So, just got home to find them on my doorstep, and I can say that my impressions nearly the same as Michael_B's. I recently bought the Altec Lansing im716s and the super.fi 3s, and have been doing a 1-2-3 comparison. Keep in mind that the iM-490s haven't burned in, whereas the other two have gotten 100+ hours. I'm driving them off of my cowon D2 with 256+ mp3/ogg, and have to say the sound is amazing.
I'm using the medium tips, and the fit is really nice with my ears...I've found that the best thing about the 490s is the clarity of the sound. It is almost comparable to the detail I get from the im716s; I would argue that there is actually a greater degree of separation of instruments (and vox, etc.), and the sound is not quite as analytical. The bass is loose in comparison to the mids and highs, but still impressive for a shallow in-ear phone.
Overall, the signature is somewhat similar to that of the super.fi 3s, though the super.fis have a slightly warmer (but muddier) sound. However, there is a surprising amount of microphonics (far less than im716), and the phones are HUGELY seal dependent; just playing around with the fit a little completely changes the sound for me. Virtually no sibilance, but they definitely do not handle high volumes well as noted by Michael. They get distorted pretty quickly; and with the lack of isolation it is very unlikely that I will use them for commute (bus) or at school. I'd have to push the volume too high for my good, and that in combination with the distortion = no for me.
Though I don't have something like the e4cs to compare to, I'd have to say that overall the im-490s are a good compromise between the im716 and sufi 3 for the budget range. It takes some of the best and worst qualities of each in terms of sound quality, and the build quality seems phenomenal. I may play around with foamies to see what kind of isolation I can get, and if it is halfway decent, there is a good chance that these may be my portables for the time being. Definitely as good as the mylarone x3s I had been using for 6 months (they eventually broke like the x3s seem to tend to do, so that impression may just be me being so glad about buying the iM-490s, I can't exactly remember the sound :P).
I'm using the medium tips, and the fit is really nice with my ears...I've found that the best thing about the 490s is the clarity of the sound. It is almost comparable to the detail I get from the im716s; I would argue that there is actually a greater degree of separation of instruments (and vox, etc.), and the sound is not quite as analytical. The bass is loose in comparison to the mids and highs, but still impressive for a shallow in-ear phone.
Overall, the signature is somewhat similar to that of the super.fi 3s, though the super.fis have a slightly warmer (but muddier) sound. However, there is a surprising amount of microphonics (far less than im716), and the phones are HUGELY seal dependent; just playing around with the fit a little completely changes the sound for me. Virtually no sibilance, but they definitely do not handle high volumes well as noted by Michael. They get distorted pretty quickly; and with the lack of isolation it is very unlikely that I will use them for commute (bus) or at school. I'd have to push the volume too high for my good, and that in combination with the distortion = no for me.
Though I don't have something like the e4cs to compare to, I'd have to say that overall the im-490s are a good compromise between the im716 and sufi 3 for the budget range. It takes some of the best and worst qualities of each in terms of sound quality, and the build quality seems phenomenal. I may play around with foamies to see what kind of isolation I can get, and if it is halfway decent, there is a good chance that these may be my portables for the time being. Definitely as good as the mylarone x3s I had been using for 6 months (they eventually broke like the x3s seem to tend to do, so that impression may just be me being so glad about buying the iM-490s, I can't exactly remember the sound :P).
I'm hoping Andrew is still reading this thread and maybe has a solution.
