aras
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2012
- Posts
- 333
- Likes
- 26
Well the sound you hear is a result of those numbers. I'm sure you know this as a trained EE. All other stuff you are hearing is on your mind only.
What is your point? He didn't do the measurements anyway. Is there a problem with these IEMs? Yes there is. End of story
Hilarious as always. They sounded good to me before and still sound good now. I was trained as an EE but I still know in this hobby subjectivity is everything. Measurements are just numbers, if the sound feels right to my ears, that is all. Peace.
ZMF headphones hand-crafts wood headphones in Chicago, USA with special attention to exceptional sound and craftsmanship.
Stay updated on ZMFheadphones at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
|
So if you do not own the SM64, or have not spent time listening to it and just want to talk frequency response and cross-over, I'd urge you to start your own thread in the Sound Science section so you can dissect how frequency range works.
In most typical scenario, where one base their purchase on graphs, yes the graph serve its purposes, but in this case, its the other way round, we have heard the SM64 and have direct experience on it before we see this graph. So I think there is no need to suddenly "hate it" because graph is not "right".
RIn made a very good point about the wrong advertising here.
When a graph dictates your acceptance of an earphone, you have truly lost sight of the whole purpose. Music is emotion. This is why we are all here. You must listen and judge for yourself. The SM64 is fantastic sounding, aside from the measurements. If it sounds good to you, and moves you, at the end of the day that is the only thing that should matter.
One of the most important lessons you can learn around here is that graphs are only one indicator of how a headphone can move you. You cannot measure emotion in an earphone. Sublime musical enjoyment is the goal. However horribly that measures is ok by me.
Listen to the SM64 yourself. And get ready for a treat! 5K suckout and all.
The SM64 that was measured was mine. It is a v2.
First off I want to say that Rin does very good work and everyone upset about the measurements should just relax. There is enough room here for measurements and subjective impressions, in fact I rely heavily on both. Rin's blog has been a wonderful source of information and I have learned many things from reading it on a regular basis.
When I ordered the SM64 I expected there would be some kind of scoop or suck out in the upper mid, as that has been the house sound for many years from Earsonics and to a lesser degree Westone. The SM2 and SM3 have what I call scooped out upper mids. The scoop starts much sooner than the SM64, and while not extending as deep, extends much further up the graph, so that the SM2/3 can sound veiled, congested and even boring.
Upon first listening to the SM64 I was very happy to hear much clearer mids over previous ES models and vocals sounded seductive, without sounding veiled, scooped and euphonic. I also thought treble response sounded pretty nice with a hint of sparkle. In fact, I absolutely loved how it sounded on the Tera player. It was all I listened to for a week or two, as I typically do with any new IEM, in order to get to know it and an attempt to listen through the new toy syndrome halo.
Apparently sometime in the next couple of week, the right side tweeter dropped out? I didn't realize it was a tweeter drop out but rather thought I'd grown more accustom to their signature and was beginning to find them much too dark for my tastes, especially compared to my other IEMs. Basically I thought the new toy syndrome was wearing off, so I was going to sell them. Luckily for the potential buyer I had lined up, I sent them to Rin first, where he discovered the treble issues with the right side. I immediately informed the buyer that I would be sending them back, instead of selling them. I'm grateful to have found this out before the sale went through.
I believe Rin's concern is that anyone paying a premium for an IEM deserves high end, full range performance, especially when the items are marketed as such (FAD is very different, as they are purposefully trying to recreate a horn speaker sound with their odd but loved Forte series). Can everyone hear the scoops and suckouts on various IEMs like ES, Heir, Frogbeats and even Westone? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, especially if they aren't comparing to them to other products. And even when they do hear it, it might not bother them and still fully enjoy it, as the appreciation threads show. However it cannot hurt to be better educated on what you buying, especially when you are paying a premium for it.
I won't get a chance to hear these again, as they are going back and I'm using the funds for a HD600 instead. But I can say that even with how deep the suck out on the SM64 is, because it was somewhat narrow in width, it still sounded clearer and better, IMO, than the Heir universals, previous Earsonics models and rivaled my favorite offerings from Westone. On some of those, their suck out or scoop may be shallower but is much wider. My question that will remain unanswered is, I wonder how good these would have been if Earsonics would have designed them to be technically more proficient and not contain such a deep suck out? I guess we'll never know.
Apparently sometime in the next couple of week, the right side tweeter dropped out? I didn't realize it was a tweeter drop out but rather thought I'd grown more accustom to their signature and was beginning to find them much too dark for my tastes, especially compared to my other IEMs. Basically I thought the new toy syndrome was wearing off, so I was going to sell them. Luckily for the potential buyer I had lined up, I sent them to Rin first, where he discovered the treble issues with the right side. I immediately informed the buyer that I would be sending them back, instead of selling them. I'm grateful to have found this out before the sale went through.
Shane, please correct me if I'm unable to read between the lines here, but doesn't that mean that the set of SM64's Rin received may very likely have been faulty, as you yourself suspected at some point?
- The measurements are just measurements. Putting too much stock in to them clouds your judgement.