Yamaha EPH-100 - Page 6

Well personally, i have a pair of single ba ciem's, and if anything i prefer the yamaha.

For sparkle and detail sure my customs win, but that's where they excel, everywhere else the yamaha is much better for me.

But it's the soft timbre and punch that gets me, they are just a really good all rounder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huxley 

One thing that surprised me today.

I ran these straight from the hp on my fuze today, and they're actually hard for it to drive.

Ok it managed fine but i had to crank the thing, never expected micro drivers to be like that at all.

Btw does anyone know of any replacement tips?

I asked audio affair but no such luck, i might fire an email to yamaha later on.

They're a bit harder to drive than my FX700, but they're still pretty easy to drive in my opinion, especially if I compare with a 52ohm AKG K240MKII.

For replacement tips, it's a bit delicate. Comply tips are awfully difficult to fit on the Yamahas, and bass is lost in the process.

I've tried MEElec large transparent monoflange with success, but I found them a bit too soft, so I did a little trick to reinforce them. I inserted a medium monoflange with a shortened core inside the large monoflange, in reverse position (see pictures below). This prevents the large tip to collapse too much. I get a good seal (like with the original tips) but with better comfort (MEElec transparent tips are very smooth).

At least you can see how large are the tips I need for my jumbo ears!

I bought this pack of tips to do the trick:

http://www.meelec.com/MEElectronics_Original_Eartips_for_M11_Earphones_p/tipset10-m11-cl-mee.htm

I used the leftmost tips (mushroomhead-like shape) and inserted the top tips inside them (reverse).

Ah excellent, though i start off with large canals, they go real tiny so it's super small as i like to stick them right in my ears, might get away with small/medium as i have done in the past with other phones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by archy121 

I managed to get hold of TF10s this weekend so wondering if someone can give comparison against Yamahas. Hopefully I will than be able to engage a better idea of what the Yamahas sound like. I also have ie7's so a comparison against this would helpful too.
I have short listed Yamahas, EX600s or FXT90. IE80 dropped of list - for now.
I'm expecting all three to be an upgrade to the sound I'm familiar with from ie7 & TF10's. Deep bass & detailed clarity but without fatiguing harsh treble.

I don't wanna sound disrespectful, but there are great reviews for all these IEMs, which you should trust, especially when a few people seem to agree (not talking only about EPH-100, same for FXT90 and EX600).

Waiting for a single person to have all of the IEMs you mention for proper A/B-ing is very unlikely to happen, and I'm not exactly sure what you hope to get out of that.

EPH-100, EX600 and FXT90 are all excellent dynamic driver IEMs with slightly different characteristics.

If you want good bass, strong mids and isolation, EPH-100 have no alternatives in the price range.

FXT90/EX600 will have slightly better treble but less mids and inferior isolation.

Anything with balanced armatures in the same price range will have worse bass than these 3.

Honestly, since you're in the UK, you have access to the Yamaha for only £80, this is extremely cheap compared to the launch price (£120/140€), so you really don't take a lot of risk with these. EX600/FXT90 will cost you a bit more.

This is my first write-up, and my impressions mirror a lot of what's been said, but here goes nothing -

note: I am currently at about 30 hours of burn-in, alternating between Laptop's headphone-out and USB DAC to Headstage Arrow 3G.

Snatched a pair of these only after hearing about the Newegg $150 plus $50 gift card combo deal, as I've been completely smitten by the JVC FX700s, which I've owned for a year and a half. Straight out of the finger-hating plastic container, I got a really good fit out of the smallest-size tips (weird, as I've never liked bi-flanges in the past).

No serious complaints about the build quality or construction, though the cord is a bit on the stiff side, and it would be easy to confuse the left and right pieces in the dark. (Corrected, thanks James!) Probably obvious, but they are incredibly tiny!

Similar to what tienbasse stated, the EPH-100 seems to have its strengths where the JVCs aren't at their best. The Yamahas were on-point when listening to rock music (intentionally-vague here). The JVCs were left sounding a bit congested and ill-suited in some situations - a credit to the Yamaha's wider soundstage and instrument separation. At the same time, the JVCs remain (at least in my ears) king of EDM. The Yamahas certainly don't lack for bass presence, but they don't quite match the punch that the JVCs deliver. The main difference is in the highs, where the Yamahas can sound a bit flat compared to the stunning show the JVCs put on.

While the Yamahas aren't as easy to drive as my Super Fi.5 Pros (RIP), they are on-par with the JVCs in that regard.

The biggest impression came from when I took the Yamahas off and returned to my JVCs after a couple of hours: Something akin to stepping out of a limousine and straight into a vat of acid - The JVC's sound was super-fatiguing comparison. While it could be due to my ears adjusting to the change in fit (far deeper insertion for the Yamahas), it was certainly jarring. More swapping later on proved to be a lot less traumatizing, but in any case the EPH-100 is a keeper, and with the incredible deal I got, a steal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KillaTofu 

 it would be easy to confuse the left and right pieces in the dark.

Great impressions, thanks! Btw, there's a tiny knob on the back of the left strain relief.

These little phones continue to impress me.

I have these plugged into my hifi, as i can't lie on my bed comfortably with my ultrasones on.

Anyway there's little to no hissing, and again their timbre makes everything sound laid back yet the detail is all there.

And i haven't bothered burning them in, they just sound so nice straight away so there's little need to.

Thanks for your impressions KillaTofu. Great first write-up.

tienbasse I do trust the reviews left by members but at the end of the day everyone perceives music differently. 

As I had a pair of TF10 & IE7 at hand, a direct comparison against these would give a better sense of what can be expected from the Yamaha's sound signature.

There are some comparisons against FX700, EX600 & others but as I haven't heard these already it doesn't help as much.

I appreciate your advice tienbasse & do take it on board. I'm probably just a fussy individual & not in a great rush.

Since I didn't like TF10 that much, I don't have them anymore (sold and "lost" to a postman during shipping, a sad story), so I can't do direct A/B against EPH-100. I'll give my opinion anyway but I warn you, TF10 have by far my biggest disappointment last year (especially at 240$) despite all the love they received on Head-Fi.

From the top of my memory, TF10 kinda sounded... congested to me (please note that I didn't say muddy), big bass, big mids, ok treble, but ****ty overall image, as if the 3 transducers didn't properly work together... Fit was ok since I have huge ears and soundstage was excellent, but separation was truly disappointing.

EPH-100 is quite the opposite really: decent soundstage, excellent separation, punchy bass well separated from the forward mids, so details are not lost, they sound CLEAN and relatively flat.

Since I'm always searching for new experiences, I just bought some Westone UM3X from a fellow HeadFi-er.

Update of the EPH-100 review with the UM3X comparison:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/577712/yamaha-eph-100#post_7945421

I see no point posting on the UM3X topic because so far I agree with most opinions there, UM3X are nothing less than I expected for the price, but I still think that the Yamahas offer a close experience for half the price.

I may get some HA-FXT90 in a near future (I'm so curious I wanna check differences with HA-FX700 myself, call me crazy).

KillatoFu can you please share some detail on what made you you feel this way as I also enjoy listening to EDM.

I'm guessing its mainly because of the stronger treble quality of FX700 v EPH100.

Remarkable findings.

Based on your comparison i can't help wondering what strength of UM3X allowed you to call it a draw with Yamaha. Reading the comparison it would seem the Yamaha edges it on Bass performance & possibly sparkle (matter of taste). That's without taking price into consideration. Would you say the UM3X is little more refined ?

I somewhat agree with your comments on TF10. To be honest i can't really give them a proper trial as i seem to get a pinging earache listening to them for a short period- pardon my lack of audiophile vocabulary. They are clear & sharp but something is still missing - it just does not come together well for me. Maybe its lacking warmth & airiness that i'm familiar with my AKG240's. The fitting was good with standard tips. I think i prefer the IE7's sound signature minus their lack of comparative clarity.   

Quote:

Originally Posted by archy121 

Based on your comparison i can't help wondering what strength of UM3X allowed you to call it a draw with Yamaha. Reading the comparison it would seem the Yamaha edges it on Bass performance & possibly sparkle (matter of taste). That's without taking price into consideration. Would you say the UM3X is little more refined ?

Yes, you got it, very slight edge of the Westone for details, and honestly, EPH-100 sometimes sound border-unnatural with specific music, although I tend to like that.

Price would be heavily in favor of Yamaha of course, but this does not matter much to me (I'm not rich but I can affort a few IEMs...)

Well thanks for updating the comparisons, as the UM3X was one of my other choices before this thread came under my radar.

I just joined the club. http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/Yamaha-EPH100-Earphones/product_5924

Nice one, what made you jump in?

Any impressions, i love mine to bits.