Rich, clear and natural sounding, these earphones are a delight to listen to, however, your mileage may vary depending on your hardware and how well this IEM fits you.
When I first tried them on, I was kind of disappointing. It sounded muffled and boomy. Soon I began to experiment with the different tips included in the package.
The Comply foam tips are comfortable and secure, but they do muffle the treble and tend to wear out and become soiled quite quickly. The stock silicon tips do a better job with the sound but I found them to be uncomfortable and quite difficult to get a proper seal. Thankfully I had some Sony hybrid tips lying around which not only provided improved comfort but also opened up the sound improving detail and and soundstage, giving a far more balanced and lush sound that made my toes curl.
Another point to consider is your audio source.
I tried these IEMs with my cheapo ZTE phone and my low end 4GB Sony Walkman and they both sounded boomy in the mid-upper bass region. However, when I tried them with my new Fiio X1 2nd gen, the boominess was gone. It appears that the IM70 is quite susceptible to its sound source.
Something to keep in mind as well, is the comfort... or lack of. These are not IEMs that you can put on and forget about them. They can only be worn in an over-the-ear fashion which may not be comfortable to everyone specially considering the size of these things. After a while I got used to it, but never to the point like my old Sennheiser CX3.00 which completely disappeared from my mind when I put them on.
The build quality can be a bit shabby at times. My first pair suffered from channel imbalance and quite horrendous driver flex. I returned them and got a second pair which although had no issues with balance, it still has some driver flex when I put them on with silicon tips. Also, while changing tips, I noticed the nozzle filter had fallen off the right side. Thankfully I was able to put it back in.
Make sure you keep your receipt in case you need to exchange them.
So bottom line. These earphones have a warm, forward vocal signature with rich, natural sound that is best suited for female vocals but also does a stellar job with almost any genre you throw at it (except death metal, IMO). You do have to keep in mind that you may need to experiment with tips, take the time to fit them properly and ideally use a fairly neutral sound source.If you align your stars and planets correctly, you will end up with an addictive pair of IEMs that will win you over with its smooth, honey dripping tones.
When I first tried them on, I was kind of disappointing. It sounded muffled and boomy. Soon I began to experiment with the different tips included in the package.
The Comply foam tips are comfortable and secure, but they do muffle the treble and tend to wear out and become soiled quite quickly. The stock silicon tips do a better job with the sound but I found them to be uncomfortable and quite difficult to get a proper seal. Thankfully I had some Sony hybrid tips lying around which not only provided improved comfort but also opened up the sound improving detail and and soundstage, giving a far more balanced and lush sound that made my toes curl.
Another point to consider is your audio source.
I tried these IEMs with my cheapo ZTE phone and my low end 4GB Sony Walkman and they both sounded boomy in the mid-upper bass region. However, when I tried them with my new Fiio X1 2nd gen, the boominess was gone. It appears that the IM70 is quite susceptible to its sound source.
Something to keep in mind as well, is the comfort... or lack of. These are not IEMs that you can put on and forget about them. They can only be worn in an over-the-ear fashion which may not be comfortable to everyone specially considering the size of these things. After a while I got used to it, but never to the point like my old Sennheiser CX3.00 which completely disappeared from my mind when I put them on.
The build quality can be a bit shabby at times. My first pair suffered from channel imbalance and quite horrendous driver flex. I returned them and got a second pair which although had no issues with balance, it still has some driver flex when I put them on with silicon tips. Also, while changing tips, I noticed the nozzle filter had fallen off the right side. Thankfully I was able to put it back in.
Make sure you keep your receipt in case you need to exchange them.
So bottom line. These earphones have a warm, forward vocal signature with rich, natural sound that is best suited for female vocals but also does a stellar job with almost any genre you throw at it (except death metal, IMO). You do have to keep in mind that you may need to experiment with tips, take the time to fit them properly and ideally use a fairly neutral sound source.If you align your stars and planets correctly, you will end up with an addictive pair of IEMs that will win you over with its smooth, honey dripping tones.
Did you know the same Chinese's knock off, KZ-ATE, follows the same IM50/70 design? (and for 1/8 fraction of price)