[McCol]

First time i've tried a little review so bear with me, dont know a lot of technical terms but will try my best!

Read about thes phones on these forums and decided to buy them at the $70 offer price on amazon, these phones are not available in the UK.
Amazon wouldnt ship to UK but forum member W1ned was kind enough to help me out.

My current experience of Iem's has been Sony ex-71, shure e2c's and up until now er6i's.

Tried the im716's this afternoon with my ZVM unamped. Found that i had to increase volume to 22/30 compared to 18/30 using the er6i's to get a similar volume performance. Had the inline control set to HD to start and found that the sound was very similar to the er6i's, however once i switched to Bass mode they seemed to come to life. Lovely crisp bass and nice clear treble's, and a better separation in the different instruments on the tracks tried.

Next i rigged up my PA2V2 via the line out and tried both the im716 and er6's.
For me this where the 716's really shone. No real volume difference between the 2 sets of phones but a great difference in sound. The 716's sounded amazing, find it hard to describe but the soundstage with the amp and the phones blew me away, it was almost as if i could hear cymbal strikes i hadnt heard before!


Tried the flange tips but the foam tips are far more comfortable and seemed to give me a better seal.

Sorry for the long post, longer than intended.

 

[BushGuy]

You may wish to try Shure Softflex tips with them - lower cost (compared to foamies) over time, and much more acceptable when re-inserting in public

I'm rather surprised that you didn't prefer the HD setting, but if you actually like the switch in it's Bass position then it's a no-brainer in removing the #$!&(Y%!&% module. Unfortunately, my preference is without doubt HD setting so in order to amputate the module a resistor has to be introduced for the more ER4S-like sound.

 

[theory_87]

you may try converting the triflange to biflange tips... but still, shure grey slft flex tips is more comfy...

 

[theory_87]

glad that you like iM716. it really need a amp to shine. but pint is phase out so i'm currently still looking for a portable amp that sound and cost similar to it

 

[ShaftedTwice]

Glad that you like em

I love mine too, just as you described, I just need a good portable amp to go with them as well.

 

[BushGuy]

there are 3 or 4 Xin Supermini 3 (or III) currently in FS Forum priced at $130-145. Remember they also have crossfeed jumper - this is what I currently use w/ my iM716/Nano. Xin has made further improvements and now the 4's are being ordered and shipped, so upgraders are doing their (our) thing

 

[McCol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BushGuy there are 3 or 4 Xin Supermini 3 (or III) currently in FS Forum priced at $130-145. Remember they also have crossfeed jumper - this is what I currently use w/ my iM716/Nano. Xin has made further improvements and now the 4's are being ordered and shipped, so upgraders are doing their (our) thing

What exactly will crossfeed do?

Been thinking of upgrading from my PA2V2 but not sure what route to go to improve on the current setup.

 

[McCol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BushGuy You may wish to try Shure Softflex tips with them - lower cost (compared to foamies) over time, and much more acceptable when re-inserting in public I'm rather surprised that you didn't prefer the HD setting, but if you actually like the switch in it's Bass position then it's a no-brainer in removing the #$!&(Y%!&% module. Unfortunately, my preference is without doubt HD setting so in order to amputate the module a resistor has to be introduced for the more ER4S-like sound.

Surprised myself really that i prefer the bass setting, in the past i've never used/liked bass enhancers etc. I've only used the phones for a couple of hours so far so this may change though.

Do the im716's benefit after a 'burn in' period?

 

[nabwong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by McCol What exactly will crossfeed do?

Basically it will try to simulate the listening experience of speakers. When you listen to speakers, you listen both left and right channels with each ear but with a slightly delay on one because of direction and distance. With headphones, you only listen to a seperate channel, left or right. Crossfeed makes it sound like the "middlestage" is there. Checkout rockbox, you can set the delays/gains etc.

 

[AngryGuy]

I received my im716's tonight (ordered them yesterday) but for the life of me I can not get a good seal. I've tried both the tri flanges and the foam tips but neither seem to work. I feel like they aren't going far enough into my ear because of how much they stick out, but I can't get them in any further. They also seem to come out far too easy so I don't think the way I have them can be right.

How much should they stick out while using the foamies?

 

[nabwong]

After pushing them in all the way, try counting to 10 to let the foamies expand.

 

[McCol]

I found the seal wasnt great with the flange bud but good with the foam.
Going from the Er6i to the 716, i felt the seal at first wasnt as good because of the size of the phone, but gave a little tug on the cable and it felt secure in my ear.

 

[ShaftedTwice]

You'll definately know when the tri-flanges are in, try pulling your ear up before putting them in.

 

[theory_87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AngryGuy I received my im716's tonight (ordered them yesterday) but for the life of me I can not get a good seal. I've tried both the tri flanges and the foam tips but neither seem to work. I feel like they aren't going far enough into my ear because of how much they stick out, but I can't get them in any further. They also seem to come out far too easy so I don't think the way I have them can be right. How much should they stick out while using the foamies?

you can try converting the triflange to biflange tips. it works for me. now there is much seal and it secure in my ear

 

[AngryGuy]

This is what I get with the triflanges:



I got them there after some fiddling, and I still don't know if it's right. They seem pretty uncomfortable though, so I'm about to turn them into biflanges I think.

I now find myself wondering what the UM1s feel like since so many people say they are the most comfortable.