Ultimate Ears In-Ear Reference Monitors

I wonder why UERM is often disregarded while picking from $1000 range. I'm guessing that it's due to "only" having 3 drivers, versus having 8 drivers per side. I can say with confidence that driver number does not equal sound quality. Another reason I see why UERM might not be picked is its sound sig. It's perfectly flat. Personally, I love this.

 

Here is my break down: UERM is almost totally flat.

Sub-bass: Very very good. Great extension and presence.

Mid-bass: Flat. This is the part that people like emphasis on, but there is no emphasis. It's present and punchy imo.

Lower-mid: I don't listen to many musics with lower mids, but they have good clarity and detail.

Upper-mid: Very clean, detailed, emotional.

Lower treble: It can be little harsh, but not as harsh as SRH940. It's not rolled off, and is clean, airy, and detailed.

Upper treble: Superb extension with sense of air and detail.

Clarity: Best I've heard yet.

Detail: Best I've heard.

Sound stage: As a iem, it is the best I've heard, but obviously, they don't stand against full size.

 

Customer Service: As soon as my impression arrived, they emailed me with all the infos. I asked them many questions, and they were all answered. They gave me a completion date, and that date was kept.

 

Refit: My right side didn't fit, so I sent it off for a refit. They didn't even need a new impression. I described what part didn't fit, and they fixed it. They even upgraded shipping back to 2 day air for free. Very satisfied.

 

Packaging: I love the case. It's so much smarter than Westone Case I bought. It'd be nice if it was air tight though. 

 

Cable: Cable is good. It's bit thicker than normal custom cables, but is still thin and very supple.

 

My story: UERM wasn't even on my list when I was first planning to buy a CIEM. During a short visit I had in HK, I visited Jaben and demoed many CIEMs. I tried JH13, JH16, Fitear Universals, Westone ES5, but I didn't like any of them. Fitears were too expensive and bit too bassy while JH13 didn't have mids that I was looking for. From there, I was about to purchase a Miracle, but I was unsure because people told me about recessed mids. Therefore, I looked at where I haven't. I disregarded UERM because it had 3 drivers, but still pulled a trigger on it. Now, I am very happy about it.

 

Please ask any questions if you have any.

 

Update: 5/9/13

Sibilance: It it less sibilant than SE535 and SRH940, but it is still present. I don't mind it so much, but it's worth nothing.

 

Update: 5/13/13

I sold my SE535 and X20 because UERM is just much better. SE535 sounded muddy, and X20 was too similar to UERM in tonal balance. Buying a Leckerton UHA6 amp.

 

Update: 5/15/13

UERM actually does a better job at placement than SRH940. UERM also benefits from a good setup.

I've recently amended this review, based on my education into the world of Head-Fi.

 

I've been toying around with getting a set of in-ear customs for a long time.  I caught the write-ups in my audio rags about UE's new product and jumped all over them.

 

I'm a video editor, but I also do a lot of music and mixing, writing, directing, and anything else that has to do with entertainment production.  It's like UE decided to custom build a pair of in-ear headphones just for me.  Thanks guys, much appreciated.

 

My super-secret hope?  They'd make for pretty good listening, too. 

 

I don't have any experience with IE custom monitors prior to this.  I've had about every model of universal buds Shure ever made-- and my favorite pair prior were the e4Cs.  I had the e5's but they hurt the ear after an hour or so.  The I owned one pair of UE's in the past, and was disappointed in their construction.  They were pretty much toast within a year-- but they were low-grade consumer models.

 

No worries with the UERM's.  These things are built well.  I opted for translucent black.  Something about clear and in-ear made me think of gross ear wax I never wanted to face.  The black is pretty striking.  I also did double Capitol logos on the ears.   

 

The customs take some getting used to.  Mine hurt at first.  After a week things chilled out.  There was a time I considered taking them back for a re-fit, but I stuck it out.   

 

Sound quality-- well that's what these are all about- and they do sound fantastic.  I would call the soundstage very good-- but not up to the level of a quality over-ear open headphone.  Brilliant highs.  That's where these really shine.  I notice transients-- particularly in passages with great natural reverb.  Open and extended.  

 

The one common criticism I ran into about this model was the lack of bass.  They certainly can't stand up to the LCDs or HD-650 or HD-800.  And they don't go as deep as Dr. Dre Beats.  But where Beats have a thumping quality suited for pop music, the bass overpowers on everything else.  The IERMs bass is extremely tight.  What they lack in deep low end they make up with in bass detail.  A little EQ will bring the lows in, but the detail in the bass is where these shine. You can sort of hear the skins on the drums stretching and retreating.  You can hear the fingers slip across the bass strings.  They're just ridiculously accurate-- almost comically so.  But in reference listening you don't want that deep extension there when you're trying to figure out what you're listening to.  

 

You might get the sense that I like these by now...  Indeed.

 

I knock the design a bit, because-- let's face it-- there's nothing sexy about the shape of your ear canal.  But the box they come in is smashing-- and has my name printed on it-- but the buds have a hard time fitting inside, so I bought a Pelican case.  It's waterproof anyway-- a good way to protect my thousand dollar investment.  

 

My and my UE's are going to be married for a long time.  

 

 

 

 

I'm a laptop producer of electronic music and film score compositions and it just isn't practical to remain tethered to a desk with near-field monitors for tracking and mixing. I need to be mobile but need to know that what I'm hearing will translate accurately to my mixes.

The UERM's allow me to mix with confidence. Everything is clear and well-placed. The bass is exactly right, which is often the most difficult part of a mix. What I hear in my monitors is what I get when I play back on other systems. The separation of instruments and depth of field is really impressive for an IEM. Isolation is quite good - I'm often on a loud train or boat and I can mix without ambient noise distracting me.

I listen to these every day during my commute and they excel at electronic, jazz and pop but since they are engineered to have a flat response the mid and low bass can feel restrained with aggressive rock or hip hop. I may pick up a set of UE 18's for my recreational listening.

Overall I'm really happy with the UERM's and highly recommend them for audiophiles and producers who appreciate an accurate representation of the source material. The fit wasn't perfect the first time so I had to send them back for an adjustment on the right side. The left side fit like a glove from day one. The hard acrylic takes a little getting used to but now it feels just fine. I'd like to try these with a silicone option at some point, both for comfort and increased isolation.

These absolutely require a full burn-in. They sounded awful at first and after about 20 hours they opened up and the veil was lifted. I was so relieved because I didn't realize that IEM's needed as much burn-in as full sized phones.