Altec Lansing iM716 initial impressions (pre burn-in, un-modded, with some comparisons with Denon C700 et al)

[chinesekiwi]

Well, these just arrived this morning!

Knowing that these are basically Etymotic ER4's, these are my first Ety IEM's and thus my first encounter with the 'Etymotic sound sig'.

First thing I noticed is that, yes, as stated by others,

* These are very hard to drive IEM's.
With my Cowon D2, which has one of the most powerful internal amps of any DAP on the market, if not the most powerful, I had to bump it up quite a bit (around +12 difference between the im716 and the Denon C700's).

* Sparkly highs and attention to detail, the most detailed IEM's I've heard that's under $100US. If you see my profile, I have alot of sub $100 IEM's.
I haven't heard the Nuforces as of yet, which are a big contender for the best-value IEM's for under US$100.

* Instrument separation is noticeably good but the soundstage is quite narrow however, slightly smaller than the Denon C700's. (I'd say 120 degrees for the Denons vs. 110 degrees for the iM716's).

* Pretty accurate placement of instruments.

* The 'Bass' setting on the pod is a real tossup for me.
I highly do not recommend using it for genres such as rock, metal, anything piano-based as it muddles the rest of the spectrum (not as badly as most cheap earphones though). It basically makes it sound like you're hearing the music underwater which isn't a good feeling, it just saps the enjoyment out of the music for me.
However, with genres such that are bass-oriented such as Drum n Bass, I do recommend using this as it adds a good punch to the bass, while keeping the accuracy and will be significantly better than using an EQ.
In fact, for Cowon owners, I recommend a Mach3Bass setting of 4 with these IEM's for a more balanced sound for DnB, or crank it right up to 6 if you feel like rocking to the bass and don't mind the bass overpowering the rest of the spectrum a bit. However not using it at all is fine also and will still be better than using the EQ to boost the bass.
Like in RAID setups (geek alert!), hardware over software for sound enhancement.

Reason for 6 and no higher = you'll clip the bass otherwise.

See my http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/be...ttings-388727/ thread for more details on that + how to get better bass and detail out of your D2.

* Laid-back vocals

* These are the fastest IEM's I've heard for under US$100. I guess that's due to the accuracy of them.

* I highly recommend wearing these (as with other Etymotics) around-the-ear as the microphonics are a killer otherwise. The microphonics are bad even around-the-ear but it goes from "Oh My God, Stop!" to "Just Annoying".

Anyway, some quick comparisons versus others:

(+ being what the iM716 does better, - for cons versus that earphone):

iM716 vs. rest compared below:


+ Detail
+ Isolation
+ Value (all of the below earphones are silly good value really)
+ Accuracy of sound, including bass.

- Microphonics
(still not as bad as CX300's, the king of 'OMG >.<' microphonics)
- Very hard to drive, using more battery life.
- Soundstage

iM716 versus Denon C700/C751

+ Tips (the default Denon tips are a complete joke)
+ Less of an eyesore (the C700/c751 are cone shaped and stick out of your ear a lot)

- Bass quantity
- Tweaking needed to get the best sound for each genre, the Denon C700's have more of an all-round sound in this aspect.

iM716 vs. Head-Direct RE2

+ Tips

Battle of the flange tips! The Etymotic tips actually isolate far more than the large default RE2 tips. The RE2 large biflange tips are more comfortable but don't isolate well at all IMO.

+ Fuller sound (The RE2 are thin sounding)

+ Treble

RE2 owners are probably saying 'What, the RE2's have great treble!'. Let me explain. The iM716's I feel (remember subjectivity) represent the treble better that the RE2's, which I feel 'cheat' by colouring the treble a bit.
Maybe it's 'cold + analytical' versus the warm sound of the RE2, but I still feel the RE2's colour the treble a bit.

+ Looks

Just admit it. The RE2's aren't going to win an IEM beauty contest anytime soon.

+ Actually has some bass (HD mode) unlike RE2.

- Comfort as stated earlier

iM716 vs. Denon C551

+ Tips (as stated in the C751 comparison)

- Bass quantity (C551's = bass head dreamy but inaccurate bass)

No point comparing it versus the SoundMAGIC PL-30 as it's years behind SQ wise. Not saying that the PL-30 is bad for the price however, far from that. I just feel it got the FOTM (flavour of the month) treatment here a bit too much and too hyped up. Will write up a quick KSC-75 comparison later.

I'll burn them in more later tonight and see whether the sound changes.
Are these a keeper? Probably.
Versus the Denon C700's? Damn hard to say which one I'd keep at the moment. Pros and Cons of both (Cons = Denon sound wise, iM716 external factors).

 

[fraseyboy]

I agree with most of that.

BTW I retract my previous statement in PM

The im716 are a big improvement from the ER6i's! They have more/more powerful bass and generally sound more refined. All the sibilance that the ER6i's had is gone. The only bad thing is that the mids seem a little less prominent, although amping them does improve this. I really do love the detail and speed! Even moreso than the ER6i's.

Remember that tips make a HUGE difference! When I had the tri-flanges on my ER6i's I didn't really like them that much. They were tinny, weak and very very lacking in bass. Once I got the Shure Olives... That's when I began to love them :O They do improve the IM716's but not as much as they do on the ER6i.

 

[chinesekiwi]

Don't make my wallet suffer more by ordering Shure Olive tips..don't do it!

 

[LeonWho]

Are the iM716's a lot better than the RE2's?

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeonWho /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are the iM716's a lot better than the RE2's?

Depends on your context of 'alot'.

Anyway, depends on how you like your sound.
Cold as in the im716 or warm like the RE2's.
I feel the im716 do the treble more realistically and less coloured than the RE2.

 

[craiglester]

Wow, reading this was like being back in 2006.. heh I guess you missed all the hoopla when they came out.

Depod them, clip that cable on and get a bigger amp (or a Rio Karma) and the IM716 will really come alive. For $20 they really can't be beat

 

[Calexico]

Soundstage? I thought Etys generally had bad soundstage.

 

[tstarn06]

Good advice craig. My 716s are depodded at 47ohm (and sound great with olives and the MiniboxE+). But I think only a few people were lucky enough to grab the 716s for $20, when Newegg sold them at that amazing price last year. Not sure you can find them for $20 new any more. Best price I could find was $65 at Amazon.

 

[Hooran]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinesekiwi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't make my wallet suffer more by ordering Shure Olive tips..don't do it!

I would be getting myself some Shure olives.... if only they lasted forever and wouldn't need to keep buying more... After a year, going through so many sets costs about as much as a nice IEM.

 

[bostitch]

I bought mine already deppoded (47ohm as far as I remember) from another head-fier. It sounds great, but bass is less (quantity wise) compare to the C700. But I drive them straight out of my Sony A818. I really need an amp to reach the deppoded iM716 full potential. I am still keeping iM716 at least until I bought an amp so that I can hear its full potential.

 

[LeonWho]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calexico /img/forum/go_quote.gif Soundstage? I thought Etys generally had bad soundstage.

Yeah, that's another part where I was very surprised with the review. ClieOS rated the soundstage of the iM716 (and it was amped too) two or three stars (can't remember), while rating the soundstage of the RE2 four stars. Also, the general consensus seemed to be that the iM716 was less full sounding as the RE2. Hmm. I don't know.

Hmm. Quite conflicting with this review

 

[tstarn06]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bostitch /img/forum/go_quote.gif I bought mine already deppoded (47ohm as far as I remember) from another head-fier. It sounds great, but bass is less (quantity wise) compare to the C700. But I drive them straight out of my Sony A818. I really need an amp to reach the deppoded iM716 full potential. I am still keeping iM716 at least until I bought an amp so that I can hear its full potential.

Just get a FiiO E3 ($8.50) or an E5 ($21) from dealextreme.com. Plays well with the 716s.

 

[bostitch]

Thanks for the suggestion. FiiO is one of the option. But I am not sure it works well with C700 (I read somewhere the E3 doesn't). More importantly, I am looking for usb/amp combo such as nuforce icon mobile (I am still waiting for more feedback on this one and still reading on various amp around that price range) because I am going to use it with the laptop too. Right now, I can hear various noise from the laptop headphone out.

 

[silkeborg]

I can´t compare the 716 to the RE2, but comparing it to fex. super fi.3 or 5 etymotic 6i, denon 751, nuforce 7, it IMO definately don´t fall behind in soundstage and details, although it´s an an old timer... I have been using it with Rio karma, which amps it wonderfully, and also with the clip and fiio 3. So IMO, purchasing the IM716for anywhere between 40-70 dollars is quite a good deal.

 

[chinesekiwi]

I was meant to update this earlier but after some more critical listening, I do retract my soundstage statement as I didn't use good tracks to measure the soundstage. Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" kinda found out the soudnstage weakness in these IEM's.