[Pictorial Review] Head-Direct's RE2 - Page 7

I love my RE2s, but I would strongly advise against getting them unamped.

If you care about bass at all, take a look here: Head-Direct.com | YUIN

$10 more and you get the FiiO E5 amp. Now I recommend this purchase!

I only found out about the combo with the E5 AFTER I bought the RE2 alone...

Still I'm very happy with the purchase. With the big price cut there are some differences in design... it's now got a nylon cord (just comparing it to the pics in the original thread), but they sound great, especially for it's price range.

Yeah, the E5 amp does take the RE2 up another notch, and it's a cheap upgrade if you already have a line out dock.

Thanks for your original review, I decided to order them after reading it.
I just received my package last week.
These are very nice earphones, I like them a lot. They certainly don't have much bass, but are detailed and are a pleasure to hear. And for the price, a real bargain. I paid $49 for them, together with the Fiio E5, and now the same bundle can be bought for $39. Worth every penny.

Received the RE2 IEM yesterday and burned for about 10hs. I decided to test how they sound with my Zune 30 today in my way to work and finded that the low - mid freqs representation is very natural, you can feel the dynamics between the bass drum and bass guitar really well. The perception of soundstage seems to be spacious and the high end of the spectrum feels airy and crisp (specially air micked charles/cymbals).
The thing is feel them sibilant - muffled in the 4 - 5khz range. Maybe they need to be burned out more, what do you think?
So far, they´re an amazing bargain at 27€

Mine aren't sibilant on an iPod Touch 1G. Compared to my depodded IM716 they are not as airy. Yes the bass and mids are very natural. What these IEMs lack in detail they make up for in overall balance. I got them when they cost much higher. I see they are now on sale with a Fiio amp. I just hope they continue making these.

Mine are several years old now and I am glad to report that they are as good as when I got them. There is no corrosion on the cable yet. It looks like it can go on longer still.

I found the sounded best paired with a warm amp like Fiio E5 or iBasso T4, which allowed me to use them on a bright source like Touch and Nano without sibilance.

Thanks for the tip. There was a combo with a Fiio amp but I didn´t notice when I made the purchase.
Burned them for about 14 hours more and seems that they´ve improved a lot at 3-5kz, specially in snare crispness. These tiny drivers deliver great colorfull guitars and vocals also.

wow. awesome input, guys. i think i'll pick this up for a xmas present to myself
sounds like a great steal

I bought two sets of RE 2's with the Fiio E5 amps based on these strong recommendations. I strongly recommend avoiding these. Sound quality was good but both sets lasted less than 25 hours of light use. The left side driver stopped working completely on mine after barely using it (I'm 43 and only use my mp3 on long airplane flights). My wife's RE 2 developed a crack in the wire and now it crackles. When I contacted Head-Direct they informed me that because I had owned them for 9 months they would would not replace them (Warning! this is not a one year warranty on this cheap Chinese product). Customer service was polite but unhelpful. I wasted a lot of money on these cheaply constructed rip offs. Avoid them.

I have had mine for over 2 years. No sign of wear. I handle them gently and coil them back in its case after use. I do not use an amp. I use them on my iPod Touch.

Having listened carefully to the RE2 I have to say I am disappointed.  My expectations were probably too high based on reviews, but IMHO this is no giant killer.  Midrange is OK, but highly over-emphasized, and the top end rolls off around 6-7KHz, if I am any judge.  Bass exists, but is so shelved down as to simply over-emphasize the mids.  If I only listened to acoustic guitar these would probably be satisfying enough but I really expect full frequency response from anything with aspirations to be better than mid-fi...

 

By contrast, iPod direct or with the iBasso or DACPort, my Apple IEM's with a Mic and "tweaked" tips ("sawed off" mushrooms from my Shure collection, the stock silicone tips from Apple were too rigid to seal right in my ear), the Apple IEM simply blows the RE2 out of the water for engaging, detailed full range performance and for only a few $ more (yes, their midrange is grainy, not ideal but for $ it's good). Comparing to higher end IEMs like the SE530, as some have done, is simply no comparison.  These high-end generic IEMs are vastly more revealing and natural and have a sense of engaging transparency that pulls me into the music instead of emphasizing the transducer.  

 

Compared to the Sennheiser CX500s the 500s are sizzly with their over-hyped top end and grainy midrange, but at least they are full spectrum, and for knocking about the gym or washing the car, are more enjoyable to me driven direct off the iPod (and I don't think too highly of them, they're just cheap and reliable enough to last 1-2 years of abuse, which was what I thought I'd use the RE2 for).  

 

Lastly, the RE2's tips are really hard to change, none of the stock ones fit me snuggly (though they interchanged with the Sennheiser tips, so I was at last able to get a seal), and the cable is very microphonic and annoying if you move.  

 

I will probably sell these or give them to my daughter, who runs a lot of her phones through the washing machine, at some point and always needs new ones, and I probably won't consider an upgrade like an RE0 without hearing it at a meet first...

 

Just goes to show how our perceptions (and ears) vary!