Shure SE530 vs Sleek Audio SA6 vs Triple Fi's - My little comparison
Aug 4, 2008 at 8:17 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 27

McCol

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Just thought I would post a little mini review/comparison of these 3 Iems.

I own at the moment the SA6 and the Shure's and have recently sold the Triple's so they are talked about through my memory of them which isnt ideal i know.

First off, i loved the sq from my triple's but was one of those people who struggled to get a good comfy fit no matter what tips i tried. Only thing i didnt like was that every so often on certain tracks i found the highs a little bit shrill to my ears, but i did love the bass response and detail from the triple's.

I bought the Sleeks about 3 weeks ago and from the off loved the fit and comfort from them. SQ wise i found them to be similar to my old ety er4's, i was using the Treble+ and Bass+ ports. The mids on the SA6 are excellent, really nice vocal presentation but i found the bass to be lacking a little compared to the triple's.

A few days ago i bought the Shure se530, i am really impressed with these.
They have the most comfy fit i have tried yet using the olive tips(which is what i used with the SA6), they also seem to be well built but then so do the other 2 iems as well.

SQ wise i love the sound from these, really responsive bass and superb mids, i also like the detail on the highs, not as in your face or forward as the triple's but the detail is still there, also love the warm sound from the shure's.

I am using the shure's with a Cowon D2 and the Hornet M and to be honest it seems to be the best combo i've had so far. I wouldnt say that the SE530 are better than triple's, they are just different, more of a warm level sound for my ears which i think i prefer. The SA6 are also very good but imo they are a slight step below the Shure/UE in overall sq.

If i could best describe between the UE/Shure it would be that the Triple's strip your music naked from the mp3 player and really throws it to you(and i dont mean that in a bad way!) where as the Shure's wraps it all in a nice warm snuggly duvet and presents the music all warm and snug!
 
Aug 4, 2008 at 8:22 PM Post #2 of 27
Some like vanilla, some like chocolate. You seem to like chocolate.
So do I
wink.gif


Great little sum-up!
 
Aug 4, 2008 at 8:46 PM Post #3 of 27
I have the sleeks and the se530's. I think you're alluding to what I'm finding but just for my own clarification, would you say the sound is just generally that bit more refined and defined and 'in focus' with the se530s as compared to the sleeks? It would make sense, logically, to me that this would be the case, what with the se530's using three collaborative drivers to present the frequency range and the sleeks squeezing this out of that one balanced armature, but I beleive I am picking this up in practicality. My curiosity is tickled.
 
Aug 4, 2008 at 8:55 PM Post #4 of 27
Quote:

Originally Posted by BloodSugar00 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I have the sleeks and the se530's. I think you're alluding to what I'm finding but just for my own clarification, would you say the sound is just generally that bit more refined and defined and 'in focus' with the se530s as compared to the sleeks? It would make sense, logically, to me that this would be the case, what with the se530's using three collaborative drivers to present the frequency range and the sleeks squeezing this out of that one balanced armature, but I beleive I am picking this up in practicality. My curiosity is tickled.


Yes i would, i find the shure's just give me more detail and a better all round sound than the sleeks. I find the detail in the shure's to be as good as the Triple's or the Ety er4's, to me it's just presented in a different way.

One of the songs i use when comparing iem's is The Smiths - I Know its Over from the The Queen is Dead album. It has a really strong stand out bass line and a great build up towards the end of the song, all the way through the song there are strums of acoustic which the shure pick up better than the sleeks and the bass line from the song has never sounded better than it does with current setup of D2/Hornet M and SE530.
 
Aug 4, 2008 at 9:12 PM Post #5 of 27
I find it ironic that the Sleeks are often described as ER4's with more bass, yet the key complaint with the Sleeks (by many) are that the bass is a little too weak. Go figure.....
 
Aug 4, 2008 at 9:43 PM Post #6 of 27
Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyro /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I find it ironic that the Sleeks are often described as ER4's with more bass, yet the key complaint with the Sleeks (by many) are that the bass is a little too weak. Go figure.....


It is a bit ironic but i found that the sleeks had a little more bass presence than the Ety's but not quite up there with either the Triple's or Shure's.
 
Aug 4, 2008 at 9:55 PM Post #7 of 27
I've been using a pair of Sleeks for the past week, and these guys are very responsive to EQ IMO, so the bass issue isn't there for me. But for players like the Zune without EQ, it might be a bit of an issue.
 
Aug 5, 2008 at 1:22 AM Post #8 of 27
Funny, listening to the Zune80 with the Sleeks right now (bass+ treble++) and no EQ needed in my view. I did do the bass+ mod (poke a small hole in the middle), but I don't think the SA6s are like the ER4Ps at all. Example: I owned the Etys, and often would run into sibilance and of course, the minimal bass (not bad, just minimal). The Sleeks are much more mid forward, with a fuller sound, detailed too. Never a sibilant note (and no fatigue). I listened to my modded 716s today with the MiniboxE+ and that was more like the Ety I remember (but better in my view).

Anyway, I've never heard a UE or Shure phone, so I can't compare the Sleeks. But I'm pretty content with the SA6s. I might try out the Super.Fi 5s (the new ones), but that's it. I like the wireless potential of the sleeks, something the Etys, Shures or UEs will never offer, at least not with the current crop of IEMs.
 
Aug 5, 2008 at 11:27 AM Post #9 of 27
Quote:

Originally Posted by McCol /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Yes i would, i find the shure's just give me more detail and a better all round sound than the sleeks. I find the detail in the shure's to be as good as the Triple's or the Ety er4's, to me it's just presented in a different way.

One of the songs i use when comparing iem's is The Smiths - I Know its Over from the The Queen is Dead album. It has a really strong stand out bass line and a great build up towards the end of the song, all the way through the song there are strums of acoustic which the shure pick up better than the sleeks and the bass line from the song has never sounded better than it does with current setup of D2/Hornet M and SE530.



Yeah, they do deliver music in a sharper, keener focus and therefore offer more detail, of noticeable magnitude, I have to say. Still love the Sleeks for what they offer but I'm now growing fond of the shures for what they offer! Ah, the beauty of options
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Aug 5, 2008 at 12:02 PM Post #10 of 27
Right now in my hand i hold Shure SCL5, 530, 420 and Sleek SA6.
Can you say me pls - there from everybody get this tale about soft/warm Shure sound??? May be sound can be soft if you remove this awfull peack on hight freq. This peak simply kill my brain if in trek i have fast, sharp and loud sound. I use it now (3 week try to understan - what people find in Shure ???) and i can't "see" soft musik - i "see" sharp and unpleasant sound... sounds... not MUSIK - just SOUNDS! May be you like this bright hi-freq manner???
If you try to test Shure with test trek with 20-20.000kHz line. It's awfull!!!
And what about musik - try ro listen musik with hi-quality sound of guitar, violin, flute. Shure have not ANY sounds of body (resonance of instruments). But exactly body make sound in real. SHURE have only peak of string and right after that sounds die. Such sound have a cheap milar driver on cheap acoustic. There from you give soft sound tell me please???
And try to use SA6 - there we have full sound of instrument. There we canhear midl and realy soft and flat sound. We can hear MUSIK - not only sounds! If i hear violin - i hear not only attack of string - a can hear body sounds. I can gear full sound of instruments. Imho there is not any case for compare this two models. SHURE maybe good for singers only for monitoring but for listening musik it's worse brand what i hear!
 
Aug 5, 2008 at 12:05 PM Post #11 of 27
The thing that turns me off of trying the Shures is that they're reported to have even more bass than the TF10. I am not a bass head, at all. The sleeks sound like I have my full sized stereo and my computer speaker system tuned as far as bass goes, the TF10 (that I returned partly because of "overdone" bass) sounds like "someone else's stereo". I expect if I were to get the Shures I'd come to the same conclusion as I did when I compared TF10 & SA6 head to head. TF10 might win on clarity and separation, but it tied or failed on everything else. Unless the Shure avoid the "someone else's stereo" issue with the way bass is presented, I can't see myself chosing them over the Sleeks.
 
Aug 5, 2008 at 1:33 PM Post #12 of 27
Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanish /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Right now in my hand i hold Shure SCL5, 530, 420 and Sleek SA6.
Can you say me pls - there from everybody get this tale about soft/warm Shure sound??? May be sound can be soft if you remove this awfull peack on hight freq. This peak simply kill my brain if in trek i have fast, sharp and loud sound. I use it now (3 week try to understan - what people find in Shure ???) and i can't "see" soft musik - i "see" sharp and unpleasant sound... sounds... not MUSIK - just SOUNDS! May be you like this bright hi-freq manner???
If you try to test Shure with test trek with 20-20.000kHz line. It's awfull!!!
And what about musik - try ro listen musik with hi-quality sound of guitar, violin, flute. Shure have not ANY sounds of body (resonance of instruments). But exactly body make sound in real. SHURE have only peak of string and right after that sounds die. Such sound have a cheap milar driver on cheap acoustic. There from you give soft sound tell me please???
And try to use SA6 - there we have full sound of instrument. There we canhear midl and realy soft and flat sound. We can hear MUSIK - not only sounds! If i hear violin - i hear not only attack of string - a can hear body sounds. I can gear full sound of instruments. Imho there is not any case for compare this two models. SHURE maybe good for singers only for monitoring but for listening musik it's worse brand what i hear!



You have quite a few shure phones there dude! Considering you hate their sound, thats a few to get rid of also
wink.gif
.
Hey, each to their own man. This is all highly subjective. Your ears and what they percieve can be (very) different to others. That said however, generally, a consensus on the sound quality and sonic signature of a hp can be reached and shared, even if ppl like or dislike the phone for it, its still agreed upon and recognised. Your experience is uncharacteristic of what the shure phones are generally recieved to be like, sound wise. You report harsh highs by the sound of it (apologies, I know you speak better english than I russian, but it can be hard to understand you at times). The se530's at least, are considered very muted and rolled off in the high register. So that does surprise me you find that! The issues you have with the shures are not, in my experience, what most people have with them. Note also, that the SCL5 is the E500 which was the se530 before it was reissued. They are considered identical in sound.
 
Aug 5, 2008 at 1:38 PM Post #13 of 27
Quote:

Originally Posted by channum /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The thing that turns me off of trying the Shures is that they're reported to have even more bass than the TF10. I am not a bass head, at all. The sleeks sound like I have my full sized stereo and my computer speaker system tuned as far as bass goes, the TF10 (that I returned partly because of "overdone" bass) sounds like "someone else's stereo". I expect if I were to get the Shures I'd come to the same conclusion as I did when I compared TF10 & SA6 head to head. TF10 might win on clarity and separation, but it tied or failed on everything else. Unless the Shure avoid the "someone else's stereo" issue with the way bass is presented, I can't see myself chosing them over the Sleeks.


I use my sleeks with the bass + port, shure olive tips and some EQ in the bass bands and, though significantly more emboldened, the bass increase from my sleeks to my shures isn't that far increased. For my taste in bass, it just nice. Weighty, but still defined and not boomy at all. Love the bass of the shures, the clarity and separation they offer and the slightly backward mid presentation. They are just such a warm, smooth, laid-back phone to listen through were as the sleeks are more upfront, lively and sparkly.
 
Aug 5, 2008 at 6:43 PM Post #14 of 27
I added the fiio amp to the Sleek Sa6 and I no longer Eq any bass. It really seems to soften the treble so much that I switched to the Treble++ and bass =. Im really curious how this will compare to the sound of the SE530. Im going to pick the Sures up at lunch time today. I cant wait :)
 
Aug 5, 2008 at 6:55 PM Post #15 of 27
Quote:

Originally Posted by pseudohippy /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I added the fiio amp to the Sleek Sa6 and I no longer Eq any bass. It really seems to soften the treble so much that I switched to the Treble++ and bass =. Im really curious how this will compare to the sound of the SE530. Im going to pick the Sures up at lunch time today. I cant wait :)


I'm shure (hehe) you'll like them
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. For me, it took a while but I'm now really warming to them. I think this was a case of adjusting to their sound sig and managing to obtain a good seal, which I somehow managed to hex myself on achieving for a while.
 

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