Audio IEM purchase advice

A

agudam

Recruit
I've read numerous reviews on headfi, anythingbutipod and other such websites, but only for a few IEMs(EP-630, Marshmallow, and all Brainwavz IEMs). It was majorly because a friend introduced me to Pristinenote and they don't have any other good stuff apart from those. The friend suggested the M2 after I told him my requirements. I ordered them twice and I'm pissed now, because they didn't get the stock again. It's not just that but they take a long time to update the status of the order. So, it's been a four-month wait ever since I first ordered them. I can't wait longer. I want to look elsewhere now. So can you please suggest an IEM to me? Also, please don't let the fact that my friend suggested an M2 affect your analysis. Because after reading a lot of reviews, I'm not convinced that they're the best for me.

Budget - anything lower than Rs.5k but if I'm spending more than Rs.2k I have to get something which would blow me away. Ideal budget would be Rs.2k-3.5k.

I own EP-630 now. I'm fairly happy with it. I use IEMs exclusively for music. I listen to blues, rock, Indian classical and occasionally metal. I even listen to a lot of songs which are not of good quality(this is majorly the problem with classical music). I am looking for something which is a major upgrade from EP-630. I don't mind bass but I don't need it either.

Detail and isolation are quite important to me. I would also like a great amount of vocal clarity. I don't quite understand the rest of the terms like isolation, treble etc. I listen to music from my phone(Nokia 5230) for about 3 hours a day, in the bus, so that's my 80% usage. Anything which would boost the volume would be good, because my phone does not produce very high volumes. The EP-630s have been the loudest of all earphones I've owned till now. I owned a Panasonic RP HJE300 and a Sony something-it was a friend's, so I can't remember the model. My new earphones will have to be louder or as loud as the 630.

Even when I'm at home and I'm using my computer, I listen to music through the earphones. I don't have a high-end sound card. Heck, the FLACs sound worse than mp3s in my computer.

I'm not willing to buy an amp or any other accessories. I am willing to buy earbuds which would enhance the performance, though.

Thank you for reading this long post. I hope you didn't sleep through it! And thanks in advance for your replies.
 
Thank you for your suggestion. I just googled about it and they fit my requirements really well except the budget. Also, don't you think it'd be an overkill with the kind of inputs I have? I don't own an audio player.
 
I had a similar requirement. I took the Braiwavz M2 and it is pretty good. I had previously owned Ep630, Soundmagic PL-30 and Headdirect RE-2.

M2 beats all and the quality both sound and buildwise is pretty good.
 
agudam said:
Thank you for your suggestion. I just googled about it and they fit my requirements really well except the budget. Also, don't you think it'd be an overkill with the kind of inputs I have? I don't own an audio player.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily an audio player. Your phone will still work.

But it will surely 'blow you away'
 
pradeep200417 said:
I had a similar requirement. I took the Braiwavz M2 and it is pretty good. I had previously owned Ep630, Soundmagic PL-30 and Headdirect RE-2.

M2 beats all and the quality both sound and buildwise is pretty good.
Click to expand...

Nice to know that. Where did you get the M2 from? Pristinenote? How long did it take for you to receive them?
3.14or22by7 said:
Not necessarily an audio player. Your phone will still work.

But it will surely 'blow you away'
Click to expand...

Oh! But the budget; it's almost twice that of what I'm willing to spend. I think I could spend that money on getting a decent audio player instead, along with a pair of mid-tier earphones. What's your take on it?
 
Since your budget is pretty high and the Brainwavz M3 are readily availabe at 3950 shipped to your doorstep from pristinenote , for me these were mindblowing IEM's despite having a m1 and a nuforce ne7m before these were like a major leap ahead in Sound Quality , these are my personl opinion on m3 but each person has his own personal taste :)
 
sukant said:
Since your budget is pretty high and the Brainwavz M3 are readily availabe at 3950 shipped to your doorstep from pristinenote , for me these were mindblowing IEM's despite having a m1 and a nuforce ne7m before these were like a major leap ahead in Sound Quality , these are my personl opinion on m3 but each person has his own personal taste :)
Click to expand...

I did zero in on the M3. But I was wondering if there's anything better when I'm spending that much. Would you say that for my requirements the M3 would be ideal? Are there any other IEMs similar to the M3 but priced lower?
 
agudam said:
Nice to know that. Where did you get the M2 from? Pristinenote? How long did it take for you to receive them?
Oh! But the budget. It's almost twice that of what I'm willing to spend. I think I could spend that money on getting a decent audio player instead, along with a pair of mid-tier earphones. What's your take on it?
Click to expand...

Yeah got it from pristine note. Got it within 2-3 days
 
Lucky you! I ordered it once, waited for a month and then got a mail saying it was out of stock. I waited till the stock arrived, ordered it again, and again after a month I was told it was out of stock.
 
Depends on what you want.

I have Etymotic HF2, which sounds similar to HF3 and HF5. It uses the same driver as the famous Etymotic ER4P/S, I guess. If you want something analytical and could stand the experience of getting used to inserting tri-flanges deep inside the ear canal, Ety is what I'd look at. Look for any Ety HFx listing on head-fi to sweeten the deal a bit.

M3 is at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to sound. It is thick sounding, lighter on bass but should have more than HF2, warmer and sweeter sounding mids as opposed to Ety's transparent presentation, but would lose terribly in the treble department compared to HF2. But, M3 has sound stage, Etys do not. As one highly revered reviewer mentioned to me, Ety's do "left, right, pfft" as far as stage is concerned. It would need some great source to extract a stage out of Etys, but separation is still exceptional. But, one thing though - Etys will scale up and shine with better sources than M3 can.

Personally, I like HF2 much more than M3, but it's wrong to assume that it'd be the same for everybody. Hope this helps :)
 
esanthosh said:
Depends on what you want.

I have Etymotic HF2, which sounds similar to HF3 and HF5. It uses the same driver as the famous Etymotic ER4P/S, I guess. If you want something analytical and could stand the experience of getting used to inserting tri-flanges deep inside the ear canal, Ety is what I'd look at. Look for any Ety HFx listing on head-fi to sweeten the deal a bit.

M3 is at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to sound. It is thick sounding, lighter on bass but should have more than HF2, warmer and sweeter sounding mids as opposed to Ety's transparent presentation, but would lose terribly in the treble department compared to HF2. But, M3 has sound stage, Etys do not. As one highly revered reviewer mentioned to me, Ety's do "left, right, pfft" as far as stage is concerned. It would need some great source to extract a stage out of Etys, but separation is still exceptional. But, one thing though - Etys will scale up and shine with better sources than M3 can.

Personally, I like HF2 much more than M3, but it's wrong to assume that it'd be the same for everybody. Hope this helps :)
Click to expand...
Thanks, Santosh. That really helped. I'd like to buy a higher end IEM a few months later, after I see myself being able to understand the nuances. In other words, I don't want to take a risk of extending my budget too much and later on regretting the purchase. So I've decided to purchase the M3, from Akshay, which seems to fit the bill. I definitely want to buy an analytical IEM in the near future, and might end up buying an Etymotic.

Btw "left, right, pfft" was funny!
 
It's been almost a month since I've purchased the M3 from Akshay. After using them I realised how ridiculous it is to compare them with the EP630. I think I got just what I wanted and for a decent price. So I'd suggest anyone with similar requirements as mine, to at least consider purchasing the M3, if not buy them!
 
Back
Top