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[kiteki review] - Hifiman RE0 / RE252 / RE272 versus other IEM's (post #153) - Page 3

post #31 of 155
8/7/11 at 7:20pm
Thread Starter 

I find the RE252 and EX600 similiar but the EX1000 is taking a step in the other direction, from what I can hear so far the RE252 sound a bit more raw than the EX600, and the EX1000 sounded more refined than the EX600, so it's quite far from the RE252, I'm quite liking the RE252 right now, perhaps I prefer rawness over refined-ness, I never really got heavily immersed in my music with Stax headphones.

 

Here's a fairly raw sounding track that is sounding terriffic on my RE252's right now, Bjork has never sounded so.... raw =)

 

 

 

Edit: This one is better http://grooveshark.com/#/s/Pluto/2vOG1X?src=5

 

 


Edited by kiteki - 8/7/11 at 8:05pm
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Sony MDR-V6 Monitor Series Headphones with CCAW Voice Coil
Powered by NexTag
Sony Mdr-Ex700Lp Earbud Style Headphones (Black)
HEAD-DIRECT RE0 In-ear Headphones
post #32 of 155
8/7/11 at 7:48pm
Thread Starter 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pianist View Post

IMO RE0 and RE252 lack dynamic range. I personally prefer RE0 over RE252 because RE0 has a warmer, more pleasant tone, while RE252 sounds too clinical too me. I also thought the soundstage on RE252 was weird with great width, but little depth. RE0 has a more realistic soundstage IMO.

 

RE262 and 272 have much better dynamics than the previous RE series IEMs. I didn't like RE262 though because it lacks treble detail and presence to my ears. RE272 is a completely different beast though and is significantly more technically capable than the RE262 while maintaining all of the RE262 strengths, except for less musical mids at least to my ears. Compared to RE252 and older IEMs in the series, the RE272 is a real step up technically, but for music enjoyment I still consider RE0 the best of the series. I haven't heard RE-ZERO though.

 


I now have my doubts you've heard a "clinical" headphone or IEM before, the RE252 is by no means clinical compared to the ER-4PT or the SA-5000 or various other IEM's, but it's not coloured from what I can hear, perhaps you mean neutral?

 

As for dynamic range (that's what you mean by dynamics, right?) I rarely even consider it, I don't think I listen to music that relies on dynamic range much (old classical and jazz recordings?) but I'll play around with the dynamic range compressor in foobar a bit just to check.
 

 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pianist View Post

 

I think RE0 is the most unique sounding out of the Hifiman IEMs that I heard (all of them, except the RE-ZERO). RE252, RE262 and RE272 share many more similarities, especially RE262 and RE272. The three also share more in common with RE2 and RE1 than RE0 IMO. RE262 is closest to RE1, while RE272 shares more with RE252 and RE2. RE0 shares little with the other IEMs in the series, except maybe the RE-ZERO which I haven't heard.
 

 


Wow, you like Hifiman. =p
 


Edited by kiteki - 8/7/11 at 7:51pm
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post #33 of 155
8/7/11 at 7:56pm
Thread Starter 

Btw I agree the RE252 has very good width (wider than ck10), but little depth or height.

 

I'm also getting really good isolation and a snug fit, only tried one tip so far.

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post #34 of 155
8/7/11 at 8:49pm

I've heard or owned all Hifimans so far (RE272 review sample should be here next week). I have to agree that RE262 is a step up from the rest technically, but it's tuning was too colored for me to buy it. I am expecting that RE272 would be to RE0, what RE262 is to RE1 - a great step up overall.

 

Of all the Hifiman IEMs I've heard, my preference lies with RE-ZERO. It is not that far from RE0, but those minor adjustments / improvements (dynamic range, filled bass note, not as thin sounding, forward mids, low impedance) make it an "upgrade" over RE0 for me. I even prefer the treble of RE-ZERO over RE0, though it's generally the reverse with many.  It doesn't help that my very old RE0's cable loses out against the thicker (unbalanced version bought off Head-fi) cable of RE-ZERO :)


Edited by esanthosh - 8/8/11 at 5:27am
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post #35 of 155
8/8/11 at 8:53am
Thread Starter 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pianist View Post

 

Now you need to try RE272.


OK perhaps you're right, from what's been said so far, it seems to focus on qualities that I value, and I'm pretty impressed with what I've heard from the Hifiman lineup so far.

_______________

 

 

I think I'll start to continue the RE0 review a bit now, it started off so well (emotionally) and now I've been poisoned by the RE252 and other gear, checking for suitable songs for benchmarking it's performance, anyone have any nice song links? If anyone is reading this interested in the RE0 and your music I don't mind listening to your music, just post whatever. =)

 

 

 


Edited by kiteki - 8/8/11 at 8:54am
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post #36 of 155
8/8/11 at 1:13pm

I liked the RE252 way better than the R0 (sonically), but ergonomics were a joke. But I agree with Pianist that both lack dynamic range.

 

Out of the three Hifiman IEMs I've heard, the RE1 sounded best, if only with heavy EQing. I admit having lost faith and interest in this brand since then, and from what I've read it's rather unlikely that the RE272 are going to restore it.

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post #37 of 155
8/8/11 at 1:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by james444 View Post

I liked the RE252 way better than the R0 (sonically), but ergonomics were a joke. But I agree with Pianist that both lack dynamic range.

 

Out of the three Hifiman IEMs I've heard, the RE1 sounded best, if only with heavy EQing. I admit having lost faith and interest in this brand since then, and from what I've read it's rather unlikely that the RE272 are going to restore it.

 

Why not? RE272 has a much better dynamic range than RE0 and RE252 and is much faster, clearer and detailed than RE1. In fact, the more I listen to RE272 the more I start to feel that it takes the sound of universal IEMs to a whole new level. I hear more detail than I did with FX700 and SM3, the sound is very coherent and balanced - more so than FX700 or SM3. Clarity is the best I've ever heard. Dynamics are better than on SM3 and post other BAs. Soundstage is really good - I find it even more spacious than that of FX700 with better depth. Bass is deeper than SM3 and about matches FX700 IMO. Timbre is at least as good as with FX700, but I think it's even better than on FX700, especially in the low frequencies, where FX700 sounds a bit muddy and sloppy vs. RE272.

 

RE262 is also very good. Not as detailed or super clear as RE272, but close enough with similar dynamics and soundstage. Both are quite a step up from RE0 and RE252 in richness and sense of space.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by kiteki View Post


I now have my doubts you've heard a "clinical" headphone or IEM before, the RE252 is by no means clinical compared to the ER-4PT or the SA-5000 or various other IEM's, but it's not coloured from what I can hear, perhaps you mean neutral?

 

Well, I find RE252 clinical compared to RE0, RE262 and RE272. Although I don't really like the coloration of RE262 much either. I really like the coloration of RE0 though, which sounds warm and pleasant to me especially with stuff like smooth jazz. RE272 is the one that is truly neutral IMO. It sounds a lot more realistic than RE252 as well as the other Hifiman IEMs.


Edited by Pianist - 8/8/11 at 1:55pm
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post #38 of 155
8/8/11 at 5:43pm
Thread Starter 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by james444 View Post

I liked the RE252 way better than the R0 (sonically), but ergonomics were a joke.

 


We're all different, I have the best fit and best isolation on RE252 than any IEM I've ever used, it feels like a custom.
 

 

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post #39 of 155
8/8/11 at 6:53pm

I have to agree with James - I also thought the ergonomics were terrible on RE252. I could never get a good fit with them no matter what. Maybe that's why I didn't like their sound much.

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post #40 of 155
8/8/11 at 7:24pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for your honest reasons for not liking their sound.

 

As you can see James hated the fit and rates them higher than RE0.

 

I guess I just have nice normal shaped model ears, that work with everything and almost all tips, except the Ety ER-4PT which was a nightmare.

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post #41 of 155
8/9/11 at 8:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiteki View Post

Thanks for your honest reasons for not liking their sound.

 

As you can see James hated the fit and rates them higher than RE0.

 

I guess I just have nice normal shaped model ears, that work with everything and almost all tips, except the Ety ER-4PT which was a nightmare.

 

Well, I pretty much didn't like the RE252 at all. I thought they had a weird sound character. They had this very light sound without much texture, little bass impact and an oddly softened edges on sounds that added a strange coloration that just couldn't get over. The overall sound was very boring to me. Perhaps clinical is not the right word to describe it, but it seemed too separated to me from left to right with little depth which I found really distracting. I could never focus on the music as a whole and always felt like I was listening to its separate components like in a poorly designed multi driver IEM. Maybe it was the weird soundstage that created this illusion. Also, imaging lacked focus on RE252 - the sound was too soft. I think RE0 is more honest and accurate than the RE252. RE0 sounds sharper and more focused. It's not the ultimate in accuracy either, but it's not colored to the extent the RE252 is IMO. RE262 is also colored, but the coloration sounds beautiful and natural, unlike that of RE252 which I just found weird and unnatural.

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post #42 of 155
8/9/11 at 11:47am
Thread Starter 

Interesting..... I have NO idea what you're talking about.

 

1. little bass impact, you have got to be kidding me, bass impact is one thing that's not subjective, it should be the same for all users, no one will call the Ultrasone PRO 900 "bass light" for instance.

 

2. Colouration, what type of colour? There was one guy on head-fi that bought the RE252 for editing movies and he was impressed with the neutrality and lack of colour.

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post #43 of 155
8/9/11 at 12:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiteki View Post

Interesting..... I have NO idea what you're talking about.

 

1. little bass impact, you have got to be kidding me, bass impact is one thing that's not subjective, it should be the same for all users, no one will call the Ultrasone PRO 900 "bass light" for instance.

 

2. Colouration, what type of colour? There was one guy on head-fi that bought the RE252 for editing movies and he was impressed with the neutrality and lack of colour.

 

So you think RE252 bass has great impact? I don't think many people will agree with you. I thought the bass was lacking power. Maybe I just got a bad fit. In regards to coloration, like I wrote, I think RE252 softens the edges of sounds too much and makes everything sound a bit too rounded and polished. RE262 and 272 also sound very smooth, but not artificially rounded like RE252 IMO. But of course you should take my comments with a grain of salt because like I said, I couldn't get a comfortable fit with RE252, which most likely affected my perception of their sound.
 

It's also possible that Hifiman secretly came up with RE252 V2. lol

 


Edited by Pianist - 8/9/11 at 12:04pm
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post #44 of 155
8/9/11 at 12:38pm
Thread Starter 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pianist View Post

 

[...] I think RE252 softens the edges of sounds too much and makes everything sound a bit too rounded and polished. RE262 and 272 also sound very smooth, but not artificially rounded like RE252 IMO.

 


I used the word raw(r) about 17 times at the top of this page.

 

Too bad you don't own the RE252, so we are not going to get very far with this discussion, but thank you for making my review thread entertaining.

 

I'm going to add "RE252" to my thread title and hopefully attract some RE252 users to this thread so they can leave their comments.

 

This is important to me because this is one of my favorite and most impressive aspects of the RE252, and why I have it in my ears more than the RE0 or J-phonic.

 

 

So any RE252 users, please evaluate the following video in "rawness" versus "soft, polished and rounded" as well as the "visceral bass impact" versus "little bass impact"

 

 

 

 

 


(Also please state which volume level and source you are using because the RE252 is quite difficult to drive for me from my laptop which is curious for 16 Ω..?)

 

 

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post #45 of 155
8/9/11 at 12:51pm

Calm down please. I borrowed RE252 before for a couple of days from a friend to try out. As we all know, this hobby is extremely subjective and I don't see anything wrong with my opinion being very different from yours on the same headphone. There are just so many factors that affect how we perceive sound. I found RE252 rounded and soft yes. I also found them a bit splashy and peaky in the upper frequencies. That's my opinion, that's how I heard the RE252. You hear them differently and that's fine. But there is really no need to get all worked up about this. You no there is no right or wrong in this hobby.

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Sony MDR-V6 Monitor Series Headphones with CCAW Voice Coil
Powered by NexTag
Sony Mdr-Ex700Lp Earbud Style Headphones (Black)
HEAD-DIRECT RE0 In-ear Headphones
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Headphones, Earphones and In-Ear Monitors › [kiteki review] - Hifiman RE0 / RE252 / RE272 versus other IEM's (post #153)