AKG K3003 High End 3 Way System Headphone

[Audioscope]

   
What type of music is the IE800 suited for? The K3003? I heard that the IE800 lacks bass. Is this true? How about the K3003?

 
I don't think the K3003 lacks bass.  The bass is tight, realistic, and has the right amount of impact.  It sounds like my Beyer T1, but I feel that it has even more resolution because of the higher sensitivity of the IEM, and sounds slightly warmer.
 
But like I said, K3003 is not something you can listen to for 30 minutes and understand.  You have to listen to the K3003 for a few days to really appreciate and understand that everything else out there is muddy and unrealistic sounding, and so far from neutral.  
 
I don't know about the IE800, but comparing the K3003 to the SE846, the SE846 is far less sensitive.  I had to plug the SE846 to my desktop amp yesterday to hear more details and better articulation out of it, whereas the K3003 achieved even better details and articulation out of my iphone 6.  Just imagine...
 
The IE800 is probably like a middle ground between the SE846 and the K3003.  It sounds warmer than the K3003, and has slightly more bass (in my recollection), but more refined than the SE846.  Compared to K3003, IE800 has a little less crispness in its details too.  There is something special about combining the benefits of the BA drivers to the dynamic drivers in the K3003.

 

[up late]

What type of music is the IE800 suited for? The K3003? I heard that the IE800 lacks bass. Is this true? How about the K3003?

have you tried the search function? there are some good comparisons of both phones in this thread and others.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

   
 
What type of sound are you looking for?  An easy and fun listen, or a more refined sound with more details?
 
Here is what I think, to give you an analogy:
 
The SE846 is like an american car that has a big engine, but cannot take corners well. It is big, bold, and exciting, but not articulate, and has cheap interior and lacks refinement.
Treble extension is very much rolled off compared to the other two, and the tonality is off.  Fingers snapping sounds more like wooden blocks hitting each other.  But, the sound is always agreeable, and fun.

The IE800 is like a nice German car, like a Mercedes luxury sedan. Expensive, luxury, but not a sports car. Yet, you knew that it's not a sports car when you bought it.  It is meant to be refined, and can almost handle like a sports car - almost.  
The resolution is less than the K3003, but there is slightly more bass and the vocals are a little more forward.  However, it sometimes sounds veiled compared to the K3003.
 
The K3003 is like a Porsche 911 turbo. It does everything extremely well, and even more. It is fancy, expensive, and a real sports car that is among the best, but it looks like every other Porsche 911, so people are quick to dismiss it.  It is not an exotic car like a Ferrari (like people with custom IEMs).  People with Ferraris will always think their car is better, but this is not always true.
K3003 has an impressively wide soundstage, is lightning quick when needed, and soft and smooth when the music calls for it.  The resolution is superior to the other two IEMs.  When you first listen to the K3003, you may think the sound is not rich enough, with too much air in the presentation.  But, in reality, it's because almost all other IEMs are extremely coloured, with too much bass, or too much vocals, or any combination of other things to alter the sound.  The K3003 is my favourite of the three, followed by the IE800.  SE846.. to me, is not worth its price.

Hey!  Your karma just ran over my dogma!

 

[ericp10]

Yes, I was really disappointed with the SE846 for the price. The K3003 runs serious rings around it. I have not heard IE800. Has anyone heard the Westone W60? And if so, can you make a brief comparison to the the K3003 for me? Thank you in advance. Oh, and has anyone heard the Sony Z5?

 

[mochill]

Me want k3003

 

[proedros]

Me want k3003

 
start selling your mid-tier iems and your want will become have
 
i sold both my re600 once i listened to the K3 (and the re600 is almost top-tier sound quality)

 

[Audioscope]

Me want k3003

Honestly, they are sublime. No reason to keep all those other IEMs really.

 

[proedros]

looks like you can finally buy the non-mic version at the various european akg sites
 
it is the aluminium newer version and it costs 1000 euro
 
here is the Belgium site , clicking on the flag top left corner you can choose another country/store
 
http://be.akg.com/akg-produits-be-fr/akg/all-headphones/in-ear.html
 

 

[up late]

i went for the non i version. figured it was one less thing to go wrong.

 

[audionewbi]

Comments regarding IE800 and K3003:
To my ears K3003 is more comfy and more natural sounding. IE800 impresses you in the few minutes you listen to it but long term it is no way what most consider as natural sounding but at time exaggerated and artificially clean. In contrast K3003 sound long time make sense. Short listen for some might indicate that the treble the problem causing feature of this IEM but long term the treble blends nicely with the rest of the sound using the reference filter. 
 
I do wish the treble on K3003 was a few dB less so it will would make it a less of source file dependent and more forgiving but as is the treble hotness relates to the track itself and not so the IEM itself.
 
Source: I find something like Calyx M make this a more organic sounding IEM but something like Lotoo makes it a more reference sounding IEM. HUGO does the K3003 wonders in terms of making it the best of both Lotoo and Calyx combined. What I mean is the tonality of Clayx M is preserve however the sound is much more balanced than just sounding more organic, I think paired with HUGO the sound can be describe as full sounding across all frequency where as calyx M makes the bass and mid shine to a level that treble plays a secondary role. 

IE800 on the other hand really has too much of a strong character, regardless of what I pair it with the sound remains as is. 

 

[Dobrescu George]

  Comments regarding IE800 and K3003:
To my ears K3003 is more comfy and more natural sounding. IE800 impresses you in the few minutes you listen to it but long term it is no way what most consider as natural sounding but at time exaggerated and artificially clean. In contrast K3003 sound long time make sense. Short listen for some might indicate that the treble the problem causing feature of this IEM but long term the treble blends nicely with the rest of the sound using the reference filter. 
 
I do wish the treble on K3003 was a few dB less so it will would make it a less of source file dependent and more forgiving but as is the treble hotness relates to the track itself and not so the IEM itself.
 
Source: I find something like Calyx M make this a more organic sounding IEM but something like Lotoo makes it a more reference sounding IEM. HUGO does the K3003 wonders in terms of making it the best of both Lotoo and Calyx combined. What I mean is the tonality of Clayx M is preserve however the sound is much more balanced than just sounding more organic, I think paired with HUGO the sound can be describe as full sounding across all frequency where as calyx M makes the bass and mid shine to a level that treble plays a secondary role. 

IE800 on the other hand really has too much of a strong character, regardless of what I pair it with the sound remains as is. 

I am interested if possible, and if you have the time, how does k3003 compare to ultrasone iq.

 

[audionewbi]

I am interested if possible, and if you have the time, how does k3003 compare to ultrasone iq.

Simply doesn't, ultrasone iq at best is a bad mid entry Iem with expensive price tag.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Simply doesn't, ultrasone iq at best is a bad mid entry Iem with expensive price tag.

I cannot see what headphones you are using, to understand what you come from, and to what you compare... ultrasone tends to have a specific sound to it, which i really like, with a pronounced, very detailed treble, a huge soundstage, strong but unbloated bass. it feels like 100hz is missing, and i love that fact. sennheiser has too much 100 hz on most of their headphones. but i also love that sound...

 

[up late]

every can has it's own sound signature. audionewbi clearly prefers the k3003's to the iq's. that's his personal preference. doesn't necessarily mean that it will be yours.

 

[proedros]

reading the last 20-30 pages, it looks like the consensus with K3 owners is that it surpasses sonically both SE846 (quite by a margin as a matter of fact) and IE800 (not that much of a difference but the ie800 also has non detachable cable and supposedly there is cable hardening issues on top of that)

i predict a relative popularity surge for the K3 , which is well deserved for its sonic qualities - that is unless some other FOTM comes barging in here.
 
meanwhile let's enjoy the music