insomniax
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2009
- Posts
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And I would not have taken the plunge if I had the choice. Or so the tale goes.
Those Creative Aurvanas. They were beginning to grow on me because i had never heard anything like them. I was wearing earbuds all along and didn't know what i was missing out on until i came upon them as my first IEMs(and i still thought these things were called earbuds =P). Noise isolation, better soundstage, you name it. And then they died. 9 months on and they died on me. I barely knew you...
Since there was no recourse, I went on my search for my next IEM. Inevitably, Head-fi just came up on Google you know..one of those forum sites you knew you just had to visit. At first I just searched around the boards for more favourable reviews of the Aurvanas, trying to buy myself into the idea of getting another pair.
Oh boy. How reality smacks you in the face. Tons of UNfavourable reviews. Anaemic bass, icky mids and harsh trebles, poor build, overpriced, non-existent customer support. You name it you've got it. Ok ok.. I got the idea. My ego just got run over like a 5-tonner on a Coke can. LOL. Well, almost. It’s not that hard to imagine the feeling when your favourite earphones just got a quarter star rating.
Yeah. Yeah. Snobs. Bigots. What’s all that hype about? It’s just an IEM no biggie. Gosh. You guys run appreciation threads for these lifeless things? How about running an appreciation thread about a living person? I was defeated, but indignant.
That being said, my problem of a replacement hadn’t been solved yet. Deep down inside, my mind was suppressing my ego. Theoretically, if I read enough, I wouldn’t end up making another bad buy. So into the deep end I plunged, reading extensive review after review, comparison after comparison. But so many alien terms…soundstage, resolution, amp, hiss, microphonics, harsh, warm, cold, analytic, bright, dark, sparkle, customs, cans, interconnect, open, flanges, DAC, DAP…..KFC(lunchtime)????….arghh…..headache.
But somehow I couldn’t stop. I just kept clicking. Thread after thread after thread I read. The girl sitting behind me in the office must have been wondering why I was skiving reading forum posts all day instead of getting some work done. Haha. (Note: this forum should be classified NSFW). WHO CARES! It was addictive in a way like no other. Budget shootouts, SQ shootouts, head to head, reviews, appreciation threads. I read all of them. Finally, a few more threads later, I was convinced by several reviews that Head-Direct’s RE2s or Nuforce NE-7M were good budget buys.
So I went down to a recommended audio store in Singapore to get my hands on some. My ears were starving. The store was a small listening post of sorts, with audiophiles huddling around testing different IEMs, frowning so hard while listening I swore their brows were screaming. And then I approached the shopkeeper.
‘Hi, do you carry RE2s or NE-7Ms?’
‘Huh? What are those? Headphones?’
My heart sank. I tried again.
‘RE2s from Head-Direct and NE-7Ms from Nuforce?’
‘Sorry, never heard those, never heard of those.’
I just walked out of the shop. To have missed the mark totally on both counts at an IEM specialist store really takes talent.
It took me 15 minutes and 2 rounds around the complex to get over it. I walked back into the store. This time round I just asked politely: ‘Hi, do you have something that is entry level?’
How that became ‘do you have something with triple armatures?’ never made sense to me but eventually we solved the misunderstanding and sat down. He let me try on Quattros, which I was not satisfied with, Atrios which was good but too rich for my blood, and Denons which I didn’t like as well. Not wanting to take up too much of his time, I took a namecard and promptly left.
I was adamant that the 2 IEMs were definitely punching above their class and not carrying them was a gross mistake of the store. Thus I was pacified. So I went online and found out that Head-Direct’s products were made in China, but many posts later I was convinced the owner is a really nice guy, has good quality products and doesn’t shortchange his customers. Desperately in need of earphones, I went to their website and bought a pair of RE2s + E5, having read some amp threads as well. Total damage : $64 inclusive shipping.
And so the longest week begins.
(Part 2 coming soon.)
[Part 2 UPDATE:]
Time: 2323 on Thursday 18th June 2009
In came the email from Head-Direct about the received payment and the tracking number. Just 2 minutes after the Paypal transaction went through. Nice response. Automated? No idea.
It was the next day that I started to get frenetic about tracking parcels. Constantly griping about the slow movement of the parcel, I decided to check out the feedback on EMS China service. Horror story after horror story. Just squeezing the sanity out of me eh? I even had accounts of Singpost(Singapore Postal) missing out on the deliveries and shipping products back to the country of origin! Noooo!!! I prayed hard. Don’t let this happen to me…
Between F5 refreshes and more forum readings, I decided to check the Head-Direct Sponsored Forum. Stickied right at the top: RE2 and RE0: improved cable and new packing box.
Oh dear. Was my order part of it or was it not? My order had been made prior to the pictures being updated on the website. I stared hard at the pictures.
Cable stiffness and microphonics solution: Fibre-woven cable sleeves. Extension cable solution: Lengthening of main cable and elimination of extensions, no more shiny ‘Head-Direct’ and ‘RE2’ metal jackets. Sad. More filters, shirt clip, and what? No leather case? OMG. Sad x 2.
I started justifying in my head. Packaging and accessories? Or less microphonics? At first I was really convinced I wanted the nice leather case. (Not sure how that stupidity got to me) But microphonics had plagued all my earphones up till now and for once I really wished they would go away. I could live without the box IF the microphonics were solved. And that’s a big IF.
Having this on screen:
2009-06-22 16:48:00City of Shanghai Posting
2009-06-22 17:00:00City of Shanghai Despatch from Sorting Center
2009-06-22 22:30:34SHANGHAI Arrival at Sorting Center
2009-06-22 23:42:00SHANGHAI Despatch from Sorting Center
and nothing much to do over the weekends, I decided I would pay the other audio store a visit. The one at Plaza Singapura. When I arrived, they were about to close for the day. I sneaked in for a quick look around before they pulled the shutters. And it was all there. UEs, Klipsch, Denons, Westone and a nice little testing counter with benches to boot. Then I saw it. NE-8Ms. Left. Right. Top. Bottom. Nope. No sign of NE-7Ms.
I sighed. Sigh of disappointment? Or sigh of relief? I couldn’t really tell.
I was accosted by a shop attendant, possibly eager to help me to help him to knock off early.
‘Hi, do you have Nuforce’s NE-7Ms?’
‘Hang on let me check for you.’ He didn’t show the slightest sign of impatience or irritation. I had hastily misjudged him. Maybe there’s hope in Singapore’s service sector after all!
‘Sir, over here! Are these the ones?’ A swarm of butterflies tunneled into my stomach..
‘erm…yes…these are the ones….’ I glanced at the price tag. $60. Hmm. $49+ shipping. Feels about right. And suddenly I seized up at the realization of how the impulsive buy of RE2s could have costed me dearly. (not really dearly. Just figure of speech.) Had I had the chance to sample the NE-7Ms, I could have made a much more informed decision. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to have a sampling unit readily available and that made me feel slightly better.
For all the hassle of shipping of RE2s and the good things that I subsequently read about the NE-7Ms, I would have taken them without batting an eyelid. Had I not ordered the RE2s. Sigh. Fickle fickle.
Wednesday night of 2009-06-24. Still no updates from the tracking system. Anxiety, anticipation, fear, excitement, worry. It didn’t matter anymore. There was a tightening noose around my neck. I shut down the computer. If not I would probably get OCD from pressing refresh.
Little did I know, Singpost tracking had snuck in this little goodie when I was asleep.
25/06/2009 00:14 SPEEDPOST SERVICE CENTRE Acknowledged Item at Speedpost Processing Centre
25/06/2009 00:14 Despatch Received at Speedpost Processing Centre
Sweet dreams.
Part 3 + RE2 impressions (coming soon)
[Part 3 UPDATE:]
To cut the long story short, Singpost was surprisingly efficient. My mum received the package at 10 am in the morning, just 10 hours after its midnight arrival.
To tell the truth I don’t know whether I should be happy or sad. I got the leather case that was really nice, but at the same time the cables was the stiff microphonic one as before. Can’t have my cake and eat it right? Oh and the E5 is surprisingly small.
RE2 Impressions:
Fresh out of the bag without burn-in: I was hearing this out of my Sony Ericsson W980 phone. Not a dedicated DAP but nevertheless enough for initial sampling. I had time to sample a few songs before dinner. It was really enjoyable because in was sitting in front of the room window at dusk with a light breeze.
Song selection: Sarah Mclachlan - Angel, Vox / Lady Gaga - Just Dance, Pokerface / Joanna Wang - Vincent / Stephanie Sun, A-mei ++
These were the exact comments I scribbled down on my notebook.
Poor base quantity. Average base quality. Slightly muddled. Impact weak.
-Don’t expect the RE2s to impress on bass straight out of the box. Quality, quantity, impact are all lacking. Lady Gaga’s Just Dance sounds like her talking cause bass is really out for the night. (hint hint: burn in MORE upward of 2 days + amp)
Strong mids. Superb detail.
-Sarah Mclachlan’s Angel was a jaw-dropper on this one. Even straight out of the box, the mids were so well represented. Not loud, not oppressing just smooth.
-Noted Sarah Mclachlan’s Vox sounded like a different beast even though I’ve heard the album so many times. The arrangement at the start sounds so bright and clean it feels someone just cleaned my ears. Nice.
Bright treble. No harshness.
-Can hardly ask for anything more from the treble. Recommended with all female vocals. For those of you who listen to Chinese pop, give 張惠妹’s 讓每個人都心碎 a spin. Towards the end when she hits the high notes, just focus. No hiss, no harshness, no ear-piercing treble. Just pitch perfection and pure emotion.
Gd soundstage. At least above its class.
-Really wide at the sides, slightly smaller at front and back. Despite large soundstage, spatial resolution lacks PINPOINT accuracy. (too much to ask of a sub-$50 earphones eh?)
Temporal resolution: Clean, tight. Quick drum arrangements are not glossed over. Each and every beat is well defined.
Frequency extension: Low freq needs more extension, but high freq is really there. Just a wee bit more? I’m a greedy kid…
Microphonics: Really bad without a clip, better with a clip. Not a problem if you’re in the office. Not even a problem on transport. Just not walking/ running. The cable is so stiff I could lift 2 far ends of the cable and it WON’T sag. Needs more massaging I guess?
Build and accessories: Plain solid. Erm..PLAIN and SOLID. Get the idea? Tons of tips, clip and 2 pair of replacement filters. The new versions sport fibre-woven cable sleeves so someone might want to let us know if they’re good.
Overall feel: Definitely not warm. Cold, analytic,accurate but not a very rounded sound. Not for those looking for fun/lively sound signatures. (You won’t be dancing to this one. You’ll be watching the sunset. Or those lights on the sea.) If you’ve been following one brand’s signature faithfully, it WILL take some getting used to.
Value: Worth every single cent of it at this price range. Definitely yes for mids-lovers and trebleheads, not for bassheads (except the quality> quantity types)
Really hope this long-winded post is of some help for new head-fiers who are finding their way around. Never ever think that you do not have the ears for this hobby. Because hearing is believing.
Cheers. Remy~
(Special thanks to ClieOS, tstarn06 and HeadphoneAddict for their informative reviews. and all others who have contributed but i have neglected to mention.)
Those Creative Aurvanas. They were beginning to grow on me because i had never heard anything like them. I was wearing earbuds all along and didn't know what i was missing out on until i came upon them as my first IEMs(and i still thought these things were called earbuds =P). Noise isolation, better soundstage, you name it. And then they died. 9 months on and they died on me. I barely knew you...
Since there was no recourse, I went on my search for my next IEM. Inevitably, Head-fi just came up on Google you know..one of those forum sites you knew you just had to visit. At first I just searched around the boards for more favourable reviews of the Aurvanas, trying to buy myself into the idea of getting another pair.
Oh boy. How reality smacks you in the face. Tons of UNfavourable reviews. Anaemic bass, icky mids and harsh trebles, poor build, overpriced, non-existent customer support. You name it you've got it. Ok ok.. I got the idea. My ego just got run over like a 5-tonner on a Coke can. LOL. Well, almost. It’s not that hard to imagine the feeling when your favourite earphones just got a quarter star rating.
Yeah. Yeah. Snobs. Bigots. What’s all that hype about? It’s just an IEM no biggie. Gosh. You guys run appreciation threads for these lifeless things? How about running an appreciation thread about a living person? I was defeated, but indignant.
That being said, my problem of a replacement hadn’t been solved yet. Deep down inside, my mind was suppressing my ego. Theoretically, if I read enough, I wouldn’t end up making another bad buy. So into the deep end I plunged, reading extensive review after review, comparison after comparison. But so many alien terms…soundstage, resolution, amp, hiss, microphonics, harsh, warm, cold, analytic, bright, dark, sparkle, customs, cans, interconnect, open, flanges, DAC, DAP…..KFC(lunchtime)????….arghh…..headache.
But somehow I couldn’t stop. I just kept clicking. Thread after thread after thread I read. The girl sitting behind me in the office must have been wondering why I was skiving reading forum posts all day instead of getting some work done. Haha. (Note: this forum should be classified NSFW). WHO CARES! It was addictive in a way like no other. Budget shootouts, SQ shootouts, head to head, reviews, appreciation threads. I read all of them. Finally, a few more threads later, I was convinced by several reviews that Head-Direct’s RE2s or Nuforce NE-7M were good budget buys.
So I went down to a recommended audio store in Singapore to get my hands on some. My ears were starving. The store was a small listening post of sorts, with audiophiles huddling around testing different IEMs, frowning so hard while listening I swore their brows were screaming. And then I approached the shopkeeper.
‘Hi, do you carry RE2s or NE-7Ms?’
‘Huh? What are those? Headphones?’
My heart sank. I tried again.
‘RE2s from Head-Direct and NE-7Ms from Nuforce?’
‘Sorry, never heard those, never heard of those.’
I just walked out of the shop. To have missed the mark totally on both counts at an IEM specialist store really takes talent.
It took me 15 minutes and 2 rounds around the complex to get over it. I walked back into the store. This time round I just asked politely: ‘Hi, do you have something that is entry level?’
How that became ‘do you have something with triple armatures?’ never made sense to me but eventually we solved the misunderstanding and sat down. He let me try on Quattros, which I was not satisfied with, Atrios which was good but too rich for my blood, and Denons which I didn’t like as well. Not wanting to take up too much of his time, I took a namecard and promptly left.
I was adamant that the 2 IEMs were definitely punching above their class and not carrying them was a gross mistake of the store. Thus I was pacified. So I went online and found out that Head-Direct’s products were made in China, but many posts later I was convinced the owner is a really nice guy, has good quality products and doesn’t shortchange his customers. Desperately in need of earphones, I went to their website and bought a pair of RE2s + E5, having read some amp threads as well. Total damage : $64 inclusive shipping.
And so the longest week begins.
(Part 2 coming soon.)
[Part 2 UPDATE:]
Time: 2323 on Thursday 18th June 2009
In came the email from Head-Direct about the received payment and the tracking number. Just 2 minutes after the Paypal transaction went through. Nice response. Automated? No idea.
It was the next day that I started to get frenetic about tracking parcels. Constantly griping about the slow movement of the parcel, I decided to check out the feedback on EMS China service. Horror story after horror story. Just squeezing the sanity out of me eh? I even had accounts of Singpost(Singapore Postal) missing out on the deliveries and shipping products back to the country of origin! Noooo!!! I prayed hard. Don’t let this happen to me…
Between F5 refreshes and more forum readings, I decided to check the Head-Direct Sponsored Forum. Stickied right at the top: RE2 and RE0: improved cable and new packing box.
Oh dear. Was my order part of it or was it not? My order had been made prior to the pictures being updated on the website. I stared hard at the pictures.
Cable stiffness and microphonics solution: Fibre-woven cable sleeves. Extension cable solution: Lengthening of main cable and elimination of extensions, no more shiny ‘Head-Direct’ and ‘RE2’ metal jackets. Sad. More filters, shirt clip, and what? No leather case? OMG. Sad x 2.
I started justifying in my head. Packaging and accessories? Or less microphonics? At first I was really convinced I wanted the nice leather case. (Not sure how that stupidity got to me) But microphonics had plagued all my earphones up till now and for once I really wished they would go away. I could live without the box IF the microphonics were solved. And that’s a big IF.
Having this on screen:
2009-06-22 16:48:00City of Shanghai Posting
2009-06-22 17:00:00City of Shanghai Despatch from Sorting Center
2009-06-22 22:30:34SHANGHAI Arrival at Sorting Center
2009-06-22 23:42:00SHANGHAI Despatch from Sorting Center
and nothing much to do over the weekends, I decided I would pay the other audio store a visit. The one at Plaza Singapura. When I arrived, they were about to close for the day. I sneaked in for a quick look around before they pulled the shutters. And it was all there. UEs, Klipsch, Denons, Westone and a nice little testing counter with benches to boot. Then I saw it. NE-8Ms. Left. Right. Top. Bottom. Nope. No sign of NE-7Ms.
I sighed. Sigh of disappointment? Or sigh of relief? I couldn’t really tell.
I was accosted by a shop attendant, possibly eager to help me to help him to knock off early.
‘Hi, do you have Nuforce’s NE-7Ms?’
‘Hang on let me check for you.’ He didn’t show the slightest sign of impatience or irritation. I had hastily misjudged him. Maybe there’s hope in Singapore’s service sector after all!
‘Sir, over here! Are these the ones?’ A swarm of butterflies tunneled into my stomach..
‘erm…yes…these are the ones….’ I glanced at the price tag. $60. Hmm. $49+ shipping. Feels about right. And suddenly I seized up at the realization of how the impulsive buy of RE2s could have costed me dearly. (not really dearly. Just figure of speech.) Had I had the chance to sample the NE-7Ms, I could have made a much more informed decision. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to have a sampling unit readily available and that made me feel slightly better.
For all the hassle of shipping of RE2s and the good things that I subsequently read about the NE-7Ms, I would have taken them without batting an eyelid. Had I not ordered the RE2s. Sigh. Fickle fickle.
Wednesday night of 2009-06-24. Still no updates from the tracking system. Anxiety, anticipation, fear, excitement, worry. It didn’t matter anymore. There was a tightening noose around my neck. I shut down the computer. If not I would probably get OCD from pressing refresh.
Little did I know, Singpost tracking had snuck in this little goodie when I was asleep.
25/06/2009 00:14 SPEEDPOST SERVICE CENTRE Acknowledged Item at Speedpost Processing Centre
25/06/2009 00:14 Despatch Received at Speedpost Processing Centre
Sweet dreams.
Part 3 + RE2 impressions (coming soon)
[Part 3 UPDATE:]
To cut the long story short, Singpost was surprisingly efficient. My mum received the package at 10 am in the morning, just 10 hours after its midnight arrival.
To tell the truth I don’t know whether I should be happy or sad. I got the leather case that was really nice, but at the same time the cables was the stiff microphonic one as before. Can’t have my cake and eat it right? Oh and the E5 is surprisingly small.
RE2 Impressions:
Fresh out of the bag without burn-in: I was hearing this out of my Sony Ericsson W980 phone. Not a dedicated DAP but nevertheless enough for initial sampling. I had time to sample a few songs before dinner. It was really enjoyable because in was sitting in front of the room window at dusk with a light breeze.
Song selection: Sarah Mclachlan - Angel, Vox / Lady Gaga - Just Dance, Pokerface / Joanna Wang - Vincent / Stephanie Sun, A-mei ++
These were the exact comments I scribbled down on my notebook.
Poor base quantity. Average base quality. Slightly muddled. Impact weak.
-Don’t expect the RE2s to impress on bass straight out of the box. Quality, quantity, impact are all lacking. Lady Gaga’s Just Dance sounds like her talking cause bass is really out for the night. (hint hint: burn in MORE upward of 2 days + amp)
Strong mids. Superb detail.
-Sarah Mclachlan’s Angel was a jaw-dropper on this one. Even straight out of the box, the mids were so well represented. Not loud, not oppressing just smooth.
-Noted Sarah Mclachlan’s Vox sounded like a different beast even though I’ve heard the album so many times. The arrangement at the start sounds so bright and clean it feels someone just cleaned my ears. Nice.
Bright treble. No harshness.
-Can hardly ask for anything more from the treble. Recommended with all female vocals. For those of you who listen to Chinese pop, give 張惠妹’s 讓每個人都心碎 a spin. Towards the end when she hits the high notes, just focus. No hiss, no harshness, no ear-piercing treble. Just pitch perfection and pure emotion.
Gd soundstage. At least above its class.
-Really wide at the sides, slightly smaller at front and back. Despite large soundstage, spatial resolution lacks PINPOINT accuracy. (too much to ask of a sub-$50 earphones eh?)
Temporal resolution: Clean, tight. Quick drum arrangements are not glossed over. Each and every beat is well defined.
Frequency extension: Low freq needs more extension, but high freq is really there. Just a wee bit more? I’m a greedy kid…
Microphonics: Really bad without a clip, better with a clip. Not a problem if you’re in the office. Not even a problem on transport. Just not walking/ running. The cable is so stiff I could lift 2 far ends of the cable and it WON’T sag. Needs more massaging I guess?
Build and accessories: Plain solid. Erm..PLAIN and SOLID. Get the idea? Tons of tips, clip and 2 pair of replacement filters. The new versions sport fibre-woven cable sleeves so someone might want to let us know if they’re good.
Overall feel: Definitely not warm. Cold, analytic,accurate but not a very rounded sound. Not for those looking for fun/lively sound signatures. (You won’t be dancing to this one. You’ll be watching the sunset. Or those lights on the sea.) If you’ve been following one brand’s signature faithfully, it WILL take some getting used to.
Value: Worth every single cent of it at this price range. Definitely yes for mids-lovers and trebleheads, not for bassheads (except the quality> quantity types)
Really hope this long-winded post is of some help for new head-fiers who are finding their way around. Never ever think that you do not have the ears for this hobby. Because hearing is believing.
Cheers. Remy~
(Special thanks to ClieOS, tstarn06 and HeadphoneAddict for their informative reviews. and all others who have contributed but i have neglected to mention.)
