vkalia
500+ Head-Fier
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I had posted a question earlier asking about warm, musical headphones for people who care about timbral accuracy, and didnt get too many suggestions. So in the event there are others looking for something similar, here is my comparision of a few of IEMs.
Some background about my biases/preferences: I have spent 20 years listening to music on a variety of fairly high-end 2-channel systems, ranging from all the Stereophile-approved stuff and ending with a pair of custom-made 2A3 amps. I listen to wide genre of music, with a heavy dose of classical music (mostly from the Romantic era, and heavy on Russians - virtually no baroque/chamber stuff) but also rock, rap and occasional jazz. So Shostakovich, NWA, Metallica, Stones, Sabbath, etc. I attend 8-10 classical concerts a year, at minimum, and know the what unamplified instruments sound like in real life - and that sound is my reference, not a linear response or measurable accuracy.
That said, i am also an engineer by training, and i have a healthy awareness of how people's perceptions can be biased based on their expectations as well as minute changes in decibel level. So there isnt going to be a lot of flowery prose here - more a summary of impressions, with a baseline of "musicality" as my reference.
With that lengthy intro out of the way... I was looking for a secondary pair of headphones. I listen to LCD2 and HD800s on my home rig, Oppo PM-1s/ HD 650s in semi-portable setup (workspace) and Sine/Shure 846s when on the go (which is 4 flights and 10 days a month on the road, on average). The 846s have a custom-molded ear tips by Sensaphonics, which provide great insulation, but are a pain in the rear to take in and out - so not the most convenient when i may be getting interrupted. The secondary pair was meant to be something i could use for more casual listening situations, where taking them in/out on a regular basis was a possibility.
Now, i love the sound of the 846s. They come the cloests out of any IEMS i have tried, when it comes to replicating the sound of a raging orchestra (which is the same thing I like about the LCD2s and my 2A3 tube amps). This is the sound signature i like - strong bass presence (not be confused with tight bass. There is no such thing as tight bass in an orchestra hall. The bass reverbates in the room and sticks around for a while), warm and luscious mids and smooth, somewhat rolled off treble but with enough bite in the leading edge to replicate the timbre of violins or the splash of cymbals. And this was the sort of sound signature I wanted my target IEMs to have.
I had a pair of Shure SE 535s, which i passed on to my better half when i got the 846s. I was very happy with them and one of my options was to get another 535. But i would have preferred to get something with a slightly different palette, if possible, just to provide a different listening experience - although this palette would still have to fit in my preferred sound described above.
As luck would have it, i was flying through Singapore with a few days to spare, and dedicated a day to trying out IEMS.
My first comparison, at Shop No 1, was of the Unique Melody Martians, Noble Sage, Noble Dulce Bass and Westone W40s.
I cannot stand bright treble, and my acid test for this is Track #14 from Fiedler conducting Offenbach's Gaite Parisienne (Allegro Vivace - Misterioso), on RCA's Living Stereo CD. The Martians made me want to kick kittens and were immediately ruled out. The other 3 did a lot better: the Nobles replicated the splashiness of the cymbals without being painful, while the W40s actually took it a bit too far and were a bit too rolled off, even for my tastes.
I then listened to a variety of music which highlight the various aspects of performance important to me: Solti's seminal rendering of Dvorak's 9th for slam, Pavarotti singing "Nessun Dorma" for midrange/presence, the last 3 minutes of Charles Dutoit for replicating the visceral impact of an orchestra, Metallica's Fade to Black cos it is simply an awesome song and a few more tracks.
Here the 3 IEMs all had their strengths and weaknesses. The W40s had the best midrange of the lot: luscious, rich, full of presence. But the lack of treble made it seem as though i was seated all the way in the back of the concert hall. A bit too easy listening, although this was probably the ml type of sound you could listen to for hours without tiring. And they were also the most comfortable of the lot. The added bass of the Dulces provided more body to contrabassoons and timpani, but also sounded a bit artificial with other music. The Sages were nice but for whatever reason, they didn't jump out in any one area (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).
That said, i wasnt able to connect with any of these 3, and I cannot put my finger on why this was so.
The best way to describe it is as follows: with each of these 3 IEMs, I was hearing the headphones, and not the music. I dont know how else to describe it - i could hear a "sonic signature" with each of the songs and was thinking in terms of analyzing the sound in terms of highs/mids/lows, as opposed to enjoying the music as a cohesive whole. It reminded me a little of my audioweenie days when I would fuss with speaker toe-in and try to discern minor differences in sound: these IEMs had me focused on the sound and not the music.
The shop guy then asked me try the Westone W60s and Noble Djangos. Holy moly - what a difference. First of all, anyone who stays the W60s are same as the W40s, only slightly better, is very wrong. They arent slightly better. They are head and shoulders better. They sound like music. As do the Djangos. When i was listening to these 2 IEMs, i stopped comparing mids/lows/highs, and just got into the music. Pianos sounded like pianos, violins sounded like violins, and so on.
Both of these were IEMs i could own and listen to - but they were both more than i wanted to spend for a secondary pair of IEMs, if i could avoid it. So i didnt spend too much time doing a critical comparison, thinking i'd go try out some other IEMs elsewhere and come back to them if i couldnt find anything to satisfy in the $500 range. However, of memory, the W60s were a little more warm/luscious, while the Djangos were a little bit more balanced - but only relative to each other. Both had a warm, smooth sound with plenty of body to the instruments, and both of them sounded like music, not "IEMs with a sound signature".
Went to a different shop and tried out the 64 Audio U3, U4 and U6, Fidue A91s.
All of them sounded like music as well (as described above). Yes, they had their differences but i could have been happy with any of them. However, the Fidues didnt sit too comfortably in my ears, so i ruled them out fairly quickly. Between the U4 and U6s, i found the U6s to be superior in musicality, as well in the body of the instruments. Everything from timpani to male vocals to guitar had more heft to it. So that left the battle between the U3 and U6s. I found the U6s to be more enticing initially - however, i felt the sound of the U3s was a bit more accurate and in the long term, it was less likely to get tiring as the U6, which, while very pleasant sounding, did have its own slight sonic signature.
So i left with the U3s. Listening to them as i type this, and am very happy with the decision. They are comfy, no ear fatigue, no listening fatigue and the music is very engaging.
Are they better headphones than the Djangos or Westone W60s? I dont know - the listening sessions were far enough apart for me to not be able to provide a direct A/B comparison. However, off memory, i think the W60s and Djangos had a richness to the timbre that the U3 lack - however, the U3s are close enough and have a sonic signature that sounds like music: for my intended purpose that is good enough and i am very happy with the purchase.
Oh yeah, i also tried out the Fender XA7s. Meh. Listened to them for about 15 seconds and took them off. I also had a chance to hear some baby Stax. Oh. My. God. Decent for orchestral music, but for vocals, they gave me goosebumps. I see myself picking up one next time i am in Singapore.
Hope that helps others who are in a similar boat re musicality.
Some background about my biases/preferences: I have spent 20 years listening to music on a variety of fairly high-end 2-channel systems, ranging from all the Stereophile-approved stuff and ending with a pair of custom-made 2A3 amps. I listen to wide genre of music, with a heavy dose of classical music (mostly from the Romantic era, and heavy on Russians - virtually no baroque/chamber stuff) but also rock, rap and occasional jazz. So Shostakovich, NWA, Metallica, Stones, Sabbath, etc. I attend 8-10 classical concerts a year, at minimum, and know the what unamplified instruments sound like in real life - and that sound is my reference, not a linear response or measurable accuracy.
That said, i am also an engineer by training, and i have a healthy awareness of how people's perceptions can be biased based on their expectations as well as minute changes in decibel level. So there isnt going to be a lot of flowery prose here - more a summary of impressions, with a baseline of "musicality" as my reference.
With that lengthy intro out of the way... I was looking for a secondary pair of headphones. I listen to LCD2 and HD800s on my home rig, Oppo PM-1s/ HD 650s in semi-portable setup (workspace) and Sine/Shure 846s when on the go (which is 4 flights and 10 days a month on the road, on average). The 846s have a custom-molded ear tips by Sensaphonics, which provide great insulation, but are a pain in the rear to take in and out - so not the most convenient when i may be getting interrupted. The secondary pair was meant to be something i could use for more casual listening situations, where taking them in/out on a regular basis was a possibility.
Now, i love the sound of the 846s. They come the cloests out of any IEMS i have tried, when it comes to replicating the sound of a raging orchestra (which is the same thing I like about the LCD2s and my 2A3 tube amps). This is the sound signature i like - strong bass presence (not be confused with tight bass. There is no such thing as tight bass in an orchestra hall. The bass reverbates in the room and sticks around for a while), warm and luscious mids and smooth, somewhat rolled off treble but with enough bite in the leading edge to replicate the timbre of violins or the splash of cymbals. And this was the sort of sound signature I wanted my target IEMs to have.
I had a pair of Shure SE 535s, which i passed on to my better half when i got the 846s. I was very happy with them and one of my options was to get another 535. But i would have preferred to get something with a slightly different palette, if possible, just to provide a different listening experience - although this palette would still have to fit in my preferred sound described above.
As luck would have it, i was flying through Singapore with a few days to spare, and dedicated a day to trying out IEMS.
My first comparison, at Shop No 1, was of the Unique Melody Martians, Noble Sage, Noble Dulce Bass and Westone W40s.
I cannot stand bright treble, and my acid test for this is Track #14 from Fiedler conducting Offenbach's Gaite Parisienne (Allegro Vivace - Misterioso), on RCA's Living Stereo CD. The Martians made me want to kick kittens and were immediately ruled out. The other 3 did a lot better: the Nobles replicated the splashiness of the cymbals without being painful, while the W40s actually took it a bit too far and were a bit too rolled off, even for my tastes.
I then listened to a variety of music which highlight the various aspects of performance important to me: Solti's seminal rendering of Dvorak's 9th for slam, Pavarotti singing "Nessun Dorma" for midrange/presence, the last 3 minutes of Charles Dutoit for replicating the visceral impact of an orchestra, Metallica's Fade to Black cos it is simply an awesome song and a few more tracks.
Here the 3 IEMs all had their strengths and weaknesses. The W40s had the best midrange of the lot: luscious, rich, full of presence. But the lack of treble made it seem as though i was seated all the way in the back of the concert hall. A bit too easy listening, although this was probably the ml type of sound you could listen to for hours without tiring. And they were also the most comfortable of the lot. The added bass of the Dulces provided more body to contrabassoons and timpani, but also sounded a bit artificial with other music. The Sages were nice but for whatever reason, they didn't jump out in any one area (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).
That said, i wasnt able to connect with any of these 3, and I cannot put my finger on why this was so.
The best way to describe it is as follows: with each of these 3 IEMs, I was hearing the headphones, and not the music. I dont know how else to describe it - i could hear a "sonic signature" with each of the songs and was thinking in terms of analyzing the sound in terms of highs/mids/lows, as opposed to enjoying the music as a cohesive whole. It reminded me a little of my audioweenie days when I would fuss with speaker toe-in and try to discern minor differences in sound: these IEMs had me focused on the sound and not the music.
The shop guy then asked me try the Westone W60s and Noble Djangos. Holy moly - what a difference. First of all, anyone who stays the W60s are same as the W40s, only slightly better, is very wrong. They arent slightly better. They are head and shoulders better. They sound like music. As do the Djangos. When i was listening to these 2 IEMs, i stopped comparing mids/lows/highs, and just got into the music. Pianos sounded like pianos, violins sounded like violins, and so on.
Both of these were IEMs i could own and listen to - but they were both more than i wanted to spend for a secondary pair of IEMs, if i could avoid it. So i didnt spend too much time doing a critical comparison, thinking i'd go try out some other IEMs elsewhere and come back to them if i couldnt find anything to satisfy in the $500 range. However, of memory, the W60s were a little more warm/luscious, while the Djangos were a little bit more balanced - but only relative to each other. Both had a warm, smooth sound with plenty of body to the instruments, and both of them sounded like music, not "IEMs with a sound signature".
Went to a different shop and tried out the 64 Audio U3, U4 and U6, Fidue A91s.
All of them sounded like music as well (as described above). Yes, they had their differences but i could have been happy with any of them. However, the Fidues didnt sit too comfortably in my ears, so i ruled them out fairly quickly. Between the U4 and U6s, i found the U6s to be superior in musicality, as well in the body of the instruments. Everything from timpani to male vocals to guitar had more heft to it. So that left the battle between the U3 and U6s. I found the U6s to be more enticing initially - however, i felt the sound of the U3s was a bit more accurate and in the long term, it was less likely to get tiring as the U6, which, while very pleasant sounding, did have its own slight sonic signature.
So i left with the U3s. Listening to them as i type this, and am very happy with the decision. They are comfy, no ear fatigue, no listening fatigue and the music is very engaging.
Are they better headphones than the Djangos or Westone W60s? I dont know - the listening sessions were far enough apart for me to not be able to provide a direct A/B comparison. However, off memory, i think the W60s and Djangos had a richness to the timbre that the U3 lack - however, the U3s are close enough and have a sonic signature that sounds like music: for my intended purpose that is good enough and i am very happy with the purchase.
Oh yeah, i also tried out the Fender XA7s. Meh. Listened to them for about 15 seconds and took them off. I also had a chance to hear some baby Stax. Oh. My. God. Decent for orchestral music, but for vocals, they gave me goosebumps. I see myself picking up one next time i am in Singapore.
Hope that helps others who are in a similar boat re musicality.
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