Audio Radius "DDM" : Out of the box impressions

^^ Just a return of favour, that's all :p

Regarding buying, I've already asked Musica Acoustics to inform whenever they get the even better looking black & gold OEM version in stock. But the black version usually flies faster off their shelves and there's no set time table for it's arrival. I did not want to wait for a long time to get the black ones, so I settled for the red ones. They don't look as shiny or glossy as I imagined. The red is on one side and the other side is black - so it does not look distracting or bling-y to me.

They usually give individual quotes which may vary a bit - some people got the black ones at a heavily discounted $90 (sale) and a few at $105, I got for $110. Their quote includes everything including shipping and handling. They should be able to offer a discount if there are more numbers, I think. I don't think they'd sell the OEM version without margins, would they? ;)

I'll however desist from tempting you all further. After all, it's signature may not be suitable for everybody. Further, I might get jealous if anybody manages to get better rates than me :mad: :ashamed:. So, don't get tempted yet :p
 
BF1983 said:
@Faheem - The great thing about the RE1s strengths is that if your vocals or your soundstage sounds crap, there is little you can do to enhance it. However you can EQ treble, mids, & bass to add volume/weight to the sound.
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I completely agree with you here. There's nothing you could do if soundstage or vocals aren't good. That's why I hate RE0 in some of the tracks.
 
BF1983 said:
Err, before you buy it and kill me for saying its nothing great, it should read that it has awesome soundstage IF amped properly. :p

And TBH the HD650 soundstage is not too great. Its wide but imaging (how easy it is to gauge the position of each instrument in the song) is nothing much.

Without an amp the RE1s soundstage will be rather small and the overall sound will be dull and relaxed. And no an E3/E5 wont cut it. :(

@Faheem - The great thing about the RE1s strengths is that if your vocals or your soundstage sounds crap, there is little you can do to enhance it. However you can EQ treble, mids, & bass to add volume/weight to the sound.

So yesterday night I tried the EQ on Foobar and set the Compass to a bright configuration. There was a substantial difference in the sound with the RE1. The overall sound was very much balanced. Now it wont hold a candle to the Re0s treble but it could compete with the RE252. :)

@Esantosh - Hmm, stop tempting me to get the DDM. The more that I read about your impressions the more I feel its a real kick ass IEM.
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Even with an EQ I really dont think the treble on RE-1 can be satisfying for me or some who likes neutral or forward sound. And I hold RE-252 way above the RE-0 so if it can't get near RE-0 it can't compete against 252s as well. I feel most people who have got try my 252s haven't got a proper seal or fit. Its better than RE-0 in almost all aspects. Also the RE-0 / RE-1 both don't have a good decay and speed in bass attacks .They t sound somewhat slow ! In terms of speed,bass and midrange the 252 is lot better than the RE-0 . Its only treble extension of the 0 that is kind of unbeatable in its price range.

Also between the 650s and your RE-1 , I feel the 650s are in a different league altogether. You are right about the 650s not having great imaging but still its soundstage is more enveloping and decently wide .It just feels so much better :D
 
^^ Ah, you have only heard my RE1s with the old OPAMPs in my Ibasso P3+. :)

With the latest OPAMPs, for once I have no desire to swap them. With EVERY combo I tried earlier (including the TOPKIT) I always felt something was missing or off that I would spend a lot of time tinkering with the OPAMPs every 2 - 3 weeks.

Now I have settled on my last OPAMP combo more than a month ago and like Goldilocks having the 3 bears porridge this combo feels 'just right'. :p

However you are probably right on the money with the RE252 as I can't recollect keeping them in my ears for more than a few seconds before they would slip out. So my impressions of them probably is not all that accurate. :ashamed:

But you still haven't heard them on the Compass and with an EQ enabled.

I am doing a rather extensive comparison between the Yamaha YH-100, HD650 and RE1 and the RE1 is pretty close (IMO) to the performance of the other two with the EQ enabled. The RE1 comes ahead with bigger soundstage and superior imaging while the HD650 mids are maybe a little better. Detailing is a bit more on the HD650 but the bass hump and long decays make the HD650 sound sluggish on fast tracks. The RE1 does not have any mid bass hump and so sounds much more transparent and neutral. Without the EQ and it sounds a bit soft and falls behind the other two headphones.

Or maybe I need a more revealing source and amp. Sigh :'(
 
Woah :O That really sounds good. Maybe you should give away your 650s to me .A trade with RE-0/RE252 which sounds better ? :p hehehehe
 
Save up for the SM3s,I am new to this iem thing,bought an ie8 last week and loving it so far.My brother in law is coming from Holland today and he bought a pair of SM3,will get it by evening.
 
^ I'll wait for your personal impressions. As far as I've read, SM3 are a polarizing IEM. I am not sure I'll like them very much. Besides at that price, they get closer to the JH-5 ;)
 
^ As far as I'm concerned, you don't have to be an expert at all. I was just saying I am doubtful whether it will suit me.

Secondly, I prefer your personal views compared to reading pages and pages of Head-fi posts. Please do post how you find SM3 to IE8 - subjectively to your own ears :)
 
^^ yeah SM3 vs IE8 will be great.......some say sm3 has great soundstage (3D feel to it) and some say IE8 can never be beaten in terms of soundstage
 
^ Polarizing - Either you like it or you don't. SM3 seems to have certain unique characteristics which may be instantly liked by some and hated by others - like a Grado sound signature. A few have sold it immediately after buying to see what the buzz is all about. Since it's a BA, it does not change with burn-in, though some people claim that they change after 400-500 hours.
 
@esantosh - The theory behind that is the belief that in the case of IEMs that use multiple balanced armature drivers, it is the crossover rather than the drivers themselves that 'burn-in'.

I dunno how far that is true though. But if true it can explain why the sound can change after some time. :huh:
 
Well i don't think burn in applies to IEM's, i think its just the mind getting used to the sound signature. That's why you'll never see any1 saying that my iems sound worse after burning em in.
 
^ But, I've read something to the contrary too. OK! I agree that's just one person against 1000000 others, but.... ;)

Read the Sound section of IE8 review at abi here : Sennheiser IE 8 Review | Anything But iPod

For me however they sounded stellar when they were new – with a big, punchy bass response and sparkling treble, just the right amount of both to match the equal loudness contour my ears seem to perceive as natural. Now, 300-400 hours later, the IE 8 indeed changed – I don’t find them that ‘exciting’ and forward sounding anymore, they got a bit more, well, boring, to put it bluntly. Other people might call that ‘balanced’ or ‘neutral’, but that of course is as much a subjective personal opinion as anything else. One would think the world’s leading headphone manufacturer would inform you about those quite noticeable changes in their flagship IEMs, but apparently they didn’t put a big yellow ‘burn-in warning’ sticker on the box.
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