Audio Head-Direct RE-262: Impressions, Comparisons and Discussion thread

@BF1983,

That's what I thought. I tried them out of T3 and Clip+ direct and did not find a difference in sound stage and after more A/B, I don't find it to be any more superior than straight out of Clip+, probably adds some lushness.

RE1 has bass? News to me :p. None of the RE series had a good bass until the 262. They were all rolled off a little too early to 'fill up' the bass note == no texture. RE252 had quality, but did not go as low as 262.

My take on amping is a little different. You have a very good amp. Listening to RE262 amped is probably something that people with RSA / Picos / Mini ^ 3 / Arrow/ Step Dance can appreciate. It's also the case with mukul's E7 + E9. I'd call the amping benefits derived by 262 in your case as a matter of scaling up with better sources / equipment.

But, for somebody who's buying RE-262 and does not have any of the good amps, the 10% difference you are talking about, even if significant requires spending $200 more. I am the sort of person who'd be satisfied with 90% quality than spending an additional $200 for the last 10%. IMHO, it's nothing but deriving the last mile or extra juice of performance out of an already capable IEM.

I don't think either of us are wrong - you are right about it requiring an amp. But from my point of view, I won't be far off in saying that it sounds good out of Clip+ and you may not need an amp ;)
 
Mephistopheles said:
This was enough for me to not consider them unamped
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And you don't know what you are missing :p

First post updated. Comparisons will follow possibly from Sunday as I am tad busy over the next two days, so not sure if I can allot the time it needs :(
 
mukulymn said:
re1 mids sound more lush, more prominent as correctly pointed out by brendon, though i cant say they are more fwd, whn compared to 262(different sound perception from two ppl)

after my 262 are gone(not forever, i hope), i felt ths while listening to re1
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No you are right both IEMs have a slightly forward midrange. But the the RE1 has a recessed treble AND bass so I tend to increase the volume a bit to hear the treble and bass a bit better. So if I try matching the volume of the RE1 and RE262 for the bass and treble then the vocals are more upfront than the RE262. If I match them for mids then the RE1s have little bass and the treble is barely heard as well. Thats why only people who hear music at louder volumes will appreciate them. Those who hear them at softer volumes will not find them that great.

@Esantosh - I agree with you that one can perfectly enjoy the RE262 without an amp. However judging by the sheer volume of IEMs with you I feel getting a good amp like the Arrow should definitely be on your list. You will get that extra 5 - 10% oomph with most of your top tier IEMs. :D
 
^ It doesn't hurt to say it openly now. I ordered Arrow by August, waited for 4 months. It was posted by Dec 17th, but it's lost / has not reached me yet. That's what I mentioned as "will complete my portable setup and not spend for another 6 months" sometime ago. I am still looking at options on how to trace it!

Re-arranged first post. Hope it's a bit easier to read now.
 
^^ Ouch !!! :(

Thats a long time to wait. I hope its just stuck in customs or something. My first international shipment (Soundmagic PL-30) took 45 days to reach me so there is a change its just stuck somewhere.

I mean I doubt any custom official would say "Hey its a portable amplifier for my top tier IEM collection, let me just take that for myself !". So in all probability its just stuck somewhere.

Did you receive any sort of tracking no or docket no ? Faheem has better knowledge of how to track shipments even without tracking no.
 
^ Not to derail the topic, but...

No! Rob does not ship with tracking no or use any of the other options even if you ask him to viz., services like DHL. So, my best hopes are that

a) It is stuck in customs

b) Rob actually posted it late even though he marked it Shipped

c) Due to the Holiday season, Germany was very late in clearing the package and hence it is still in transit (some EU customers have reported delay)

Other than that, my hopes are not so high! I lost another package containing small items bought from head-fi too (shipped on Nov 21). The sad thing is I've never lost a package until these two.
 
^^ sorry to hear tht loss :(

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

yes if u try to match treble and mainly bass with 262, definitely it will sound more fwd

Thats why only people who hear music at louder volumes will appreciate them
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Loud volume :bangin:
i better dnt ever try to match re1 to re262 bass or treble
i will surely go deaf
 
I don't have an issue in accepting that my comments on RE-262 with amplification were not correct.

A couple of days ago, I was trying my regular songs, but Clip+ appeared much louder than through T3. In fact, through T3, the mids sounded a little recessed compared to Clip+, which is why I was not impressed much. But today I thought I'll try with a different track like Miles Davis' "So What". With Clip+ volume at 0, EQ-ed as mentioned in the first post -> iBasso T3 with both gains engaged and volume @ 4, I can hear an improvement across the spectrum. I wouldn't call it just lushness, but there's more definition and tightness to the sound - best heard with bass notes, guitars, cymbals etc., It's not a question of loudness as Clip+ can actually sound louder @ -5 vs using T3. Both Fah33m and BF1983 were correct about this, I was not. The sound stage did not seem affected much as already noted before. Switching off either of the gain buttons and increasing T3's volume to 5/6 does the same thing. I hope I can save the battery of both Clip+ and T3 with gain buttons switched off.

I can listen to RE-262 with a little bit of volume reduced in T3 with gain buttons off. At first, I did not like the low volume listening much even though nothing much was missing. After an hour and half way through my second album, I am not minding it at all.

My point though remains the same - It's not that RE-262 cannot be enjoyed without an amp. Amplification (through a decent to good amp) will add more oomph to the sound. If you have listened for a long time through an amp, you will feel that unamped RE-262 sounds a bit lifeless / slightly loose. But, if you don't already have an amp, don't be afraid to try out RE-262. It still is a very good IEM with or without amplification. It's still the last 10% that you derive out of amplification.

My first post will be updated with this impression.
 
esanthosh said:
My point though remains the same - It's not that RE-262 cannot be enjoyed without an amp. Amplification (through a decent to good amp) will add more oomph to the sound. If you have listened for a long time through an amp, you will feel that unamped RE-262 sounds a bit lifeless / slightly loose. But, if you don't already have an amp, don't be afraid to try out RE-262. It still is a very good IEM with or without amplification. It's still the last 10% that you derive out of amplification.
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Agree with you there ! :D

My amps IC had gone bad and I had to listen to the RE262 unamped for 2 days. The first day I was irritated with the sound as I knew it sounded a bit better amped. However by the second day I started to enjoy the RE262s unamped as I had already forgotten how they sounded amped. :)
 
After a week's break, time enough to purge my infatuation with RE-262's sound, I've began the second task I was entrusted with - comparing 262 against other top-tier IEMs. I will begin by comparing the RE-252.

Setup:

Clip+ #1 (unamped, Vol: 20) -> RE-252 (De-cored Shure Olive / Some single flange) vs

Clip+ #2 (Vol: 0) -> iBasso T3 (No gain, Volume: 5) -> RE-262 (Clear V-Moda compatible Single flange)

Song list

  1. Massive Attack - "Tear Drop" (Mezzanine)
  2. Opeth - "Coil" (Watershed)
  3. Miles Davis - "So What" (A Kind of Blue)
  4. Tool - "Vicarious" (10,000 Days)
  5. A Perfect Circle - "Breña" (Mer De Noms)

Comparisons:

While I found RE-252 horrible at the time of my review, the gummys have softened down a lot. I still find fitting them straight down a game of chance rather than something straight forward and easy. I wear them over the ear and am able to get the fit easier most of the time. RE-262 over the ear is a breeze. The cable of RE-262 looks like a rope when placed side by side with RE-252's cable, which is thin.

RE-252, while considered bass light, sounds about right for my tastes with the Shure Olives. It does not have the impact or extension, but it is smooth, textured and fast. With the normal single flanges, texture gets lost. RE-262's bass has much better quantity, while extending nearly as much. Both of them do not go down to the lowest of lows to rumble. Both stay inoffensive. Bass of 262 makes the double bass in "So What" a bit more engaging than the 252.

In Mids, I prefer RE-252 to RE-262. It's much more crisper, detailed and lush to my ears. Vocals, especially female vocals sound far better with 252 than 262. Every breath, every small nuance in vocals is brought out well by RE-252. RE-262's mids are very much forward, while RE-252's mids are around center.

In Treble, RE-252 sounds crisper and carries sparkle, but only when ordinary single flanges are used. With the Shure Olives, treble gets attenuated to a large extent (as is expected with foam tips) and sounds more smoother and laid-back than 262. With RE-262, treble is laid-back, a bit more smoother and not as sparkling. RE-252 is relatively a brighter IEM, while RE-262 sounds a bit more balanced.

Side Note: Speaking of tips, RE-252 sounded horrible with every one of the Monster gel (or foam ?) tips I tried though I did not try all of them.

In sound stage and presentation, RE-252 is not even in the competition. RE-252 has a wider elliptical field around the center with some sense of height and not much sense of depth. RE-252 is also short of some air as complex passages sound a bit too squeezed in. With "So what", it does not manage to present the stage well.

With RE-262, not only does the sound stage no longer feels constrained, imaging is far more excellent. Dynamic range is excellent in both of them, but 262 is much more cleaner and louder from quietest sound to the loudest note. RE-262 also conveys an excellent sense of distance. Each sound is distinct and there's nothing you can miss with 262. For instance, try listening to the last 'noise sound' in "Coil". It feels like a dust storm coming at you with RE-262 and never carries that impact with 252, not even close.

Conclusion

RE-262 is an overall better IEM when compared to RE-252. While my personal preference is for the crisper mids of RE-252, it falls short on the presentation side.

RE-262 over RE-252

  • Sound Stage
  • Imaging
  • Clean Sounding
  • Engaging
  • Bass (slightly)
  • Build Quality, Better cable, Ease of fit

RE-252 over RE-262

  • Crispness across Mids and Highs
  • Details, Accuracy
  • Low Impedance. Hence, easier to drive. Does not require an amp.
 
I completely agree with your RE-252 and 262 comparison . If Head Direct had got the design right, the 252 IMO are one of the mostly awesome neutral IEMs ever made. It still takes me by surprise every time I use them .Recently Ive increased the bass to +2/ +3 in Fuze Sound settings and now the bass has some good slam and tight punch/thump as well . The mids ,needless to say - the most natural ,Ive ever heard.

If there was anyway Head-Direct could perfect RE-0 , RE252 is the one .I seriously hope they come up with an improved RE-252 (better driver/bigger soundstage) and that would be my perfect IEM :D
 
^ I hope they release a true successor to RE-252. I had not heard the 252 for sometime now and was taken aback by how much I still like them.

I think a slight bit more bass extension combined with the cable, shells, sound stage, imaging, bass quantity and cleanliness of RE-262, throwing in a bit of e-Q5's airiness while retaining other sound characteristics of RE-252 would make for an amazing IEM.
 
^ Ohh the cable sucks ! My RE-252 died today for the second time . I swear I am not getting another HiFiMan product again till they improve their build quality :(.
 
^ That's the problem with Head-direct. Even if we know that we need to RMA every now and then, their sound quality is what makes us take the risk :(. My RE0 lasted this long only because I was listening to other IEMs most of the time. RE-252 on the other hand feels like a disaster waiting to happen with that thin cable.
 
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