Yep! It is
It's very good in just my initial listening - sounds very effortless, has good speed and clarity. The upper mids and treble are a bit 'energetic'. Good bass with extension and punch, but not great quantity wise - it has just enough for me, better than the bass-light CK10, RE0 types, but I'd think GR07 would have more quantity.
The mids are really good - clean, warm, but placed a bit behind. I still think SM3, RE-262 are still the ones for vocal fans because of their forwardness and RE1 (BF1983 don't faint
) as well. May be the Shure SE53X deserves a mention here, but I've not heard them myself - so no comments. They are better than FX700 anyways and more engaging in vocals, just not that forward.
The treble is well detailed, crisp, sparkling. None of the ranges are in your face.
Sound stage is vast, good separation. I've not compared it to anything yet, so cannot validate the theory that it has an open headphone like stage more than most other IEMs.
Of all the IEMs I've heard, only EX-1000 and RE262 are this effortless. But, EX-1000 has that speed, crispness, detail which are not the areas 262 is tuned for or aimed at. With just an hour of listening, I can say EX-1000 belongs in the top-tier. But, is it the best universal I've heard so far? That conclusion needs to wait for sometime. It can't be slapped on everything which sounds very good every other day.
Oh! Every damn thing is big about this. First, the price ($400) - I think most would have gone for a custom at that price. But, I seem to be drifting more and more towards dynamics these days. The box was huge - it could pack up nearly two Brainwavz boxes inside it. The storage case is huge, but I don't think I'd use it not unless I treat EX-1K as some kind of antique jewellery that needs to be kept in a box carefully each and every time. But this damn thing also needs a huge case - may be I need to get one of those pelican cases.
The housing is huge, the fit is alright for the first try. Isolation? Who needs it? Comfort is not much either - even after just an hour, it is uncomfortable. GR07 and CK10 still remain the most comfortable among the really good universals I have used.
It's the opposite of SM3 when it comes to position of Y-split, way down and the cable is thin and sucks - at least it's right angled and detachable. May be if the original EX-1000 cable is better and is available in a Short cable + extension form, I might buy it from Japan. As it's a long time since I got it (it reached me only today though), the lettering has already come off. I bought it from Amazon as soon as it dropped to $400 (it later dropped to $360, but back up over $450 now, though available for less with some other dealers) and send it to one of those famous persons so that the whole head-fi community benefits - not just my ears
. I guess the review will come sometime later. In return, I got a fully burnt-in IEM without needing to pay huge $$$ to Borderlinx-DHL for getting it safe and sound.