[meurglys0]

 
Quote:

[size=x-small]Hi everyone,[/size]
[size=x-small]I am very much interested in trying the sm3 because vocals and soundstage are the most important parts of a musical track for me. I am a bit afraid though that they may lack treble and bass for me but you only know htat when trying them out yourself.[/size]
[size=x-small]What I am more worried about is their apparent build quality. I want to buy them second hand because I cant afford their new price and because I am not sure if they are my cup of tea I would lose less money this day. But according to previous threads I read I, as a second owner would not be able to get warranty (this is often the case with european companies although not always, unlike japanese companies I think). So if something would happen to the iem I would be in dire straits. This would be even more the case if I in turn would have to sell them on.[/size]
[size=x-small]I am a bit torn if I will get this one.[/size]
[size=x-small]Greetings, Anouk,[/size]

I like the SM3 in many ways. Since the day I got it (about 4 months ago) I cannot get enough of listening to my favorite albums with it. It's truly great in many respects:
 
1. Controlled, tight bass that is plenty for me. I am neither a bass-head nor a treble-head. I would call my preference in sound neutrality. I neither like unnaturally bloated bass (that really has nothing to do with the original recording) nor music that sounds thin, deprived of bass. Bear in mind that with the SM3 a neutrality guy like myself keep the low frequency value on the EQ at about minus 2 to 5 depending on the music. That means there really is enough bass to satisfy a bass loving person for sure.
 
2. Controlled, pleasant, non-fatiguing treble that is adequate for me. With the SM3 I keep the high frequency value on the EQ at plus 2 mostly. Depending on the album I may need to increase it to 3. But I have to say that 90 % of my albums are from the seventies when the albums were not made as bright as today's albums. So if your collection consists of contemporary albums, then I would say you wouldn't want to raise the treble higher than 2 for sure, if you're not a treble-head of course. Some people say the highs are not sparky on the SM3. For me that's not an issue. For me the SM3 has very well-balanced highs, never tiring, although all the information is there; never piercing, but never less than adequate: just perfect.   
 
3. Wonderful soundstage. Great instrumental separation. Not much to add here.
 
4. It get more comfortable to wear with each day. At first the housings hurt my ears, but now I don't even feel it's there. It took a few weeks to get used to it though. Now I can listen to music with it for 2-3 hours without needing to take it off.
 
5. It's not as fragile as it looks; the cable is really strong I think. And flexible. After using it I place my SM3 in its case right away anyway, because I wouldn't want such an expensive gentle thing to lay around. So if you take care of it, you wouldn't have to worry about its build quality much.
 
Alongside these wonderful qualities the SM3 has an important flaw; it's important for me at least. The lower mids have been boosted and they are very thick. I have to pull down the lower mid frequencies to at least minus 6 db (even 8 db sometimes) and the mid-midranges have to be decreased to minus 2. This is my subjective experience, but there are others who complained about this lower-midrange hump and thickened mids. Many SM3 owners mentioned they equalize the lower-mids by a few db. But also there are many who consider it a minor issue. Nowadays I am looking for an IEM that bears all the positive qualities I have listed above, with no thickened, in-your-face midrange. That doesn't mean I want to sell my SM3, though. It's a keeper. Before placing your order, even though the SM3 is great in every other respect, just bear in mind that you may have to struggle to eliminate this flaw with the help of the EQ. Heck I had to buy a Cowon X7 mainly for its customizable EQ to be able to use my SM3!    
 
I hope this review helps you in making your decision.
 
EDIT: Your last comment came while I was writing this review. I'm afraid my last paragraph harbors the answer to your question about the Iphone 4 - SM3 synergy. I definitely advise you not to buy the SM3 if you don't have the means to customize your EQ. I have used my SM3 with my friend's 6th gen Ipod for about 6 weeks and it was a sonic nightmare for me, because the EQ presets on it are totally useless. They are useless for what they are and more importantly they are useless for taming down the thick, overpowering midrange hump. I gave up on my Zune 120 because it had no EQ, not even presets. I got my X7 to be able to deal with the mentioned flaw of the SM3, and I cannot manage to do it 30 % of the time even with the customizable EQ on that device. But that's only my story. I'm still glad to have the SM3. But I wouldn't be glad if I had to use it with a device with no customizable EQ... In short, I don't recommend getting the SM3 if you will not switch your Iphone with some other device that has a customizable EQ.
 
And this was the longest thing I ever wrote!    



 

 

[Hero Kid]

Quote:

Remember when I mentioned that they were easy to break and had poor build quality a while back in this thread? You said they weren't and I said I'd post when yours broke. Now, the circle is complete.

I certainly do but because they didn't break in my pocket or bag I'm indifferent. I still think they are fairly robust and will continue to throw them in my pocket when it's convenient.

 

[Anouk]

Hi,
Sorry for my many posts today but I really think that this iem might be very interesting for me, but of course to decide this I will have to buy it, in order to afford this i am currently selling some gear already.
I am blind myself (no not a joke) and dont have any technically savvy inclided family members so if the iem gets broken I would have to get them back to the manufacturer somehow. I would not try to repair them myself on principle because, if I would then resell htem, a buyer down the road could get in trouble IF something non-user fixable would go wrong and then the manufacturer might not honor the warranty.
Anyway the seem goes for the filter mod, i will either have to buy the iem modified or live with how it is stock.
This as far as explenations goes. My actual question for this post is I did read that at some point earsonics changed the housing on the sm3. I am pretty sure that I will go the used route, but is there some way i nwhich I know that I buy a unit with the newer (and hopefully sturdier) housing?
Thanks in advance for any information,
Greetings, Anouk,

 

[Anouk]

Thanks meurglys for your review and general helpful comments.
I find that in general, for portable use the iphone sounds pretty nice (I use it with a music streaming service called spotify that gives me high quality streaming ogg files, a quite extensive catalogue). It does not make much sense for me to take along a different player for this reason and anyway there are few that would be as accessible as an ipod or iphone (the current ones all come with the voiceover screenreader). The sansa fuze is accessible but that is a fairly warmish player if my memory serves correctly and i would still not be able to use the eq.
As far as I know rockbox still does not work on any current generation mp3-players (rockbox has a user interface which does not require reading of the screen as well alhtough not as extensive as the one on modern iphone or ipods).
I guess i will think about this decision a bit longer, maybe till my birthday on the 6th of next month.
Thanks again for all the comments here, I am really torn on this one.
Greetings, Anouk,

 

[Confispect]

@Anouk Yeah man I sometimes find it hard to make a purchase as well on somethings it's instantaneous on others I need the 'right' review. I'm sure the nice people of Head-Fi have no problem helping.
 
Also post wise you might want to have your post...combined instead of saying a bunch of stuff in one, then some more in the next. Try to put them in one, purchase wise take you time, don't rush and then be disappointed.

 

[GaryAR]

I'm using my SM3's with my iPhone 4, using Spoken Word EQ and enjoying it quite a bit. I don't know if something has changed with one of the recent updates to improve the EQ or if it's in my head. YMMV. 
 
Gary
 
Quote:

Hi again, Well I finally got through the last appreciation thread (not going to  read the two others, i  hope everything of importance has been covered in this one). I was wondering if anyone has extensively tried the the sm3 with the iphone4? This will be my main source for using them which means that I wiont be able to eq them. I wonder what the synergy between those two is. The changing of the sound with different eartips worries me a bit because for everyone what fit they get is pretty personal so it isnt easily said if I will get a good sound out of them. Greetings, Anouk,

 

[dweaver]

Quote:

I'm using my SM3's with my iPhone 4, using Spoken Word EQ and enjoying it quite a bit. I don't know if something has changed with one of the recent updates to improve the EQ or if it's in my head. YMMV. 
 
Gary
 
Quote:

Hi again, Well I finally got through the last appreciation thread (not going to  read the two others, i  hope everything of importance has been covered in this one). I was wondering if anyone has extensively tried the the sm3 with the iphone4? This will be my main source for using them which means that I wiont be able to eq them. I wonder what the synergy between those two is. The changing of the sound with different eartips worries me a bit because for everyone what fit they get is pretty personal so it isnt easily said if I will get a good sound out of them. Greetings, Anouk,

 

Hmmm will try the setting spoken word then for fun, but wouldn't that make the midrange even more forward, possibly at the expense of the upper and lower?

 

[meurglys0]

Quote:

Quote:

I'm using my SM3's with my iPhone 4, using Spoken Word EQ and enjoying it quite a bit. I don't know if something has changed with one of the recent updates to improve the EQ or if it's in my head. YMMV. 
 
Gary
 
Quote:

Hi again, Well I finally got through the last appreciation thread (not going to  read the two others, i  hope everything of importance has been covered in this one). I was wondering if anyone has extensively tried the the sm3 with the iphone4? This will be my main source for using them which means that I wiont be able to eq them. I wonder what the synergy between those two is. The changing of the sound with different eartips worries me a bit because for everyone what fit they get is pretty personal so it isnt easily said if I will get a good sound out of them. Greetings, Anouk,

 

Hmmm will try the setting spoken word then for fun, but wouldn't that make the midrange even more forward, possibly at the expense of the upper and lower?

Yes Spoken word on the 6th gen Ipod boosts the midrange. The most covenient ones with the SM3 were treble booster and bass reducer; one makes the highs too shrill, the other makes the whole music very thin. Flat EQ, and No EQ for that matter, resolves nothing, just produces a boomy, mid-forwardy, thick sound. Those are the 6th gen Ipod presets for you.
 
However I must stress that I listen to my music very loud; at max volume or close to that. So the "flaw" becomes too apparent and too annoying. But if you listen to your music at low volumes, then you'd probably be affected by the "flaw" much less; there's a good chance you may not even notice anything wrong with the SM3's performance. With some albums I am forced to turn the volume down and it helps...
 
Also if in your preferred genre the high and low ends of the spectrum are in focus -like in hip hop and trance (my little knowledge of these genres may have mistaken me)- then again there's a chance you might not notice how offensive the mids can be with the SM3... I guess.... 

 

[Anouk]

Hi again, Yes I do listen to my music at relatively low volume levels. Has anyone compared the fuze to the iphone 4? Its such an inexpensive miniplayer if it is a lot better then I could just grab one. Greetings, Anouk,

 

[Anouk]

oOops, where I referred in my last posts to the fuze I meant the clip+. The fuze is not accessible (touchscreen) although I think their soundchip is the seem. Greetings, Anouk,

 

[meurglys0]

Quote:

oOops, where I referred in my last posts to the fuze I meant the clip+. The fuze is not accessible (touchscreen) although I think their soundchip is the seem. Greetings, Anouk,

Clip+ is one of the more popular DAPs on Head-fi though I have no experience with it... There must be a lot of feedback on it in the forum.

 

[average_joe]

The headphone out of the iPhone 3G (which I still have) sounds better than the Clip/Clip+/Fuze headphone out to me.  While I haven't listened extensively, my buddy's iPhone 4 sounds different, but I am not sure better than my 3G.

 

[Anouk]

Hi Joe, Is it known what dac chip the current generation of ipods/iphone use? Or is it system on a chip these days? Greetings, Anouk,

 

[meurglys0]

Quote:

The headphone out of the iPhone 3G (which I still have) sounds better than the Clip/Clip+/Fuze headphone out to me.  While I haven't listened extensively, my buddy's iPhone 4 sounds different, but I am not sure better than my 3G.

I may be wrong, but I remember reading somewhere that, unlike the prior Iphone models, Iphone 4 uses the oft-praised Wolfson DAC that was used in the Ipod models up to the 6th generation... So I believe it has the potential to sound better than the Iphone 3.

 

[average_joe]

I will have to try the iPhone 4 again, but it is difficult since calls keep coming in (during work hours).  And the 5.5g headphone out IMO sounds pretty bad because of all the processing circuitry it goes through.  I wouldn't be surprised if it does sound better, but with all the processing and the simple amp circuit, the differences quite possibly aren't all that great.  IMO, the best experience is when using a cleaner line out to an amp, or maybe a 601 (which I have on order, but they are out of stock).