HyperM3
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2005
- Posts
- 185
- Likes
- 10
I was sick and tired of reading all the reviews of these headphones being used with Apple products. They sound is not comparable to that which comes out of the Cowan or Iriver products. We need more X5 users to speak up on their findings or opinions.
Anyway, Ive had E3's for over a year when I bought the E4's back in June when they first came out. I thought they were a great step up from the E3's and was happy. However, I never got the same comfort level out of them as I did with the E3's and that annoyed me on any listening excursions longer than 20 minutes. No matter what tip I had, they kept sliding out of my ear. I attribute this to the extra weight in the E4's that gravity pulled them down and out.
Recently Ive been searching for the same sound but ultimate comfort. Well, the comfort part is found nowhere better than in the UM2's. They fit my ear like it was a custom mold right out of the box. The thinner wire and placement in the ear felt like I was wearing nothing. I am super satisfied on that.
The sound however I was really dissapointed with. Dont stop reading though and take my opinion as that. The power on the X5 is truly exceptional if not class leading. These UM2's need no power at all to get loud sound. I had to really turn the volume down from 18 on the E4's to 12 with the UM2's. They however dont sound as good at lower volumes as the E4 but get too loud very fast. I couldnt listen to them at my normal 18 level without feeling reverberational type pain. You really need to mess with the EQ settings for these.
Listening back and forth between the headphones I used my normal reference material. I love Delerium (Poem or Chimera) CD's because there really is a depth reference to sounds and instruments heard on home speakers. On my tower Def-Techs I feel I can run through the soundstage and grab sounds out of the air. On the X5 there is a setting for the soundstage which really opened up the E4's in this regard. No matter what I tried with this, the UM2's sounded flatter, not as open. Also, when turning up the sound 14-16 although it got clearer and more defined, the mids would get so overbearingly garbled that it hurt my ears. I even tried turning down the bass and mids to almost nothing, didnt help.
Then Voila! Duh, how about changing tips? I have never used foamies in my life and guess I was trying to take a liking to them. Ive always used the same grey soft plastic tips with both the Shures. Luckily the stalk is the same for the UM2's and put on my grey softies. MMMM definition. Not only do I not have to worry about dirty fingers rolling foam but they fit in also very comfortably and create the same seal Ive been used to. Distortion is gone now and I redefined the EQ to work with these tips. Soundstage is back and blossoming. I need to listen more to give a full report but so far, I got the sound where I wanted if not up to par with the E4's. Mostly again, it was about comfort and nothing else I believe can come close to the UM2's.
I will post back after listening to many more reference albums and give more details. For those that like to listen to the radio however through their players and use the headphone cord for reception, these arent the best. I noticed a good 5-7 minute difference between the UM2's and Shures for distinguishing two overlapping stations on my commute on the train. One may contribute this to the shorter length of the cord. I do love that the cord is shorter than the Shures but it does feel fragile. They do tangle easily as well and because its thinner, wrapped around my coat buttons without me knowing. The thick Shure wires never got caught on anything other than the bottom of a hand railing. That situation yanked my head back but my E4's stayed wrapped around my ears. I feel if I had any other headphones at the time the cord would have been ripped apart. Then again, a shorter cord wouldnt have gotten caught.
Ill be back to edit later.
Edit: 11/4
See below post.
Anyway, Ive had E3's for over a year when I bought the E4's back in June when they first came out. I thought they were a great step up from the E3's and was happy. However, I never got the same comfort level out of them as I did with the E3's and that annoyed me on any listening excursions longer than 20 minutes. No matter what tip I had, they kept sliding out of my ear. I attribute this to the extra weight in the E4's that gravity pulled them down and out.
Recently Ive been searching for the same sound but ultimate comfort. Well, the comfort part is found nowhere better than in the UM2's. They fit my ear like it was a custom mold right out of the box. The thinner wire and placement in the ear felt like I was wearing nothing. I am super satisfied on that.
The sound however I was really dissapointed with. Dont stop reading though and take my opinion as that. The power on the X5 is truly exceptional if not class leading. These UM2's need no power at all to get loud sound. I had to really turn the volume down from 18 on the E4's to 12 with the UM2's. They however dont sound as good at lower volumes as the E4 but get too loud very fast. I couldnt listen to them at my normal 18 level without feeling reverberational type pain. You really need to mess with the EQ settings for these.
Listening back and forth between the headphones I used my normal reference material. I love Delerium (Poem or Chimera) CD's because there really is a depth reference to sounds and instruments heard on home speakers. On my tower Def-Techs I feel I can run through the soundstage and grab sounds out of the air. On the X5 there is a setting for the soundstage which really opened up the E4's in this regard. No matter what I tried with this, the UM2's sounded flatter, not as open. Also, when turning up the sound 14-16 although it got clearer and more defined, the mids would get so overbearingly garbled that it hurt my ears. I even tried turning down the bass and mids to almost nothing, didnt help.
Then Voila! Duh, how about changing tips? I have never used foamies in my life and guess I was trying to take a liking to them. Ive always used the same grey soft plastic tips with both the Shures. Luckily the stalk is the same for the UM2's and put on my grey softies. MMMM definition. Not only do I not have to worry about dirty fingers rolling foam but they fit in also very comfortably and create the same seal Ive been used to. Distortion is gone now and I redefined the EQ to work with these tips. Soundstage is back and blossoming. I need to listen more to give a full report but so far, I got the sound where I wanted if not up to par with the E4's. Mostly again, it was about comfort and nothing else I believe can come close to the UM2's.
I will post back after listening to many more reference albums and give more details. For those that like to listen to the radio however through their players and use the headphone cord for reception, these arent the best. I noticed a good 5-7 minute difference between the UM2's and Shures for distinguishing two overlapping stations on my commute on the train. One may contribute this to the shorter length of the cord. I do love that the cord is shorter than the Shures but it does feel fragile. They do tangle easily as well and because its thinner, wrapped around my coat buttons without me knowing. The thick Shure wires never got caught on anything other than the bottom of a hand railing. That situation yanked my head back but my E4's stayed wrapped around my ears. I feel if I had any other headphones at the time the cord would have been ripped apart. Then again, a shorter cord wouldnt have gotten caught.
Ill be back to edit later.
Edit: 11/4
See below post.
