My Akai 50X showed up today.
First things first, the stock pads are gone. Too shallow, too hard, and the material feels pretty cheap. Nobody is going to be fooled into thinking they are leather as opposed to something like the NVX pads which, if you didn't know better, you'd say they were real. I tried doing an easy foam mod I do sometimes and it made things worse, so, back in the box they went. After trying a few options I settled on NVX SPT100 flat pads with a foam insert to get my ears off the drivers and open up the soundstage a little more.
The second thing, before I get to the sound is, they are TALL headphones. Putting the NVX pads with the inserts helps things a bit, but I am going to have to add a wrap of some kind to the headband if I ever want to wear them without a hat...in the meantime with a baseball cap on they JUST fit right ( they could stand to sit another 1/2 in higher to be a perfect fit. I'll post a couple of pictures at some point to illustrate the length of them. I have a headphone stand that my other headphones the pads rest on the center part of the stand with the Akai, the pads completely go under the same part ...it's pretty obvious these are looong.
I hadn't heard anybody mention this, so I was a little surprised...not a deal breaker, but, good to know.
With the new pads in place, once I get them seated properly they are comfortable enough and fit relatively securely. I could have these on for at least a couple of hours without issue.
The other thing that doesn't necessarily show in the pictures is the cups LOOK HUGE when they are laying on the desk...they are about the same size as the Philips 9500s, maybe a little bigger in circumference. On the head they look fine, they look smaller actually than the 9500s, go figure.
Yep, we already mentioned the size of these is huge. I have an 8.5 size head and I barely have to extend the band out at all. One click and it's good. No other headset has me do that. I usually have to do max extension. I use HM5 pads on mine. Tell us what you think of the sound when you get a chance though
@Saoshyant well you made me give them a try on those Diza100. I looked at them, and sat there, and said at $10, I can let someone else have them as a gift if I don't like them. So I got the Diza100 for ($10), the Mixcder ShareMe Pro ($10), Ausdom NC7 ($20), Symphonized Nrg3 ($12), and Alihim M10 ($6) all in today. Those were all the prices I paid through coupons and deals. These are not the normal prices.
I'm a sucker for potential cheap gems. I have only tried the NRG3 so far and they are pretty decent. I will state I am not very good at telling good IEMs from bad or the nuances of sound to expect from "good" ones. I can tell you if I like the sound in comparison to headphones. The NRG3, being IEMS that I usually don't like from a comfort perspective, aren't bad on comfort and sound pretty darn clear and good to me so far. Build quality on them is very nice too.
Going to get back on the rest soon.
*UPDATE*
So my feedback on these inexpensive pieces.
Mixcder ShareMe Pro
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J9TR1MC
I actually got these in the other day, but gave them a second listen. The bass on these is tuned up to an 11 and not in a good way. Loose, muddy, veiled, and drowns out everything else. Build quality is iffy feeling, but they are light. Wouldn't recommend buying at any price personally. Besides the bass kicking you in the side of the head, everything else sounds like you are listening to tiny $5 radio on a chair deckside while you are swimming in a pool. So to get any details of the song, you have to turn up the volume, which makes the bass distort badly. Just junk. Didn't try out the other features, but don't really care to either.
Ausdom NC7
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZV82P2
Complete opposite of the ShareMe Pro despite them looking a lot a like. Bass is actually almost too anemic and the treble a tad on the bright side pushing harsh to me. The build quality is slightly better than the ShareMe Pros, but only slightly. Clarity and detail is there at least due to decent sounding mids and bright highs. Bass is OK, but a bit more anemic than the Philips SHP9500s I have if that helps anyone. Haven't messed with any of the other functions like the noise cancelling or bluetooth yet. Just plugged them straight into the uber schiit stack to listen to their sound quality.
Diza100
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWPC7N0
Comfortable, open set HEADSET. Yes this is a headset with built in mic. Headband is metal brushed aluminum I think. The earpads are BIG, DEEP, and comfortable. The headband and earpads are the only things about it that are of decent build quality looking at it. The rest is cheapie plastic. Of which I had a couple of seams not snapped together right either on it. Sound wise these are pretty bright. They remind me of the one time I heard the Superlux 668b. They brighter than the Philips SHP9500, but less so thatn the Ausdom. Worse bass than the SHP9500, but better than the Ausdom. The bass though isn't particularly tight on these though. Not used to a lighter sounding bass headphone also having a fairly loose decay to the bass too. Strange. Not completely unpleasant. These do have excellent sound stage though and I couldn't tell if they were worse or better than the SHP9500 in that department. Haven't tested the mic.The cable though is horrible rigid long rubber thing.
ALIHIM M10
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZZ1K5VC
Beautiful look, fit, and finish. The case they came in, the build quality, and comfort of these is top notch. Then I listen to them and damn near thought someone shoved an ice pick into my ears. TREBLE CANNONS! is what comes to mind. I thought glass was breaking inside my ears. Wow! Bass is nonexistent as well. I almost couldn't hear the bass over the treble at all.
Symphonized NRG3
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D3QZB2Y
Beautiful as well like the M10s. Didn't come with a case, but oh well. Love the look and feel of these too. Tried them on and they were night and day difference between the M10s. Where the M10s were treble cannons, these were a U shaped fun sound. Bass was there, if a bit loose, but pleasant to listen too. Treble rolls off slightly, but is still there with mids to give nice clarity. Also, I can even I dare say there is a bit of soundstage (not a whole lot though). My only problem with them is that none of the fracking tips are comfortable for me. They are all too small and fall out, or too large and it feels like I am shoving balloons in my ears. Best sounding IEM I've heard, but as I've said I haven't heard a whole lot of IEMs. So take that statement with a grain of salt I guess.
TLDR
Ausdom NC7 worth it at the price I paid. I wouldn't be happy with the normal price though.
ShareMe Pro is not worth anything to me. Couldn't pay me to keep these.
Diza100 is good at the $10 price, and OK at the full price. If they had a detachable cable then the full price I would be fine with.
Symphonized NRG3 are good at the price I paid and I daresay at the normal $25-$30 price. Just need to find better tips that I like. Other than that they will be a very enjoyable IEM to anyone I think.
ALIHIM M10 is not worth buying unless you don't particularly value your eardrums. I can still hear the ringing from them. Seriously don't buy them.
thanks.
