Shroune
Head-Fier
Introduction
There was big hype when this company came out for a reason that escapes my mind. Probably because they offered “good” products at a what is considered a descent price. Short after releasing the 1More triple driver, they came out with the 1More quad driver. At the time of the second release, there was a big price gap between the two products for not a big change in sound. Now, there’s a smaller gap between the two and when the quads go on sale on “Drop.com”, there’s an even smaller price difference. Did they live up to the hype? Let’s find out in this review.
Build quality
The materials used for the 1mores are just awesome. Even if the cable is non-detachable, I don’t have any complaints for it as it made out of Kevlar, it’s not “janky” and uses aluminum for connection and splitter. The drivers are housed in a machined aluminum housing.
Microphone
Playing on my Xbox and doing phone calls, people tell me the mic is clear, but doesn’t block ambient sound very well due to its detailed nature. It also has a play/pause and volume up and down button where the microphone is.
Imaging
Imaging is one of this IEM’s strong points. You can pin-point every sound with exactitude. Separation is extremely good and well-defined. Sounds can have depth and they can be either close or far simultaneously.
Detail retrieval
I hear things in these that I never heard before even in my Focal Elex’s. Detail is just mind-blowing and shoved in your face. If you listen to a bad recording, these will let you know. Heavy bass notes will strike, and you will hear them fade away slowly. I hear voice crackle and small sounds VERY clearly. It’s certainly a strong point of this monitor.
Tonality
I can see this part as being the deal-breaker for many people. It’s the IEM’s weakest point. The problem is that it uses a “diamond-like carbon dynamic driver”. To me this material has a sound. Just like titanium, aluminum-magnesium and copper have all a distinct sound, I definitely can hear that carbon tonality. It is far from good and is annoying to me. I can usually tolerate a timbre that is slightly derived from perfect, but the 1More’s gets on my nerves.
Dynamics
Nothing much to say here except that this has about an average dynamic range capability.
Bass
The 1More Quads have a streamline tuning, so the bass is elevated. Its good but not great. Its slow and bleeds slightly into the midrange. Here they prioritized quantity over quality. Is it problematic? No, it’s still pretty good. It has impact, texture and extends down to the inaudible without losing any power. There’s a gradual hump from 80-200hz explaining why the bass has slam and why it bleeds into the midrange. This is usually what I need in a headphone to keep me wanting to listen to them throughout the day, but that’s purely preference.
Midrange
Except for timbre, midrange is very good. Vocals come forward in an unbothered manner with every instrument placed where they should be. Voices have a bit of a warm and comforting tonality to them. They are extremely detailed and nothing like I’ve ever heard before. Unfortunately, the bad timbre was a deal-breaker for me. There’s about a 7db gradual dip at 1k giving it a v-shaped frequency response. Though, I did not find vocals to sound distant by any stretch of the imagination. I have never heard a strange midrange like this before and because of this reason, I’m not a fan of the 1More’s.
Treble
The highs are also detailed and smooth. I wouldn’t describe them as bright as they’re relaxing on songs that I normally find fatiguing on other headphones. No detail is missing whatsoever in this department. The treble is haze-free and while not being on the brighter side of things, I would categorize it as being slightly veiled.
Conclusion
In the end, what do I search in headphones or IEM’s? A connection with the music. This is a perfect example of great product with great technicalities, but something is missing for me to make me dance to the music. Do I still recommend it? Yes, but only if you need a cheap IEM for monitoring or for gaming since it has a mic. Gaming is mainly what I use them for, due to their resolving nature. I love to use them to hear details clearly in games. I also wanted to mention that I broke them in for about 100 hours and found that there was a slight positive change in bass control. These really reminded me of the Fostex TH-X00 headphone. The sound signature was almost the same with both having similar flaws. People having to answer to phone calls all day don’t have many options other than these. It definitely has great technicalities and for those seeking for a “fun” tuning, I could see them as being a cheap addition to any IEM collection.
There was big hype when this company came out for a reason that escapes my mind. Probably because they offered “good” products at a what is considered a descent price. Short after releasing the 1More triple driver, they came out with the 1More quad driver. At the time of the second release, there was a big price gap between the two products for not a big change in sound. Now, there’s a smaller gap between the two and when the quads go on sale on “Drop.com”, there’s an even smaller price difference. Did they live up to the hype? Let’s find out in this review.
Build quality
The materials used for the 1mores are just awesome. Even if the cable is non-detachable, I don’t have any complaints for it as it made out of Kevlar, it’s not “janky” and uses aluminum for connection and splitter. The drivers are housed in a machined aluminum housing.
Microphone
Playing on my Xbox and doing phone calls, people tell me the mic is clear, but doesn’t block ambient sound very well due to its detailed nature. It also has a play/pause and volume up and down button where the microphone is.
Imaging
Imaging is one of this IEM’s strong points. You can pin-point every sound with exactitude. Separation is extremely good and well-defined. Sounds can have depth and they can be either close or far simultaneously.
Detail retrieval
I hear things in these that I never heard before even in my Focal Elex’s. Detail is just mind-blowing and shoved in your face. If you listen to a bad recording, these will let you know. Heavy bass notes will strike, and you will hear them fade away slowly. I hear voice crackle and small sounds VERY clearly. It’s certainly a strong point of this monitor.
Tonality
I can see this part as being the deal-breaker for many people. It’s the IEM’s weakest point. The problem is that it uses a “diamond-like carbon dynamic driver”. To me this material has a sound. Just like titanium, aluminum-magnesium and copper have all a distinct sound, I definitely can hear that carbon tonality. It is far from good and is annoying to me. I can usually tolerate a timbre that is slightly derived from perfect, but the 1More’s gets on my nerves.
Dynamics
Nothing much to say here except that this has about an average dynamic range capability.
Bass
The 1More Quads have a streamline tuning, so the bass is elevated. Its good but not great. Its slow and bleeds slightly into the midrange. Here they prioritized quantity over quality. Is it problematic? No, it’s still pretty good. It has impact, texture and extends down to the inaudible without losing any power. There’s a gradual hump from 80-200hz explaining why the bass has slam and why it bleeds into the midrange. This is usually what I need in a headphone to keep me wanting to listen to them throughout the day, but that’s purely preference.
Midrange
Except for timbre, midrange is very good. Vocals come forward in an unbothered manner with every instrument placed where they should be. Voices have a bit of a warm and comforting tonality to them. They are extremely detailed and nothing like I’ve ever heard before. Unfortunately, the bad timbre was a deal-breaker for me. There’s about a 7db gradual dip at 1k giving it a v-shaped frequency response. Though, I did not find vocals to sound distant by any stretch of the imagination. I have never heard a strange midrange like this before and because of this reason, I’m not a fan of the 1More’s.
Treble
The highs are also detailed and smooth. I wouldn’t describe them as bright as they’re relaxing on songs that I normally find fatiguing on other headphones. No detail is missing whatsoever in this department. The treble is haze-free and while not being on the brighter side of things, I would categorize it as being slightly veiled.
Conclusion
In the end, what do I search in headphones or IEM’s? A connection with the music. This is a perfect example of great product with great technicalities, but something is missing for me to make me dance to the music. Do I still recommend it? Yes, but only if you need a cheap IEM for monitoring or for gaming since it has a mic. Gaming is mainly what I use them for, due to their resolving nature. I love to use them to hear details clearly in games. I also wanted to mention that I broke them in for about 100 hours and found that there was a slight positive change in bass control. These really reminded me of the Fostex TH-X00 headphone. The sound signature was almost the same with both having similar flaws. People having to answer to phone calls all day don’t have many options other than these. It definitely has great technicalities and for those seeking for a “fun” tuning, I could see them as being a cheap addition to any IEM collection.
