As promised...
SONY MH1 vs. AKG K3003
Intro
I've been waiting a long time do this review, and many thanks go out to Mr. Outta Sync for his tenacity in sticking with this mini-tour. It's had it's share of snags, including a rather lengthy RMA, but he stayed true to his word and got the alleged King of Incoherence out to our eager ears.
These are two very capable iems. As noted in a
previous review, I find the MH1 to offer very literal top-tier sound. I've placed it up with the UERM, ER4S, IE800, etc. and at the still available price of
about $20. It really is unbelievable. So here I sit with a new contender, the
over $1200 AKG K3003.
Build
Let's just get this out the way: the cable on the MH1 sucks. It's been said 1000 times, so no need to rehash the details here. It sucks plain and simple. In contrast, the K3003 sports a beautiful cloth cable. It's light and doesn't tangle easily, while its pliability allows for an easy and comfortable over-the-ear fit. It's basically the complete opposite of the MH1, so if usability is your number one priority, the MH1 is not your iem. But if you put sound above all other criteria, then read on...
Bass
Quite simply, the K3003 beats the MH1 in the bass department (imo and ymmv of course). The K3003 renders bass lines with less emphasis and tighter detail, while more clearly delineating the start and stop of each bass note. This is compared to a stock MH1 with the bass vents covered to reduce bass by 1-2dB. The relatively more boomy bass of the MH1 likely has something to the do with a distortion figure approaching 1% towards 20Hz. Regarding emphasis, I'd put the K3003 about 3dB below the MH1 at 50Hz.
The K3003 flaunted its bass superiority on every track I tested it with, making for a very consistent showing. Mid-bass bleed is very minimal, less than or at least very close to the MH1. The K3003 is not a particularly warm sounding iem, not only because of its bass characteristics. It has a few things going on the mids and treble affecting it's overall tonality.
Mids
Despite having some pretty glorious bass, the K3003 loses to the MH1's flawless mids. Let me explain. I haven't listened to the seriously MH1 for quite some time prior to this review. That duty has fallen on the giant shoulders of my ER4S, which has been getting 99.9% of my listening time for a few months now. The mids on that iem are imo the most accurate available on any iem, especially with the red filters. So upon switching back to the MH1 last night, it was natural to expect a little compromise. Not so. The mids on the MH1 are every bit as natural and clear as they are on the ER4S, with the slightest hint of warmth from the emphasized bass. A minor MH1 bass reduction eq produces perfectly linear mids to my ears.
Vocals on the K3003 are a bit strident, and switching back to the MH1 brings a welcome smoothness to vocals, especially for females and voices that tend toward sibilance. AKG's 6k bump is the likely culprit here, accentuating certain sibilance oriented parts of speech, while it's 3k dip takes away some body and emphasis in songs like Damien Rice's
Silent Night live from the Union Chapel. Lisa Hannigan's voice sounds just plain colder and more clinical on the AKG. And vocalists like Jeff Buckley and Freddie Mercury who struggle with sibilance affliction sound smoother and less strident on the MH1. The K3003's less linear mids aren't always a problem, but they often are, especially in comparison to something as flat and smooth as the MH1 and ER4S, and especially when the mids in question belong to an iem with a $1279 price tag.
Treble
The same issue that affects the mids of the K3003 also affects its treble, namely peaks around 6k and 9k. This can add a bit of excitement and a perception of increased detail, but sometimes at the expense of accuracy. Cymbals can tend towards splashiness, being just a bit over emphasized for my taste, although this varies greatly from track to track. I should add that this is an overall minor complaint, as the peaks are minimal, especially compared to treble peaks on quite a few top tier iems. It's only the comparison to the relatively peak-free treble of the MH1 that makes the K3003's treble emphasis so obvious. However, the differences here will very much play to individual preferences imo. Both iems convincingly portray high frequency sounds like cymbals and violins to my ears, just the MH1 slightly more so in most instances due to its smoothness and more neutral presentation of all the frequencies of those instruments. The small AKG peaks add just a little more coldness to those sounds, and put the AKG squarely behind the MH1 in the treble department imo.
Other observations and wrap-up
The differences in sonic character described above add up to an overall difference in presentation between these iems. The K3003 definitely throws sounds farther out than the MH1, giving off a larger sense of space. In my opinion this is usually a function of how mids are portrayed. Less mids emphasis equals a wider perceived sound stage. Concerning detail, I find both iems able to retrieve detail in equal amounts. Small background nuances are no less apparent on the MH1 than they are on the K3003.
If money were no object, which one would I choose? That is a very tough choice, as both iems have their drawbacks. The MH1, even with its beautiful mids and treble, has bass emphasis and slight boominess that bugs me on some tracks. The K3003's bass is just clearly better to my ears, and even its issues in mids and treble are pretty minor and don't normally detract from my enjoyment of the music. Sonically, I give the edge to the MH1 for most music, and to the K3003 for some music, but usability is a real issue here. I even opted to spend $100 to get my MH1 recabled at ZMF Headphones, since the stock cable is so terrible.
The bottom line is that these are both very good earphones. Taking price completely out of the equation, the MH1 keeps up with and even beats the K3003 sonically in some key areas. Putting price back into the equation, it's absolutely astounding that phones at a $20 price point can compete with a top-tier product at the forefront of sound technology. Yes, it's my opinion that the MH1 offers true top-tier fidelity.
