Hifiman RE272 top of the line IEM Loaner program - Page 6

Coherency is something in between. I don't really consider ER4S to have really good coherency, nor is DBA-02 / B2 type of sound. The later is obviously too resolved / layered to be considered coherent, but the former is also lacking in space and air, like everything is compressed to one single point. In that sense RE272 sounds more coherent because it still retains that part of the information. A good way to understand coherency is to listen to live music, then compared it to recording. You will never find music being separated into layers nor compressed into one point in live.

 

Ohhhhh live music, ok it makes more sense now! still I much rather have layers and imaging than a single point compression.

 

I like listening to live acoustic recordings, but a lot of my music is electronic/synthesized and in that case I don't think coherency really matters tbh and the layering presentation is fine, imho.

 

Anyway if the RE272 is a dynamic that sounds similiar to the ER-4S I'm looking forward to seeing what that's like Tai, for the record I think the UE700 also sounds similiar to ER-4S, I'm sure it must be the most similiar, of the TWFK drivers.

 

 

Sorry! My impressions got a little out of hand in terms of word count, so  I posted it as a separate thread.

 

If I need to post it here too, will do so.

 

RE272 will be has been shipped to mukulymn today. He should be receiving it by Friday or Saturday.

Edited by esanthosh - 8/24/11 at 9:42am

Sorry for the delay, Team US West - I held onto the RE272 longer than expected due to numerous issues (with me). That said, they are in the mail to Ishcabibl. I have a draft of my "review" and will edit it and post it sometime later this week.

Got them today. First (super brief because I have 3 essays to write in about 5 hours tonight) impressions are that these  are a very musical sounding pair of IEM's. I personally don't think too many things stick out as intrinsically negative except a slightly veiled 3k range. The rest of the midrange is excellently euphoric. I don't have any problems with the bass quantity, in fact, it's almost perfect to me. The highs are smooth as silk if given some power, and microdetail is a tiny bit behind the B2. I do think that these are very airy sounding, probably better than any other IEM I've used. I'm just going to go right out and say that I want one now. They best my Turbine Pros (both) easily in terms of pure musicality while still retaining most of the realism of the music (unlike the Golds, which got way too bassy for me after a couple of months), but still sound lush (unlike the ER4 and B2). Full review to come next week. 

 

These are...plastic? That's kind of a downer.

Edited by Ishcabible - 8/24/11 at 6:42pm

Got them from esanthosh...i will forward them to brendon on 3rd september

My review:

Re 272
One word synopsis: altitudinous!

Definition of that word:

altitudinous - indefinitely high; lofty
high - (literal meaning) being at or having a relatively great or specific elevation or upward extension (sometimes used in combinations like `knee-high'); "a high mountain"; "high ceilings"; "high buildings"; "a high forehead"; "a high incline"; "a foot high"

First things, I have never done an actual review and my week and a bit with these was very chaotic and busy for personal reasons.

Would I buy these at their cost: Initially I thought no, after more listening I think so yes, @ the Re 262 price: Hell yes.

Okay that stuff is out of the way. When I first put these in for a cursory listen I was quite blown away by the highs, these are THE IEM for highs as far as I am concerned, they just sing in the clouds. It's quite the aural joy to experience.

Oh.. what did I listen to with them. Well lets see: Prog Rock (old and new), Classic and Modern Rock, Electro(various sorts from IDM to dubstep to pretty vanilla stuff), Classical and Jazz. That’s kinda it I think. I also burned these in for about 30 hours after the initial listen.

I also let a completely fresh set of ears listen to these (my girlfriend who is not an audiogeek and uses MEElectronics M11+'s as her main phone). Her first words were: "Where can we buy these!"

Her words here: "They were extremely clear and sharp, comfortable with a bit of work (she has very tiny ear canals and piercings). So clear that I could pick up the very subtle vocal changes and instrumental note changes, I've never heard that before. They sounded good with every genre I put them to: folk, country, rock, rap and Lady Gaga (is she her own genre now?)." Negatives were that she felt some of her music was quite ****ty to listen to (her words). I think she meant the recording quality was revealed. She listened on her 2008 Apple 8gb Nano Ipod.

I found it curious that she did not mention the lack of Bass (especially coming from the bass frantic MEELecs). She did say after I mentioned this that she doesn’t listen to a lot of bass oriented music but still she did not feel like bass was missing, overall she was blown away with the sound quality and presentation (imaging, separation and soundstage). She wore a large smile while giving me the details of her findings.

Back to me:

I primarily listened to these through my NuForce U-dac. The Re 272 grew on me as we progressed, first I just thought like I said above, wow highs! Soon after it became much more than that, the overall sound was tight, complete for the most part. I understand the lack of bass quantity complaints but I am not certain they are really warranted. The quality of the mids and lows are top notch, there is just no denying that. I found myself not looking for "MOAR BASS" quickly with these, as I settled into their sound signature it became addicting.

Currently I am listening to my ER4P/S and B2's a lot, I love both. I think the B2's are exceptional specialized earphones and the ER4's to be a very honest presentation. The Re 272 is similar to both of them in a lot of ways but they seem to push the envelope just that much further. I am not certain I would ever use my B2's if I owned the 272's. The ER4's offer a few things different that would bring them back to the table again and again (as it is written in stone for them it seems; will they ever be obsolete?). Man what a great time to be an IEM enthusiast.

I do not have it in me to micro analyze the entirety of the Re 272 sound but in a few words I think it separates instruments well, soundstage is solid and the extension and presentation of the sound (highs, mids and lows) is spectacular. This IEM is a winner. Listening to these with well recording music (especially for some reason electronic digital music) was a revelation. I enjoyed my time with these 'phones greatly.

THANK YOU HIFIMAN! Keep pushing the boundaries!

No these are not the perfect IEM but they are pretty **** close, thank you for reading, head-fi.

An altitudinous five from me to you, kind sir, for your feedback!

Shipped mine out 8/17 to Poetik.

subscribed

First, I want to say thanks to HIFIMAN to provide me an oppertunity to review their current flagship RE272. Previously I have heard their re0, re1, re262 and 272 deserves to be a flagship. Packaging is the best I have seen from them. Cable thickness is similar to 262. All my listening was done from e7+e9 (apart from ocassional e7 alone) with large sony hybrid used as tip.

As many have mentioned, this IEM is bright, and it holds true. But its treble is not like re0. Its airy, smooth and detailed, not at all grainy. Kudos to Hifiman.
It was a revealtion for me that how smooth, mindblowing, detailed a treble can be. Cymbals are rendered very lively with them.

 When Comparing mid range of 262 and 272, I can easily say it inherit characteristics of 262 but clearly not as upfront, not as smooth and organic. It is detailed and articulate, clear, keys and Strings has good timbre and reverb. Mid range compliments very well to treble.

When it come to lows, 272 start to reveal its weakness, its fast and clean but lacks quantity and texture. U dont feel bass, u dont hear bass, u only hear a sound. On certain tracks it tries to play some bass, you feel some texture, but it all ends with that track. You skip the track and your misery begins. Thats the biggest let down for such a wonderful iem. When i tried bass boost with e7, it became muddy, slow and inferior than before.

The soundstage of this iem is average. You dont feel any sound coming outside of your head as re262 makes u feel. Dynamic range is Ok, nothing great when compared to 262. Instrument seperation is good while retaining coherency and certainly above then 262.

Besides what all i wrote, when one looks at 272, it offers a more satisfactory and balanced sound compared to any HIFIMAN,s I heard till date. It is detailed, clean, neutral yet musical to a certain degree and offers a more complete package. Its an IEM which dont do much wrong and wows you with great treble, good midrange, crystal clear and detailed sound.

Edited by mukulymn - 9/3/11 at 10:28pm

Shipped to mythless. Sorry mate for the delay.

Enjoy!

Shipped to brendon, he will receive them by monday

Just received it from Kezghan and one channel is dead, lol.  Not a bad sounding headphone, it has similar characteristics with the RE252.

That's kinda funny cause once I sent my RE252's in due to a mangled channel.