Six-way IEM shootout:
IE800 <>
Rockets <>
e-Q8 <>
RE600 <>
Tenore <>
GR10
Disclaimer: Unfortunately not all of the contenders are in stock form, but tbh I was to lazy to undo the mods. The RE600 have had their stock filters replaced with cotton swab and a damping layer (alcohol swab) in front of the nozzle, the IE800 and e-Q8 have just the damping layer. As a result, the RE600 have noticeably better treble presence than stock and the IE800 and e-Q8 sound a tad less treble-happy than stock.
As for the Rockets, I tried some wider bore tips and they seemed to boost treble presence a bit. But as a side-effect, the mids became a little more diffuse, so I switched back to stock tips for this comparison.
All in all, I spent quite a few hours going back and forth between the contenders with various test tracks, a selection of which and description of how I use them can be found
here. However, for the sake of conciseness, I'll pick this single track to base my comments on, as I feel it shows the characteristics of each phone in an easily comprehensible manner:
Ana Carolina - Implicante
Sound quality on the YouTube clip is a bit meh, so here's a
Grooveshark link for those interested.
The first 20 seconds are a well-balanced mix of just drums and percussion, which instantly reveals a phone's lows / highs ratio. After that, vocals and instruments start gradually occupying the midrange, while drums and percussion continue their repetitive beat and make it very easy to hear how a phone renders the mids in relation to lows and highs. Comments are based on medium volume listening in a quiet room, depending on phone sensitivity about 40-60/120 on my FiiO X3 (low gain).
The intro is quite interesting, the
IE800 pack the deepest and hardest bass punch of them all, but surprisingly well in balance with percussion (which admittedly sounds a tad thin though). The
Tenores hit equally deep and only a little less hard in bass, but their highs are not quite as present as the Senn's, and as a result their signature sounds a little more tipped towards bass. Both the
RE600 and
e-Q8 boast equally solid and clear bass which I'd call linear and rate as my favorite in this shootout. Highs sound nicely balanced with the lows, the HiFiMAN's a tad on the polite side and the Ortofon's a tad on the boisterous side. The
Rockets strike me as a little bass light in comparison, their low/high balance slightly tipped towards percussion, even though their treble is by no means forward and has just about the same presence as the RE600's. Of all contenders, the
GR10 are most tipped towards brightness, but not because of feeble lows (they actually hold their own against the Rockets very well), but rather due to somewhat exuberant highs, which also sound the least refined of all contenders.
On with the track... as vocals set in, it's instantly apparent that the
IE800 are v-shaped, their mids slightly pushed back, but nevertheless extremely clear and tangible. The
Tenores retain more mids presence, however vocals appear as a little less refined than on the Senns. The
e-Q8 impress with almost clinically clean and detailed mids, showing their kinship with the older
GR10 while offering a noticeable step up in refinement. Sound-signature wise, however, the Ortofons have what I'd call an "Ety-bump", a slight boost in the upper mids that makes Ana's voice sound quite forward and a tad off-timbre to my ears. The
RE600 more or less match the e-Q8's mids quality, but sound less analytical and more linear throughout the upper range. The
Rockets follow suit with impressive detail and alluring timbre, if just a little fuller, richer and (dare I say) a smidgen warmish in comparison. Owing to their somewhat light bass and docile treble, they end up sounding the most mid-centric of all contenders.
To summarize my impressions, there are four IEMs in this shootout that stand out for me: the
IE800 offer the must fun, while still retaining audiophile grade quality. Their v-shaped sound signature works best at lower volume levels though. The (modded)
RE600 are jack-of-all-trades and show no major sonic weaknesses, though it must be said that their build quality (cable / plug / strain reliefs) is a crying shame. The
e-Q8 are amazing performers and the clearest sounding of all contenders, but one has to like the "Ety-bump" and it must be mentioned that I've heard two pairs that showed distortion at (very) high volume. Last not least, the
Rockets are a fantastic addition to the high-end IEM world, a little bass-light in comparison to the others here and best suited for mid/high volume in my book, but otherwise a winner which offers easily the best build quality of all contenders.
Now for the two unlucky candidates that didn't make it to the podium, the
Tenores and
GR10 are both still great performers. The former fall just a tiny bit short in lower mids and bass quality imo, though I'll have to say that their treble is easily up there with the very best. The GR10's misfortune is that their upper range sounds just a tad simplistic and unrefined next to the newer generation moving armature based e-Q8, so it's a simple case of better being the enemy of good.
This concludes the short writeup on my six-way IEM shootout, hope you have enjoyed the read.
