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AKG K3003 High End 3 Way System Headphone
Nov 13, 2013 at 5:56 AM Post #1,426 of 4,058
tumburu said:
With a proper eq, only taming those treble spikes a few dbs in linear phase mode, you get a very balanced IEM. I find the result sublime.
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Do you find the peaks on the K3003 a bit too peaky? Have you heard the MH1?
 
Nov 13, 2013 at 6:14 AM Post #1,427 of 4,058
gnarlsagan said:
Do you find the peaks on the K3003 a bit too peaky? Have you heard the MH1?
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As you know I have both and love the MH1 as well.  While the MH1 is flatter in treble, the K3K is still my favorite treble of any iem I've heard.  While definitely elevated in volume in a few spots, it sounds the most lifelike in tone/timbre for me and is simply just a joy to listen to.
 
I don't find it harsh, too peaky or have issues with sibilance with stock tips on my current pair but I do know that using meelec trips does smoothen the treble some and really enjoy those tips too.  They just aren't as comfortable as stock.
 
If I were looking to create a more accurate reference, then yes, I'd want to eq the treble down in a couple of spots but I've got the ER-4S and MH1 for that.  I want the K3K tuning as is.
 
Nov 13, 2013 at 7:05 AM Post #1,428 of 4,058
x2 on the highs. tried out a few high end in-ears before springing for the k3003. kind of a no brainer coz it got more things right for me from the get go.
 
Nov 13, 2013 at 10:10 AM Post #1,429 of 4,058
dr no said:
  I listened to the AKG 3003, comparing it to the Sennheiser IE 800, HD800, and HD700. Driven by HDVD800 with DAC input.
 
Sound:
AKG3003: Bass ok, not as deep and powerful as IE800 but ok. Mids are more pronounced (like HD800), on some recordings a bit too much resulting in a shouty sound, not as natural and smooth as IE800. Treble: BIG BIG trouble. Awful sibilance and not good at all. General impressions: a bit incoherent, probably due to 3-way drivers and phase incoherence. Mids/treble sound a bit "hard" and compressed. Bass more dynamic.
 
IE800: bass is really deep, but not bloated in the mid bass. Impressive depth brings sound to a new level. More impressive than the Stax 007 in bass department. On some recordings such as pop/electronica, bass might be too much, but this is very recording dependent. Mids: perfect classical sennheiser sound, compared to 3003 or Stax lambda series, the mids are a bit recessed, but to my ears sound more realistic and does not result in listening fatigue. Treble: initially a bit sibilant, however after 200 hrs of burn in the treble is really nice. Also like the bass, the amount of treble is very recording dependent. Tried tea bags but it flattened the sound across the whole freq range.
 
HD800: Weak bass, nice mids, too much treble. Result. Anemic sound, not very exciting to listen to. 
HD700: A bit more V-shaped than HD800, more fun, but not up to the level of IE800.
 
Winner: IE800 by a wide margin. IMO.To my ears that is!
 
The AKG3003 is heavily over-priced.
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I have an almost identical experience regarding K3003 and IE800 as you.
The mids and high TWFK driver can't produce natural timbre to my ears. I truly feel this is the biggest edge apart from realistic bass weight and punch a dynamic driver have over balanced armatures, and the IE800s mids are a true testament to this.
It's not impossible that a Spiral Ear 5 way could change my mind though.
 
Nov 13, 2013 at 10:17 AM Post #1,430 of 4,058
it does instead hint that they might not cost an absolute high-end price. I don't know OPPO at all, so maybe they can keep it reasonable, after all.
pJgsrr

 
Nov 13, 2013 at 12:15 PM Post #1,431 of 4,058
gnarlsagan said:
Do you find the peaks on the K3003 a bit too peaky? Have you heard the MH1?
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That depends on the source, of course, and on the sensitivity of the owner's ears. I can't listen that much to a bright sounding phone (that's the main reason I could not work with a HD800). 
 
Also as an audio engineer, I definitely prefer a flat sounding phone. I don't like my tools to "lie" to me.
 
I remember a year ago when I did a couple of quick mixes on the 3003 and they turned out too dark. Taming out the peaks prevents this.
 
Nov 13, 2013 at 12:34 PM Post #1,432 of 4,058
tumburu said:
That depends on the source, of course, and on the sensitivity of the owner's ears. I can't listen that much to a bright sounding phone (that's the main reason I could not work with a HD800). 

Also as an audio engineer, I definitely prefer a flat sounding phone. I don't like my tools to "lie" to me.

I remember a year ago when I did a couple of quick mixes on the 3003 and they turned out too dark. Taming out the peaks prevents this.
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I could see that. Would you mind sharing your eq?
 
Nov 13, 2013 at 2:40 PM Post #1,433 of 4,058
shotgunshane said:
As you know I have both and love the MH1 as well.  While the MH1 is flatter in treble, the K3K is still my favorite treble of any iem I've heard.  While definitely elevated in volume in a few spots, it sounds the most lifelike in tone/timbre for me and is simply just a joy to listen to.

I don't find it harsh, too peaky or have issues with sibilance with stock tips on my current pair but I do know that using meelec trips does smoothen the treble some and really enjoy those tips too.  They just aren't as comfortable as stock.

If I were looking to create a more accurate reference, then yes, I'd want to eq the treble down in a couple of spots but I've got the ER-4S and MH1 for that.  I want the K3K tuning as is.
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That makes sense. Iirc you found the uerm to be a bit peaky. So I'd imagine the K3003 is less so? I can handle small peaks if they're in the right places. And I agree its nice to have different sound sigs to choose from. I find the ER4S and MH1 to be perfect compliments to each other.
 
Nov 13, 2013 at 4:02 PM Post #1,434 of 4,058
gnarlsagan said:
That makes sense. Iirc you found the uerm to be a bit peaky. So I'd imagine the K3003 is less so? I can handle small peaks if they're in the right places. And I agree its nice to have different sound sigs to choose from. I find the ER4S and MH1 to be perfect compliments to each other.
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Yes I find the k3k to be less peaky in the treble but I'm sure there are those that would disagree with me. The k3k has 2 small peaks in treble that look to be approximately 3 to 4db's over 1k. I haven't actually tried to eq them down to confirm but I normally find my ears agree with Rin's measurements. Also adding resistance increases the treble extension.

Looking back at Rin's measurements of the UERM, it's peaks aren't any bigger, just placed differently, so I suppose I'm more sensitive to those placements. I thought the UERM treble sounded a little metallic.

The only part of Rin's measurement I don't hear the same are k3k bass levels. I'm convinced there was an early tuning change to decrease the bass boost and decay. My unit, and several owners I've discussed with, perceive a good bit less bass than shown on his graph. However I remember the pair I auditioned having more bass than my currently pair and that is backed up by review notes and emails to others. The similar graphing MH1 certainly sounds spot on to the same measurements but is easy to eq down with one eq point.
 
Nov 13, 2013 at 4:24 PM Post #1,435 of 4,058
shotgunshane said:
I could see that. Would you mind sharing your eq?
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Not at all, it's really simple, but a linear phase eq should be used for maximum accuracy. Just use 2 bands with a Q value of 4 and bring down the 5.5kHz area for 5 dbs and the 8kHz area for 2 dbs. I also like to add a few dbs at 20 cycles to bring back some deep bass lost in the natural roll of of the bass driver (use a lower Q value for that, something around 0.5).
 
I use a DMG Audio eq for that on the computer, their eqs are really good, I use them for mixing every day, on the iPhone, the only eq app I found suited for that is Equalizer Pro, which has a 'hungry' algorithm that surpasses everything else I tried on the iOS platform.
 
Nov 13, 2013 at 4:25 PM Post #1,436 of 4,058
sweden said:
I have an almost identical experience regarding K3003 and IE800 as you.
The mids and high TWFK driver can't produce natural timbre to my ears. I truly feel this is the biggest edge apart from realistic bass weight and punch a dynamic driver have over balanced armatures, and the IE800s mids are a true testament to this.
It's not impossible that a Spiral Ear 5 way could change my mind though.
Click to expand...


Not to take anything away from your impressions, opposing views are always welcome, but I do want to express my disagreement.

I found the ie800 to require several eq points to find acceptable sound quality to my ears. Sub bass was way over pronounced and was quite bloated to me. However it eq'd nicely. Also the Tera player attenuated a lot of that bass and it was a nice match.

As good as the ie800 mids are, and they are very pleasing, I did find myself wanting to eq 3k up to make the overal sig less V shaped. But indeed the mids were my favorite part of their presentation.

The ie800 treble was quite tizzy and thin sounding. It is quite odd with the thick and booming bass, giving a kind of disjointed feel. I found that making a non-woven material filter (tea bags) to place over the nozzle greatly helped to add treble weight and reduce tizzyness. However I still eq'd down that 10k peak. I guess I'm allergic to 10k peaks!

As far as tonality, I probably sound like a broken record but the k3k has best treble tonality I've heard. Nothing has come close to me. Vocals have a nice balance between distance and intimacy and have a nice upper mid sweetness to them that I greatly enjoy. Not to mention that distortion guitars sound great too.
 
Nov 15, 2013 at 9:58 PM Post #1,438 of 4,058
up late said:
just realised that you got the k3003. you like?
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Apologize for the slow reply. I do have them! Yes! I like them quite a bit. It's the best earphone I've heard to date with most of my music. Transparent, subtle, immersive, very organic and natural sounding. Nice and neutral too. What really stands out to me is the 3-D layering of the soundstage, like an onion. The soundstage is really large, but all the space is used for sound, it's not held out like a halo, like 1p2. Just a different presentation. I prefer 1p2 for livelier music. A little more PRaT so to speak. 
 
I don't love the cable, and the fact that it is fixed. The build quality of the earphone is superb. That cable is going to fail at some point. Especially with the remote version I have. I baby them because of the cable, which is too bad. 
 
Fit, sound, and build quality on the earphone is top-notch, and best I've heard in many regards. 
 
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