REVIEW: Nuforce NE-7M iPhone IEM vs Denon C700 and Klipsch Image X10 (NE-8 Impressions Added... - Page 18

sweet, thanks!

TY much! what is an appropriate volume level to burn these in with?

Just wanted to share with everyone some more info about the crinkle. I tried making some home made foamies using foam earplugs (failed miserably) but one thing I discovered during that experiment is that my NE-7M's have the exact same crinkle even with the foam plugs, so I suspect the earphone itself has some imperfect tolerances in the fit of the pieces. Seems nobody else has experienced this so I'm going to talk to Nuforce about it.

With more listening time with both the NE-7M and X10 I'd have to say if the NE-7M was as comfortable as the X10 I'd pick it over the X10 for maybe 60-75% of my IEM listening. This isn't because the NE-7M sounds "better" than the X10, its because it better suits the kind of listening mood I'm usually in with the music I have. The X10 still has much nicer bass output and a smoother sound, but the NE-7M seems to be more balanced in that it doesn't recess the midrange like the X10 does. Sometimes the Klipsch X10 can sound closed compared to the NE-7M. When I want to have more profound bass I'd choose the X10 over 7M's. Having said all this, I use the X10 90% of the time because the NE-7M simply is not comfortable for me at all, my ears are just not suited for IEMs unfortunately and it takes a super comfortable IEM like the Image X10 to do the trick .

My impressions of the NE-7ms seem contrary to popular opinion here.

I think for $50 they are great value but don't see them besting even my $69 Jays D-Jays for accuracy, clarity and imaging.

The problems I notice are the sound stage is congested and inaccurate. There seems to be some minor distortion from the slightly bloated bass in the midrange. The highs are too hot. I don't find the Ne-7m accurate or very high resolution. Unless people think clarity means a very hot treble, mid range, and amped up bass. They make a good earphone for background music like at work or the gym but I can't listen to anything critically with them.

I have burnt them in using pink noise for 25 hours + 5-6 hours of actual listening.

Comply T400 tips improve the sound because they tame the hot treble considerably but the soundstage problems are still there and so is the mid-range coloration.

I am doing another burn in cycle for 25 hours with the pink noise FLAC that was provided earlier. I'll post a full review after I have given them some more burn-in.

Slightly above what your maximum comfortable volume level is.

Maybe. But my wife shares the same opinion. So I doubt it is our ear canals or iem placement. The Ne-7m has a similar canal tube design as the UE Sf3 and similar to the ADDIEM.

I get out of the head sound stage in the left and right side. Perhaps that's what you consider open and spacious. The sound stage is very exaggerated left to right. However, the depth of the sound stage is very compressed. Instruments that should be away from the singer sound too close and in the same plane as the singer. I A/B a few IEMs and the Ne-7m always sounds distorted in the imaging.

Think of the sound stage as an oval balloon. The Ne-7m sounds like someone too the narrower ends with both hands and stretched it. Giving the perception of a wide out of the head soundstage but in the process caused the depth of the stage in the middle to shrink. That's what I mean by compressed and congested. I don't mean tiny in-the-head sound.

Usually in audio speaker placement and listener placement makes a huge difference in sound stage and imaging. The ne-7m sounds like you are sitting 2 feet away from the front speakers instead of 8. Which messes up how the soundstage is perceived.

40 hours of pink noise burn-in has done little to improve it.

I think the NE-7m's are excellent and haven't had anything like the problems you and your wife had with them, oarnura. Do you have any IEM's that you're happy with?

Oh well, they didn't cost much so maybe you could give them to a friend or relative.

I've got something like 80 or 90 hours of break-in on them now and my only quibble would be that the upper end isn't quite strong enough to make reverb trails and some of the high end detail really come alive. The mids and bass are very, very good. It also, of course, depends on the material. I mostly listen to jazz and electronica. A few albums and songs don't sound that great through the NE-7M's but a large majority do.

Re the soundstage - we're talking about a $50 pair of IEM's plugged into a portable player of some kind, not a couple of B&W Nautilus hooked up to a Krell amp. I think your expectations may be a bit unrealistic for the subject at hand.

Precisely how I feel as well.

Having tried a friend's new Apple in ear solution, I'm glad I went with the Nuforce.

could anyone post of picture of these in their ear? I am having a hard time visualizing them, they seem huge...

thanks

Just got my pair yesterday. First impressions are that they're nice, but the cord is pretty rumbly. You can definetly hear yourself walking/moving around. The tips are okay but I'm going to order some Comply's. I think that will help with the seal, too.

The microphonics go away when you use good foam tips. If you have JVC Marshmallows, use the tips from those instead of the T400s. They sound better and have equal or better isolation, too.

Heh, finally got around to the pics Larry
Slack.. :P
Larry, you're getting old with all those grey hairs :P
Anyway, either you got really deep ear canals or it doesn't show much does it...
The C700's are much the opposite and stick out like a sore thumb.
Also best to put the pics on the first page as people Googling won't only bother to read the first page.

I'm transforming my portable setup atm from a Cowon D2 + im716's
to
Sansa Fuze + Fiio E5 amp + looks like the NE-7M's ..so mmmmmm.....

I got my SCL4 in yesterday and I was disappointed. They sounded lifeless compared to the NE-7M. The bass was anemic and I couldn't hear much difference in soundstage.

I'm pretty sure I got a good seal because I used to own Shure E2s before and I was accostomed to over the ear style IEMs.


Definitely says good things about the NE-7M