[exeth]

With the price it's asking they should've taken this to consideration. It's really annoying when someone like Audio Technica didn't thought it through, I mean even some cheaper IEMs have way way better cable. I'm terribly disappointed on Audio Technica on this cable issue.

Considering these iems are definitely not ones you would want to bring out to use during exercise, I guess for 90% of people the cable shouldnt turn brittle. But I agree that the cable could have been made better.Luckily, you can always get after market cables from effect audio etc

 

[tigon_ridge]

Cable brittleness should be the least of your concern as far as iem construction goes. I've owned iems that broke into two pieces upon being dropped on concrete, and one which fell apart for apparently no reason--until you realize the housing was poorly glued together, rather than using a more secure implementation (I'm looking at you, you muffled-sounding SM3 v1 that costed $300+). One of the most common problems have to do with poor physical connection between the cable and main unit. A brittle cable isn't going to break an electrical connection, unless you go out of your way to mangle the thing. Even then, it's simple to repair with a soldering iron.

 

[hifikid245]

Cable brittleness should be the least of your concern as far as iem construction goes. I've owned iems that broke into two pieces upon being dropped on concrete, and one which fell apart for apparently no reason--until you realize the housing was poorly glued together, rather than using a more secure implementation (I'm looking at you, you muffled-sounding SM3 v1 that costed $300+). One of the most common problems have to do with poor physical connection between the cable and main unit. A brittle cable isn't going to break an electrical connection, unless you go out of your way to mangle the thing. Even then, it's simple to repair with a soldering iron.

Did I mentioned that my IM02 is already creaking for no apparent reason? Mind you this happened in the first week of owning it(first week?!), who knows what could happened next. And this is just one of my disappointments with my IM02, oh well what can you expect from a $300 IEM by Audio Technica.

 

[happysappy]

So I posted before about my IM70 losing audio on one earpiece, and it turned out to be a clogged filter. That has been resolved. Yey!
 
My IM02 problem of sounding metallic has yet to be resolved though. I just built a new PC and got a new phone (Samsung S7), so budget has been tight last month. I am now looking to purchase a tiny DAC that would avoid the metallic sound. A helpful member of the forum said that these are the compatible DACs: Leckerton UHA-4, JDS C5D/C5, FiiO E17k/Q1 or A1.
 
I am leaning towards the JDS, but I was wondering if I can get a Dragonfly Red for portability? I am not sure of its output impedance. Or would getting the Dragonfly not help with the problem at all?
 
As for PC listening, would a Bifrost/Lyr 2 combo OR a Jotunheim be better for a warm sound? This would be for several of my IEMs and headphones, including the IM02. I would try them if I could, but living in Korea, I can't find them anywhere! The DAC on the Asus Z170i Pro Gaming doesn't sound good, unfortunately. The IM02 is just unusable with it. It sounds like music if coming from a tinny can, metallic and too bright.
 
And finally, is there a way to elongate the nozzle of the IM02? It doesn't sit as far into the ear canal and it is bothering me. It saddens me that a $300 IEM would have a worse fit than one that is half the price (IM70!).
 
Thank you!

 

[PinkyPowers]

The Dragonfly Red SHOULD work the the S7. Should.

My first DAC was the Dragonfly 1.2, which I used on the Galaxy S4, running USB Audio Player Pro. I could only play my FLAC library, of course. No streaming.

You should look more into this, but I remember hearing the newest Android makes DACs easier to use, so you might be able to use Spodify and Tidal finally. Of course, your FLAC library is probably still best. I'm old school like that.

I can't promise you any DAC will make the IM02 less metallic-sounding. The IM02 is a very neutral, semi-bright, highly detailed IEM. Those do tend towards strident qualities. It's possible you would have been happier with something warmer and smoother, like the IM03.

 

[happysappy]

I really wanted the IM03, but I couldn't justify the price (way pricier in Japan). Now that I am having issues with the IM02, requiring me to buy better DACs to hook it up with, I am now questioning my initial decision. It sounded so good with Radiohead FLACs when I was testing them, but now that I am plugging them to different sources, they sound so bad. Thus, my quest to find a perfect match for the IM02.
 
I'll try to find out if the Dragonfly would work with streaming. I have been streaming music since I moved to Korea because the LTE speed is sweet. I now keep my FLACs on a Synology at home and stream them via DS Audio to my phone. My main worry is that it would make the IM02 sound even more metallic.

 

[PinkyPowers]

My Klipsch X7 sounded sort of harsh and ugly on my Galaxy S4. The Dragonfly made it sound so smooth, refined and MUSICAL.

It might help you. Worth a try I guess.

 

[Sp12er3]

For portable DACs, the dragonfly will "most probably" work (havent tried one to testify).... though IMO these days looking for low output impedance source aint that hard.. even the small Fiio M3 is lower than 1ohm

 

[happysappy]

My Klipsch X7 sounded sort of harsh and ugly on my Galaxy S4. The Dragonfly made it sound so smooth, refined and MUSICAL.

It might help you. Worth a try I guess.

Thank you for the feedback! It sounds like the Dragonfly is like magic.
 

For portable DACs, the dragonfly will "most probably" work (havent tried one to testify).... though IMO these days looking for low output impedance source aint that hard.. even the small Fiio M3 is lower than 1ohm

That's the problem actually.. there are so many choices! 

 

 

[ninaraduga]

ATH IM03 has amazing vocals, Im04 most analytical

 

[PinkyPowers]

ATH IM03 has amazing vocals, Im04 most analytical

I think you mean the IM02 is analytical. The IM04 is dark, lush and bassy.

 

[Sp12er3]

That's the problem actually.. there are so many choices! :basshead:  

ah I thought you were regretting your purchase, so I gave an easy fix for it. Good luck on your journey to find its perfect match

 

[thesheik137]

I can recommend a great dac/amp for the IM02 if you do not require a dac that can decode greater than 24/96.
 
The TEAC HA-P50 is a great, lush/warm amp that pairs really well with analytical iems or headphones. I used it quite often with the IM02 and MSR7 and it had great synergy with them. Also, it is relatively low cost, but it definitely isn't low quality. The IM02 is extremely source dependent and the HA-P50 has absolutely ZERO background hiss/noise floor. I think it is very underrated and perfect for the IM02. ALso it works easily with both apple and android phones. And as required IMHO, YMMV, etc...

 

[supermomoo]

I've been following this thread for a while now, still couldn't decide whether to buy IM-02 or IM-70..

Budgetwise, IM-03/04 were out of my list.

I'm not a bass head, and my playlist mostly consist of rock and vocal (male) songs.

Out of those two option above, kindly appreciated if anyone could put other brand/type for comparison (same budget range).

My last iem was shure 215spe, can't really say i'm enjoying the sound, still prefer my tenore, and i'm using ibasso dzero and aune t1 MK2 as the DAC/Amp.

 

[PinkyPowers]

I'm reading amazing things about the MeeAudio Pinnacle P1. If it's half as good as they say, it should easily trounce the IM02 and the IM70... and I'm a big fan of the IM70.