Audio Random IEM / Headphone Rants

mukulymn said:
well after listening to 272, i m missing that clarity and realism... :(

I shud get my hands on 272 or ex1000...more tempted for ex1000
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Realism has become a common word in describing RE272. I thought it was just an Ety like take on tuning, but still very much Hifiman in flavor. May be I heard them different, but words like "realistic", "analytical" did not cross my mind (or I understand the word in a different sense). That said, I'll be very happy to see RE272 as the FOTM over GR07 as the FOTS anyday - just don't tell head-fi that :p

I can't remember any two days in a row where I actually listened to music than analyze signatures. I was listening to music with EX-1000 and Sony E353 yesterday. A day before that, QA350 and MS1i combo was good as well though QA350's battery gave out at the same time as our "blackout" of 20 hours began. The thing about EX-1000 is it's like sitting a good distance in front of a curved large screen, only it's sound instead of pictures. I wish I could say my costliest IEM is the best ever and it's perfect and all, but unfortunately it is not. But, it is growing on me over the last few sessions slowly. I've changed my ranking to reflect my short comparison session between my fave four.
 
Well i said realistic because it really feels that some one is playing the instruments in front of you....its so articulate....

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Well i can help, if it doesnt make it to top. I can buy tht from u...no need to say thanks :p
 
Another bout of curiosity and another round of wallet diminishing :)

First a view from the past: http://www.techenclave.com/audio-zone/final-earphone-upgrade-budget-20k-178829-2.html#post1656256. That was the cause of my curiosity about Atrios. After some good reviews about MG7 from clieOS and good views from i2ehan etc., I could not keep out Atrio MG7 for long, can I?

Anyways, I had a terrible scare as my package with two other (not so interesting ;)) IEMs was stuck in customs due to "prohibited articles". As my prayer to the IEM God was answered, it got cleared out of the blue without any issues after 4 days of high tension. Coming to the MG7, I can see why thenvk was not satisfied with a previous version of M5 (possibly M5 v1). Atrios, for all their claim of "bass head" IEMs, do not boast of quantity. What they have is a flat, linear bass which is pretty clean without any humps and bumps. The usual mid-bass bump is missing, sub-bass won't rumble to shake your body, but is very clean. Somewhat reminds me of Hippo VB. The rest of the spectrum is not for everybody either. It's tuned as a monitor and tends to be a bit dry in presentation. I'd say GR07 is clearly a notch or two ahead technically. Unlike most phones, Atrios dip at 6Khz after a small spike up at 5Khz. While GR07 required a deep cut around the region, MG7 needs a small bump to sound better (also in the treble region). It would be very interesting to compare this to FXT90 since I think they both could be around the same ballpark. FXT90 may win the battle, but I don't think it'd be that straight-forward. Both are very good phones, but which one will get the boot from my collection is still up in the air as of today.

Added Later:

About the other two briefly...

Brookstone Clear Dual Driver (BS for short :p) is a DDM2 clone in looks. The sound is not exactly DDM-1 or DDM-2, rather a curious mix of both. If there's one thing I miss from the Radius's, I'd say it's the richness of the sound. I'd say it's more than decent for a $60 ear bud (no isolation + IEM = ear bud). If money was no objective, I'd have bought DDM2 instead. Whatever I say from hereon is purely speculative as I don't have a great recollection of DDM-1 and have a somewhat decent and recent memory of DDM-2. BS would lose out to both in terms of bass quality and in terms of quantity, I guess DDM-1 > DDM-2 ~ BS. Sound stage wise, I think it's somewhat in between in terms of size, but not as good as DDM2 in imaging. I am guessing it could be a bit better in treble than even DDM2 with the UE compatible tips.

I still won't change a word of my Etymotic MC5 impression - it played sound, not music. But, I am glad that I settled for HF2 instead. To my ears, HF2 >>> MC5. Considering it's the same as HF5 or HF3, I would say it strikes the right balance between going for ER4S and ending with MC5. From a brief listening last night, I'd say HF2 is right up there with PFE in terms of my liking - at the very least. FWIW, I tried it only with the foam tips, but I don't think inserting the tri-flanges within an inch of my brain would change my impression by much. Of course, sound stage is not Ety's strengths, but there are other factors where Ety does well. Only one regret - if I had got it early, would have made a nice comparison IEM against RE272. Again, stretching my limitations a bit, I think I'd have preferred the Ety in terms of bass, though Ety too does not have much bass quantity. Mids is probably where RE272 could have pulled a bit ahead as is sound stage. But, I think Ety's treble is pretty good for my tastes.
 
bennysachdev said:
Sorry for bringing up the past mukul, but I guess you'll have to stick to ur RE262 :p
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Well i said i need 262+treble +sub bass=ex1000...:p

well one of my friend is going to UK for 6 weeks in a months time....if i get a gud deal on ex1000 in UK i might consider getting thm....
 
^ But, you will lose the forward, liquid mids of RE262, not to mention isolation. While clear, EX-1000's mids are distant sounding and there's the slight mellowing down which is described as "romantic" (James444, Mike @ Headfonia) or "refined" (ljokerl). I think both descriptions can apply at different times depending on how you look at it :)
 
Get any of their older albums that you don't have or the lamentations dvd instead. Not worth buying; easily the worst thing overall they've put out though there are great moments here and there. Btw, are you getting the one that comes with the coin?
 
C4 is not for me ...HM801 maybe

also am really fed up of the charge times of these players ...sflo takes up 5-6 Hrs charge ..Hm602 about the same ( a half more maybe )

i like the sound quality of HM602 , but am the charge time and playback time ticks me off... thats why am selling the HM602. ( also it paired perfectly well with FX700, which i traded off)

algorithm solo charges up quick, i might get that and an ipod. BUT currently as i am not traveling much ..Anedio is awesome. Miracle pairs awesomely with Anedio D1.
 
May be we should both wait for FiiO X3. Despite being capped at 32GB (microSD) max capacity, it offers great features on paper. I am still a bit skeptical on how it will actually turn out. But if it's good enough, I could dump rest of my players except QA350. I also considered getting an old iRiver H140/120 for the digital out and combining with a transportable DAC/AMP (a possibility you considered a few months back), but HDDs are not for me. I am still not sure where I am headed with this search for a 'better' source, but it's a bit more interesting at this stage than IEM search :p
 
I dont know about X3 , am not bothered about the size of a DAP , but the playback and charging times.

if x3 takes ( say ) < 4Hrs to fully charge and gives out (say ) >9Hrs of playback , am in. otherwise NOT .

a PORTABLE DAp must be portable not transportable , that in my book says " it MUST have a practical charge/playback time so that i can take on Travels " . i remember one time on a my trip here ( am in NCR currently) my hm602 was out of battery for after the first 14 Hrs. ( and train took 30 Hrs to reach the destination )

as for the iriver , am still interested in them , if only they had coaxial out ( instead of toslink). The good thing about it is that i can upgrade the battery for longer playback.

Algorithm Solo seems to be the best bet.

does anyone know the playback/charge times of Pico slim ?? *( as i remember someone here had one )

any good Amp (portable) with good battery life.
 
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