HiFiMAN RE-272 Review - Page 10

^ I don't know. I just can't get over this feeling that multi driver BAs are umm... not a good idea. I still haven't heard a single multi driver than sounds better than the single driver RE272, or RE0 or FX700. I mean, ok SURE - maybe the 6 driver ones are better. But why would you need so many BA drivers to beat a single driver dynamic. It just doesn't make sense to me. A single driver Etymotic ER4 is not quite as good overall IMO as RE272 and FX700, but comes quite close to them overall. A dual BA should logically be perfectly sufficient for covering the whole spectrum really well. Ok, so let's say 2 BA drivers is not quite enough, then you would think 3 will do it. OK, may 4 MAX. But why on earth would you need 6 or 8 drivers? Isn't it extremely hard to make all these drivers preform in unison and to provide coherent sound? I read once on this forum somewhere that even a 3 way system needs special extra circuitry to tune the crossovers properly to make the drivers sound perfectly matched with each other. That was a post about speakers though. But aren't IEMs even harder to design than speakers? And those 6-8 driver ones seem like insane feats of engineering if they really sound that awesome.

 

Just some thoughts. Sorry if it doesn't make a lot of sense. I am not an expert on this topic at all. And sorry for going off topic a bit here.

Edited by Pianist - 9/10/11 at 4:35pm

 

You'd have to ask an expert on crossover circuitry.

 

 

I just listen to the sound.

 

I listen too. And then when I am not hearing any improvements in sound in 4 driver IEM vs. 1 driver IEM, then I just can't help but wonder what on earth is the point of those 4 drivers.

Yeah, it's ok, I understand your analogy.

 

But I think saying multi-BA IEM's are not a good idea is like saying mutli speaker setups is not a good idea, in other words, rash.

 

If you've been listening to 4-driver IEM's that don't sound better than the single driver Ety ER-4S, then you've been listening to the wrong stuff, imho.

 

Anyway, Sony and Final Audio agree with you, and they are two of my favorite companies, but ironically, I don't agree with you, give me more sound and more drivers, please.

 

 

Edited by kiteki - 9/11/11 at 10:53am

Multi-drivers provide a much "fuller" sound as well as covering the full frequency spectrum almost effortlessly.  It's a no brainer.

 

That's true Spyro, Pianist just thinks that crossover technology is flawed, and also that multi-driver setups cause what he calls "incoherence".

 

If that's true, then a 5.1 home theatre system, or going to the cinema, is an extremely incoherent experience.

 

 

On topic to the RE272 for a moment, I was just listening to the same song on the RE272 for an hour... and then I switched to my trusty Sony EX700..... and it was a really weird experience........ I can't believe how different they are.....

 

Another thing I want to say about the RE272 is the UM Mage is like an RE272 on speed, anyone that loves the RE272 should love the UM mage, but they might not like the rest of the UM lineup, imho.

 

But it is much harder to design a proper multi driver IEM than a multi speaker setup, although I may be wrong.

 

I do think that some multi drivers sound better than ER4. Well, at least maybe they do. I haven't heard the ER4S amped. Things like Westone 4 and EarSonics SM3 may sound better overall, but not by much. However, I haven't heard a multi driver IEM yet tat sounds clearly better to me than the dynamic driver RE272, RE0 or FX700. Westone 4 does some things better perhaps, like soundstage and low level detail retrieval, but I found that overall I could not tell which was better when comparing the Westone 4 with RE272 and FX700 in direct AB comparison. The RE272 and FX700 both did some things better than Westone 4 and did not really lack much if anything compared to Westone 4.

The UM Mage sounds clearly better than the RE272.

It's like an RE272 on cocaine.

 

Perhaps. kostalex thinks that RE272 sounds like a Beyerdynamic T1, meaning as good as the best headphones there are. I am not sure I would share that view, but I do agree with kostalex that the RE0, for example, sounds close to Beyerdynamic DT880 in sound quality, maybe even better. I really like kostalex' reviews and I think he is a very experienced member with trained ears and knows what he is talking about. RE272 is generally better than RE0 technically to my ears, but I don't have much experience with the T1 - I only heard it very briefly at a local audio store and didn't form any real impression on their sound at all.

Edited by Pianist - 9/12/11 at 7:07pm

 

Well, I listened to the Tesla T5p three days ago, and I'd say that's better than the RE272, I think the A2000X is better than the RE272 as well, but I find it difficult and unfair comparing headphones and IEM's, they sound too different, I may as well say the HD800 and LCD-2 were better than the RE272 as well.

 

For the record I thought the Shure SRH-940 sounded better than the EX1000.

Interesting. I found RE0 somewhat better sounding than the SRH840 overall, but it was close. I did not like SRH940 at all - I found them too thin sounding in the lows, cold, and somewhat grainy as well. I thought the SRH840 out of a decent receiver sounded on par with stuff like HD650, DT880 and K701. I find RE272 to be quite a bit more technically capable overall than the RE0, although not always more enjoyable. Logically, it would seem that RE272 should play at a very high level even compared to full sized cans. It should be ahead of the HD650/K701/DT880 crowd with proper fit, source.

 

I never had issues comparing IEMs and full sized headphones. I just don't hear much that full sized headphones can do that IEMs cannot, apart perhaps from bass that you can feel more and a potential for a larger, more open soundstage.

this is a fantastic conversation! I linked my review a few pages back from the loaner thread. The 272's are the real deal that is for sure, has anyone reviewed them in balanced mode yet? Also perhaps an appreciation thread is in order soon.

I don't think the SRH-940's are grainy, there probably were just exposing the graininess of your music/recording, but compared to the EX1000 they are grainy, if you make a comparison like that.

 

full size and IEM's off such a differnt type of sound that I don't really consider my comparisons valid anyway.

 

 

Quote:

 

So what exactly do you find so different about the sound of IEMs vs. full sized headphones?

Edited by Pianist - 9/13/11 at 10:25am