Random IEM / Headphone Rants
- Thread starter esanthosh
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bennysachdev
Discoverer
esanthosh
Herald
[1] Some good deals here - Specials
MTPG for $185 shipped via Priority USPS - not a bad deal at all.
I tried adding HE-500 to cart to see the shipping costs, which came to about $64. So, roughly about $810 for "HifiMan HE-500 Headphones with 5ft Moon Audio Blue Dragon V3 headphone cable with adapter system to include 6" BD V3 adapter cable with Oyaide Mini and to include 1ft BD V3 adapter cable with 1/4" Furutech Plug".
For Beyer T5P, it is $39, so available for ~ $1425 with BD v3 cable. There's also another customer returned piece at $1200 + shipping. Beyer T1 with BD v3 cable should be about $1350 shipped. Sigh! Can't afford any of them now. Have other needs to take care of first!
[2] Anybody interested in SE535 Red Edition (better highs, sound stage, more balanced, but still very Shure-ish forward mid range)?
Head-fi thread - Shure SE535 Special Edition
To buy, go here - Shure SE535 Special Edition Triple MicroDriver In-Ear Headphones with Detachable Cable (Red) - AccessoryJack
[3] At the other end of the price range is the MonoPrice 8320, the Godly IEM - The Monoprice 8320.. How can these only cost $7.11??????. Cost of shipping even one IEM is $35. Buying 10 or more should bring the cost of the IEM + shipping down, but would be compensated by customs duty. Due to all that head-fi hype, it is out of stock.
The other "miracle" IEM happens to be this one - Mysterious Focalprice IEM's = AMAZING! Impressions and comparisons inside. At least everybody can get it for $6 shipped from FocalPrice (Stereo In-ear Earphone with 3.5mm Jack (White) EP771W - $6.03 - Affordable Headphones)
MTPG for $185 shipped via Priority USPS - not a bad deal at all.
I tried adding HE-500 to cart to see the shipping costs, which came to about $64. So, roughly about $810 for "HifiMan HE-500 Headphones with 5ft Moon Audio Blue Dragon V3 headphone cable with adapter system to include 6" BD V3 adapter cable with Oyaide Mini and to include 1ft BD V3 adapter cable with 1/4" Furutech Plug".
For Beyer T5P, it is $39, so available for ~ $1425 with BD v3 cable. There's also another customer returned piece at $1200 + shipping. Beyer T1 with BD v3 cable should be about $1350 shipped. Sigh! Can't afford any of them now. Have other needs to take care of first!
[2] Anybody interested in SE535 Red Edition (better highs, sound stage, more balanced, but still very Shure-ish forward mid range)?
Head-fi thread - Shure SE535 Special Edition
To buy, go here - Shure SE535 Special Edition Triple MicroDriver In-Ear Headphones with Detachable Cable (Red) - AccessoryJack
[3] At the other end of the price range is the MonoPrice 8320, the Godly IEM - The Monoprice 8320.. How can these only cost $7.11??????. Cost of shipping even one IEM is $35. Buying 10 or more should bring the cost of the IEM + shipping down, but would be compensated by customs duty. Due to all that head-fi hype, it is out of stock.
The other "miracle" IEM happens to be this one - Mysterious Focalprice IEM's = AMAZING! Impressions and comparisons inside. At least everybody can get it for $6 shipped from FocalPrice (Stereo In-ear Earphone with 3.5mm Jack (White) EP771W - $6.03 - Affordable Headphones)
Oyster
Forerunner
Hi, here is their contact info:lavii said:
Neeraj Chandra
Director
Sun Infonet Pvt. Ltd.
B-222, Naraina Industrial Area
Phase 1 , New Delhi-110 028
Ph. 91-11-25895917 ( Direct)
91-11-25895467; 25895469 ( Board)
91 -11 -45612901 ( Fax)
Mobile: 9811089557
& Hemant 9971088988 (Store manager , Shure defence Colony)
I do not have those compilations in FLAC, but if i remember correctly "Realize" is available for a very low Rs.67 @ music world, sec-61
santhoshr
Explorer
Why & how Klipsch S4 hits the homerun
I always wanted to post about S4, since I got SE225 I can see why S4 was still awesome. S4 was curious IEM because it rose to número uno position since its arrival in sub $100 category in many reviews my fav being cnet editor choice Best 5 headphones - CNET Reviews but audiophiles baffled about it and at the sametime those who loved it never refused to give up the love. Let me quickly go in to the fact, the mystical factor is near zero Soundstage, and the harmonious sound. Have you been into marriage or function where there were musical orchestra playing, you will find two sets of people, those who enjoy the music and those hating the loud speakers and distracte noisy environment it produce, Sound stage and making music livelier is akin to that music orchestra playing. The risk factor here is if you don't actively listen you will lose many notes, sounds and smile! The sound stops being fun, many notes hits your ear, many would not, it starts getting into irritation zone. At the same time listen intently it would be rewarding experience. The S4 brings the sound closer to ears, at the sametime not making it Live. The challenge here is the sound should not hurt you, since all instruments and vocal will have little to no space in between. S4 makes this possible by sounding harmoniously, delivering pleasing music to ears consistently not just the whole song but every song. This is both a great feat and at the time limits S4 inclusion in audiophile collection. So if you throw a poorly encoded music and then follow it with uncompressed music, S4 will have a little difference. But if the same happens with a audiohile headphone the case is different, my SE215 lose its self respect so fast comes down to $10 headphone when you throw a bad music, but if the next song is so good, there will be a huge leap to $150, and this makes people to talk how it was awesome headphone for $89 when it sounds like a $100 plus. In this sub $100 range people will lookout for a great sounding headphone 'on the go', there will be any music in the player, not just the best encoded. Another main factor here is the music will be a passive companion to some of the most boring jobs like work in office, cooking, ironing, which means your brain doesn't actively listening, the sound must be groovy and pleasant, not distractive. S4 is perfect for this setup, and combined this with most comfortable ear tips, you have a winner here. In the final analysis, if have lots of music and you copied most of them from your friends, or when you encode your audio cd you never bothered about encoder, bit rate, etc, you simply used default options, and you are looking for passive listening S4 would be my recommendation, on the other hand you have high quality songs, you listen actively, still S4 got good Sound Quality but might fall shortly on Sound stage and other audiophile expectations.
I always wanted to post about S4, since I got SE225 I can see why S4 was still awesome. S4 was curious IEM because it rose to número uno position since its arrival in sub $100 category in many reviews my fav being cnet editor choice Best 5 headphones - CNET Reviews but audiophiles baffled about it and at the sametime those who loved it never refused to give up the love. Let me quickly go in to the fact, the mystical factor is near zero Soundstage, and the harmonious sound. Have you been into marriage or function where there were musical orchestra playing, you will find two sets of people, those who enjoy the music and those hating the loud speakers and distracte noisy environment it produce, Sound stage and making music livelier is akin to that music orchestra playing. The risk factor here is if you don't actively listen you will lose many notes, sounds and smile! The sound stops being fun, many notes hits your ear, many would not, it starts getting into irritation zone. At the same time listen intently it would be rewarding experience. The S4 brings the sound closer to ears, at the sametime not making it Live. The challenge here is the sound should not hurt you, since all instruments and vocal will have little to no space in between. S4 makes this possible by sounding harmoniously, delivering pleasing music to ears consistently not just the whole song but every song. This is both a great feat and at the time limits S4 inclusion in audiophile collection. So if you throw a poorly encoded music and then follow it with uncompressed music, S4 will have a little difference. But if the same happens with a audiohile headphone the case is different, my SE215 lose its self respect so fast comes down to $10 headphone when you throw a bad music, but if the next song is so good, there will be a huge leap to $150, and this makes people to talk how it was awesome headphone for $89 when it sounds like a $100 plus. In this sub $100 range people will lookout for a great sounding headphone 'on the go', there will be any music in the player, not just the best encoded. Another main factor here is the music will be a passive companion to some of the most boring jobs like work in office, cooking, ironing, which means your brain doesn't actively listening, the sound must be groovy and pleasant, not distractive. S4 is perfect for this setup, and combined this with most comfortable ear tips, you have a winner here. In the final analysis, if have lots of music and you copied most of them from your friends, or when you encode your audio cd you never bothered about encoder, bit rate, etc, you simply used default options, and you are looking for passive listening S4 would be my recommendation, on the other hand you have high quality songs, you listen actively, still S4 got good Sound Quality but might fall shortly on Sound stage and other audiophile expectations.
After reading the above and visiting CNET thread...i thought i made a mistake purchasing ex1k (Pun intended definitely)...i put them on...and......:yahoo:
Well sound is very personal......I felt S4 not even worth $79.....To me it felt, they only produce noise.....No music, no soul....No offense meant here...:ashamed:
Well sound is very personal......I felt S4 not even worth $79.....To me it felt, they only produce noise.....No music, no soul....No offense meant here...:ashamed:
esanthosh
Herald
@ mukul,
My fixed ZO2 v2 (or whatever it's called, ZO2 rev1?) has arrived. I am not sure how it'll work with Clip+, but with iPod via LO, it works fine and can even get a decent volume out of HD600. It could get bass out of Etymotic HF2 and PFE, but I did not think it did greatly with CK10 - may be that treble spike was blurring the bass
. I am not going to send it back for ZO2 v3 at all. It suits me just fine. It's a good thing I sent the ZO2 v1 though. It was hissing and too loud to be usable for my listening levels. May be headphone users will like ZO2 v1 and ZO2 v3, but since I can 'hear' HD600 out of it, even that is not a huge criteria for me to consider.
What it does to the mids is adding a slight 'coloration' if you will. Generally, if you liken the neutral tone of PFE to white light, this would be like a light orange light. I thought the bass of ZO2 v1 was muddy. ZO2 v2 is a little better, but needs more testing with various IEMs to see how it goes. Many say it needs 50 hrs of "burn in" to sound good though! I'll do that too next week.
Edit: Does not work with Clip+ though! But, that's not an issue for me now. I need to check with another source like QA350 to see if the coloration is from ZO or from iPod itself mostly.
I still think UHA-6S scores with sound stage as I remember it to create a sound stage out of Ety HF2. HF2 has no stage out of ZO2 (like it always is), may be a tad congested sounding than I remember out of QA350 -> UHA-6S. Will need more listening to see how this whole thing pans out. Take all comments with a bucketful of salt now till I get used to this thing. Reason is I am not that conscious about source or the IEM used these days and do not do critical listening at all.
My fixed ZO2 v2 (or whatever it's called, ZO2 rev1?) has arrived. I am not sure how it'll work with Clip+, but with iPod via LO, it works fine and can even get a decent volume out of HD600. It could get bass out of Etymotic HF2 and PFE, but I did not think it did greatly with CK10 - may be that treble spike was blurring the bass
. I am not going to send it back for ZO2 v3 at all. It suits me just fine. It's a good thing I sent the ZO2 v1 though. It was hissing and too loud to be usable for my listening levels. May be headphone users will like ZO2 v1 and ZO2 v3, but since I can 'hear' HD600 out of it, even that is not a huge criteria for me to consider.What it does to the mids is adding a slight 'coloration' if you will. Generally, if you liken the neutral tone of PFE to white light, this would be like a light orange light. I thought the bass of ZO2 v1 was muddy. ZO2 v2 is a little better, but needs more testing with various IEMs to see how it goes. Many say it needs 50 hrs of "burn in" to sound good though! I'll do that too next week.
Edit: Does not work with Clip+ though! But, that's not an issue for me now. I need to check with another source like QA350 to see if the coloration is from ZO or from iPod itself mostly.
I still think UHA-6S scores with sound stage as I remember it to create a sound stage out of Ety HF2. HF2 has no stage out of ZO2 (like it always is), may be a tad congested sounding than I remember out of QA350 -> UHA-6S. Will need more listening to see how this whole thing pans out. Take all comments with a bucketful of salt now till I get used to this thing. Reason is I am not that conscious about source or the IEM used these days and do not do critical listening at all.
Take ur time, enjoy the music....i even dont like to be critical about my gear.....just wana enjoy the music...
well for a change, i tried ex1k out of e7+e9....and sure thing that treble spike was countered(upto a level).....e9 gave it bass and body....
I wonder should i upgrade my source in a year to come....will it really matter....
--- Updated Post - Automerged ---
just for info....
iBasso DX100 Reference DAP - ES9018 inside
well for a change, i tried ex1k out of e7+e9....and sure thing that treble spike was countered(upto a level).....e9 gave it bass and body....
I wonder should i upgrade my source in a year to come....will it really matter....
--- Updated Post - Automerged ---
just for info....
iBasso DX100 Reference DAP - ES9018 inside
esanthosh
Herald
In your case, E9 has plenty of power, E7 is decent but not great. E9 has an output impedance of 10 ohms, which makes it suitable for headphones (>= 80 ohms), but not as much for IEMs. That may screw up the FR of some IEMs. For example, using FXT90 (impedance of 14 ohms) with Sony E353 makes it brighter with a upper mid range bump. You could upgrade, but may be just the E17 for E7?
Wow! That iBasso DAP is the one I am waiting for. Coax and Optical out with 24/192? Could replace the QA350. But, I can't sell the QA350 since I just spent 5K+ on a SysConcepts cable
. Will wait for reviews before going for DX100 
Edit: ZO2.2 does not seem as muddy with bass as ZO2.1 (trying some Massive Attack tracks). But it has a tad too much quantity with FXT90 even at lowest contour settings. I am not going to try it with Eterna of FX700 with it for sure! Wonder how a bass-less RE272 would sound with this as bass quantity was one of it's weaknesses. On further listening, at times, it feels that the bass is a little thick noted. I am not getting back to running test tracks anytime soon. Will try and update as and when I hear more music.
Wow! That iBasso DAP is the one I am waiting for. Coax and Optical out with 24/192? Could replace the QA350. But, I can't sell the QA350 since I just spent 5K+ on a SysConcepts cable
. Will wait for reviews before going for DX100 Edit: ZO2.2 does not seem as muddy with bass as ZO2.1 (trying some Massive Attack tracks). But it has a tad too much quantity with FXT90 even at lowest contour settings. I am not going to try it with Eterna of FX700 with it for sure! Wonder how a bass-less RE272 would sound with this as bass quantity was one of it's weaknesses. On further listening, at times, it feels that the bass is a little thick noted. I am not getting back to running test tracks anytime soon. Will try and update as and when I hear more music.
esanthosh
Herald
That thing seems like a brick though - °Ãâ€Ãƒâ€ ø²à© ¶ú»ú´ó¼Ò̳ È«Çò×î´óÖÃÎĶú»úÂÛ̳
Size wise, could be a tad smaller than QA350 - could be like the thicker iPod Classics of past, but with some UI, better navigation, better format support. Looking forward to it, but pricing and a functional firmware are the key. It's one thing to use ESS9018, the same DAC chip used by the well received Anedio D1, but the implementation is where differences arise. I read that ESS9018 is a little power supply sensitive. Not sure if iBasso has the hang of things in that department. Hope they will do a good job in the end. Anyways, I don't see myself selling QA350 even if DX100 replaces it as a DAP - it's my best burn-in rig yet as it can seamlessly switch between power and battery and run for hours together without feeling like a hot brick. It just finished 104 hours of non-stop run
Size wise, could be a tad smaller than QA350 - could be like the thicker iPod Classics of past, but with some UI, better navigation, better format support. Looking forward to it, but pricing and a functional firmware are the key. It's one thing to use ESS9018, the same DAC chip used by the well received Anedio D1, but the implementation is where differences arise. I read that ESS9018 is a little power supply sensitive. Not sure if iBasso has the hang of things in that department. Hope they will do a good job in the end. Anyways, I don't see myself selling QA350 even if DX100 replaces it as a DAP - it's my best burn-in rig yet as it can seamlessly switch between power and battery and run for hours together without feeling like a hot brick. It just finished 104 hours of non-stop run
edge111hussain
Forerunner
Just to understand this better and its an obvious fact that sound is personal to ones own ears but what is it that caught your imagination when it came to the ex1000's?
A lot of credit is given to the iem for on paper at-least it is th top tier iem in sony's lineup(correct me if im wrong), but it's got so many faults to it.
Im just gonna catch some pointers from santhoshr short description of the s4's and add a bit of tf10's to it too to make it a bit more relevant.
To my understanding the biggest drawback that the ex1000 has, is that it just cannot be played with poor or average recordings or source. Now i know that, thats the way a top tier iem should be but in this case im referring to is the sound signature of the ex1000 which imho rules it out to be a universal or close to #1 choice of anyone that like a general universal iem. Reason being??? its treble mate... it hurts after a point of time... Its sibilant, very, but extremely detailed too.. Yes they bring out everything pretty well but did they sound Fun to you??? By fun i mean fwd, aggressive and suitable for put on and simply enjoy purposes//
How would you rate it against similar or top tier iem's. Anyone else tried these on???
My query is more in line with understanding why a top tier iem when most of them excel in one thing or another and not at everything...As santosh mentioned, the s4 is gr8 at casual day to day listening.. A tf10 for instance is what id call a proper universal iem for they are pretty handy in all genre...
A lot of credit is given to the iem for on paper at-least it is th top tier iem in sony's lineup(correct me if im wrong), but it's got so many faults to it.
Im just gonna catch some pointers from santhoshr short description of the s4's and add a bit of tf10's to it too to make it a bit more relevant.
To my understanding the biggest drawback that the ex1000 has, is that it just cannot be played with poor or average recordings or source. Now i know that, thats the way a top tier iem should be but in this case im referring to is the sound signature of the ex1000 which imho rules it out to be a universal or close to #1 choice of anyone that like a general universal iem. Reason being??? its treble mate... it hurts after a point of time... Its sibilant, very, but extremely detailed too.. Yes they bring out everything pretty well but did they sound Fun to you??? By fun i mean fwd, aggressive and suitable for put on and simply enjoy purposes//
How would you rate it against similar or top tier iem's. Anyone else tried these on???
My query is more in line with understanding why a top tier iem when most of them excel in one thing or another and not at everything...As santosh mentioned, the s4 is gr8 at casual day to day listening.. A tf10 for instance is what id call a proper universal iem for they are pretty handy in all genre...
mukulymn said:
esanthosh
Herald
Heh! To my ears, every universal, even the toppest, bestest of the bestest has flaws. The reason for using those grammatically erroneous words is just that - none of them are perfect. I'd tell you what - language can take us only so far in the description of sonic capabilities. The word "Warm" has various shades. Sunrise Xcape is 'warm', FXT90 is 'warm' in the mids - yet those do not sound similar. GR07 is neutral with a tinge of warmth, RE-ZERO was also neutral - yet these two do not sound anywhere close to each other. Some of the reviewers try to overcome the limitations of language with flowery descriptions (6moons and everyone who is a shill in head-fi), some of them try to link their emotional state with sound to draw us into the experience (like insurance ads showing a happy family at the beach to attract you to the prospect of saving money with them). But, objectively, most differences need to be experienced and cannot be exactly brought into a defined structure - that's the "it" factor that separates the top tier from the tier below it.
TF10 may 'appear' perfect, but it hardly is. It's one of the IEMs I enjoy to this day, but it hasn't got the best of mids, thick sounding and compared to top-tier dynamics a little life less. What it has is great sound stage and imaging - something I appreciate to this day.
FX700 is an example of top-tier that appears 'weak' on paper - V-shaped, plenty of bass, recessed and cold lower mids, not much isolation. I mean how can anyone like it? Yet, the moment you try it, it's a little seducing despite the flaws. Here's what I wrote recently in Hifivision,
The issue is the same words can be used for describing Monoprice 8320. You can't really know the reviewer's bias, his limitations and threshold (I can take CK10's spike and live with it, not everyone can) until you try them yourself. That is the difficulty in communicating things in the IEM realm.
Coming back to EX-1000, it ain't perfect. But that treble tilt and spike hardly matters except in the FR graph. It's not aggressive like DBA-02 nor is it spiked up like CK10 in the lower treble. Read - you don't feel it when music is flowing. I know because I am super sensitive to 5-7Khz regions, the reason I sold GR07 and did not use MEE M6 much. Then there's the all important "source", the loudness levels one is using and so on and so forth. EX-1000 is not spiky with Clip+, though it is with QA350, not at all anything with QA350 -> UHA6S, I'd imagine bumped up out of E9. It's also not that easy to fit for a few. If ear canal shapes are different, then the angle at which you insert EX1000 may have some effect with respect to how you perceive the treble.
Strengths overpower weaknesses. EX-1000 has good timbre, snappy (being lean noted unlike TF10 or SM3), spacious and most of all, refined. That last bit is where it moves ahead of the rest of the pack. It is so effortless in doing what it does that you forget it's weaknesses (FX700 uses the sound stage much better as far as location cues go, CK10 has a bit more extension in the treble, SM3 has better quantity of bass) and listen to the damn music. Effortless is a word I've used only so far with RE262 and EX1000. All the others, including FX700, do not appear to have that headroom - imagine using only 300-400W off a 750W inverter, the backup time goes up and it's not strained. I'd need to wait for mvw2's review to see if he feels the same about EX-1000 though since I don't think my ears are as technically capable as his.
Everything like humans and what's made by them ain't perfect. It only matters if the strengths are really strong and weaknesses are marginal. It's in that aspect EX-1000 is better - not otherwise. To an individual, what matters most is - if you like the strengths + if any of the weaknesses/flaws are something you'd consider important or something you can overlook. That's why I still don't like S4, but you do!
Not sure if I answered your question
TF10 may 'appear' perfect, but it hardly is. It's one of the IEMs I enjoy to this day, but it hasn't got the best of mids, thick sounding and compared to top-tier dynamics a little life less. What it has is great sound stage and imaging - something I appreciate to this day.
FX700 is an example of top-tier that appears 'weak' on paper - V-shaped, plenty of bass, recessed and cold lower mids, not much isolation. I mean how can anyone like it? Yet, the moment you try it, it's a little seducing despite the flaws. Here's what I wrote recently in Hifivision,
The issue is the same words can be used for describing Monoprice 8320. You can't really know the reviewer's bias, his limitations and threshold (I can take CK10's spike and live with it, not everyone can) until you try them yourself. That is the difficulty in communicating things in the IEM realm.
Coming back to EX-1000, it ain't perfect. But that treble tilt and spike hardly matters except in the FR graph. It's not aggressive like DBA-02 nor is it spiked up like CK10 in the lower treble. Read - you don't feel it when music is flowing. I know because I am super sensitive to 5-7Khz regions, the reason I sold GR07 and did not use MEE M6 much. Then there's the all important "source", the loudness levels one is using and so on and so forth. EX-1000 is not spiky with Clip+, though it is with QA350, not at all anything with QA350 -> UHA6S, I'd imagine bumped up out of E9. It's also not that easy to fit for a few. If ear canal shapes are different, then the angle at which you insert EX1000 may have some effect with respect to how you perceive the treble.
Strengths overpower weaknesses. EX-1000 has good timbre, snappy (being lean noted unlike TF10 or SM3), spacious and most of all, refined. That last bit is where it moves ahead of the rest of the pack. It is so effortless in doing what it does that you forget it's weaknesses (FX700 uses the sound stage much better as far as location cues go, CK10 has a bit more extension in the treble, SM3 has better quantity of bass) and listen to the damn music. Effortless is a word I've used only so far with RE262 and EX1000. All the others, including FX700, do not appear to have that headroom - imagine using only 300-400W off a 750W inverter, the backup time goes up and it's not strained. I'd need to wait for mvw2's review to see if he feels the same about EX-1000 though since I don't think my ears are as technically capable as his.
Everything like humans and what's made by them ain't perfect. It only matters if the strengths are really strong and weaknesses are marginal. It's in that aspect EX-1000 is better - not otherwise. To an individual, what matters most is - if you like the strengths + if any of the weaknesses/flaws are something you'd consider important or something you can overlook. That's why I still don't like S4, but you do!
Not sure if I answered your question
?dOuBtFiRe?
Galvanizer
nizarp
Contributor
- Status