astroid
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2009
- Posts
- 1,042
- Likes
- 208
Been listening to these for a few months now , thought i would share.
Price paid
C1 = £17.99
C2 = £54.99
CX95 = £30
NE-7M = £70
Build Quality
The best are the Custom 1, strange you may think but the cable on my Custom 2 is harder and kinks more.
The CX95 would be the best if it wasnt for the stupid extension cable , it has a massive coupler on it that adds a LOT of weight to the whole thing, i have swapped this extension with one from my Sony in-ears.
The Nuforce is of good quality but my mic broke within a week so points off.
Packaging
All good.
Comfort
Customs are super comfy , when you get the right fit.
CX95 are fine if you swap out the ridiculous extension cable.
Nuforce were also fine.
Isolation
Customs win by a mile, then Nuforce then CX95.
Sound Quality
Ok , this is the one that matters.
I rate them as follows :
CX95
Custom 1
Custom 2
NE-7M
The CX95s were good out of the box, the Customs actually took a few days to burn-in (mental burn-in ? BA not supposed to be effected by burn-in).
The Nuforce were disappointing out of the box.
The CX95 and Nuforce are alike in that they are NOT in ear monitors, the customs can be regarded as monitors, they are more clinical , the bass is 'different' from the CX/Nuforce in that it has less bandwidth , its tighter and in the case of the custom 1 even lacking a little.
I listen to quite a wide range of music from The Libertines to The Animal Collective, Beck and Classical.
The CX95s are the only earphones in this group that sounded good with all genres, they were better at some but competent at all.
The soundstage is wide (may be due to the gap in the casing?)
Detail is strong and the overall balance is fantastic, out of the box the bass was a little heavy but after 30+ hrs it is perfect.
These sound great with rock/indie, they love guitars.
The Nuforce were disappointing, after all the reviews i have read they were average in almost all respects , they were sibilant and the bass was poorly defined in comparison to the others here.
The only area i felt the nuforce were strong in was soundstage, they were on a par with the CX95s in this respect.
The Custom 1s are fun, they are midband strong , the treble range is good but can become confused with 'busy' pieces of music, they are very good with vocals/acoustic and classical, not so good with rock.
I didnt warm to the custom 2s , they are warmer than the 1s but i found the balance to be bottom heavy, the detail is about the same.
They are not as much fun to listen to as the custom 1s , less dynamic.
IMO not worth the extra £.
So overall i think the CX95 are amazing for the cash, they have dropped in price recently , i think due to the rebranding to CX550.
Custom 1s are recommended also.
Next stop IE7 i think!
Price paid
C1 = £17.99
C2 = £54.99
CX95 = £30
NE-7M = £70
Build Quality
The best are the Custom 1, strange you may think but the cable on my Custom 2 is harder and kinks more.
The CX95 would be the best if it wasnt for the stupid extension cable , it has a massive coupler on it that adds a LOT of weight to the whole thing, i have swapped this extension with one from my Sony in-ears.
The Nuforce is of good quality but my mic broke within a week so points off.
Packaging
All good.
Comfort
Customs are super comfy , when you get the right fit.
CX95 are fine if you swap out the ridiculous extension cable.
Nuforce were also fine.
Isolation
Customs win by a mile, then Nuforce then CX95.
Sound Quality
Ok , this is the one that matters.
I rate them as follows :
CX95
Custom 1
Custom 2
NE-7M
The CX95s were good out of the box, the Customs actually took a few days to burn-in (mental burn-in ? BA not supposed to be effected by burn-in).
The Nuforce were disappointing out of the box.
The CX95 and Nuforce are alike in that they are NOT in ear monitors, the customs can be regarded as monitors, they are more clinical , the bass is 'different' from the CX/Nuforce in that it has less bandwidth , its tighter and in the case of the custom 1 even lacking a little.
I listen to quite a wide range of music from The Libertines to The Animal Collective, Beck and Classical.
The CX95s are the only earphones in this group that sounded good with all genres, they were better at some but competent at all.
The soundstage is wide (may be due to the gap in the casing?)
Detail is strong and the overall balance is fantastic, out of the box the bass was a little heavy but after 30+ hrs it is perfect.
These sound great with rock/indie, they love guitars.
The Nuforce were disappointing, after all the reviews i have read they were average in almost all respects , they were sibilant and the bass was poorly defined in comparison to the others here.
The only area i felt the nuforce were strong in was soundstage, they were on a par with the CX95s in this respect.
The Custom 1s are fun, they are midband strong , the treble range is good but can become confused with 'busy' pieces of music, they are very good with vocals/acoustic and classical, not so good with rock.
I didnt warm to the custom 2s , they are warmer than the 1s but i found the balance to be bottom heavy, the detail is about the same.
They are not as much fun to listen to as the custom 1s , less dynamic.
IMO not worth the extra £.
So overall i think the CX95 are amazing for the cash, they have dropped in price recently , i think due to the rebranding to CX550.
Custom 1s are recommended also.
Next stop IE7 i think!
