Thanks |joker|.
 
By the way, this thread is one of the most useful threads ever. The time & effort you've taken [and continue to take] for this thread does not go unappreciated. Thanks!

Thanks, I appreciate that.

Nice, I agree with everything you said about the Crystal.

This is such an epic thread..although I have no idea about the current market of universals as I'm done with them but may get a custom in the future...Reference Monitors are calling out to me after I finalize my headphone rig
 
Also this saves me quite a bit of work. I point people to this thread when I have friends asking me for recommendations..I just direct to this thread and go about my way

 
Quote:

austin morrow said:

Nice, I agree with everything you said about the Crystal.

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Good to know 
 


Quote:

rawrster said:

This is such an epic thread..although I have no idea about the current market of universals as I'm done with them but may get a custom in the future...Reference Monitors are calling out to me after I finalize my headphone rig
 
Also this saves me quite a bit of work. I point people to this thread when I have friends asking me for recommendations..I just direct to this thread and go about my way

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Thanks, and good to know the thread is working as intended at least some of the time. 
 
Personally, I haven't switched to customs full-time yet - universals are often simply more practical for me. I do have another budget custom on-hand but I don't expect it to compete with the UERM.

Quote:

ljokerl said:

 
Thanks, and good to know the thread is working as intended at least some of the time.

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I think we could comfortably say most of the time. I vote for a sticky or at least a linky! I think your reviews are open enough to preference and sig that they are both useful to all and not to be confused with Headfi sponsorship.
 
Very nice service that you're providing. I personally generally find a twfk too hot (gray Phonak is about my limit) and I know that you like it but I can read that into your reviews. I may not like the same things as you yet still make a reasonable decision based on your reviews. Thanks again.
 

I think this thread works just fine for its purpose outside of the times when people disagree with the numbers you give for some earphones. I'm sure there are lurkers and people who are not registered that use this thread as a frame of reference when looking to buy something.
 
I find customs are just better and works just fine for me. I technically don't need a second pair but I've always wanted a JHA custom and a UE so something like the JH5 and UE Reference Monitors may be in my future but my headphone rig is a bigger priority as 85-90% of my listening is done at home which was not the case when I was perfecting my portable rig which is now just down to 1 custom and my phone. Although you are free to donate customs if you ever find the need
 
 
edit: actually I do have my Brainwavz M2 but they just sit there as I haven't been watching tv shows with my netbook lately but don't think that will change anytime soon.

Hi ljokerl,
 
I will soon be the owner of a pair of UM Miracles, and I was wondering if you could please share a few thoughts on how they respond to amplification (in my case the Pico Slim).
 
Thank you!

Hi ljokerl,
 
First of all thanks for this very useful review thread!!
Which one would you recommend, Brainwavz Proalpha, M1 or Soundmagic E10? You call the M1 class leading sound quality and the Proalpha's solid sound quality, but you gave the M1 just a tad higher score, 6.7 vs 7.0. It's hard for me to choose by just reading the reviews, because the Proalpha's sounds better in your review when I read it, but in the end scores lower. I'm concerned abou the M1's bass, which is lacking(?).
The Soundmagic E10 also sounds pretty good from your review, good bass, treble and good soundstage, but also scored lower than M1, again its 6.7 vs. 7.0. It seems the M1's bass and treble is not as good as either Proalpha or E10, with the bass being underemphasized and treble less sparkly?
 
I know that in the end it's all about preference. I have the Xears Resonance, it scored higher than all those I mentioned above, but feels it lacks bass, though has good treble but distorts a lot/can't handle busy tracks, which you mentioned in your review. I really like clear vocals, treble and bass.

ljokerl,
 
What of two IEMs have less bass: Fischer Audio Eterna Rev.1 or Xears TD-III?
 
Thanks!

 
Quote:

benjamin6264 said:

Hi ljokerl,
 
I will soon be the owner of a pair of UM Miracles, and I was wondering if you could please share a few thoughts on how they respond to amplification (in my case the Pico Slim).
 
Thank you!

Click to expand...

I don't have much experience with the Pico Slim and I don't find the Miracle to benefit hugely from amping. I guess it would depend on the source as well. The best I've heard them is out of the Anedio D1 which is a bit tough to pocket. In either case I guess you will find out soon enough how they mesh with your exact setup .
 


Quote:

tigera said:

Hi ljokerl,
 
First of all thanks for this very useful review thread!!
Which one would you recommend, Brainwavz Proalpha, M1 or Soundmagic E10? You call the M1 class leading sound quality and the Proalpha's solid sound quality, but you gave the M1 just a tad higher score, 6.7 vs 7.0. It's hard for me to choose by just reading the reviews, because the Proalpha's sounds better in your review when I read it, but in the end scores lower. I'm concerned abou the M1's bass, which is lacking(?).
The Soundmagic E10 also sounds pretty good from your review, good bass, treble and good soundstage, but also scored lower than M1, again its 6.7 vs. 7.0. It seems the M1's bass and treble is not as good as either Proalpha or E10, with the bass being underemphasized and treble less sparkly?
 
I know that in the end it's all about preference. I have the Xears Resonance, it scored higher than all those I mentioned above, but feels it lacks bass, though has good treble but distorts a lot/can't handle busy tracks, which you mentioned in your review. I really like clear vocals, treble and bass.

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If the sound signature of the ProAlpha sounds more enticing to you, by all means go for that over the M1. I think the bass of the M1 is very well-balanced, the treble is very smooth, and the presentation is very coherent. Technically it is still the best I've heard for $40 and the easiest to go back to from a high-end IEM such as the Miracle. However, if you want bass to be slightly elevated, buy the ProAlpha. If you want bass to be significantly elevated and also to have a sizable amount of treble sparkle go for the E10. The reason there are so many IEMs considered 'great' in every price range is that there is no one correct sound signature, or at least not one everyone will like best. I really think only the E10 will do it for you if you find the Resonance bass-light.
 


Quote:

bola 7 said:

ljokerl,
 
What of two IEMs have less bass: Fischer Audio Eterna Rev.1 or Xears TD-III?
 
Thanks!

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From memory (I only have the v2 on hand) the Eterna v1 has more sub-bass and the TD-III has more mid-bass. 
 

Quote:

ljokerl said:

If the sound signature of the ProAlpha sounds more enticing to you, by all means go for that over the M1. I think the bass of the M1 is very well-balanced, the treble is very smooth, and the presentation is very coherent. Technically it is still the best I've heard for $40 and the easiest to go back to from a high-end IEM such as the Miracle. However, if you want bass to be slightly elevated, buy the ProAlpha. If you want bass to be significantly elevated and also to have a sizable amount of treble sparkle go for the E10. The reason there are so many IEMs considered 'great' in every price range is that there is no one correct sound signature, or at least not one everyone will like best. I really think only the E10 will do it for you if you find the Resonance bass-light.

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Thanks. I was leaning towards ProAlpha, now more towards E10. You mentioned that the E10 has lots of bass, but does the music retain it's clarity? The CX300/400 has a lot of bass too, but tends to muddy up the music pretty quick. I do like bass, but i'm not neccesarily a bass head, because I still like the vocals and music to be clear. Which of the three, M1/ProAlpha/E10, in your opinion offers the best bass/treble/vocals/soundstage? Which one will have a nice balance in those four points?
 
Do you think the Resonance is actually better than all of them? (Maybe I shouldn't read too much into the scores?) Thanks!

 
Quote:

ljokerl said:

 
I don't have much experience with the Pico Slim and I don't find the Miracle to benefit hugely from amping. I guess it would depend on the source as well. The best I've heard them is out of the Anedio D1 which is a bit tough to pocket. In either case I guess you will find out soon enough how they mesh with your exact setup

.

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I will be running them from a Cypher Labs Algorhythm Solo, so that should be good too.
 
Thanks for the reply!

 
Quote:

tigera said:

Thanks. I was leaning towards ProAlpha, now more towards E10. You mentioned that the E10 has lots of bass, but does the music retain it's clarity? The CX300/400 has a lot of bass too, but tends to muddy up the music pretty quick. I do like bass, but i'm not neccesarily a bass head, because I still like the vocals and music to be clear. Which of the three, M1/ProAlpha/E10, in your opinion offers the best bass/treble/vocals/soundstage? Which one will have a nice balance in those four points?
 
Do you think the Resonance is actually better than all of them? (Maybe I shouldn't read too much into the scores?) Thanks!

Click to expand...

 

For the amount of bass that it has, I think the E10 has excellent clarity but in the budget segment you can't quite have it both ways. For what it's worth the E10 is reasonably quick and has decent enough dynamics so it doesn't sound bloated. If you're a vocal lover you might find it a bit too v-shaped but then again if your Resonance isn't delivering enough bass, the ProAlpha won't do it either. Have you considered jumping to the Brainwavz M2 or Xears TD-III? They are both mid-forward and bassy while retaining decent enough treble and presentation.

Quote:

ljokerl said:

 
Quote:

tigera said:

Thanks. I was leaning towards ProAlpha, now more towards E10. You mentioned that the E10 has lots of bass, but does the music retain it's clarity? The CX300/400 has a lot of bass too, but tends to muddy up the music pretty quick. I do like bass, but i'm not neccesarily a bass head, because I still like the vocals and music to be clear. Which of the three, M1/ProAlpha/E10, in your opinion offers the best bass/treble/vocals/soundstage? Which one will have a nice balance in those four points?
 
Do you think the Resonance is actually better than all of them? (Maybe I shouldn't read too much into the scores?) Thanks!

Click to expand...

 

For the amount of bass that it has, I think the E10 has excellent clarity but in the budget segment you can't quite have it both ways. For what it's worth the E10 is reasonably quick and has decent enough dynamics so it doesn't sound bloated. If you're a vocal lover you might find it a bit too v-shaped but then again if your Resonance isn't delivering enough bass, the ProAlpha won't do it either. Have you considered jumping to the Brainwavz M2 or Xears TD-III? They are both mid-forward and bassy while retaining decent enough treble and presentation.

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and how are they compared to the pl50 in vocal/mid-fwdness ?