[luisdent]

Frankly, I'm surprised how many decent options there are between say $50 and $150.  That's very nice, but also part of the problem, making it hard to choose.
 

 

[ClieOS]

Meizu EP-40 added
 

---

 
 

Bass 9.    Meizu EP-40 (link)
Bass heavy with a slightly cold to almost analytical mid to treble presentation, yet not quite a U-shaped frequency response. Bass is strong and deep with fairly good speed and texture, but also extends up to mid bass and can be intruding form time to time.  The mid to treble is however much more neutral, to almost analytical like and can be compared to Etymotic MC5 in the regard, just not quite as extended or dry. They do sound a little thin next to the strong bass response and can be overwhelmed in bass heavy music. The upper vocal, especially female, is edgy with bright music as well, but not permanently sibilant. Soundstage is above average but hindered by the sheer amount of bass so imaging is only okay.
Pro: Comfort.
Con: Build Quality

 

[atomikn00b]

guess it's time I asked ClieOS for a recommendation.
I think I'm looking for something with the sound of the vsonic gr01 but much more quantity in the subbass (though less than mh1c)
Any recommendations?
 
Oh and. In my opinion (to help guide your recommendation), the only place the gr07 fell short was subbass quantity and sibilance.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

guess it's time I asked ClieOS for a recommendation.
I think I'm looking for something with the sound of the vsonic gr01 but much more quantity in the subbass (though less than mh1c)
Any recommendations?
 
Oh and. In my opinion (to help guide your recommendation), the only place the gr07 fell short was subbass quantity and sibilance.

 
I haven't listened to it recently, but I think Westone 4 might fit the bill.

 

[yalper]

Quote:

 
I haven't listened to it recently...

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[ClieOS]

DUNU Crater, Hawkeye, Tai Chi and I 3C-S added.
 

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Bass-11.    DUNU Hawkeye (link)
Bass oriented, boomy, warm, forward and full. Though it is reaching down all the way to sub bass, the sheer amount of bass, especially mid-bass, simply shadow any quality that might be there and make for one of the more extreme case of basshead IEM. Mid is forward and full, a mid centric sound in itself if not for the ever more powerful bass response that takes the focus away. Treble is overly smooth and roll off early, lacking sparkle and crispiness. Soundstage isn’t particular great as instrument separation is hurt by the lack of micro-detail. All and all, Hawkeye sounds like a typical basshead IEM – big on the bottom and roll-off at the top.
Pro: Build Quality, Accessories.
Con: Overly bassy.
 

Mid-11.    Dunu I 3C-S (link)
Mid centric with decent extensions on both ends. It is what I’ll generally refer as the Shure house sound - a mid that isn’t necessary very forwarded, yet is good in texture and detail that gives the vocal a sense of sweet and intimacy. Though well extends to the sub-bass region, bass is rolling off slowly after mid bass and therefore doesn’t give a lot of depth and body, but still carries some impact. Treble too roll off at the top end with a very gentle fashion, very smooth but missing some sparkles and air. As with most mid centric sounding IEM, soundstage isn’t a strength of I 3C-S, but it does have very good intimacy that gives vocal a sense of realism. Compare to Fischer Audio SBA-03 (or MEElec A161), which also has a mid centric sound, I 3C-S is less extended on both ends and more mid forward. Same can be said when compared to the mellower, but still mid centric Sony XBA-1 as well. To push the mid back for a more neutral presentation, DUNU included an impedance adapter to pair with I 3C-S. While the adapter does improve the overall accuracy, it still doesn’t add enough top sparkle back. As a single BA, I 3C-S has a admirable performance that is well above that of Siren BA, but not nearly on the top of what singe BA can be. It is well suited for vocal centric, easy going music such as Pop, but might not have the technicality for the more accuracy demanding instrumental or Classical.
Pro: Build Quality. Accessories.
Con: None.
 

Warm+Sweet-18.    Dunu Tai Chi (link)
Being a tunable IEM, it has two faces: with the bass port sealed, it is has a warm yet fairly neutral presentation; with the bass port opened, the bass starts to steal the show. Beside the different of bass, lower treble / upper mid can be tuned by using either the included Sony Hybrid clone (less) or the grey eartips (more). Since the difference isn’t nearly as significant as the bass port, the grey eartips is simply a no-brainer for giving just a tad more micro-detail. Upper treble is mostly unaffected by eartips and has good extension and sparkle. It isn’t exactly analytical but doesn’t feel lacking either. Mid on the other hand stays relatively clear regardless of what bass port or eartips configuration are used. It isn’t particularly forwarded, but stays in line with the rest of the frequency response and therefore doesn’t sound recessed. Soundstage is above average with good instrument separation. As the flagship, Tai Chi is not only the best sounding IEM DUNU ever made, it is probably the best balanced sounding IEM in the whole line-up as well. It plays with almost every genre of music, even though it might not excel in any particular. On the other hand, this maybe Tai Chi only weakness as well Already an excellent all-arounder, what Tai Chi needs is one edge that set itself above and beyond other IEM around the same price range.
Pro: Build Quality. Accessories. User Tunable Sound.
Con: Tiny damper.
 

Warm+Sweet-26.    DUNU Crater (link)
Warm and sweet, neither forwarded nor laidback but with a slightly excessive feeling of weightiness due to mid-bass. Bass runs deep with good control and decent impact, but the upper region around 500Hz to 1kHz is a few dB too high – not as much on creating boominess but it muddies up the lower vocal noticeably. Mid isn’t forward in nature but it is clean, and somewhat bland. Treble extends well, but overly smooth after 12kHz so it lacks a sense of air. The lower treble region is also slightly grainy. Soundstage is decent, but nothing to write home about. For all its weaknesses, the IEM doesn’t have much of any major flaw. It compared well to many sub-$100 IEM like GR06 and Siren based single BA IEM such as the Sherwood SE-777 or MEElec A151. With a little EQ to reduce mid-bass and boost the upper treble, it can even edge out on most of them.
Pro: Build Quality. Accessories.
Con: None.

 

[kAbUZi]

Hey ClieOS, just posting to say thanks for your continuing efforts and contributions to the head-fi community. 

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Hey ClieOS, just posting to say thanks for your continuing efforts and contributions to the head-fi community. 

 

 

[luisdent]

Quote:

Hey ClieOS, just posting to say thanks for your continuing efforts and contributions to the head-fi community. 

+1

 

[ertai]

x2
 
Hi Clieos, how would you compare Spider realvoice with RE262?
 
I cant seem to find any place selling spiders in Malaysia though
 
Quote:

+1

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

x2
 
Hi Clieos, how would you compare Spider realvoice with RE262?
 
I cant seem to find any place selling spiders in Malaysia though
 

I am not sure there is a Spider dealer in Malaysia.
 
As for realvoice vs. RE262 - no comparison there, RE262 wins by a lot.

 

[ertai]

Cool. Thanks!
 
Quote:

I am not sure there is a Spider dealer in Malaysia.
 
As for realvoice vs. RE262 - no comparison there, RE262 wins by a lot.

 

[yezz12]

I'm looking for earphones to listen to hard rock/metal. A few examples of bands i listen to: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Judas Priest... I have a budget of 20-80 euro. Buying from amazon.de or ebay unless someone knows a better site for Europe. I want good sound stage. Pretty much everything is important for metal because of how complex the songs are. My setup is FLAC>Sansa Clip+, i'll add a Fiio E7 soon.
 
Currently considering:
-Vsonic GR06
-Astrotec AM-90
-Visang R03
-Sunrise Xcape Impressive Edition
 
Other recommendations are welcome.

 

[Johnny Jumper]

Is it possible that BA in-ear 'phones push less air than dynamic driver types? I have SE215s but I can't leave them in long without getting an earache. I'm thinking that with the foam tips, there is too much pressure in my ears. Would this improve with something like BA2s or Etymotics?

JJ

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

I'm looking for earphones to listen to hard rock/metal. A few examples of bands i listen to: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Judas Priest... I have a budget of 20-80 euro. Buying from amazon.de or ebay unless someone knows a better site for Europe. I want good sound stage. Pretty much everything is important for metal because of how complex the songs are. My setup is FLAC>Sansa Clip+, i'll add a Fiio E7 soon.
 
Currently considering:
-Vsonic GR06
-Astrotec AM-90
-Visang R03
-Sunrise Xcape Impressive Edition
 
Other recommendations are welcome.

 
SE215 can be found on eBay for $99 (like 77 Euro?), and should be more versatile then those you are looking for.
 
Quote:

Is it possible that BA in-ear 'phones push less air than dynamic driver types? I have SE215s but I can't leave them in long without getting an earache. I'm thinking that with the foam tips, there is too much pressure in my ears. Would this improve with something like BA2s or Etymotics?
JJ

 
SPL has nothing to do with what driver type the IEM has, it has to do with what volume you are listening to. My suggestion is to low your volume first. However, fatigue can be caused by a particular frequency range, mainly either brightness or heavy bass. SE215 isn't know to have excessive of either, but fatigue varies between individual so you have to determine the source for yourself.
 
Physical soreness on the other hand has more to do with fit rather than sound, and switching to a softer eartips is the way to fix it.