[up late]

sounds like they're extraordinary $50 in-ears bro. never heard of the humungus cans - I'll have to scope them out.

 

[Sweden]

Never heard anything as good for $50.
Just don't expect good sound out of the Sound Dynamics.

 

[Aero Dynamik]

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Listening to Beethoven it felt like being on a date with a really beautiful woman but her personality is dead and she feel standoffish. The IE800 in comparison felt like a very flirtatious model with a bit too much rear end...

Lol, nice description. I would argue that once you get to know that beautiful woman, her personality will open up, you might even get lucky

LOL! Yes, he would get lucky, even I got lucky!

 

[Aero Dynamik]

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The K3003 was a bit of a disappointment when auditioning them for an hour, especially for the outrageous price.
They lacked coherency and the mids and highs felt distant and lacked realism and naturalness. The timbre felt off like some TWFK in-ears I owned.
In comparison the IE800 had fantastic realistic and clean mids with good natural timbre and well behaved highs. The transient just felt so clean. It sounded slightly more detailed and had better soundstage but the audition was a bit too short to really evaluate all aspects fully. The IE800s problem is too much bass but a simple EQ can fix this in 2 seconds. The problems of the K3003 would be harder correcting.
In a direct comparison I actually preferred the JVC FXD70 over the K3003. This is an in-ear you can get for 50 USD from Japan. The cable on the FXD70 felt better and the build quality about the same.

Really? Are you sure? I've read posts written by some very (extremely) experienced and credible HF:ers saying the exact opposite, and being a very happy K3003 owner myself, I just can't relate to it. Can it be heard using a simple iPod Touch 4G? Can you name a track where it can be easily heard? Thanks! (You really seem to know what you're talking about!)

 

[Sweden]

Quote:

Really? Are you sure? I've read posts written by some very (extremely) experienced and credible HF:ers saying the exact opposite, and being a very happy K3003 owner myself, I just can't relate to it. Can it be heard using a simple iPod Touch 4G? Can you name a track where it can be easily heard? Thanks! (You really seem to know what you're talking about!)

 
When I say coherency I don't mean it in the soundstage apartment but in the slightly different tonalities of the bass driver vs the TWFK mid and high driver.
To quote ljokerl who probably have more experience than anyone reviewing universals:
"As expected, there is a slight coherence issue with the hybrid BA-dynamic system, stemming largely from the difference in note presentation between the drivers. The dynamic driver has greater note thickness and generally sounds softer and less crisp"
 
My main issue wasn't however the coherency per say but the distant sounding mids and highs and lack of natural timbre. If you haven't already you should audition the IE800 side by side. That really showed the flaws of the K3003, at least to my preference. It's mostly about preference when we are talking this high technical level.
The music I auditioned with was very diverse stretching from classical, the best audiophile binaural recordings to electronic, pop and rock.
It was just a one hour listening time and I don't want to say my dicison of them is final. I don't even know the filter was being used for sure.

 

[music_4321]

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When I say coherency I don't mean it in the soundstage apartment but in the slightly different tonalities of the bass driver vs the TWFK mid and high driver.
To quote ljokerl who probably have more experience than anyone reviewing universals:
"As expected, there is a slight coherence issue with the hybrid BA-dynamic system, stemming largely from the difference in note presentation between the drivers. The dynamic driver has greater note thickness and generally sounds softer and less crisp"
 
My main issue wasn't however the coherency per say but the distant sounding mids and highs and lack of natural timbre. If you haven't already you should audition the IE800 side by side. That really showed the flaws of the K3003, at least to my preference. It's mostly about preference when we are talking this high technical level.
The music I auditioned with was very diverse stretching from classical, the best audiophile binaural recordings to electronic, pop and rock.
It was just a one hour listening time and I don't want to say my dicison of them is final. I don't even know the filter was being used for sure.

 
FWIW, I did own the IE800 (for 5 months and sold it only last week) and did a side-by-side comparison between it and the K3003. I kept the K3003.

 

[Sweden]

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FWIW, I did own the IE800 (for 5 months and sold it only last week) and did a side-by-side comparison between it and the K3003. I kept the K3003.

And maybe my impressions would be different with another filter and longer time listening.
I just wasn't very impressed.

 

[lee730]

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And maybe my impressions would be different with another filter and longer time listening.
I just wasn't very impressed.

You're not the only one to feels that way about coherency Swedem. For some it'ss an issue for others it is not. You can't convince everyone of your feelings. In the end it is your opinion and you have the right to it. I happen to agree with you regarding coherency. Still I was close to pulling the trigger on them at one point but found a better IEM (IMO) before that happened. While the coherency was an issue for me I still like the AKG3003 for what it is. I'm just not so sure about the JVC comments lol. I don't even think the FX700s (their flagship IEM) is comparable to the AKG3003.

 

[tumburu]

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Those are no ordinary $50 in-ears.
With some DSP software like EQ, crossfeed and soundstage enhancers you get a fantastic out of head and juicy presentation that I could live with for the rest of my life.

The way you express what you feel is exaggerated to me, but I can appreciate the passion you put in that.
 
Now, to complement your opinion, I'd ask: have you tried to eq (considering you know your way around eqs) the k3003? To me that is indeed something I could live with for the rest of my life!
 
PS: what are you referring to when you say soundstage enhancers?

 

[goodvibes]

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With some DSP software like EQ, crossfeed and soundstage enhancers you get a fantastic out of head and juicy presentation that I could live with for the rest of my life.
 

Any one of those is a negative for me personally and I don't mean in theory. Just sounds wrong to me except sometimes EQ though I tend to stay away from things that can use it..

 

[lee730]

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Any one of those is a negative for me personally and I don't mean in theory. Just sounds wrong to me except sometimes EQ though I tend to stay away from things that can use it..

I agree. I don't like having to EQ for the most part. If the item needs eq for me to get enjoyment out of it then it goes on the for sale forum....

 

[tumburu]

Nobody likes that. But they are incredible powerful tools (assuming you know what to choose) that can get you "there". Fine tuning in hardware is a lot more expensive and less precise than in software. That's why one can't find something truly linear when shopping for headphones. For slightly more bass or treble, audiophiles pay hundreds for converters, amps and cables. To me that's hilarious but companies can make a living from it.
 
I would love to find a linear headphone. One that has the perfect response. I'm not aware of the existence of such a product. All headphones I have listened to and all the graphs I saw to this day prove the opposite.
 
But you can take a good sounding headphone and make it exceptional, if you know how. I have to tell you, I am impressed with how GR07 sounds after proper equing. And it took me 10 minutes.
 
The adversity of using eqs on headphones must be inherited from the  adversity of using eq on speakers. But this is a completely different application and headphone are perfectly suited to that.

 

[goodvibes]

GR07 lacks the low level resolution and dynamic contrast of top tiers and EQ wont change that. I know lots about EQ. I also know that minor deviations in linearity aren't what make or break a transducer. By the same token, it wont make one. I genuinely like the GR07 as a value product that gets a lot right and is revealing enough for most of how it gets used, but it's not a giant killer.

 

[tumburu]

I think you got it wrong. Eq obviously works in the frequency domain. The idea was that you can get the best of an item like GR07 in a way that's simple and impossible to do in hardware. Try that with a high end item (like the 3003 discussed here) and the result is proportionally impressive.

 

[eke2k6]

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GR07 lacks the low level resolution and dynamic contrast of top tiers and EQ wont change that. I know lots about EQ. I also know that minor deviations in linearity aren't what make or break a transducer. By the same token, it wont make one. I genuinely like the GR07 as a value product that gets a lot right and is revealing enough for most of how it gets used, but it's not a giant killer.

 
Which top tiers, exactly?