[BrianMendoza]

I completely agree with you! I never really considered them flat either, but I guess that's what other members were saying so I went with that. I also thought the bass was a tad emphasized as well, but to a good extent! But yeh man, I agree with you all the way.
 
And about the amp... which one did you go with? And what kinda impressions have you gotten from it so far (has it been worth it, etc)? I've been thinking about getting one myself since I'm just running my UM3x's off my iphone 4/macbook pro, but I haven't done enough research yet, and I haven't decided whether it would be worth it or not to have to carry it around with me for however much it cost, since I already enjoy my UM3x's so much, even without an amp.

 

[Young Spade]

@dans and TCD
Well amped K702s that were fully burned in (with a custom cable to help the lower end) and the SE535s. It wasn't really noticeable to me at first because they were the only phones I had at the time and the fact that the great bass doesn't interfere with the increadable detail the IEMs have.

I have the Shures now and love them; the bass is just right; very accurate to the source and doesn't add what isn't already there. You have to remember though; the um3xs were made as stage monitors so separation, detail, but also sound signature was taken into account. When there are thousands of people screaming (or any outage noise for that matter), the treble is the first to go. Giving a lower end empahsis while still keeping the detail is the best sound sig for people performing for an extended period of time IMO.

 

[Young Spade]

And I'm not bashing the phones; I love them. However many people who have them think that it is a neutral sound and IMO it is close but there are other phones out there that are a tad more neutral.

 

[TCD1975]

Oh, I thought they were fairly neutral but I've not heard that many other high end IEMs. If anything I thought the mids were more forward on the UM3x. They're certainly more neutral than something like the IE8s anyway.

 

[mvw2]

The IE8 is actually pretty neutral.  It just gets a lot of guff for the bass emphasis.  The emphasis isn't actually massive.  It just covers a large range of the frequency spectrum.  I find something like the Triple.Fi 10 more colored and less balanced than the IE8.  The UM3X is not balanced either.  It's simply a different gearing.

 

[Young Spade]

The IE8 is actually pretty neutral.  It just gets a lot of guff for the bass emphasis.  The emphasis isn't actually massive.  It just covers a large range of the frequency spectrum.  I find something like the Triple.Fi 10 more colored and less balanced than the IE8.  The UM3X is not balanced either.  It's simply a different gearing.

Wait what? The ie8 is pretty neutral, it just gets guff for it's bass response? That doesn't make any sense. With that terminology Incan just say the um3xs are neutral, they just have powerful kids and bass; it's kinda contradicting isn't it?

I get what you're saying though; but something can't be neutral/flat and also have a strong emphasis in one area. People say the bass is overpowering. More specifically the mid-bass hump.

But yea, it is probably more neutral than the Triples; the moment I got them I just EQed the mods down and the bass/treble up and rocked out until my ears started ringing.

 

[mvw2]

I mean it's more neutral than people describe it as.  The mids and treble are well balanced.  The bass is largely well balanced, just emphasized.  The frequency response isn't all over the place.  If you don't mind splitting the mids and treble from the bass, then yes, it's balanced.

 

[Young Spade]

I mean it's more neutral than people describe it as.  The mids and treble are well balanced.  The bass is largely well balanced, just emphasized.  The frequency response isn't all over the place.  If you don't mind splitting the mids and treble from the bass, then yes, it's balanced.

Yea, I understand what you mean.

I'm glad you elaborated though; it just shows how complicated these things can be; natural, neutral, flat, neutral with emphasis, and many other things show how unique these IEMs really are.

 

[mvw2]

Well, I prefer to talk more in terms of frequency response as well as aspects like note thickness, dynamics, energy, etc.  A lot of this will translate to the warm, bright, dark, neutral, natural, etc.  Things like natural, realistic, life-like are a bit dependent on how the driver presents the notes.  In some ways it requires certain amounts of transparency, dynamic range, articulation of note, natural decay, and so on.  For example, high transparency, cleanliness of note, good dynamic range, and a decent amount of texture/articulation of note will let the earphone accurately reproduce sound as long as these aspects are decently linear in range.  Some level of detail, sound stage, and separation will come out from these abilities too.  Coloration comes about when an earphone is lacking or has non-linear traits that over or under emphasize sounds in certain ways.  For example, a thick note with a long decay time would naturally produce a warmer, thicker sound.  This can often times exaggerate the low end, especially if the driver isn't quick and clean enough up top.  I tend to like to talk about note thickness and decay and other traits because it indicates in a lot of ways how an earphone will sound.  Frequency response alone is only one, small part  of the entire presentation.  I EQ every earphone I own, and I EQ all of them (ear) flat, well at least my perception of flat.  Despite all having the same end frequency response, the sound of each earphone varies drastically.  Things like neutral, natural, balanced, etc. come about in part by frequency response but also with heavy dependence on the linearity and range of other traits like a broad and linear dynamic range, having a natural amount of note build up and decay which would include texture/articulation and the resulting thickness and presence of the note, and having a natural sense of energy/power behind the note, not being too laid back/soft or overly aggressive/punchy.  Just reading through this it sort of becomes obvious that frequency response alone is a small part.  It is a driving force of the earphone as the same product EQed two different ways will have almost as much variation in sound as comparing two different earphones completely.  In the end, everything has influence, and we are always looking at the total package.

 

[Raguvian]

Thanks for the review, it's well written and easy to read.

These are by far my most favorite headphones. The instrument separation is azing and I can hear parts of the music that I've never heard before. The bass is also amazing. I'm constantly blown away by how great the highs sound and how powerful the bass is.

I think my favorite thing about these headphones is how comfortable they are, though. Even after several hours with them in my ears I can't feel them at all.

 

[BrianMendoza]

Thanks for the input, Raguvian! I tried to keep words and examples as simple as possible and it's good to know that people recognized it. I have to say they're my favorite too, man. I haven't even looked for my se530's or tripe.fi's after I got my UM3x's.
 
Now, once I save enough I think I'm gunna try and get some custom sleeves made. I don't really want the um56 customs though, cuz I'm looking for something slightly more full sized. I talked to one of the sales reps from westone and he gave me the model number but I really can't remember what it was, I'll just have to call again. But for now I've been switching tips like crazy. I've gone the whole day with the clear flex tips, and I've been pretty satisfied with them.

 

[Young Spade]

^ I always liked the silicon tips with the un3xs; they kept all of the detail and bass in line so nothing was getting overpowered.

Edit: Post number 3,333.

 

[Raguvian]

I'm using the grey tips and I can't complain about the sound at all.

One thing that I've noticed is that these headphones arent very kind to bad quality sound files.

 

[BrianMendoza]

Yeh, I agree with you, young spade, after having the black foams in for a while I felt the sound was getting a bit too muddy, losing some clarity in the higher frequencies. I've been switching between the clear flexes, and the grey soft silicone flexes. As for today, I've done the whole day with the clear flexes, so maybe tomorrow will be a repeat.
 
And, raguvian, I hear you on that one too. Every time I've noticed some crappyness, I'll look down at the file bitrate and it's something under 192kbps. Luckily most of my files are in 256-320 kbps so it's only come up a coulple times, but I definitely see what you're saying.

 

[tnmike1]

Anybody using a Portaphile with these?  I just cannot get the UM3X to sound great with this amp.  Its OK with TOmahawk, but very very warm sound with Portaphile.  Using those squishy mushroom tips that were in the fitkit.  Love the comfort of these but may have to go to something else if I'm gonna use a Portaphile.  Or buy another amp to use with them.
 
Experiences anyone??