[kiteki]

Okay, well what should I get Pk1, Ok1 or Ok2?
 
I've only heard the Pk2 before and I heard from one user on head-fi it's the worst Yuin of the lot, Lol.

 

[swbf2cheater]

The Pk1 is readily available used here on head fis for sale area, the OK1 is not so common.  Where as the PK1 is a more fun punchy sound, the Ok1 was a smoother experience but you need a good portable amp for them.  So I would say get the Pk1 if you  want a Yuin product.

 

[GoodBoy]

Hi swbf2cheater and thanks for responding Sony MDR-E931 is the bigger one. I took a picture of both so you can judge for yourself
 

 
Sony is more ergonomically shaped and also flatter, while Sennheiser is tad smaller, but has deeper ball-like design - I guess that is the most problematic for some people, not it's width.
 
As for the N9 wave studio sound signature, your description somewhat matches my experience with beloved MDR-E931. I also like fun sounding earphones, but like I explained in my review here http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/483650/sennheiser-mx-980-expression/165#post_7539034 they're not so good for listening to some music genres like movie soundtracks where absolute acoustic precision, seperation and detail is a must. That's why I obtained MX980 I also tend to believe Sennheiser can provide fun sounding experience as well, it just needs to be fed by a good warm source and properly EQed. MX980 are very prone to EQing

 

[kiteki]

Are you sure you need good amplification for the OK1? They are both 150 Ohm.
 
I heard PK1/OK1/OK2 all share the huge soundstage the other Yuin's don't have, and the OK2 is 16 Ohm, so I'm curious about that one, help.

 

[kiteki]

Hey... E931 is pretty popular in Japan.
 
Not as famous as E888, but still, popular.

 

[GoodBoy]

 
Quote:

Hey... E931 is pretty popular in Japan.
 
Not as famous as E888, but still, popular.

At some point I wanted to buy E888, but they were extremely hard to get. I think they're totally discountinued in Europe now.... I wonder how would they compare to my fantopia E931. Such a shame Sony is now fully focused on developing IEMs, somehow abandoning earbuds market... :/
 

 

[swbf2cheater]

Quote:

Hi swbf2cheater and thanks for responding Sony MDR-E931 is the bigger one. I took a picture of both so you can judge for yourself
 

 
Sony is more ergonomically shaped and also flatter, while Sennheiser is tad smaller, but has deeper ball-like design - I guess that is the most problematic for some people, not it's width.
 
As for the N9 wave studio sound signature, your description somewhat matches my experience with beloved MDR-E931. I also like fun sounding earphones, but like I explained in my review here http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/483650/sennheiser-mx-980-expression/165#post_7539034 they're not so good for listening to some music genres like movie soundtracks where absolute acoustic precision, seperation and detail is a must. That's why I obtained MX980 I also tend to believe Sennheiser can provide fun sounding experience as well, it just needs to be fed by a good warm source and properly EQed. MX980 are very prone to EQing

 
If you read my full review on the 9wave NW studio Pro, you will see that I felt it was the best classical experience of all buds I've ever used, I enjoyed it much more than the mx980 for live and classical music, despite inferior sound quality.  Its stage is just set up for a great staging experience with excellent depth.  I've never heard of that sony model, thanks for showing me it.  It looks like something I would definitely like to review sometime
 


Quote:

Are you sure you need good amplification for the OK1? They are both 150 Ohm.
 
I heard PK1/OK1/OK2 all share the huge soundstage the other Yuin's don't have, and the OK2 is 16 Ohm, so I'm curious about that one, help.

Yes, without question.  Again, if you read back into my reviews you will see the Pk1 and the MX580 are not really all that different unless you amp them.  This is even more true with the Ok1.  With good amping ( a fiio e11 or cmoy is more than sufficient for power needs ) comes a much nicer, more tonal and wider experience.  
 

 

[kiteki]

 
Quote:

 
At some point I wanted to buy E888, but they were extremely hard to get. I think they're totally discountinued in Europe now.... I wonder how would they compare to my fantopia E931. Such a shame Sony is now fully focused on developing IEMs, somehow abandoning earbuds market... :/
 

Buy from Japan, like amazon.co.jp, about $75, and use tenso.com as the forwarding service if you need to, approx $90 all up.
 
It's worth it, if you want to hear a bio-cellulose earbud, I think the only other ones are Sony E48X series, which cost over $200 second hand now.
 
 

 

[Albedo]

 
Quote:

Yea, the 980s were beastly, but retained a hint of sibilance.  For example, when the track "perfect stranger" by Katy B comes around, My Luke Skybeyer DT770s are harshly sibilant, as were the mx980s ( not too bad, but enough to annoy ).  

That's also what I've experienced, but it's the price for clarity?
 
 
Quote:

There’s also a boost at around the 7kHz mark. This is also a commonly amped-up area, since the attack on drums falls around 7kHz. After that point, though, the curve dips down before shooting way up again at the 10kHz range. Spoken sibilance and sizzling cymbals call the 10kHz range their home. We could definitely hear the boost while listening to certain tracks, and it wasn’t a good thing. We noticed a few tracks that relied heavily on high-end sizzle simply sounded shrill.

http://www.headphoneinfo.com/content/Sennheiser-CX-980-Headphones-Review-959/Sound-Quality.htm
 

 

[Br777]

Quote:

 

That's also what I've experienced, but it's the price for clarity?
 
 


http://www.headphoneinfo.com/content/Sennheiser-CX-980-Headphones-Review-959/Sound-Quality.htm
 

 
this is a chart for CX 980.. completely different than MX 980

 

[Albedo]

MX 980 share the same 11mm driver as MX-W1 http://www.headphoneinfo.com/content/Sennheiser-MX-W1-Headphones-Review-769/Performance.htm
But CX 980 honestly.. I don't know, but comparing those to graphs... the one (in the link) above me now doesn't make that much sense.

 

[Br777]

Quote:

MX 980 share the same 11mm driver as MX-W1 http://www.headphoneinfo.com/content/Sennheiser-MX-W1-Headphones-Review-769/Performance.htm
But CX 980 honestly.. I don't know, but comparing those to graphs... the one (in the link) above me now doesn't make that much sense.

 
regardless of the drivers, you cant compare IEM's to earbuds - two different worlds

 

[Albedo]

Yes that's unquestionable, but if for the sake of the argument we presume that they share the same driver, one gets the general idea. To throw an analogy into it.. playing a saxophone in the street is quite different that playing the same instrument in a acoustically dead room, here's their test procedure BTW -> http://www.headphoneinfo.com/content/How-We-Test-149.htm
 
It's just to highlight the point that some song are way to sibilant, to a degree that it becomes annoying for some. Maybe I'm very prone to sibilance, who knows... 

 

[GoodBoy]

I don't think MX980 share the same size drives as CX980, since they incorporate different form factors. IEMs usually have smaller units, while many earbuds, even from mid-end segment have 14-16mm drivers. Earbuds in general have bigger drivers than IEMs. Of course, there are many exeptions from this.
 
As for the sibiliance, I haven't noticed it yet.
 
 

 

[swbf2cheater]

There is definitely a smidgen of a sibilant experience but that is on extremely harsh tracks and its no where near as bad as anything else.  Nothing that I am aware of in the hanging style plays highs that well, its a great experience compared to anything else I have tested, but I would be lying if I said it did not retain some sibilance, but again its without question the best out there for such a price. Is it worth the price take of 180 - $230?  To an audiophile, most definitely they are worth every penny if you want the best buds available for X amount of dollars.  I've never used the other 980 models, but I would assume you should be able to get some acoustibuds ( hanging style bud slip covers that convert it to an IEM ) and get some idea of what it would sound like.
 
It is very possible that the iem eartip of the other iem style 980 models cause sibilance, I really don't know.  Again, I've never used any of them hehe.  But, generally iems are less sibilant than hanging style at that price range.  If its the same drivers being used, then its all in the eartips and not the drivers.  If the iem version of the 980 is harsh on one track and the mx980 is not harsh on that same track...well...you get the idea.  That is something someone should definitely confirm, as I have no clue what the difference is between them or how they sound.