Multi-IEM Review - 352 IEMs compared (Pump Audio Earphones added 04/03/16 p. 1106) | Page 1035 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

encoreAC · Feb 7, 2015 at 7:05 AM

Hello Joker,
After long-thought considerations I finally decided to step to an higher price-range class in order to find the most suitable phone for me. I would be really grateful if you spare some time to help me with this decision.

I am copy and pasting from another thread, since I don't want to write the same thing over, I like the format, I hope you don't mind it:

Budget - ~400€
Source - FiiO e07k
Requirements for Isolation - prefer high, I want to be mobile with them, but I can deal with a little bit less too.
Preferred Type of Headphone - IEM
Preferred tonal balance - balanced-warm, thick, yet clear mids, don't mind lots of well-defined bass, well extended flat treble response
Past headphones - UM3X, Shure 420: both too flat sounding; Havi B3 p1: not enough bass, bass was great with bass-boost though, midrange is too thin and cold sounding; KC06A: Soundstage-depth too low, a little bit too cold, I like the overall frequency repsonse; Tenore: treble extension was not good enough, I like the warmth.

Preferred Music - prefer an all-rounder for female vocals(!), ballads, pop, classic, instrumental music

Location - Germany

I am most interested in the SM64 at the moment,what do you think?

Here I also want to take the opportunity to thank you for your fantastic effort here in this thread and on your reviews, it is really the best and most reliable resource for IEMs on the internet by far!

suman134 · Feb 7, 2015 at 7:31 AM

encoreac said:
Hello Joker,
After long-thought considerations I finally decided to step to an higher price-range class in order to find the most suitable phone for me. I would be really grateful if you spare some time to help me with this decision.

I am copy and pasting from another thread, since I don't want to write the same thing over, I like the format, I hope you don't mind it:

Budget - ~400€
Source - FiiO e07k

I was going to suggest the sm64, which you are already considering, i think it will be the best.

ljokerl · Feb 7, 2015 at 5:51 PM

ozziecook said:
Great. Thanks for the advice. Might look into the Sonys. Seem to stick out a little way so not so good for sleeping perhaps.

No, no chance of sleeping in them - not on your side, at least.

encoreac said:
Hello Joker,
After long-thought considerations I finally decided to step to an higher price-range class in order to find the most suitable phone for me. I would be really grateful if you spare some time to help me with this decision.

I am copy and pasting from another thread, since I don't want to write the same thing over, I like the format, I hope you don't mind it:

Budget - ~400€
Source - FiiO e07k
Requirements for Isolation - prefer high, I want to be mobile with them, but I can deal with a little bit less too.
Preferred Type of Headphone - IEM
Preferred tonal balance - balanced-warm, thick, yet clear mids, don't mind lots of well-defined bass, well extended flat treble response
Past headphones - UM3X, Shure 420: both too flat sounding; Havi B3 p1: not enough bass, bass was great with bass-boost though, midrange is too thin and cold sounding; KC06A: Soundstage-depth too low, a little bit too cold, I like the overall frequency repsonse; Tenore: treble extension was not good enough, I like the warmth.

Preferred Music - prefer an all-rounder for female vocals(!), ballads, pop, classic, instrumental music

Location - Germany

I am most interested in the SM64 at the moment,what do you think?

Here I also want to take the opportunity to thank you for your fantastic effort here in this thread and on your reviews, it is really the best and most reliable resource for IEMs on the internet by far!

Thanks!

It does sound like the SM64 is your best option. Can't fault the bass on it and the mids are very good aside from a slight upper mid dip (the opposite of a KC06 in that respect). Also, the top end is not flat in the sense of an SD-2 or even HiFiMan RE272, but it's refined and not harsh. There aren't many warmer-sounding IEMs with outright flat treble.

My other recommendation would be the Sony XBA-H3 - it has smoother and more refined highs and a thicker, more full-bodied sound but gives up some of the clarity and bass control of the SM64.

encoreAC · Feb 7, 2015 at 6:14 PM

ljokerl said:
No, no chance of sleeping in them - not on your side, at least.

Thanks!

It does sound like the SM64 is your best option. Can't fault the bass on it and the mids are very good aside from a slight upper mid dip (the opposite of a KC06 in that respect). Also, the top end is not flat in the sense of an SD-2 or even HiFiMan RE272, but it's refined and not harsh. There aren't many warmer-sounding IEMs with outright flat treble.

My other recommendation would be the Sony XBA-H3 - it has smoother and more refined highs and a thicker, more full-bodied sound but gives up some of the clarity and bass control of the SM64.

Thank you for your answer Joker,

I actually enjoy the upper-mid raise of my KC06A, I wonder if this will annoy me on the SM64. Did you review the v2 of the SM64? The v2 are supposed to be warmer with less treble than the v1. The housing of the Sony seem very bulky too me, I would prefer to avoid that.

People also recommended me the Shure 535, what do you think how they compare to the SM64 especially the midrange?

ozziecook · Feb 8, 2015 at 3:12 AM

I guess I should be sleeping with my wife more than my IEMs :grinning:

I'm reconsidering the Sonys. Btw I'm pairing an X3 with C5 amp and using Betron IEMs for now. Don't know if you have Betrons over there but they get very good reviews on Amazon UK here. Embarrassed to say they cost me £5.99!
They do a surprisingly good job as it goes (better than the RockJaws anyway). I think there must be a manufacturing factor at play here when it comes to individual phones, at certain levels at least, as i had another pair of Betrons and they were poor.
Anyway - back to, broadly speaking, the quest for richness/lushness, detail and deep soundstaging, What do you think about the JVC Fx-850? Sounds like they have a special timbre about them when it comes to stringed and woodwind instruments - which sounds interesting.
Thanks again for your time. Tell me where to get off if necessary cos we all have lives beyond phones, do we not.

Love Music · Feb 8, 2015 at 8:24 AM

Hello Joker,

I'm looking for an iem that is warm, rich, full bodied, lush but not bass heavy so that it does not affect the clarity of the midrange, since I want the mids/vocals to be crystal clear and forward/full. I also like good details and a slight brightness in the upper mids/treble, with good extension but never harsh/sibilant and still forgiving. In terms of presentation I like a wide and tall soundstage with airy vocals and excellent separation, speed and 3D imaging.

Thank you.

ljokerl · Feb 8, 2015 at 10:53 PM

encoreac said:
Thank you for your answer Joker,

I actually enjoy the upper-mid raise of my KC06A, I wonder if this will annoy me on the SM64. Did you review the v2 of the SM64? The v2 are supposed to be warmer with less treble than the v1. The housing of the Sony seem very bulky too me, I would prefer to avoid that.

People also recommended me the Shure 535, what do you think how they compare to the SM64 especially the midrange?

I believe it was the original SM64 but I'm not sure at this point - it's been quite a while. The SE535 is a respectable earphone with very nice mids, it just never really blew me away. Also, if you found the UM3X too flat (especially in the bass region) the SE535 really won't do it for you.

ozziecook said:
I guess I should be sleeping with my wife more than my IEMs
I'm reconsidering the Sonys. Btw I'm pairing an X3 with C5 amp and using Betron IEMs for now. Don't know if you have Betrons over there but they get very good reviews on Amazon UK here. Embarrassed to say they cost me £5.99!
They do a surprisingly good job as it goes (better than the RockJaws anyway). I think there must be a manufacturing factor at play here when it comes to individual phones, at certain levels at least, as i had another pair of Betrons and they were poor.
Anyway - back to, broadly speaking, the quest for richness/lushness, detail and deep soundstaging, What do you think about the JVC Fx-850? Sounds like they have a special timbre about them when it comes to stringed and woodwind instruments - which sounds interesting.
Thanks again for your time. Tell me where to get off if necessary cos we all have lives beyond phones, do we not.

No experience with the FX850. The last JVC FX-series set I tried (FX700) was a little more v-shaped and less forgiving than the XBA-H3 and SM64, and didn't have the bass quality of the SM64, either.

love music said:
Hello Joker,

I'm looking for an iem that is warm, rich, full bodied, lush but not bass heavy so that it does not affect the clarity of the midrange, since I want the mids/vocals to be crystal clear and forward/full. I also like good details and a slight brightness in the upper mids/treble, with good extension but never harsh/sibilant and still forgiving. In terms of presentation I like a wide and tall soundstage with airy vocals and excellent separation, speed and 3D imaging.

Thank you.

Warm tone usually comes with some degree of bass enhancement and/or treble reduction - an earphone that has flat bass and some brightness in the upper mids/treble likely won't sound warm. Likewise, earphones with any amount of boost in the upper mids/treble will not be nearly as forgiving as those with a dip there.

All that said, your requirements read to me like a Unique Melody Miracle.

Love Music · Feb 9, 2015 at 10:34 AM

ljokerl said:
Warm tone usually comes with some degree of bass enhancement and/or treble reduction - an earphone that has flat bass and some brightness in the upper mids/treble likely won't sound warm. Likewise, earphones with any amount of boost in the upper mids/treble will not be nearly as forgiving as those with a dip there.

All that said, your requirements read to me like a Unique Melody Miracle.

I see. I forgot to mention that my budget is around $400.

ljokerl · Feb 10, 2015 at 12:53 AM

love music said:
I see. I forgot to mention that my budget is around $400.

ATH-CK100 is the closest I can think of but they don't make that anymore. Other than that - beats me..

Love Music · Feb 10, 2015 at 11:15 AM

ljokerl said:
ATH-CK100 is the closest I can think of but they don't make that anymore. Other than that - beats me..

Funnily, I actually have the CK100...

What do you think it's a cheaper alternative to the Fitear togo 334 with around the same level of performance?

ericr · Feb 10, 2015 at 12:15 PM

love music said:
Funnily, I actually have the CK100...

What do you think it's a cheaper alternative to the Fitear togo 334 with around the same level of performance?

Maybe the 1964Ears V6-Stage made in universal fit would get you close (if you can stretch your budget).

thug behram · Feb 10, 2015 at 3:46 PM

Joker,

Planning to review the ATH-IM lineup? They look great on paper.

shultzee · Feb 10, 2015 at 8:54 PM

ericr said:
Maybe the 1964Ears V6-Stage made in universal fit would get you close (if you can stretch your budget).

I just don't see anywhere on the 1964 site where the V6 universals can be ordered? Is there a secret to this

jelt2359 · Feb 10, 2015 at 9:02 PM

V6 discontinued. V6S, you just contact them and say you want a universal demo version.

ericr · Feb 10, 2015 at 9:11 PM

Many have received a $25 discount code for universals as well, so ask about that if you email them.

Also there is a comment field at the end of the online order form and I entered something like "Universal fit (no impressions)".

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