[jjeremycai]

Have you burned the Yuin's in? I've heard many things about an "optimum" (I think it was around 150+ hours for the PK1) they need to reach before they actually start to sound good at all.

 

[Pianist]

 
Quote:

The pk1 has a joke of a soundstage, if you want to consider that a soundstage then the 980s would be significantly larger and spacious.  About the blox...ive never used them but my 15 years of audiophile hood tell me that a small and unknown company wouldnt put much into their R&D for earbuds, where as something like Sennheiser devotes millions into it and may have access to superior quality parts and engineers.

Perhaps the imaging on PK1 is not very good, but it has excellent dynamic range, which helps it to sound big, like a full-sized can IMO.

 

[swbf2cheater]

 
Quote:

I wasn't able to get any sound out of my PK1 until it hit the 100 hour mark.  It has opened up quite a bit...the bass has increased significantly.  I will say this for sure about the PK1, they require SUBSTANTIAL amplification.  They are power hungry at 150 ohms, but they seem to be even more so than a full size headphone.  I have wanted to get my hands on those Senns....also the TM5.  When the reports say that the bass is deeper and impacts harder with a rating of 16 ohms...that's very intriguing. 
 
I see from your picture that you are using the D3.  How to you feel it does in pushing the PK1? Not counting your overall opinion of sound quality. 

 
It is more than sufficient to drive it to its maximum potential.  But good lord, it really needs a D3 or similar to get the max out of it.  Direct connect to the audio jack on my desktop isn't enough, and my speakers power it and push it to the max but warp the sound a bit.  The difference from unamped Pk1 to amped is a sparkle and kick factor that isnt huge
 
the difference from an amped MX980 to unamped is massive
 
As for the above users comment, the pk1s do not have a soundstage in my opinion.  I am not sure why people say it does, if it does, it has a weak and not very separated soundstage.  Most peoples definition of a soundstage is not up to par with my standards of what defines a soundstage.  When I say SOUNDSTAGE, I mean placement and the ability for your ears to pick up on varying locations of the music.  The Pk1s do not do this well, no earbuds so far but the mx980 do.
 
What people consider soundstage on the pk1s to be is that the sound produced is wide, you can feel its wideness.  It does sound like cheaper decent quality full sized, but its soundstage IMO is still flat and unable to respond to location.  MX980s do not have this flaw
 

 

[swbf2cheater]

added a new pic

 

[2rooi123]

shittt nice picssss

 

[blackromeo]

im picking up a fuze later on today and looking at some new earbuds, out of the ones you have just reviewed, which one would suggest?

 

[nonsupremous]

If you're not running your fuze with an amp, I'd say don't get the PK1 for sure.  Way too power hungry!

 

[swbf2cheater]

Quote:

im picking up a fuze later on today and looking at some new earbuds, out of the ones you have just reviewed, which one would suggest?

Hard to say.  the mx580 is basically the Yuin PK1 with a bit less bass kick and clarity, the MX880 is a bit better than the Yuin PK1, the mx980 is pretty amazing, right out of the box it sounds incredible, im only half burnt in right now so they havent yet reached their full potential.  It is more easily driven than the PK1 via a sansa fuze. 

 

[NewMexiCat]

Well, I pulled the trigger on the MX 980 from Amazon today (nice to have the Amazon return policy if these don't measure up for me).  After struggling through several IEMs, I think I finally figured out that I'm an earbud guy!  The only IEMs I could ever tolerate were custom-molds, and even then, there are a lot of times when you don't want that level of isolation.  So, my research for a top tier bud led me to this very helpful thread.  I nearly pulled the trigger on the very well respected PK1 until this thread swung me back the trusted Sennheiser brand.
 
I am most confident that I will like the MX 980, but the one design feature that is really off-putting to me is the damn volume control!  I won't use it (I'll keep it maxxed out to avoid any attenuation), but my more pressing worry is the weight that it puts on the cables.  After all, these things are buds and you rely on a good fit to keep them precariously nestled in your ears.  The last thing I think you would want is a weighty volume control tugging these things ever so slightly out of your ear.  I guess I'm hoping that this is not an issue as I have not heard any owners complain.  Is the volume control light enough that you don't notice it dangling like an elongated earring???  Since I've already ordered these beauties, someone please tell me I'm overreacting!

 

[swbf2cheater]

you are overreacting lol
 
it is made of plastic and adds no weight to it, you wont feel it.  I think its great, wish it was made of metal actually and heavier!  But thats just me, and i use it all the time.  Some of my tracks in my playlists are loud and when i am moving i just toggle it down a bit instead of fishing into my pocket, turning off the HOLD switch on my fuze and lowering the volume, returning the hold switch and putting it back into my pocket
 
it couldnt be better.
 
Edit:  After burning my Shure 840s and the MX980s in ive come to realize the signature of them both are very similar.  The mx980s do that job the Pk1s did in making it feel like you are wearing full sized cans, VERY large and open sounding, very airy and neutral with a hint of warmness.  I find the shure 840s to be elegant in their presentation, and I feel like the MX980s are a bit more forward with less bass, but very similar in kick and overall feel. 
 
mx980s are scary good :]
 
My Pk1s are also burnt in now and after a heavy testing today they performed pretty good, but not as good as the MX980s   Pk1s are for sure warmer and not at all tall sounding, but are wide, like a wide screen tv.  The mx980s feel much wide and taller, more spacious with more kick in the bass.
 
It is much more easily driven than the Pk1. 
 
I feel like I found something I can keep for a long time.  I dont really NEED an amp so long as I use a Sansa Fuze and Flac with the 980s.  Even though the Ibassos max it out and make it shine brighter, I still enjoy it via the unamped fuze a lot. 

 

[NewMexiCat]

Cool!  That's all I needed to hear.  I will be very interested to see how the MX 980's pair up with my ALO RX and the soon to arrive Pico Slim.

 

[swbf2cheater]

I want a pico slim :[
 

 

[NewMexiCat]

Well, I just got the MX980's delivered to me at work and while I can't do any serious listening here, I was able to sneak off to lunch for a quick "un-boxing".  Just as advertised, the fit and finish is stunning.  I think the MX980's will likely hold up much better for daily portable use than the Yuin's.  My quick sound check tells me I am going to like these very, very much.  I also seem to be getting a very good fit which I think will be critical for the best performance.  And yes, the in-line volume control is unobtrusive and might even prove to be handy on occasion.  I'll post more thoughts after I run through a more "formal" audtion.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

How do the mx880 compair to the omx181?

 

[nonsupremous]

Quote:

  I think the MX980's will likely hold up much better for daily portable use than the Yuin's. 

Did you own the Yuin's?  If so, would you say that the housing of the MX980 is bigger than the housing of the PK2?  I think the housing of the PK2 is just slightly bigger than the PK1. 
 
The PK2 is as big as I can do on an earbud.  I don't think the OK series would stay in my ears.  They are just too big.