[lostid]

Recently I bought a Sony MDR-EX600, the first IEM I ever bought. Before this I had been using all the earbuds which came with my blackberry or ipod/iphone. I honestly thought the EX600 would give me that WOW factor. Surprisingly it didn't happen. In fact, I feel so good listening to my classical music with the headset (shown in the photo below) which came with my old blackberry.
 
This makes me wondering whether perception to the sound is very subjective or these expensive IEM's are overpriced/overhyped. I hope this will not offend anybody as I don't know anything about sound or even understand the terms frequently mentioned on this forum.
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

[Parall3l]

Try a 320kbps mp3 file with a lot of bass in it, the bass area is where most stock buds fail.

 

[Totally Dubbed]

EX500's, don't know about 600's were brilliant.
Remember to give earphones some burn-in, but there is a lot of over-hype sometimes here...

 

[kckc]

The quality of the file is extremely important. Definitely play something with at least 320kpbs or even better, a FLAC file. The EX600 does need a lot of burn in though, so just leave it on over night for a couple days. 

 

[Totally Dubbed]

Quote:

The quality of the file is extremely important. Definitely play something with at least 320kpbs or even better, a FLAC file. The EX600 does need a lot of burn in though, so just leave it on over night for a couple days. 

of course quality in sound is important, but if one is comparing 2 earphones with the same track, that disregards the OP's problem.
The way he describes it, might not be = to what you would hear with FLAC files, but then again, he could easily compare the SQ of the earphones sound stage etc with 192, 320's etc, with his previous earphones, am I wrong?

 

[kckc]

Quote:

of course quality in sound is important, but if one is comparing 2 earphones with the same track, that disregards the OP's problem.
The way he describes it, might not be = to what you would hear with FLAC files, but then again, he could easily compare the SQ of the earphones sound stage etc with 192, 320's etc, with his previous earphones, am I wrong?

That's true that the OP is listening to the same track. However, I find some higher end IEMs less forgiving of the track quality. The W3 for example, exposes all the faults in a poorly recorded track like no other, whereas the conventional earbud or lower end models may not. It "smoothes" over the track and in turn, they sound better than a less forgiving IEM that reveals everything bad about the track. 
 

 

[lee730]

Could also mean hes just not into the sound signature of the EX series. I found my re-cabled IE8s superior to the EX1000 after EQ. I definitely find the FX700s superior to the EX1000s besides the mid range (although the FX700s have very good micro detailing in the mids and a very neutral presentation of the mid range).
 
lostid I highly recommend you give the GR07 a shot. I think that may be your solution. Just be patient as they take a long time to fully burn in. Now regarding the EX series requiring lots of burn in, that's debatable... The EX1000 did have some minor changes with a short period of burn in (20+ hours) but nothing significant at all. Pretty much they reminded me of BA since the sound signature barely changed and the sound signature is more reminiscent of a BA but with a much better sound stage and deep-clean bass.

 

[kckc]

+1 on the FX700. Although I have yet to hear the EX1000, I too prefer the FX700 over the EX600. The one aspect the EX600 does much better though is the midrange.

 

[-y0-]

Quote:

That's true that the OP is listening to the same track. However, I find some higher end IEMs less forgiving of the track quality. The W3 for example, exposes all the faults in a poorly recorded track like no other, whereas the conventional earbud or lower end models may not. It "smoothes" over the track and in turn, they sound better than a less forgiving IEM that reveals everything bad about the track. 
 

I agree, I had to rerip all my music into lossless after listening to the difference between a 192kbps and lossless, it was like night and day which was more noticeable in higher end IEMs.
 

 

[lee730]

Quote:

+1 on the FX700. Although I have yet to hear the EX1000, I too prefer the FX700 over the EX600. The one aspect the EX600 does much better though is the midrange.

One thing I love about this hobby though is synergy. The FX700 paired with my Hifiman 601 or even with the 601/UHA4 combo is a match made in heaven. It really brings the mids to life and solves the issue with the mids (although the mids really aren't recessed just neutral when compared to the bass and treble; same things goes for my TF10s). The DACport LX is also a great pairing with these IEMs.

 

[kckc]

Quote:

One thing I love about this hobby though is synergy. The FX700 paired with my Hifiman 601 or even with the 601/UHA4 combo is a match made in heaven. It really brings the mids to life and solves the issue with the mids (although the mids really aren't recessed just neutral when compared to the bass and treble; same things goes for my TF10s). The DACport LX is also a great pairing with these IEMs.

Thanks for bringing that up. I don't have either but I think I'll do some research on them. I'd love to bring forward the mids on both my FX700 and TF10. 
 

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Thanks for bringing that up. I don't have either but I think I'll do some research on them. I'd love to bring forward the mids on both my FX700 and TF10. 
 

So how are you loving your custom IEMs? I'm actually getting my TF10s custom shelled and will be upgrading the cable to silver cable to fix the recessed mids and improve the other frequencies. That will be my way of getting my feet wet in the custom IEM scene before I go for the Starkey SA-43s. The SE 5 series also is catching my eyes...

 

[kckc]

 

So how are you loving your custom IEMs? I'm actually getting my TF10s custom shelled and will be upgrading the cable to silver cable to fix the recessed mids and improve the other frequencies. That will be my way of getting my feet wet in the custom IEM scene before I go for the Starkey SA-43s. The SE 5 series also is catching my eyes...

 
 
Oh I was loving my customs, the whole 4 days I had them. My Merlins are now getting a refit and should be coming back soon. I know some people don't think CIEMs are worth the extra over top tier universals, but to me they are more than worth it, and this is without a perfect fit. 
 
I also thought about getting my TF10s reshelled, but opted not to and just get a cable upgrade instead. I only know of one person who has heard the Starkey SA-43s and that's average_joe. They also caught my eye before, but the idea of a hybrid in the Merlins was too much to resist. Mm dynamic driver bass 

 
The SE5 ($$$$) was also intriguing , but you'd need to send your impressions to SE so they can determine whether the SE5 would fit right? And I thought they only offered it to people in EU? 
 
 

 

[psygeist]

Quote:

I agree, I had to rerip all my music into lossless after listening to the difference between a 192kbps and lossless, it was like night and day which was more noticeable in higher end IEMs.
 

Sounds like an overkill when you could have ripped @320kbps.

 

[lee730]

Quote:

Sounds like an overkill when you could have ripped @320kbps.

If you only knew man lol. I'm listening to 24/96 flac right now and the cd flac versions of these songs suck A$S in comparison. So much more air, resolution and life in these tracks.