Playaz N1 - Page 4

Eric,

Did you buy these straight off this website:

PlayaZ-Audio.com - Enjoy Pure High-End

Eric or James,

How big is the nozzle on these things. If th nozzles on these IEMs are larger than 6mm I have a hard time with fit/comfort...my ear canals are tiny.

Hello @ sk3383, that is the vendor's website, but I'm bought them from ebay. I found him on ebay and sent him an email. He directed me to his webpage which you found. I would suggest, however, going to his ebay store for more details on the earphones. He has details in english and other languages. This is the ebay store: 4satisfaction-store

If you send him an email, tell him EricP from Chicago recommended these earphones to you highly!!

The XM1 are lest than 6mm and the XM2 (but the XM1 has way more bass and is better sounding to me. The XM2 is not lacking bass, but less of it). Mids are great on both.. Treble is better on XM1. I'm not sure about the diameter of the XV100, I have too check that out, but the XMs are shocking at the sound coming out of them to be so small. I think they are like 5.5mm, but verify that with seller @ sk3383...

For 20 euros they sound close to e-Q7?! Very good find man!

No one going to try the XR120?

Well James steered me to the vendor @ KLS. I give him all the credit. I was looking for something that sounded as good - if not better - as the IE8s with a wider soundstage and that same great bass. You know James think highly of the Playaz N1. it was by accident that I discovered the XEars. I thought they would be basically throwaways. Boy was I wrong!! Actually I've listened to four XEars, and there is only one I don't care for at all and is like a throwaway (XR120Pro). The other three, however, (XV100, XM1 and XM2) I'm just mind-boggled over the sound. And the XMs, as I said earlier, are so small.

Now, I'm listening to the Playaz N3. It's like the IE8 bass on steroids with no tuning. It's a wood IEM. The bass is kind of muddy now, but again this is only 5 minutes in my ears, no burn in. Vocals are very forward along with mids. Lots of details in the mids. Nice treble. Bass sounds like a undisciplined subwoofer that the Copper Pro possess. The Copper's bass is tighter, but I suspect that burn in will clear these up like it did the IE8. These aren't as warm, but lean more toward the IE8 than Ortos sound. Soundstage a tad less than IE8 to me right now, but clarity is better than IE8.

So, Playaz, so far are leaning toward IE8 sound sig. XEars are leaning toward Ortos sound sig. Want to make clear, the XEars aren't better than the Ortos at this stage (and I doubt they will be), but they are so damn close for the price.

Playaz haven't shined enough for me, but there's potential that they could be better than IE8. I'm liking the Playaz 3 better than the Playaz N1 so far. On to the Sonias II..

Okay, Sonias has less bass of the three Playaz, but seems to have the best detail of the three, plus best highs. Nice sounding but I need way more listening to them. My Sonias has some sibilance and little bit of crackling. We'll see what burn in does for them. Overall, they sound nice. Don't know if I like them over the Playaz 3 yet, but I also need to give the N1 more time. Overall, I did well with this group of Japanese of earphones. I thing the Playaz are Japanese too, but not 100 percent sure. Now it's time for some serious burn in (hope I have enough source players...lol).

These earbuds look nice.

@eric, I am interested in the XEars because e-Q7 is really tempting. Perhaps XEars is still inferior compared to e-Q7, but for 20 euros you can have a sound sig similar to e-Q7. That's great for a poor guy like me...

Thanks james and bigsy and eric for finding hidden gems.

You're welcome @ KLS, and I too should thank James (didn't really see Bigsy comments until later)... But thank you too @ bigsy...

Okay James, I have Playaz N1 back in my ears and I see what you mean about the mids. Nice!! These strings are rivaling the strings of the Ortos despite the bass not having the same quality (but quanity). Soundstage is wider so far than N3, but N3s have more clarity and detail overall. Still need to let N3s open up. I think the diameter of the speaker is wider on the N3s too. Those are some big boy casings. Really nice mids with these N1s.

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Haha, ericp stirring up a riot, while I'm innocently sleeping here in Austria! Eric, maybe if we can co-ordinate our sleeping schedules we can keep a riot going 24/7, lol

Let me ask you a question: have you ever listened to budget IEMs before you dove into the real thing with the Etys, SE530, Ortonfons and IE8? If not, you're now learning the law of diminishing returns from end to the beginning, the other way round compared to most of us. There are some very nice budget phones out there, like the Soundmagics or Cyclones, that really aren't far behind the very best.

Of course these Xears XM1 and XM2 are only 10euros from the webshop, so they're even cheaper than the Soundmagics or Cyclones. In fact I have them both, the only ones I haven't heard are the XV100. I would have killed Thomas by now if he'd only sent samples of those to you, lol, because I've bought at least 10 or more Playaz IEMs from him.

So here's my take on the Xears: both the XM1 and XM2 are very tiny and well built IEMs (nozzle diameter about 5mm), and deliver pleasant and detailed sound for the price. The XM1 is bassier and has a decidedly warm sound signature while the XM2 is overall more balanced. Both are slightly mid centered with crisp and reasonably extended highs. To my ears there are no major sonic weaknesses on both, though the XM1's bass is a bit too muddy for my taste. Overall I'd rate them roughly on par with the Soundmagic PL50 and think they are damn close to the Cyclone PR1 Pros, especially the XM2.

BTW I've also heard the XR120 and didn't care much for it either. Funny because it's the most expensive of the Xears product line.

The Playaz however are an entirely different breed, and as far as I am concerned in a league of their own. Out-of-the-box the do not sound nearly as pleasing as the Xears, and they need some burn-in, patience, time to adjust and most of all a good EQed source (I know you're a basshead Eric, but believe me you're missing out a lot when you play them on flat!). But more about that later....

These look very much the same as the Playaz N3, except for the cable splitter. But the only way to tell if they sound the same would be to order them. I've done this before with some Kanen IEMs and they turned out sounding nothing like my beloved N1. I presume there are generic housings/cables out there being used by different manufacturers. Then again, the N3 is the least impressive of the Playaz' to my ears so far.

lol @ James. I actually started with the most expensive and stayed there (first IEM was the Es530). My rationale was go with the best. So I pretty much stayed high-end and now I'm working may way down in price...lol. Oh well, I guess I'm a little backwards (my wallet hates me but my ears say yes!!). I'm so glad you heard them all. I just assumed you haven't because I don't recall you ever talking about the XEars. The XM2 is nice, but I like the XM1 and XV100 slightly better. The Playaz I'm getting use too, but so far the N3 is best to me...I did eq the N1 on my s545 and it was great, but not on my computer yet...