Firstly let me clearly state that im no expert here. This is my first review ever so do cut me some slack. I have been fortunate enough to try out various audio products over a period of time and hence this mini review. Also whatever i mention will be purely subjective and as per my impression of the product and not based on any other review.
Received these 2 days back from the states.
Equipment used for testing/comparisons: TF10, IE8(cousins borrowed), S4, Fiio e7, Cowon S9, sansa clip+ 2gb.
The iem's arrived in the black eco friendly box (thats what they call it) with the usual foam tips, case, cleaner etc in it.
I started by playing em on my cowon S9 followed by the sansa clip+ and settled for the cowon. Will mention details for the same below but they sound so much better to me with the cowon s9. This was followd by connecting them to the E7, connected to both the S9 as well as the pc via usb.
DESIGN
Out of the box the tf10's really look good. The metal blue finish is impressive and the build quality doesn't look bad to me at all (have heard a lot of negatives about their build quality). The iem's are huge. for better understanding i have attached a pic of the tf 10's besides my S4's and one can clearly see the size difference. There is also a noticeable weight difference between the two. I expected the cable to be so much better. Sigh, seriously not up to the mark. Think they will cut off easily if they get stuck say between a drawer whilst closing one accidentally.
Fit was a bit of a problem for me. They just wouldn't stay on and kept falling off. Got em right by twisting/tweaking the wire near the head of the iem's. Half an hr later the fit seems a lil better. Also i had to push em in quiet often initially to get the bass kicking. Not exactly the most comfortable iem's and if anyone out there is thinking of sleeping whilst having these on, i'd say that's definitely not a very good idea.
The noise isolation is about average. I'd definitely rate the s4's and the ie8's well and truely above these. But do note that i do have fit issues with the tf10 and probably someone who gets a better fit might be in a better position to comment on the same. An hr later and with a much better fit, id still rate the s4's and ie8 higher in terms of isolation.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS :
Straight out of the box and plugged into the s9, they sound good, really good. Im not sure how much of a difference will a burn in cause but they are just sounding so good right now. I played the iems on Normal, BBE VIVA and BBE MACH3bass mode. As against the s4's the difference between the 3 eq's is significantly highlighted and a lot more prominent. Similar is the story with the ie'8.
Now off goes the s9 and in comes the sansa clip. I didnt like the sound. The sansa's to me with the tf'10 just sound so much brighter and almost artificial. Mind you this is purely my personal impression. The s4's and the ie8 sounds perfect with the sansa but that wasn't the case with the tf10.
Next was the e7 with the S9. The sound started breaking and i took them off immediately. ( i didn't experiment much here cause i didn't want to damage new iem's. )
This was followed by the tf10's + e7 + pc via usb = Perfect
BASS :
The BASS was very punchy but it lacked in genres like soft rock (low end rumble i guess is the term???). The quantity for me was huge but it isnt the best i have heard, Why??? IE8, to me the ie8 beats the tf10 in bass QUALITY. Yes the tf10 has got enormous bass and its not the muddy variant rather tight and punchy, but the ie8 is so much better. I do have a lot of hip-hop on me and the ie8 did sound better there, rock and pop was more or less even steven and i don't have a single jazz or trance track, so nothing to add there.
MIDS :
The mids aint really the highlight of these iem's. Nothing worth pointing out here. It doesnt stand out and Vocals too are not really straight at your face. The bass and treble definitely take the front seat. Im personally not a bid fan of prominent mids. Makes me feel a bit fatigued and dizzy hence my opinion here might seem a bit bias to a lot of folks and hence wont comment more on the mids.
TREBLE :
Lots of quantity and quality here. It doesn't have the sibilance that seems to exist on the S4's. On some tracks it does seem to be on the higher side. I did fiddle with the eq a bit here on the Cowon and the results were different in each eq setting. Could hide the high treble on certain tracks via the eq but i doubt that would be the case on an ipod. People who don't prefer a lot of treble should probably look at the ie8 or the S4. Both the s4 and ie8 have decent treble but it surely aint as sharp as the tf10.
To Sum it up, I honestly don't think the tf10 is an iem for everyone or rather not for every genre of music. Is this a negative?? I believe so, very much. The bass to me is nearly perfect and the mids too are just fine, its the amount of treble that really makes me feel that not everyone will appreciate these iem's. I personally cant stand bollywood vocals on the tf10's. especially the sound of Atif Aslam is unbearable to me on these iem's. It almost made my ears pain and that's never happened before to this extent. Leaving out that, these iem's are a lot of fun but definitely not the best in its class out there.
To me, the key word here is TREBLE, its gonna make you either love or completely hate these iem's.
Certain points i wanted to highlight :
> Now that i own a tf10 and have access to a ie8, i can state with certainty that spending X amount of money, cant really guarantee audio nirvana. I have always loved my S4's and after listening to the tf10's, my love for them have only increased. At half the price or lesser, they have never let me down.
> The tf10's don't need amping at all. Infact the e7 + S9 completely ruined the sound. These iem's are loud. I cant go beyond the 50% volume mark and at 50 too they r pretty loud.
> I'll test the tf10's with the e7 again later. Ideally the sound shouldnt have cracked the way it did. The volume levels were low everything else on face seemed fine to me. Anyways will check this again later.
> Overall between the ie8 and tf10's, id choose the ie8. The treble either drives the tf10 to an absolute positive or complete negative based on one's preference. In this sense, considering the sound signature, build quality and sound isolation along with fit for a confused soul the IE'8 is a safer bet.
> Never heard the Weston 3 or shure se-530 but from what i have read for bass lovers the se-530 is a better pick cause they have a dedicated bass driver which the tf10 doesn't. The tf10 on the other hand spreads across the bass and mids which should give them an edge over the se530 in terms of wider soundstage.
Considering i got these babies in the amazon black friday offer, price v/s performance really leaves me no room to complain.
These are strictly initial impressions and if an 100 hr burn-in causes a significant change in sound, well i hope it does.... Will post the changes if any...
If i had 200$+ to spend on iem's, the tf10's would definitely not be my first choice.
Remember guys first review ever... If i goofed up somewhere, pls do lemme know....
Cheers and have a fantastic New Year...
