Beyerdynamic DX 160 iE Review
Firstly, I’d like to thank Beyerdyamic for the review sample.
Before I begin, I should state that the perception of an IEM's sound quality is highly dependent on fit, which in turn relies on ear anatomy, the seal provided by the tips, and other variables unique to the user. As always, your mileage may vary.
BUILD AND ACCESSORIES
The design of the Beyerdynamic DX 160 iE is understated if not a bit plain, though I find the contrast between black and silver appealing. Build quality is excellent. The housings appear to be made of aluminum, and the strain reliefs are well designed. I like the fact that there is a tactile indicator between left and right channels, but the small dot on the inside of the right strain relief is a bit odd considering that many manufacturers place the bump on the left side. I also like the discretely placed Beyerdynamic logo on the flat cables near their entrance into the housings. I’m not usually a fan of flat cables, but the cables here are rather narrow in thickness and are easy to handle. I really like the extension cable set up here as the length is perfect with the extension when using a player in my front pant pocket, and without the extension is good for use with a shirt pocket. The connectors on both the earphones and both sides of the extension cable are sturdy but not bulky, though I would prefer a bit more strain relief on the 45 degree plug on the extension cable.
Accessories include a nicely-sized semi-hard storage case, a share adapter with which you can plug in a second pair of headphones, a shirt clip (which was already attached to the cable), and a nice assortment of tips, which include medium Comply foam tips and 7 types of silicone tips consisting of 5 sizes of single flange tips, one pair of UE-like double-flanges, and a pair of triple-flange tips similar to Etymotic’s smaller frost tips.
SOUND
Just as alluded to by the note adhered to the cable of the Beyers, I found the tips to alter the sound quite a bit. The already-equipped medium single-flanged tips sounded decent, though I found over time that as the tips softened up, the bass response became a bit too overwhelming, while the multi-flanged variants to constrict the soundstage a bit too much to the point of being a touch claustrophobic. I tend to avoid Comply tips with dynamic IEMs as they tend to muddy up the midrange. I finally settled on the small silicone single-flanges, which are the second smallest of the set.
The bass response of the DX 160 iE is relatively strong, with emphasis on the deep bass. The texture here is quite good, with rumble being some of the strongest I’ve heard and felt on a non-basshead earphone. The bass tends to stay out of the way of the mids, but this is when using the small tips. The medium tips do result in stronger bass response at the expense of midrange clarity.
The mids remain decently transparent, and are neither forward nor recessed. Vocals are presented clearly with a hint of warmth, and are positioned inside the head with minimal forward projection. Outside of the warmth, I find the midrange has little “sweetening” of voice, unlike the mids of the Sennheiser CX 985. On the other hand, the mids of the Beyers don’t come across as dry-sounding as the RHA MA750 can be.
The treble of the Beyerdynamic DX 160 iE isn't a stand-out but does little wrong; it's reasonably articulate and detailed with good extension, but is not harsh. There is a little bit of elevation in the lower treble to make the earphones sound more open, but the Beyer rarely produces sibilance, an issue I’ve had at times with the aforementioned Sennheisers and RHAs.
If there is one weakness of the Beyerdynamic DX 160 iE’s sound, that would be the soundstage. As touched upon earlier, tips do affect the soundstage, with the single-flanged tips being the best bet for the largest stage size. The stage seemed to be the largest with the medium tips, but I found the imaging to spread the left and right channels far too much, creating a “three plane” soundstage since the DX 160 iE’s don’t image depth well. Although the second-smallest tips weren’t as in-the-head as the double- and triple-flanged tips, the stage was still on the small size. In comparison, the RHA MA750 sounds a bit larger, and the Sennheiser CX985’s soundstage is huge, wide-open, and nearly (open-air) earbud-like, relatively speaking. To the DX 160 iE's credit, the Beyers are a less fatiguing listen (outside of the sub-bass).
CONCLUSION
Although I would prefer a better soundstage performance, I do feel that Beyerdynamic has created a very solid, well-rounded earphone in the DX 160 iE. The accessories are good, the build is excellent, and the sound is proficient enough to be a noticeable upgrade to the stock earphones of music players and smartphones. I feel the addition of a mic-enabled model (MMX 160 iE?) would be popular choice for the mobile-phone-tethered, music -addicted crowd.