RE252 takes the best from ER-4S and RE0 - Page 5

That's interesting. But I think h-fi cans like DT880 and HD650 also have similar or even better dynamic range compared to SE530. Although I haven't compared SE530 to them directly so can't say for sure. Maybe your problem with the SE530s were some spikes in the frequency response. Because I don't think it is possible for the dynamic range to be too large. What do you think?

I felt the SE530 lacked note thickness to present the dynamic range in a meaningful manner. It was kind of the same problem with the PFE. I view both kind of similar in how they handle the note and dynamic range. Dyanmics seem almost bottomless with a high amount of energy and no perceivable limit. Poor sound quality and glitches of some of my old mp3 files where quite annoying with either earphone because a little glitch/scratch would pretty much bite your head off.

Yet at the same time the note was so short and light, there was never much force behind the volume. It ends up sounding loud but not feeling loud. The trait makes the listening experience slightly annoying because you generally listen to the same music a little louder then you might with another earphone, and the dynamics end up being a little more aggressive.

I have considered some earphones more robust because of better pronounced, weighted notes. For example, I will generally describe the UM3X as being more dynamic than the SE530 because the UM3X carries more body and visceral authority despite not actually having the pure dynamic emphasis. Still the UM3X is more engaging and visceral because of the more pronounced note.

To me, the SE530 was simply too light on note. It had a lot of realism of sound but it also lost some believability lacking articulation/texture of notes. They were just too short and crisp. Heft and some in between details gets lost. A great comparison is the ER4S, a MUCH more mild earphone dynamically but one with a much thicker and more textured note(a little too much so). It conveys a ton of in between information that develops a high sense of realism. Another earphone that does this well is Denon's C751. Again, it offers thicker notes, a lot of articulation and texture to the notes, and it ends up sounding very life-like and realistic because of it.

Relating back to the RE252, the RE252 is slightly in the direction of the SE530, slightly short on note, missing some in between information. Comparing to a similarly capable, similarly priced earphone like the CK10, one will see more articulation of note with the CK10 and the addition of those little micro details in between that add to the realism and believability of a sound. The CK10 sounds more life-like than the RE252 because of it. I've still preferred the RE252 a little as a total package though, but after demoing a pair for a few weeks, I may still grab a CK10 one day.

Man, I don't know what to say - the PFE sounded very unimpressive to my ears. Maybe I got a bad fit with them, but I can't even imagine them being comparable to SE530. Totally different levels IMO. PFE has almost no decay, sounding very schematic and also quite thin, especially in the bass. Yes, it does sound very clear and more dynamic than most single driver BAs, but its low detail resolution and thin bass just totally overshadows its strengths IMO. As for SE530 - it has loads more detail by comparison and sounds much fuller and richer than the PFE. It's also more dynamic than the PFE IMO. As for notes lacking weight on the SE530, that probably means that you were getting a poor fit with them. SE530 is very,very picky about how you place them in your ears from my experience and the only way to get the best sound out of it is with custom tips and even those have to be of the right length, thickness, density etc. But then maybe the same could be said about PFE and other armatures - the fit with them has to be just right.

So you are saying that RE252 lacks some detail. I've read reviews that state that RE252 has more detail than any other universal out there today (like Frederick's review at TechPowerUp for example) I am interested in what kostalex has to say about this. Maybe you didn't get a good fit with RE252.

Lol, I didn't say the SE530 and the PFE were on the same level. I'm simply saying they have the same type of presentation. Both have very high dynamics and a short, clean, spaced note. They incur a similar type of downside from this with a lack of heft to notes and a lack of texture.

As for the RE252, yes, they are highly detailed. They have a great dynamic range including the ability to create subtlety and convey quiet information (very few do this well). However, yes, they lack some texture/articulation of note and subsequently lose some in between information. No, it's not something you readily notice. It's something you notice when you start comparing directly against other earphones that actually do articulate better, like the CK10 or my OK1 bud. You simply don't just hear the lacking. It's not bad, so you won't notice it blindly. You really have to do side-by-side comparisons to realize what's not there. I'm a big fan of running a group of earphones at one one because of this. Other earphones and back to back listening will point out what a particular earphone does so well and what it comes up short on.

wow, the MTPC is my most engaging and favorite iem I have at the moment. I'm loving the bassy impact. so how bout the seperation on the 252's? any shrill highs on it? oh and how does the bass compare to the MTPC?

I'd like to see someone else speak out on the 252's being better than the MTPC's as well or the Monster MD's also. I'd like to believe it but am not convinced. I'd also like to believe in Lepracauns and pots of gold.

252 has better little bit better separation and more neutral bass. No shrill highs, they are soft and the Turbines' have better presence (I forgot to mention that).
Turbines are much more fun whereas the 252s are more analytical.


Hey kostalex, would it be possible for me to mod my 252 to sound more like your 252km without reshelling it? I really love the gummy shell and it fits me like a glove together with the supertips. I have never been ecstatic about its forward, rounded mids though (slightly exaggerated by the soft highs and flat bass). I don't mind forwardness, but on the 252 it is slightly more than I would like.

I don't have anything that compares to the supertips. Everything is better with them. They are not the cause of the mid-forwardness either. It feels like the other tips I've got tame everything now that I try them, lol.