[wrecked_porsche]

Hi guys, I just have a few quick questions.

Anyone here using their iM716s with 100 Ohm resistors? (total 105 ohms)? How do they sound?
I'll be using them with an iBasso D1 amp or microshar U107, so I don't think there will be a problem driving them.

I checked the iM716 podectomy thread and it seems that no one has tried 100 ohms yet?

BTW, in HD mode with the stock POD, I have no problem with lack of bass. I find that it lacks a tad of refinement though because it tends to border on being harsh/sibilant at times.
I think using the "bass" mode of the pod sucks, the sound becomes smeared.

So, if using 100ohms will reduce the bass slightly in exchange for loads of details and upper end sparkle while not being harsh, then 100 ohms sounds great!

Thanks guys!

 

[shigzeo]

ive not tried that phone with resistor, but every low imp phone that i have added reistance too ends up sounding better from a portable. currently i am using 75ohm resistor with ipod touch and victor hp-fx500 - i would have preferred to ahve a 120 ohm resistor, but this is definately good enough

stage is wider, no hiss at all unless with very hissy source: ie laptop or like... hmmm... old iriver player! bass is better and has more resolution, highs? i don't really notice a difference though

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Hmmm... thanks for that bit of info.

From what I gather from the podectomy thread, the more resistance that is added, the less bass there is and the sound shifts towards the highs. I wonder if 100 ohm will have almost no bass and just thin sounding highs?

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Anyone?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I have the DanT podectomy, with the three switches and the ability to add no ohms, or to add 22, 33, 47 alone, or to add any of those three resistors in series (so 55, 69, 80 and 102 can be added also).

For some reason, even with no ohm added, with a variety of amps, it doesn't have enough bass for my tastes. But, 102+5 doesn't give much less bass than 47, 55, 68 or 80.

I'll probably end up selling this at some point. I guess I'm just a bass-head at heart,

 

[antonyfirst]

If you want to sell it, I'm in line.

 

[wrecked_porsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif For some reason, even with no ohm added, with a variety of amps, it doesn't have enough bass for my tastes.

Dude! You are not getting proper seal! I love teh bass on my Darths and yesterday I was surprised at the bass from the IM716 in HD mode !!

Very punchy! The bass mode is crap.

FWIW, I've heard the DT880 '05 and 701 and since they are bass light phones let me compare. To my ears, the im716s have more bass impact and punch than the K701 for sure and they go really low. Bass texture is awesome on the im716.
The im716 has at least as much bass as the Dt88o if not more! They are on par with ES7 bass IMO. Slightly different strengths in the bass dept. when comparing these two but on par none the less. I won't go into the details.

Look at your im716, you see that gray area(same color as the triflange tips) where the white wires go into? Well, when I insert the IEMs into my ears, the gray area is almost touching the sides of my head. It has to go really really deep and you will feel like your ears are kinda pressurized. Open your mouth really wide and then sometimes the pressure in your ears will be released. Rub your fingers together real close to your ears, you should not be able to hear them. Then hit the play button...
When you get this, then let me know about the BASS!

Oh yeah, another tip, moisten the gray tips a little, it really makes a HUGE difference as to the ease and depth to which you can then insert them. Try it out and see.

Quote:

But, 102+5 doesn't give much less bass than 47, 55, 68 or 80.

Hmmm... could this be due to a lack of proper seal and you are not getting the proper bass anyway, even from 47 ohms? Try what I said above and then try the resistors again? Pleeeeeeeeease? Pretty please?

 

[wrecked_porsche]

One point to note though is that the im716 is a tiny IEM, so I set my expectations quite low. I don't expect it to rattle my brains like my Darths is doing to me right now.

IM716s have sufficient bass. Not as brain rattling as my Darths are, but sufficient nonetheless.

I'm in bass head mode right now, so nothing else will do. Darths FTW.

So, from the lack of response, I guess besides HeadphoneAddict, no other head-fiers have tried 100 ohms?

 

[nc8000]

I just tried to engage the P to S jumper on my SuperMini adding 75 ohms to what ever the im716 has on it's own in HD mode and sure enough the bass got thinner. The bass mode is crap. Podectomy with 30-50 ohms resistors coming up next week (exact value will depend on what my friend has got).

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Okay, I took wrecked_porche suggestion about poor seal. I can't get the triple flange deep enough into my ear without wetting them with some otoease, which is like giving my ear a "wet-willy". I had to get them out of my ear, yuck, but did feel there was more bass. So, I just now switched to new shiny Shure black foamies, and got them deep into my ear, and there is indeed more bass than wet triple-flanges, which sealed better than dry triple-flanges.

But, the TTVJ portable millet hybrid doesn't seem to drive these as well as it drives my Grados (or as well as it drives anything else - strangely it can drive Livewires better). I have been using it constantly with my iMod and Grado RS-1, as it is a match made in heaven.

So, still using my iMod with ALO Jumbo Cryo Silver X LOD, I switched to the Pico and now we're talking. Bass with the IM716 and Shure black foamies is there and present at anything from 5-47 ohms with the Pico. But 5 ohm (no resistor) sounds terrible (muddy and jumbled). Going the other direction, bass starts to drop a little starting at 69 ohms or more with the Pico.

I can't grab the Predator or D2 because they got left in the car and my wife and kids are out with the car right now. I tried the Headsix, and the bass and power was worse than Pico (I have internal jumpers in headsix set for low gain and don't want to open it up to change that). So, I decided to grab my powerhouse Headstage Lyrix, which always seems to have enough juice for my Grados or HD600.

I figured I would try the Lyrix bass boost with the IM716, but it isn't needed. It seems the Headstage Lyrix really has a lot of juice for driving the IM716, which seem very demanding (some say twice as hard to drive as a ER4S). The Lyrix drives them well, with lots of bass, even in low gain. I actually get decent bass all the way up to 102 ohm added, however above 69 ohm the mids seem withdrawn and dynamics go flat. So, the 22 ohm is better than no resistor, but is muddled or cloudy sounding, and not something I would use all the time. Likewise, the 69 ohm is right at the point where the mids and dynamics begin fall flat, and I wouldn't go higher than that.

In Summary: My findings are that:

(1) The IM716 are extremely sensitive to the seal in the ear, or the depth and position, even when you are not a newbie to IEM and think you have a seal.
(2) The IM716 are very sensitive to what amp I use to drive them.
(3) That (assuming #1 and #2 are dealt with) adding 22, 33, 47, 55 and 69 ohms can work well with the IM716 podectomy. .

In my opinion, adding 33, 47, or 55 ohms to the podectomized IM716 seem to work best (when driven by an iMod with ALO portable LOD and Headstage Lyrix Total pro amp, using Shure black foamies). Going higher than that with my particular setup has the effect of pulling back the vocals and dynamics, and no resistor makes the sound too muddy and cloudy. While all of those resistors help to clean up the muddled sound of a de-podded IM716, it is possible to go too low or too high, with compromises in either direction.

I do plan to try this later with my Predator, D2, HR Micro Amp, and then HeadFive, Apogee Mini-DAC and Woo 6.

 

[antonyfirst]

Would you mind to compare them to your top dog IEMs? In my opinion they can't compare with the Triple.fi (so I would expect your Livewires do better too), but I didn't have good amplification at hand when I was using the Altec Lansing.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I will try to later, but I am exhausted and busy with family.

I can say right now they can't compete with my Livewires. With proper tips and amping, and based on my memory of how other IEM I own sound, the IM716 probably now compete with the Super.fi 5 pro (which are out being repaired) and the Denon C700. I can attempt to try the C700 later tonight or tomorrow, and the Super.fi 5 Pro when they come back next week from UE.

Until I found the right tips and amp for these IM716, I am betting my ER6i sound quality would have killed them. Interestingly this is the same tip and amp combo that I found made the ER6i listenable in the first place.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Predator and IM716: Okay, so the Predator runs the IM716 better than the Lyrix, based on a few minutes of listening. I am not going to go back and forth between all the amps and phones right now, other than to vote on whether it sounds good or not. There is certainly no lack of bass with this combination, and it is very punchy and powerful.

At 47 ohms, Medium gain on the Predator is fairly loud at 11 o'clock, and Low gain is loud at 2-3 o'clock. I can go to full volume in low gain, but full volume in medium gain is just too loud (no clipping in low or medium gain). It has no trouble in medium gain running them at 102 ohms either, but the volume needs to be at 1 o'clock, vs 47 ohm at 10 o'clock in medium gain.

I still prefer 33-80 ohm with the Predator, as the bass takes over at 22ohm as the phones sound more sloppy, while bass drops just a little at 102 ohm it is still pretty good. At 102 ohm it will play louder than you need while in low or medium gain, and it does better than the Lyrix at 80-102 ohm. The sweet spot is 33-69 ohms.

While it is less prone to losing dynamics at 102 ohm in low or medium gain than the Lyrix was, the high gain setting does not get along with the IM716. In high gain it is easier to get clipping with the IM716 than with the HD600. Not a problem since low and medium gain get as much volume and bass as you can ever stand.

D2 (modded LM6172/THS4032) and IM716: Similar sound to the Predator and Lyrix - plenty of bass, actually more bass than the Predator, which means more than the Lyrix too (bass boost off). Low gain needs about 1 o'clock to play very loud at 47 ohm. At 33 ohm I can drop the knob to 12:30 o'clock, at 102 ohm in low gain the volume is at 2:30 o'clock when it is quite loud. This amp has the most bass at 102 ohm out of all of the portable amps I tried, and can play to ear splitting levels at 80 ohm with no loss of bass or dynamics IN LOW GAIN. It also has the most bass at lower impedance, making 22 ohm unusable at anything but low volumes. The sweet spot for the D2 modded is 47-80 ohms.

SUMMARY: Using iMod and V-Cap dock and Jenna Labs Cryowire. The winner in my portable amps driving the IM716 at 80-102 ohms is the D2. At 47-69 ohm the Predator ties the D2 for SQ but is a tiny bit behind in the bass. However, the D2 bass overpowers the music at 33 or 22 ohm. These two also beat the Lyrix, which beats the Pico, which beats the HeadSix, which beats the TTVJ millet portable (interestingly, the TTVJ is the best of them all with Grado).

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Another small note - the Lyrix in high gain drives the IM716 with 102 ohm added, at 12 o'clock, better than it did in low gain. Don't make me go back and compare to the others. If I was doing just one impedance, I would pick the 47 ohm resistor, as it works best with the most amps, and I see any gains going higher than 69.

 

[TheRealBigMeat]

so if i am not going to buy an amp, or do the podectomy, the only way to get more bass is the shure foamies?