Ortofon e-Q7 Ear Canal Headphone

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ORTOFON EQ7.




THE REVIEW:


Build Quality: (you be the judge)

thick cloth covered cables.
hard plastic for the jack and y-splitter.
thin rubber cable from splitter to phone.
machined aluminum housing.
classy and expensive looking black box with very nice to touch foam covers inside.
black leather case for the eartips and iem filters.
some japanese instruction manual.


SONIC CHARACTERISTIC:

This iem is popular by having the TUBEY characteristic,
with excellent definition in vocals.

I have decided to take some word from the AUDIO TERM GLOSSARY, under SOUND SCIENCE SECTION, to describe the sound of the ortofon eq7.

here:

Airy - Spacious. Open. Instruments sound like they are surrounded by a large reflective space full of air. Good reproduction of high frequency reflections. 

Articulate - Intelligibility of voice(s) and instruments and the interactions between them.

Attack - The leading edge of a note and the ability of a system to reproduce the attack transients in music.

Breathy - Audible breath sounds in woodwinds and reeds such as flute or sax. Good response in the upper mids or highs.

Dynamic - The suggestion of energy and wide dynamic. Related to perceived speed as well as contrasts in volume both large and small.

Liquid - Textureless sound.

Open - Sound which has height and "air", relates to clean upper midrange and treble.

Wet - A reverberant sound, something with decay. Opposite of Dry.

Speed - A fast system with good pace gives the impression of being right on the money in its timing.

MY DESCRIPTION OF THE SOUND:

The Ortofon EQ7 is a very special iem with a hard to explain sound characteristic.
It is a highly detailed iem, very energetic-dynamic in nature with fast transient and special articulation in voice yet theres a lightness and density in music, youll be submerged by the liquidness and wetness and airiness to its music presentation.

The definition in voice is just...one of a kind.
It deserves a special mention in its sonic character.
In all of my iems, this is the best when it comes to artist's voice.
In a song, KAILANGAN KO'Y IKAW by REGINE VELASQUEZ, Regine's voice is oozing with honey-like-sweetness in her voice.

there is a special quality to it.
its like...the voice has the right ingredient to sound real.

My vortex, an iem with a lush mids, this ortos can define the voice with excellent texture and definition while comparing both, the vortex would sounded like muffled and veiled.
the ue700's presentation maybe true also, but it lacks the right thickness and melodies as the ortos.
the panny's vocal is just right.


Like i said, theres lightness and density to this iem.
its light. its airy. 
i cannot say that this is rich sounding iem...NO.
its not.
its not hearty like the AS CHARMS earbud or the balanced YUIN pk1.
its like a light bread.
with the right softness. 
cooked lightly.
too much youll get the bread burned.
too hard, it will be too toughed.

there's elasticity to it.
like the YUIN PK2's characteristic.
its fast.
it can change instantly in just a flick from fast to slow paced music.
if its slow music, it will induced you to sleep.
if its fast music, it will give you a lot of energy to make you tap your hands.
it moves you.
it has an impressive speed.
nothing like it.
its where all my iems struggle hard (from my ue700 to klipsch s4)
its where it failed some of my gears...i got muddy sound.


its airy.
and a lot of it.

the midrange is very wet, liquid and very tube like.

to all the readers...try listening to ESPERANZA SPALDING's PONTA DE AREIA.
the first 20sec of that music is a good example of how to clearly define the MIDS of this ortos.
on how liquid and wet it is...
very similar to be tube-like sound.
try it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9sN3ySkkz0

well about the bass.
ill try GO GIRL by PITBULL.
its fast. energy is comparable to the dynamic iems.
its not overly emphasized here.
not ie8 like.
moving now to I KNOW YOU WANT ME, the bass is satisfying enough with the right density and speed, with enough deepness. 
its giving only enough dynamic bass, but not as like the big bass of myvortex.
only satisfying.
not too much.
not too little.

another important reminder...this iem is hissy.
it hisses to most of my songs when nothing is playing yet at the very first second...its sssssssss...like that.
then...its gone when the music plays.

it is very effortless to give you the best to your music.
it never gets tired of giving you the dynamism.

the highs are very smooth.
i have to disagree with many reviews...that this sounded warm.
NOPE. not to me.
its bright with a touch of tube, liquidness and wetness.

the highs are smooth as my mx980 earbud.
its similar, but amount may differ.
at first i find this to be sibilant.
i dont know...it is in contrast in most reviews ive read about this iem.
get the right fit, and youll loose that sibilance. (maybe at first try only, before mental burn in)
its not ear piercing at all, but smooth and close to heavenly feeling of mymx980.

if panny is excellent in timbre and guitras, ortos is excellent with slow and fast paced music, very good in wind and strings (classical music). 
and i would also like to add that...every note in pianos here is excellent.

if there is something i would like to add to the ortos, the build should be more better than the case...or the box...actually, it doesnt help in the sound at all.
maybe they could do a jack that can be reversed back to straight and angled just like the one with the mx980.

the housing is already good looking...so nothing more to mention there.

and...i like the sound.
a lot.
its new to me.
its sibilance free unlike the panasonic hje900.

i wont say that this is better than the panasonic.
no.
the panasonic shines in his own way.

if theres something id like the ortos to be..
id like it to add more a little pinch of salt and a dash of pepper.
where id like the sound more rich.
like i said above, there's an elasticity to the music.
its fast.
i want it more to be more decayed.
to stay a bit longer.
because of its sonic character, some tracks seem to be delicately done.
but some were like its being chased...

this is a quality iem.
and everyone might agree to me.
the technology is just one of a kind.
there are few who do this kind - moving armatures.


there maybe few iems out there, like the BA (dual) ue700, or the famous triple fi 10 (triple driver) but it cant match some characteristics of a moving BA (ortos).
same as to dynamics.

going back to dynamics, not all performed BA-like.
so either you get a simple dynamic/ or a dual dynamic/ or a single/dual/triple/quad BA drivers...

why not try a hybrid?
something that would give you TWO WORLDS in ONE.
its not something like the same BA or DYNAMIC that you purchase EVERYDAY.


it would be new to your ears.
and that's the promise it could give you.




IS THIS THE BEST UNIVERSAL IEM?
NO.
nothing such exist.
it would only be excellent to you if you value the iem and learn to love its weakness.

this iem is recommended to those who value detailes and vocals.
recommended for those who own a set of a BA driver (no matter what the numbers are) and a dynamic (no matter if its single or dual).

if you have a BA.
a DYNAMIC.
it wouldnt hurt to have another one - MOVING BA.

you'll not only add one more to your collections but..
you'll also get to try another different kind of FLAVOR.

to end this...
is it really worth it.
i believe its a YES.
the experience it could give you is one of a kind, its refreshing - being a moving BA.




ORTOFON EQ7.
B.A. AT HEART, DYNAMIC IN SPIRIT.

Great sound - much better than my previous owned Sennheiser IE6. In fact when I listened the Ortofon I had to immediately compare with my Grado RS1i, connected to the Lehmann audio USB (amplifier and DAC). Before comparing it seemed that the quality of sound (connected to an iPod) was competitive with an high end system.

 

Only minus is that is difficult to adjust them to the ear. For me they are a bit too big.

Just bought the Ortofon e-Q7 in-ear phones after quite a bit of research on the net. Have used Sennheiser 565 Ovation for many years, which are open full size headphones, but now I wanted closed ones and no nagging on top of the head ... I usually listen to music via my high end stereo set, but I now need ear phones for meditations and on the road use.

 

Just out of the box I am quite disapointed with the bass level. After an hour with loud rock music they deliver a tight and transparent bass.

 

If you are looking for in-ears with a heavy, pronounced bass - these are not for you. If you on the other hand are looking for a balanced sound with a good overall transparency, voice rendition, tight bass, top mid- and high frequencies - this could be the one for you. Bass is robust, but not dominant. Acustic music and voices are rendered VERY naturally. Rock music is presented with attack and balance and true to the recording (not overemphasizing bass).

 

Compared to a high end stereo set no headphone will have the same audiophile qualities. Given the price difference - no wonder. Compared to a good full size headphone an in-ear monitor/phone is playing more inside your head than the over-the-ear models since the speaker is placed outside the ear and not inside the ear canal.

 

e-Q7 is very sensitive (117dB/mW) which is an advantage with good players, but with mediocre players as mobile phones that are not music-phones there may be some hiss from the amp of the device.

 

The cable is easy and sturdy in use but unfortunately produces microphonics (physical touch transports as sound into the monitor). This is probably the biggest (and only?) downside of the e-Q7, but is only a problem if used while in activity like walking, running etc.