[Disclaimer] This review/comparison is on subjective term based solely on my personal experience, idea and opinion. You should not take any of the following as absolute truth and you are free to disagree. You are more than welcome to ask question regarding the rating but I can't guarantee a satisfactory answer, though I will try my best to reply. There is no question that some (*not all) of the IEM in this review / comparison are provided to me freely, but I am not a shill and I do not work for any seller / manufacturer. I do, however, work with some of them in providing R&D feedback solely from an end user's standpoint. Yes, I am just another enthusiast who spends too much time in the wrong hobby. Okay, I'll make sure to try gardening or fishing if I am able to get out of this mess...
*For those who are newly into the in-ear-canalphone world, please read
the IEM guide to learn some basic knowledge for this type of earphone.
Skip to post #2 for the actual review!
Reviewing gears: Dell XPS420 - FooBar2K (ASIO) - Meier Audio's Corda 3MOVE (DAC+AMP)
Reviewing music:
1) Custom made music CD by ripping songs to FLAC than normalized/burnt via Nero9. Two songs with compression artifact included (CD → wma/mp3 → CD).
CD Tracks: [ Love Song - Sara Bareille / Have You Met Miss Jones? – Robbie Williams / Come Away with Me – Norah Jones / I Was Doing Alright – Diana Krall / Nostalgia – Yanni (Yanni Live At the Acropolis) / Not Of This Earth - Robbie Williams / Red Hot – Vanessa-Mea / Maneater – Nelly Furtado (artifact) / 1234 – Feist (artifact) ]
2) [
August Rush: Music From The Motion Picture] ripped with Monkey Audio codec (.ape).
Rating Style: From one star (★, lowest rating) to five stars (★★★★★, highest rating), including half a star (☆). Note: The rating is based on comparison b/w the IEM reviewed by me before and not on absolute term. There might be better / worst IEM that are not listed in this review. To get a better understanding of the meaning in the rating, please read my
previous multiple IEM review / comparison thread (Multiple IEM Shootout v.1). Note: Instead of giving a rating of stars, the new rating will give both Overall SQ and Overall Value a numeric rating. 1/5 is the lowest and 5/5 is the highest.
★★★★★-The best
★★★★---Really good
★★★-----Average
★★------Just OK
★--------Not worth it
For Soundstage ONLY:
█ ▆ ▄ ▂ ▄ ▆ █ - Great / Wide
▆ ▄ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▄ ▆ - Good / Average
▄ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▄ - Small / Acceptable
▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▂ - Flat / In-Your-Face
Overall SQ:
[1 / 5] - Low-fi
[2 / 5] - Budget-fi
[3 / 5] - Entry-fi
[4 / 5] - Mid-fi
[5 / 5] - Hi-fi
Overall Value:
[1 / 5] - $$$ down the drain
[2 / 5] - The grass is in fact greener on the other side.
[3 / 5] - No loss; No gain.
[4 / 5] - Good investment
[5 / 5] - Sonic Diamond™
Note: A Sonic Diamond™ is awarded when the IEM achieves an overall value ranking of [4.85 / 5] or higher. What this usually means is that the IEM is selling at price point two classes (usually over $50~$100) below its own, representing the best of deals. Beware: this is just an endorsement based on personal opinion. 
Glossary:
{┏━} - L-shaped / bent mini jack
{┃} - Straight style mini jack
Ч-cord - Asymmetrical cable (a.k.a. J-cord)
Y-cord - Symmetrical cable
ABF - Amplification Benefiting Factor
For definition of audio terms, please visit the
audio glossary thread.
For those who wish to use the same rating style, here is an empty form:
Model Name
---Picture---
Variation:
Transducer:
Spec: Ω (@1kHz) | dB SPL | Hz ~ kHZ
Cord Style: Ч / Y-cord, m.
Mini Jack Style: {┏━} / {┃} style, build.
Eartips Used:
Physical Properties:
┣ Packaging: ★☆
┣ Accessories: ★☆
┣ Build Quality: ★☆
┣ Isolation: ★☆
┣ Microphonics: ★☆
┣ Comfort: ★☆
┗ Quick Sum:
Sound Quality:
┣ Treble: ★☆
┣ Mid: ★☆
┣ Bass: ★☆
┣ Soundstage: █ ▆ ▄ ▂ ▄ ▆ █
┣ ABF: [Low / Mid / High]
┣ Overall SQ: [1 / 5]
┗ Quick Sum:
Overall Value: [1 / 5]
Final Remark:
All IEM have been burn-in thoroughly by random music playback for at least 50hrs or extended until no detectable sonic alteration.
To establish a link b/w the old rating system with the new one, here are two previous IEM being re-rated with the new system:
Ultimate Ears’ Triple.fi 10 Pro
Variation: Triple.fi 10 vi (headset version)
Transducer: Triple Balanced Armature in two ways configuration
Spec: 32Ω (@1kHz) | 10Hz~ 17kHz | 117dB SPL | 16g
Cord Style: Y-cord, 1.10m. Memory cable. Replaceable.
Mini Jack Style: {┏━} style, heavy build.
Eartips Used: Mod’ed Shure Black Foam
Physical Properties:
┣ Packaging: ★★★★☆
┣ Accessories: ★★★★☆
┣ Build Quality: ★★★★★
┣ Isolation: ★★★★
┣ Microphonics: ★★★★★
┣ Comfort: ★★★☆
┗ Quick Sum: Nice looking package. Good assortment of accessories. The included foam tips were basically trash but UE has solved the problem on the new package with Comply foam tips. Build quality is solid. Isolation with the silicone eartips is about average but foam tips should be more than adequate for better isolation. Comfort will be a big issue if you have small ears and ear canals as the earpieces and nozzle are slightly both on the large side.
Sound Quality:
┣ Treble: ★★★★☆
┣ Mid: ★★★★★
┣ Bass: ★★★★☆
┣ Soundstage: █ ▆ ▄ ▂ ▄ ▆ █
┣ ABF: [Low]
┣ Overall SQ: [4.8 / 5]
┗ Quick Sum: The overall sound signature is very balance and airy, a slight harshness on treble but fixable by foam. Plenty of detail but not the best I have heard. Mid is slightly up-front on the upper section with a bit of highlight on the vocal. Bass is good and strong through doesn't go deep enough. Soundstage is very good and spacious. Not the best but very close. Great instrument separation.
Overall Value: [4.6 / 5]
Final Remark: Despite the evil look of the big stick, TF10 is quite genuinely one of the best sounding universal IEM in the market. One thing that TF10 is especially good at is its wide soundstage. Soundstage is by far one of the most difficult things to achieve in IEM due to the inherent design of sealing the ear canal, but TF10 is able to present it in such a way that you can hear the music surrounding you almost in a 3 dimensional space. The only issue with TF10 is, can you get a good fit with it?
Sennheiser CX300
Variation: N/A
Transducer: Single Dynamic
Spec: 16Ω (@1kHz) | 18Hz~ 21kHz | 112dB SPL | 9g
Cord Style: Ч-cord, 1.20m.
Mini Jack Style: {┏━} style, normal build.
Eartips Used: Single flange
Physical Properties:
┣ Packaging: ★★★
┣ Accessories: ★★☆
┣ Build Quality: ★★★★
┣ Isolation: ★★★
┣ Microphonics: ★★★
┣ Comfort: ★★★★★
┗ Quick Sum: Pretty plain and simple on all account. Nothing spectacular to speak of.
Sound Quality:
┣ Treble: ★★★☆
┣ Mid: ★★★
┣ Bass: ★★☆
┣ Soundstage: ▆ ▄ ▂ ▂ ▂ ▄ ▆
┣ ABF: [Low]
┣ Overall SQ: [2.2 / 5]
┗ Quick Sum: The overall sound signature is on the warm side. Good detail but a little harsh. Overly bloated bass is by far the biggest weakness.
Overall Value: [2.8 / 5]
Final Remark: The MSRP is too high but the good new is the street price is quite low. It is reasonably good as a backup pair but there are better option out there.