many limitations when it comes to height, width and depth. It's not artificially encircling your head as SM3 or constrained within the ears as most IEMs. Sounds are not limited to "in your ear" or "the back of the head". Several times, RE-262 manages to sound 'out of the ear' and 'behind the head'. RE-262 is also effortless in presenting sound stage height.
The best thing with RE-262 is that it does all of this without sounding artificial. Compared to RE-262, RE-252 is a wide screen to display the sound (no depth, lateral presentation), RE0/2 have a normal sound stage. RE1 had wide sound stage, but it was wrong in some aspects. For example, I remember that when I tried Diana Krall, it placed the instruments far wide as if it was acting like a security team clearing up stage for centered Diana Krall. RE262 does not feel closed in or too intimate either, but it does not feel wrong when it comes to sense of space.
After all the praise for the way it presents sound, it goes without saying that separation, imaging or placement are excellent. With placement in all three directions, there's never an overlap between foreground sounds (vocals, guitars) and background (drums, cymbals). Moving to something like Miles Davis' "So What", you don't have to guess who's where in the stage - sitting or standing. The thing I most like about RE-262 is that it never sounds artificial when trying to achieve this feat.
Perhaps one minor complaint, which may be personal is a slight bump at 5-6 Khz. I am very sensitive to this range and generally cannot tolerate any bumps or spikes in the region as it sounds harsh and bites my ear. With Rockbox's EQ, I adjusted 5500 Hz to -1.0 dB and increased 10.0 Khz by 1.5 dB.
Amplification:
RE-262 is actually more efficient than the equal impedance, but power hungry, volume hungry and still insatiable RE1. I can drive it to satisfactory, listen-able volume levels straight out of Clip+ (RB-ed Clip+ Volume: -13 to -8 depending on the recording's level). It should be noted that my general listening levels run from -31 to -17 with various other IEMs. Rockboxed Clip+'s volume goes from -88 to +6. So that makes it approx 60-75% for other IEMs and 79-84% for RE-262. If your normal listening levels are more than mine, the following may not apply to you as you'll need an amp anyway.
I tried to run it through with iBasso T3 (More on this in Post #30). There was not much difference in sound stage as I specifically checked for sounds that were out of the right ear and sounds that were in deep. They were in a similar position whether amped or not. What it adds though is more tightness across the spectrum which results in the RE-262 sounding more refined. At times, I felt that mids sound slightly recessed with an amp than straight out of Clip+, but it could be due to the fact that Clip+ can actually sound louder at -5 to -10 than through iBasso T3 unless volume in T3 was increased much more than my normal listening levels.
RE-262 used directly out of Clip+ cuts the battery life by half, perhaps a bit more. That sure is an incentive to use an amp compared to charging both my Clip+ every day. But IMHO, it's not necessary to use T3 every time. A portable source with lot more power, like S:Flo2 or one of the Hifimans would not require an amp either. So, if you already own a good amp, there's no reason to run RE-262 un-amped. But, if you don't have one and are not ready to spend, what you are missing may be deriving the last mile out of an already capable IEM. If you are OK with charging your portable players (a couple of players actually) every night, you are still good!
Conclusion
In my e-Q5 impressions, I mentioned that I need to check RE-262 before pronouncing judgment on e-Q5's worth. RE-262 is everything I expected e-Q5 to be and then some more. Build quality wise, e-Q5 may be better, but I usually prefer great sound and crappy build over not so great sound and great build quality. In this case, the build quality too is not that bad. I am not going to rank RE-262 now as I've more time to do that leisurely. What I don't have any doubt about are two facts - This is the best to come from Head-Direct / HifiMan and this belongs in my top-tier.
Value for Money
Really? How am I supposed to "value" a $250 MSRP IEM? It's a better choice compared to the equally priced e-Q5 (pending direct A/B). But, if you can grab one for less than $200, it's a steal.
Is it for ME?
I need plenty of bass impact / I need brighter presentation / I need plenty of sparkle / Analytical or I am out / I need sub-bass like Hippo VB - Oops! Sorry!
I own a HifiMan IEM and you know the vocals? They are life-less / I own RE1 and it has the bestestest mids in the world
/ I hate aggressive treble / I don't like bass that pounds my head / I need good, lively mids / I have loads of money - Try RE-262
