MrButchi
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2012
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So... I believe you've all seen the CA-0001A Ei.3 picture. And you'd like to know how they sound. For some reason, they arrived yesterday at my office. I tried them on as soon as I could, and here is the ensuing chain of emails I sent Piotr. As per his request, I waited until the end of April fool's day to publish.
** Disclaimer : I am NOT a basshead, and even am considered a little trebly by my fellow Frenchmen. I listened to those for about three hours straight on my Lyr2+Uberfrost desk combo, then later on with my iPhone 6 on my commute. Those are not even first impressions, but IMMEDIATE impressions, because I wanted to feedback Piotr ASAP. Thus, handle with EXTREME care. I am not trying to hype or unhype. Everyone who knows me knows I appreciate Piotr to the utmost, and believe that he truly understands what customer relationship is about. Everyone who knows me will also tell you that if I don't like it, I'll say it. My experience with in ears started six years ago but I only started to get serious last year. My current lineup is H8p (proud pre-order owner), SE5 (remolded by Piotr), Lyr2+Uberfrost, and iPhone 6+HPP1 (when enough room). I still own SA7 and have owned previously SA6, SM64, SM3v2 for in ears, and DX50, F887 and ZX1 for DAPs. My tastes lean toward precision without analytical sound, ADSR quality, soundstage width and depth. I listen at low volume. I don't talk much about musicality because I find it too subjective a topic at this point of experience **
Nuff B.S., here are the unedited emails, based on my testing tracklist, which is still growing, but based on tunes I've listenened to over 300 times at least. Not all are my taste, but all of them are here for a reason. For most of the tunes, everytime I noticed something, I went back and forth in Foobar with H8P and Ei.3, with hand based volume matching. That's why you will find some timestamps below. I tried to not get carried away, but may have on occasions.
Just one reaction from Piotr (I hope you won't mind me quoting you) :
Overall, I would say that Ei.3 is definitely less technical than H8P (but that was a given). This shows up particularly in the highs ADSR (at least I think I noticed it on the cymbals, where sustain and decay are much better for H8P). The scene appears to be closer to you, as if the H8P scene was a bit recessed, which changes things dramatically on some tunes (see Drydeck above). The bass is really really fun, without ever getting boomy. Taking into account the price point, my first feeling is that this Ei.3 is a killer. I wish I had listened to Music 2 to give better price based comparison, but I haven't.
** Disclaimer : I am NOT a basshead, and even am considered a little trebly by my fellow Frenchmen. I listened to those for about three hours straight on my Lyr2+Uberfrost desk combo, then later on with my iPhone 6 on my commute. Those are not even first impressions, but IMMEDIATE impressions, because I wanted to feedback Piotr ASAP. Thus, handle with EXTREME care. I am not trying to hype or unhype. Everyone who knows me knows I appreciate Piotr to the utmost, and believe that he truly understands what customer relationship is about. Everyone who knows me will also tell you that if I don't like it, I'll say it. My experience with in ears started six years ago but I only started to get serious last year. My current lineup is H8p (proud pre-order owner), SE5 (remolded by Piotr), Lyr2+Uberfrost, and iPhone 6+HPP1 (when enough room). I still own SA7 and have owned previously SA6, SM64, SM3v2 for in ears, and DX50, F887 and ZX1 for DAPs. My tastes lean toward precision without analytical sound, ADSR quality, soundstage width and depth. I listen at low volume. I don't talk much about musicality because I find it too subjective a topic at this point of experience **
Nuff B.S., here are the unedited emails, based on my testing tracklist, which is still growing, but based on tunes I've listenened to over 300 times at least. Not all are my taste, but all of them are here for a reason. For most of the tunes, everytime I noticed something, I went back and forth in Foobar with H8P and Ei.3, with hand based volume matching. That's why you will find some timestamps below. I tried to not get carried away, but may have on occasions.
2015-04-01 15:57 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie
Back from meetings. On with the listening ! I will compare them with theH8P to be as unfair as possible
2015-04-01 15:17 GMT+02:00 Piotr
Haha! That's a pity. Well looking forward to more impressions.
And thanks, I tried my best working on your IEMs.
2015-04-01 16:19 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie
Ok I'll make a twitter like feedback, mail after mail. I'm using Lyr2+Uberfrost. I have slight lack of fitting on the right ear. No biggie, but not perfect.
Iggy Azalea Black Widow => is it me or there are significantly more subs?
I feel like a constant rumble when the deep basses are out, but a controlled one - very much what I expected what a real life woofer would sound like when I first heard the song on the H8P.
At comparable sound levels (hand based), the basses seem to bleed on H8P @ 2:28.
The overall separation seems generally inferior to H8P in the sense that the H8P sounds cleaner, more "cut", but it also sounds more "together".
The scene appears to be somewhat larger and quite a bit less deep than H8P.
Globally, the song sounds more dancy and punchy than with the H8P, with more personality, albeit with quite less extension in the highs (that takes a bit away from the rise @1:32 to 1:45 and the same at 2:50-3:15). It is as if the H8P highs are clear (shiny? open?), while the Ei.3 were more "matte" ?
2015-04-01 16:58 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie
Now onto harder stuff : Brahms Requiem (I know, they're not meant for that, but the H8P make me cry on it)
It is surprisingly good ! The choirs seem more forward as the clarinette or oboe seems less present. This may actually be even more moving albeit less technical (depth mainly).
2015-04-01 17:04 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie
On with Com Truise - Future World. Now I'm getting it ! Is it me or the scene is more forward ? like the music sounds closer to you ? The first 30 seconds are VERY different on Ei.3 and H8P. Here again, sounds leaner and cleaner on H8P maybe somewhat more defined, but also less "personal", less engaging that with the Ei.3. The fact that the scene appears closer makes the effect sound VERY differently. I wonder how they will sound on live music !
2015-04-01 17:25 GMT+02:00 J�r�mie
Daft punk - Contact : on the rise starting from 3:10 on, the subs take over. The line of bass is less present, and the drums highs also. The feeling is more overwhelming (although I love the technicality of the H8Ps on that track). The brain is shaken as you wanted it to be ! It's definitely what you are describing : "For the sound stage Harmony 8 will sound more outside of head and a bit recessed in comparison, obviously Harmony will be more technical and clearer sounding.", and "Harmony will be more technical and clearer sounding".
I will post a summary of all the mails tomorrow on HF. And TN will have to deal with English - I'm not reverse translating ! I am amazed : these totally obliterates SM64 or SA7 (which were released @250), and I LOVED my SA7's !
Dire Straits - Telegraph Road : Oh and about the highs : they still get the highs in from the first second on "Telegraph Road", which I haven't seen in many cases (often, no sound for the first 3 seconds). Is it me or the drums (toms and cymbals mainly) are somewhat less precise, specifically is the sustain and decay (shorter for the Ei.3) ? See 5:50 to 6:00. The bass drum is more lively on the Ei.3, but the cymbals are so much more natural on H8P. Different focus. All of the details of this hard to reproduce song are there. I like this song because it has so much test material in it : single instruments, acoustic guitar, bass lines, mix up, piano, the voice on Mark Knopfler cannot stand a poor placement. Overall, I'd still take the H8Ps on that one, but it is a very lively reproduction.
The depth seems closer to that of H8P than with the previous tracks.
2015-04-01 17:41 GMT+02:00 Jérémie
Dire Straits - On every street : here again, a somewhat unbalanced fight because this songs favor technicality. The sax appears more "moving" with the H8p. The cymbals reproduction of Ei.3 appears much better than with Telegraph Road, despite the even higher complexity. I still like the better ADSR on the cymbals from the H8P, but the matte bell sound starting at 2:50 in the background as well as the "rice box" (I dont know the French name of that instrument, but it sounds like shaking rice in a wooden box) is here too. Many IEMs fail there, including TotL IEMs. I'm very impressed by the level of detail restitution : it is not necessarily perfect, but it is here !
2015-04-01 17:48 GMT+02:00 Jérémie
Massive Attack - Angel : The Ei.3 shine, as you'd expect with the deep bass.
Panda Dub - Myopie : Some pretty good dub stuff. Try it free @ http://pandadub.bandcamp.com My only slight disapointment so far : the tuba starting @ 1:50 is really not as deep. Ony H8P it is a real trip : it seems as if the tuba is coming from 50m away, closing in on you with depth. Here it is fun. But no as fun. In fact, I like to say that H8P are so excellent for "watching the music", enjoying it in a very contemplative manner, which is perfect with Myopie. I'd say that, on the opposite, Ei.3 are made to live the music, live the moment. Need to test them with good rock music.
2015-04-01 18:03 GMT+02:00 Jérémie
Savant - Fat Cat Shuffle. Now try that one www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggXVkhkzS-0
The texture of the bass is a little less controlled than H8P but it is very physically engaging.
The Killers - Mr Brightside : THERE YOU GO! It's exactly the energy I missed on that track from the H8p. (still miss the H8P cymbals though
It's interesting what you said earlier - I do tend to feel more "speed" from the Ei.3 than the H8p. I know that Joe considered that "has a bit shorter/faster note through the bass and midrange. The treble notes are sharper and more analytical, possibly from a faster decay. The H8P can keep up with the speed of any track with excellent punch and dynamic range that again are near the top of the performance charts. Overall coherence is very good, but the treble region at times can reduce the overall frequency response coherence due to the different note ADSR." Imho, the bass attack of H8p is not the fastest (or it is the highs attack which is faster I dunno), which gives this "not as fast" impression. Anyway. Not the case here.
Well congrats. You did it. And yes I see what you mean when you say that electronic music "it's not overly complex." : it isn't in the way that due to the synthetic nature of the music, the sounds tend to be relatively "mono harmonical", and not as complex as live instruments can be.
Just one reaction from Piotr (I hope you won't mind me quoting you) :
Overall, I would say that Ei.3 is definitely less technical than H8P (but that was a given). This shows up particularly in the highs ADSR (at least I think I noticed it on the cymbals, where sustain and decay are much better for H8P). The scene appears to be closer to you, as if the H8P scene was a bit recessed, which changes things dramatically on some tunes (see Drydeck above). The bass is really really fun, without ever getting boomy. Taking into account the price point, my first feeling is that this Ei.3 is a killer. I wish I had listened to Music 2 to give better price based comparison, but I haven't.
