ScaryFatKidGT
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2011
- Posts
- 564
- Likes
- 22
Thats what I have narrowed it down to. I like it on the bass heavy side but with good trebel detail too, I don't like a lot of roll of on either end.
Has anyone heard the X10's?
When you talk about liking bass heavy, are you specifically asking for moderate bass emphasis or are you simply worried about getting an earphone that lacks bass? For example, would you still seek more if you used an earphone will a well extended and well represented bass response? Or, do you specifically prefer bass boost and bass dominance in the presentation?
The difference between these two things will influence your end result.
The Custom 3 is a better product than the X10. Klipsch in their own words on their own forum have stated this plainly. Is the Custom 3 a good choice? In of itself the Custom 3 is an excellent earphone. For the things you specifically seek, there are better options out there. The Custom 3 is a product will a balanced bass response that is well represented, however treble is quite rolled off on the top end. Most of the stuff above 10kHz is quite lacking, and EQing doesn't solve it. This is strictly a mechanical limitation of the treble driver.
I've never used the X10 personlly, so i can't comment on its details. I will state that it is a single BA driver earphone and subsequently it will lack treble, bass, or both automatically. There isn't a single BA driver product out there that covers the spectrum fully. The ER4 doesn't. The PFE doesn't. Some of the better implementations come from a hybrid moving armature design used by Ortofon and Final Audio. This technology does cover the entire spectrum better. Dynamic driver earphones are also good at covering the spectrum well. At the end of the day when we're talking about BA based products you absolutely need at least two drivers to fully cover the spectrum. It just doesn't happen with one. There is always some form of shortcoming on one end or the other or on both ends of the spectrum. I would scratch the X10 off specifically for the fact that it's a single BA product as I know it won't cover the whole spectrum.
The Triple.Fi 10 is a mindlessly fun earphone. It also has the frequency response extension that you seek. The bass of the Triple.Fi 10 is actually well balanced, but the notes are thick and punchy which tends to make people feel it's a little bass heavy. I could say there is emphasis due to the thickness of note, but from a frequency response point of view it's actually well balanced. Treble on the other hand is emphasized a good bit and is mainly why people complain about recessed mids. The treble is strong with this earphone. It's dominant and energetic, but it's also sweet and not overly edgy. This is just a really fun but colored earphone.
The IE8 is a neat product. It's actually a pretty well balanced earphone with just a minor influence that gets a lot of attention. The bass is emphasized. However it's not like it's just a massive amount of bass. There are worse offenders in this regard. What really grates against people is how wide the bass hump is with this earphone. It's centered at 100Hz and covers everything up to 1kHz. This makes for an overall warm and bass focused sound. The response is smooth though which actually helps things. The bass knob is of no help. The knob only affects the lower half, everything below 100Hz, so it does nothing for everything from 100Hz to 1kHz. You can either have the bottom end or make the bottom end lacking. The best fix is the bass knob at full and a wide EQ cut centered at 100Hz. However, this isn't necessary. You do get used to the bassy signature with time, and the overall balance and smooth response is quite good once you're accustomed. The driver itself is quite good at extending both very low effortless as well as very high. However, the driver is a touch sluggish on the top end. The sensitivity is there, but the details start to get smoothed over just a little up top. It's not bad though.
The FX700 was mentioned. This is another earphone with a mild bass emphasis. It's just slightly warm in signature. The sound quality is extremely good. I kind of view the FX700 as a superior earphone to the IE8 or Monster Turbine products. For anyone thinking about those, they should just go straight to the FX700. This earphone just does everything better. The level of detail, texture, decay, sound stage, etc. are all excellent. The frequency response isn't flat with a cut at 1khz, but it's smooth and likable. The FX700 does roll off above 10kHz though and the presentation on the high end doesn't carry the same level of presence as the low end. Treble doesn't end up sounding warm though, just lacking that top end air and sparkle. Level of detail is quite high too, although it isn't as energetic as the lower end. The result is simply a warmer overall signature with a stronger focus towards the low end. It does do enough good to out weigh the shortcomings though, so it's hard to fault it unless you absolutely seek that top end bite and air.
A common theme however is that most bass geared products often do lack top end performance, so it's somewhat rare to find a product that offers the shear breadth of response that can do everything from 20Hz to 20kHz really well with quality extension, detail, and energy throughout. Very, very few products can do this well. The only one that comes to mind is the Triple.Fi 10. Mind you it is a colored sound, but EQing certainly can improve things if you do seek balance. One of the bigger benefits of the Triple.Fi 10 is it's shear breadth of performance. It just covers the spectrum so completely. The low end is full and powerful and can dig deep. The high end sparkles, bites, and carries high raw energy. The midrange is actually quite excellent too, although most folks gloss over that and simply call it recessed. Rather the treble sensitivity simply overshadows it to some degree. If I were to suggest a product to you, I would certainly lean you towards the Triple.Fi 10 as an option. The only reason I might shy you away from a pair is simply due to the coloration. Balance is friends with everyone. Coloration doesn't always get along with people or certain musical genres. In this sense the color of the Triple.Fi 10 does bit itself in the rear sometimes depending on your preference or what you're listening to. Now the fix is simple if you have the EQing processing, but if you don't you're stuck. Being stuck's no fun, regardless of how enjoyable the Triple.Fi 10 sounds most of the time. I do often prefer to lean somewhat towards a more balanced option. For example I would certainly lean you towards the FX700 as an excellent option for overall balance as well as excellent overall sound quality. It's just that you may still long for more top end, and the FX700 may just not cut it. The IE8 could certainly be a runner up. It does retain that top end extension even if the driver isn't the most articulate and detailed up there. At least the sensitivity stays.
There are certainly a lot of other earphones that we also haven't listed yet that you may choose to include. A simple example is the Westone 3 or maybe even 4 depending on your budget, the Ortofon e-Q7, or an option I got to listen to more recently Final Audio's FI-BA-SB (Heaven S). The Westones are excellent products in their own right and extremely well liked. I've only used the UM3X personally and while exceptional in performance, they are very colored and require a lot of EQing to transition from musician's tool to consumer listening device. The Westone 3 and 4 are geared more readily towards consumer listening, but I haven't listened to either personally. I would very, VERY much not overlook Westone as an option. The 3 and 4 are high end and well loved products for a reason, so they very much better be on your short list somewhere. The e-Q7 is an excellent product, very well balanced, well extended on both ends, and offers reasonable bass, although the focus is slightly towards the mids and treble. It's just a really good comprehensive package that does a lot of things well. The FI-BA-SB is likely a better match to you with a warmer, fuller sound and a much more naturally full and presented bass response. Balance is good, but again treble is laid back and lacking (the e-Q7 being a little better in terms of total breadth). In this sense, the SB is a lot like the FX700, warm, excellent low end presentation, but a more laid back and rolled off top end. The FX700 is better textured and detailed. The SB is more rounded but loose. Both offer very high clarity, but I might offer a mild edge to the FX700. .
At the end of the day, you really need to weigh your trade-offs. That's sort of all there is to it. Certain options offer certain traits, and you have to kind of decide of you can give up or make allowances for certain aspects in order to gain other aspects that are more important to you. You also need to weigh what you have control over and if that will influence your results. For example, if you have a music player with a 10 band graphic EQ, you aren't exactly bound to the stock frequency response of the earphone. This gives you some freedom to take a more colored product like the Triple.Fi 10 and balance it out. However, if you don't have that luxury but still definitely value good balance, you would need to aim for products that offer that better response right out of the box.
Are the Shure SE215 and 315's single BA's? I'm confused on the packaging it says the 215's only go to 17.5kHz but here there graph goes higher than even the 535's http://www.headphone.com/headphones/shure-se215.php