MayaTlab
1000+ Head-Fier
Hello,
I've been trying to improve my listening experience through the past four years with the following IEMs : SE210, ER4P, SE420, Custom 3, Earsonics SM2, Westone 3, IE8. Recently, jaw malocclusion issues forced me to try portables headphones (B&W P5, Shure SRH840). Even though the latters did not show any more details than the W3 and IE8, I was instantly struck by some sort of "revelation" : somehow, they seemed more credible. Even though they had a different signature, I could easily adapt to it because it felt completely purposeful and controlled, while I've always found there was something off with my IEMs. I think it has to do with the following :
- Percussions : none of the IEMs I've tried are able to do percussions well. Most of them render them as a unsubtle "PAF" without any sense of realistic decay. It is strictly impossible to distinguish nuances in the drummer's performance. Could it be that there isn't enough air to efficiently dissipate the impact ?
- Reverberations / Decay : for some reasons, none of the IEMs I've tried are able to do it well. They all sound flat. You'd like a tone ? THERE ! PAF ! take that in your face and deal with it. The way notes appear and disappear feels digital instead of organic. As an example, guitar felt much more credible to me on the two headphones because instead of just hearing a rough idea of the tone and the guitar line, I was also listening to subtle variations in intensity, speed, reverb, decay. I was, though, quite impressed by the W3 on that issue since I felt they were the first ones to at least try to make it real.
- Bass : the IE8 and W3 are frankly muddy and undefined to me. Hearing the bass is difficult. Yes, obviously I can feel it since they put so much of it in those tiny plastic bodies, but quality's just not there. The Shure SRH840 were far from ideal, but they had much more texture and rumble in their bass instead of a plain "boum". Listening to Teardrop is a good example : on the IEMs, it sounds like a heart beating, while actually it is more like a very low-tone rumble.
- Soundstage / Imaging : It isn't a question of width, but rather depth : all of the IEMs I tried are rather bi-dimensional and unable to tell me "that sound is getting closer" or "that sound is moving both further and to the right. Nope. It's just Right, Left, Center, full stop. I have to admit that I felt the UM3x were better at this little game when I tried them than the other IEMs I own.
- Intensity : listening to piano on all the IEMs I own just doesn't work. Why ? I think it is because they're unable to render with nuances the small variations of intensity one uses to carry emotions within the music when playing to that instrument (like playing with more or less energy, soft pedal effect, etc.). And that's what I feel for all instruments.
In the end, sure those IEMs are quite spectacular when it comes to rendering everything that is "audibly mesurable", like instruments separation, details, etc. But on all those much more difficlut to describe points, they fall very short.
Of course those "details" don't show up all the time and the illusion works quite well. But when I play very challenging records it becomes painfully obvious. As an example, I've encoded in FLAC the Avatar soundtrack. This is probably one of the most challenging records I have in my library : the compression is minimal, the volume is very low to allow fast transitions of intensity, there is an incredibly dense but varied quantity of percussions all over most of the tracks, uncommon instruments, male and female choirs, etc.
Well it is almost inaudible on all the IEMs I have. And then, suddenly, just by going for the P5 and SRH840, which aren't very high end headphones, everything becomes much more credible and real. I listen to real percussions, real choirs, etc. Of course the IEMs are still able to render as much digital details, but somehow there is something lacking, a sense of air and space that is off, etc.
My question : is it an inherent IEM design caracteristic or could I gain on all those points by going for earmolds + top of the range IEMs (UM3x, Earsonics SM3, etc.) or even, if budget allows, for top customs ? Could earmolds, because of different materials such as acrylic and a better controlled shape of the inner cannal correct those feelings ?
Thanks for your appreciated input.
I've been trying to improve my listening experience through the past four years with the following IEMs : SE210, ER4P, SE420, Custom 3, Earsonics SM2, Westone 3, IE8. Recently, jaw malocclusion issues forced me to try portables headphones (B&W P5, Shure SRH840). Even though the latters did not show any more details than the W3 and IE8, I was instantly struck by some sort of "revelation" : somehow, they seemed more credible. Even though they had a different signature, I could easily adapt to it because it felt completely purposeful and controlled, while I've always found there was something off with my IEMs. I think it has to do with the following :
- Percussions : none of the IEMs I've tried are able to do percussions well. Most of them render them as a unsubtle "PAF" without any sense of realistic decay. It is strictly impossible to distinguish nuances in the drummer's performance. Could it be that there isn't enough air to efficiently dissipate the impact ?
- Reverberations / Decay : for some reasons, none of the IEMs I've tried are able to do it well. They all sound flat. You'd like a tone ? THERE ! PAF ! take that in your face and deal with it. The way notes appear and disappear feels digital instead of organic. As an example, guitar felt much more credible to me on the two headphones because instead of just hearing a rough idea of the tone and the guitar line, I was also listening to subtle variations in intensity, speed, reverb, decay. I was, though, quite impressed by the W3 on that issue since I felt they were the first ones to at least try to make it real.
- Bass : the IE8 and W3 are frankly muddy and undefined to me. Hearing the bass is difficult. Yes, obviously I can feel it since they put so much of it in those tiny plastic bodies, but quality's just not there. The Shure SRH840 were far from ideal, but they had much more texture and rumble in their bass instead of a plain "boum". Listening to Teardrop is a good example : on the IEMs, it sounds like a heart beating, while actually it is more like a very low-tone rumble.
- Soundstage / Imaging : It isn't a question of width, but rather depth : all of the IEMs I tried are rather bi-dimensional and unable to tell me "that sound is getting closer" or "that sound is moving both further and to the right. Nope. It's just Right, Left, Center, full stop. I have to admit that I felt the UM3x were better at this little game when I tried them than the other IEMs I own.
- Intensity : listening to piano on all the IEMs I own just doesn't work. Why ? I think it is because they're unable to render with nuances the small variations of intensity one uses to carry emotions within the music when playing to that instrument (like playing with more or less energy, soft pedal effect, etc.). And that's what I feel for all instruments.
In the end, sure those IEMs are quite spectacular when it comes to rendering everything that is "audibly mesurable", like instruments separation, details, etc. But on all those much more difficlut to describe points, they fall very short.
Of course those "details" don't show up all the time and the illusion works quite well. But when I play very challenging records it becomes painfully obvious. As an example, I've encoded in FLAC the Avatar soundtrack. This is probably one of the most challenging records I have in my library : the compression is minimal, the volume is very low to allow fast transitions of intensity, there is an incredibly dense but varied quantity of percussions all over most of the tracks, uncommon instruments, male and female choirs, etc.
Well it is almost inaudible on all the IEMs I have. And then, suddenly, just by going for the P5 and SRH840, which aren't very high end headphones, everything becomes much more credible and real. I listen to real percussions, real choirs, etc. Of course the IEMs are still able to render as much digital details, but somehow there is something lacking, a sense of air and space that is off, etc.
My question : is it an inherent IEM design caracteristic or could I gain on all those points by going for earmolds + top of the range IEMs (UM3x, Earsonics SM3, etc.) or even, if budget allows, for top customs ? Could earmolds, because of different materials such as acrylic and a better controlled shape of the inner cannal correct those feelings ?
Thanks for your appreciated input.
