[dweaver]

Haven't had time to compare to the Fx40 tonight will have to wait until tomorrow or the weekend.

Out of the box I am enjoying these a lot. They are a huge step up from the old buds which is bad for the low end market IEM's and buds as these will compete or beat a goodly portion of them so many consumers won't be as driven to try something else. They are also more comfortable and slightly less likely to fall out ear which are other reasons people switch.

This may mean other manufacturers will have to add more audio capability to their lower end equipment to entice people to make a switch which is only good news for the consumer.

 

[a_recording]

Hmm, I'm finding they hurt my right ear after a period of use. *sigh* A bit of a shame that.

 

[warrenpchi]

It didn't win over this Head-Fier's ears...

 

[AstroTurf]

Yeah, He's a real peach...

Comparing Apples and Oranges. (Vid was already posted)

Good Effort on your part though. Back to the drawing board.

Jim

It didn't win over this Head-Fier's ears...

 

[yuriv]

Quote:

how about the EarPods vs Monoprice 8320's?

If you position them right, the Earpods sound much more like the Monoprice 8320 than the JVC HA-FX40, and that's a good thing. Unlike the 8320, the Earpods don't have a seal, so they roll off the bass sooner. The response at 40 Hz is weaker (even weaker still at 30 Hz) but the tone can be heard. You can try to shove the nozzles more closely in your ears to hear more of the bottom octave, but that also increases the response at 100 Hz, which is more damaging to music than the bass rolloff.

I can switch between the Earpods, the 8320s, the HD600s, and any of several sets of my speakers, and it doesn't take me too much time to readjust to the sound because the overall spectral balance is in the same ballpark until you reach the frequency extremes.

The FX40, on the other hand, sounds very, very different. They have more midbass, a dip around 2 kHz, and much more elevated response between 4 kHz and 12 kHz compared with the others. It's really missing a lot of midrange. To me, it sounds hyped, and not realistic-sounding at all, and therefore, not nearly as much fun. But your taste might be different. I posted a sample curve in the Equalizer app thread for the FX40 several days ago. The amount of corrective EQ needed to make it sound like my speakers surprised me:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/545503/equ-equalizer-users-lets-see-your-curves/30#post_8680673
 
It may very well be that I have a peculiar HRTF (not likely), but to my ears, it's not even a close comparison between the Earpods and the FX40.
 

 

[Bill-P]

Quote:

It didn't win over this Head-Fier's ears...

 
It's obvious from the get-go that he wants noise-isolation and not necessarily sound quality or comfort.

 

[sunjigglet]

Quote:

Unlike the 8320, the Earpods don't have a seal
 

The 8320 doesn't seal...  

A lot of listenable headphones (e.g. ZX700, HD 201...) have rolled off response below 100Hz, so that's not too problematic. The question is, how steep is the roll off?

Are these earpods really bass heavy? Or just relative to the former earbuds?

 

 

[AstroTurf]

Graphs can be found here:

http://rinchoi.blogspot.com

Jim

The 8320 doesn't seal...  


A lot of listenable headphones (e.g. ZX700, HD 201...) have rolled off response below 100Hz, so that's not too problematic. The question is, how steep is the roll off?


Are these earpods really bass heavy? Or just relative to the former earbuds?


 

 

[yuriv]

Quote:

The 8320 doesn't seal...  

A lot of listenable headphones (e.g. ZX700, HD 201...) have rolled off response below 100Hz, so that's not too problematic. The question is, how steep is the roll off?

Are these earpods really bass heavy? Or just relative to the former earbuds?

 

 
I can get a good seal at my ears' openings, even with the stock tips. The 8320 still allows air to get into the ear canal because there's a vent in the chamber in front of the driver. But the same can be said for many other IEMs; they just don't do it to the same extent. BTW, I am aware of the tape mod, but that really makes it sound worse IMO. If anything, I need to increase the air flow through the port on some of my samples because the bass is a little louder than it should be.

The graph on Rin's blog looks about right. I'm also hearing the peak at 6 kHz. The peaks on the 8320 happen higher up, at least to my ears. The Earpods won't be bass heavy unless you move the nozzles too close to your ears' openings. Some people might want more low-frequency extension, and they can get a little by moving the Earpods closer in. It's just a question of how much extra midbass you can tolerate.

 

[LizardKing1]

Open IEM =/= not having a seal. The Phonak PFE232 are open, or at least vented, but you can get a seal. The 8320 are however hard to get a seal with.

 

[barid]

I may regret this later, but I'll say it now anyway....these are not bad.  Just listened to them for a few minutes and while they aren't replacing anything in my current stable of IEMs, they sound pretty decent.
 
To me, sounds like the vocals are forward, there's definitely pronounced bass.  A warm sound.  I was kind of surprised, but compared to their previous buds these are a definite upgrade.

 

[shockdoc]

Ima buy a pair and then sit back and watch them march across my desktop and assimilate my Mono 8320's. "Resistance is futile, puny generic iem! (if < 1 ohm)". Either that or I will tear them apart (once I hack their forcefield and/or "patents") and add the drivers to my 8320's and make a Frankenapple iem. Wonder how soon Apple will enter the high end market and start patent infringement lawsuits against some people's ears for being a different shape than would ideally fit their EarPods? 

 

[AstroTurf]

This...
 
Can we smell what Apple is COOKIN?
 
The New High End ADDIEMs are gonna KIK AZ !!!
Quote:

Ima buy a pair and then sit back and watch them march across my desktop and assimilate my Mono 8320's. "Resistance is futile, puny generic iem! (if < 1 ohm)". Either that or I will tear them apart (once I hack their forcefield and/or "patents") and add the drivers to my 8320's and make a Frankenapple iem. Wonder how soon Apple will enter the high end market and start patent infringement lawsuits against some people's ears for being a different shape than would ideally fit their EarPods? 

 

[shockdoc]

I've hear the armatures of those bad boys will be wound with unicorn hair and a single pube from SJ's taint. Any truth to the rumor?

 

[AstroTurf]

I taint touchin that one...
 
LOLz, Jim
Quote:

I've hear the armatures of those bad boys will be wound with unicorn hair and a single pube from SJ's taint. Any truth to the rumor?