Scosche IEM856 - Dual drivers, one armature and one dynamic

The old Ultimate Ears SuperFi5 Pro EB had one armature and one dynamic as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajmiarka 

This is an interesting concept to me.  Are there other companies doing this?   I love a warm sound, but sometimes wish that there was a bit more sparkle on the mid/high end.  This seems like it would solve both issues. 

 

I know that Scosche isn't know for their sound, but I thought I would post to get others feedback.

 

http://www.scosche.com/consumer-tech/product/2193

Scosche isn't known for their IEMs.  They are decently known for their car speakers though.  I have no idea how reliable Scosche is in terms of sound though.  Interesting concept nonetheless. 

excuse me for my lack of experience and poor review but thought i'd put my .02 in on these, as i got a good discount and decided to try them out.  my experience with IEMs is admittedly limited (mostly ADDIEMS, Meelec M6, Turbines, and Sony MDR-EX500LP/EX310LP), but IMO these are probably the best i've tried.  sound is surprisingly clear and detailed, no distortion (Talk Talk's "Eden", which almost always seemed to cause distortion on other phones, is absolutely perfect on these), but has a really nice warm sound that thankfully doesn't overwhelm (Shoegaze is pretty incredible on these, which was muddy and flat on the Turbines).  for me kinda combines the best qualities of ADDIEMS/ex500lp and the Turbines, which i really like.  also am impressed by the flat cable and general build which seems pretty sturdy (plastic, but well molded and good strain reliefs).  still up in the air whether i'll hang onto these those, as it's kinda hard to get a comfortable fit, they're not terrific at isolation (still need to try the dual flanges tho), and they actually have a pretty big problem with driver flex (2nd pair i've tried and it's worse, but they still sound great after putting them in).  still think despite the brand and being relatively unknown people should give it a chance if they can.  even with the Beats design they copped these are surprisingly capable and detailed.  hope someone else is able/willing to try them out and add their thoughts!

Hm...  What do we have here?

I was interested until i saw the price... LMAO, they must be dreaming.

The price....................

But the phones are well built it seems. And the mic/controls part is well relieved and looks sturdy. But....

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilzc 

The price....................

 

 

But the phones are well built it seems. And the mic/controls part is well relieved and looks sturdy. But....

Everything is build extremely well except for:

• Strain reliefs coming out of the earpieces are extremely weak and seem brittle.  They should have used the one that is on the headphone jack.
• This is a personal opinion, but the flat cable seems thin to me.  It's not Ultimate Ears 500vi thin, but it's still thin and could use some thickness to it.

Sound wise (we're only talking 60 hours of burn in so far) they are actually really great.  Maybe not 250 great, but still really good for the price. 

1. Bass
   
   The bass body is very big, slightly too big on these.  It doesn't make it muddy or anything, but does make you lose out on some texture.  There is still some texture though that is above par.  The bass isn't tight and punchy in the mid-bass, it's leaning towards the thumpy side, nothing bad though.  I do wish it had a little more speed in it, it's pretty slow.  The bass does decent in the deep sub-bass category.  Impact is definitely not this IEM's middle name though. In some songs, the impact is great, in others, it's close to non-existent and all you're left with is a bass body that really can't be heard or felt.
2. Mids
   
   The vocals are actually really good on these, this is the first thing I noticed.  They bring out the goodness in most signers (male and female; females shine a lot here).  They aren't up to Etymotic standards, but still really great nonetheless.  The mids are warm and most of the instrumentals have good dynamics, but timbre and separation can use tweaking (still decent nonetheless).  Clarity was definitely a number one demand on these, everything is so clear and easy to hear.  However, in some heavier songs, I do always feel that some of the mids become unfocused.  Not all details are there.
3. Highs
   
   The highs can be described as flakey or even crispy.  Never too crispy, just enough.  Some people don't like crisp highs though.  There is good extension and some of the best sparkle I've heard in a pair of IEMs.  Like the mids, it has good clarity, but lacks in terms of details.  The high end is enjoyable, not entirely what audiophiles are looking for exactly, but really nicely tuned. 

Cost to SQ ratio is not perfect here.  You do get good, some may even say great quality, but for me, I was expecting a little more.  The idea is great, you do get the deep, powerful bass.  The mids and highs become detailed and everything sounds a little more natural altogether.  I think that build quality and size of the IEMs affects the value more negatively than the SQ will.  I do enjoy these (unlike the C5s), don't get me wrong, quality is really great here.  Like the C5, I will be posting a full review here as well.

A few customs companys use this concept, seems interesting.

thanks for your thoughts tinyman!

further listening, i really like these bad boys, but they are closer to the turbines than i initially thought.  bass is pretty powerful on these; medium tips highly accentuated it to where a lot of rock and shoegaze (read: Smashing Pumpkins) was slightly muddy, but changing to large tips somewhat fixed that.  detail's still arguably better than any iem in my (limited) experience, though.  just annoyed with the fit sometimes, how they seem to ease themselves out of my ear over time, and the little crinking/popping noises when i'm walking with them.

tinyman just wondering how much you got them for?  got them for $100 myself (through work) and wondering in your experience if that's a pretty good deal.

I actually received these as a product sample which I will be reviewing on another site.  If you wish, I can post a link of the finished review here when I'm done.  The bass has improved a little on these, they have a decent punch to them (the thump has toned down into a thump).  The sub-bass is still too smooth and lacks texture, but has a great body.  Clarity has been increased in the mids, details lacking slightly.  The high aggressiveness has gone down on the high end, but the sibilance still remains (in a slight manner). 

Just adding the Audiofly AF78 to the list of hybrid BA/dynamic cans.

I've been using Etymotic for a couple of years now and I am really happy with the sound quality but I've had multiple pairs and they've all broken within a couple of months (and trust me, i took great care of them, especially after the first two times) If the sound quality of scosche is comparable then I'm willing to drop a few extra bucks for a sturdier build. Think these will work for me?