Looks like the ADDIEMs are next up in my journey to find the right IEMs for my needs. Basically, I'm looking for IEMs with good SQ, a mic, and at a cost of no more than $80. They'll primarily be used with my PC/included sound card and my Touch 2G. I made a thread asking for some suggestions a couple of weeks ago and was nearly unanimously told to grab the NE-7Ms. Needless to say, I ordered some. And now, a few days later, I'm just not feeling them. So, I'm hoping some of you ADDIEM owners can answer my questions and maybe those of you who have experience with both the ADDIEMs and NE-7Ms can give me some even more valuable insight.
Before I get to my questions I think I should explain why the NE-7Ms failed to do it for me:
- Tips/Comfort. Maybe my ear canals are just too small, but the medium and large silicone tips that come standard with the NE-7Ms are just too big. This leaves me with 3 options. Small silicone tips, foam tips, or buy some other tips. I didn't really want to buy other tips as that would run me about $20 and the foam tips end up irritating my ears after about 10 minutes. So I'm left with only the small tips and unfortunately they're a little too small. Something in between the small and medium tips would be perfect for me. Perhaps because of the poor seal, the sound seems to be very "thin." I'm probably using that term wrong in terms of audiophile speak, but it feels as if I can almost punch through my music. A problem that isn't present when I use the foam tips. In the end, with these IEMs, I either have to deal with discomfort or poorer than normal sound.
- Minor Annoyances. The shirt clip should be removable and the mic/remote button is far too stiff.
- Vocals During Videos. This is the biggest failure of the NE-7Ms to my ears/needs. I'll be spending about 75% of my headphone time watching videos and thus I need something that works well with those. The NE-7Ms, however, seem to muffle vocals. It's almost as if every character is underwater/in an empty room that will lead to an echo like sound. Of course these are exaggerations, but I'm trying to give you an idea of how they sound to my ears. Whether it is due to the lack of seal (Doubtful as I can get a good seal with the foam tips and they still sound the same), or just the nature of these IEMs, all I can say is that I was heavily disappointed. Even my crappy EP-640s, while not sounding as quality, have more believable vocals during videos.
With all that said, you ADDIEM owners can already probably tell me if these will fit my needs, but here are the questions anyway:
- How do the ADDIEMs perform when handling videos? I'm not sure what characteristics a pair of 'phones need to have to handle videos well (Good mids?).
- How is everyone finding the fit in terms of the 'phones randomly popping out? I read a review that was posted in this thread and the review stated that the 'phones constantly popped out. Was this an issue with the reviewer and his ears or a universal issue?
- Is the bass, or lack thereof, really as bad as some say. I'm no bass head, but these complaints have me slightly worried. I will say this though, the crappy stock iBuds have virtually no bass compared to my PX100s or NE-7Ms, but I'm still fine with their bass. With that said, should I be fine with the ADDIEMs? I also have an E5 and maybe with its bass boost I could get to where I need to be in terms of bass?
- If the sound matches my needs then I may grab some of the Sony Hybrid replacement tips that some in here seem to be happy with. Just wanted to make sure that these are them right?
EP-EX10A/BLK | Replacement Ear Cushions | Sony | Sony Style USA
Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help!