[ajmitchell77]

What is currently the best value available. From all my reading, this is what I have come up with.

I bought the TF10 during the Amazon sale, left them on an airplane last week, and am looking to replace. Just want to know what is the best value. Higher priced IEM's are not out of the question if VALUE is there.

Opinions appreciated.

 

[fenguin]

Ah that sucks. I suppose the big question is "Did you like the sound of the TF10s?" That factors into the value equation.

I'm looking at getting a pair of TF10s myself, but after seeing them for $99 last year, I'm having a hard time bringing myself to pay nearly double for them.

 

[icedtrip]

I picked up the TF10s for $160 on Amazon, just saw where they had gone up already. I love them! I upgraded from Super.fi 4vis. I am thinking of getting a pair of RE0s as a backup/compliment to the TF10s. Never heard them myself, but seeing the praise they get on here makes me curious how they are.

As for paying double for the TF10s than what they went for back in Nov, all I can say is that eventually the people who bought them up back in Nov to profit from them will eventually run out and then they will be up triple or more the amount.

 

[bcpk]

Prefer RE0s, personally. Greater accuracy, mids, comfort.

 

[weibby]

I like RE0 to the TF10.
Mids and high sparkles are very nice.

Very balance and don't feel like they're lacking anything cept for a tad bit more bass for heavy metal tracks.
But for Jazz and classical or even japanese rock ballads - Xjapan they're a god sent.

 

[Keithpgdrb]

re0

 

[jjmai]

I would probably pick RE0, simply because TF10 hurts my ears after wearing them for an hour. Sound-wise, I prefer TF10's bass. Value-wise, anything approaching $200 is just not well justified for me personally anymore.

 

[james444]

The HJE900 for $110 is also excellent value and worth considering.

 

[rawrster]

Well this is a hard question without knowing your preferences. I had both the RE0 and TF10 up to about a week ago. The RE0 is pretty hard to beat for its value at $79+shipping. The price of the TF10 is probably around $175 on ebay. I was able to enjoy them both for its different presentation. However when I had them both it showed me just how good the RE0 is. There wasn't a clear winner in RE0 or TF10. I would say it all comes down to how your personal preference. As long as it suits your music either one is good assuming you can get a good fit with the TF10

 

[ajmitchell77]

Good replys. Seems like most prefer the value in REO. I loved my TF10 but didn't have much to compare them to. I still own the UM1 and E3c.

I guess the question should be this... Is the TF10 over 2 times better an IEM than the REO? That is what the price says.

 

[TopPop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajmitchell77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess the question should be this... Is the TF10 over 2 times better an IEM than the REO? That is what the price says.

If this is what you're hearing the price say, then you're not a native speaker of Economese.

Diminishing returns, my friend... diminishing returns.

 

[icedtrip]

Another value-add for the TF10 that sold me was the replaceable cable. This was the reason I "had" to upgrade; my SF4vi cable gave out in a very bad way. I know some other phones offer replaceable cables, but having zero experience with the RE0, does it? I'm curious since I want it as an extra set in addition to my TF10s.

Also, I plan on looking into custom molds for the TF10 which I hear will increase their SQ as well.

*Side note, I plan on attempting to mod the 4vi's with the regular Apple iPhone cable since the phones are still in working order.

 

[Hentai11]

Prefer the TF10 by a good margin, but it's a matter of taste. The TF10 has a much warmer and flatter sound. The RE0s are treble-forward, either bright or brittle depending on your taste.

And TopPop was dead-on about diminishing returns. In my thinking, doubling the price doesn't double the quality; it gets you halfway between where you are and perfection. So if RE0s are 90% phones at $80, the TF10s are 95% phones at $170, and the top universals are 97.5% phones at ~$300-$400.

That has one breaking 99% at the $1200-$1600 mark, high-end custom territory.

 

[mvw2]

I think the RE0 lacks a lot relative to something like the TF10. The RE0 was one of those earphones that is fundamentally really good but blatantly lacks certain capabilities. The frequency response is great, well extended on both ends. The sound is quite natural, slightly warm, slightly dark to my ears. However, the RE0 is also horrible with sound stage presentation with no real locational cues. It's also very light on dynamic range, high detail but subtle with energy and breadth of energy. It's very constrained dynamically. Amping helps, but it simply isn't an effortless earphone. This makes it easy to listen to though, non-fatiguing, however, it also makes it hard to convey energy and emotion. An earphone needs to convey subtlety and an explosion of energy equally well. So few are really capable of doing so. The RE0 is not one of them. As much as I never hear it, the RE0 also is slightly flawed on the highs. The sensitivity is there and output is well extended, but the top end response is more random noise then coherent information. It's something I notice readily, but I don't ever see anyone else complaining. I can't say why.

I know why people like it, but I don't know why many people think it's as good as some of the other products out there.

I'm also not saying the TF10 is king either. It is largely unflawed though.

A lot of the choice comes down to personal preference. When I compare and review earphones, I typically try to keep personal interest out of the equation as best I can. I'll speak of raw sound and raw capability. I'll speak of good qualities and of flaws. I'll typically toss in opinion, but I'll try to label it as such. Personal preference comes into play in order to like or dislike a product, flawed or not. A LOT of people like the RE0, but I personally don't consider it to be close to the same level as the TF10. I just see the RE0 as very likable and without offending faults.

 

[bba1973]

If you've already had the TF10's, why not try the RE0's just to hear something different? If you don't like them after 100 hours of use, just put them up for sale here. On one hand, you could end up saving ~$90 or so for something you might actually like better. On the other hand, you could try something different and lose ~$15-$20 or so and pass them on to someone who will enjoy them. Just thought I'd throw out a different perspective in case you were interested.

*I haven't heard the TF10's, but I do own and love the RE0's. There's some very informative threads on the RE0's, and according to those, they seem to stack up well against the TF10's. I also haven't heard anything better or higher-priced than the RE0's, so keep that in mind too.