[IpodHappy]

First Impressions: Just got my SM3s out of UPS "winter weather" purgatory after a 10 day shipping delay.  I've been listening now for about an hour, so these are really first impressions without a chance to try many tracks or do much critical listening.
 
My first thought was that the click on the Ipod sounded a bit behind me rather than slightly forward like most of my other IEMs.  Hmm.  The click sound doesn't have a penetrating high end or aggressive hit like on some of my other IEMs.  And it doesn't have the "tock" like quality that it gets with the Monster Turbine Pro Coppers.
 
As I listened more, the SM3s kept reminding me of 2 my other IEMs, the Westone UM3X and UE700s.  Out they came.  The UE700s quickly went back as they are much more high frequency forward and just not as full as the other two. 
 
Then came the comparison of the UM3X to the SM3. The UM3X has more ambiance, the SM3 a bit more separation, the UM3Xs a bit more high end on the recording I was listening to, the mids different between them.  But they're close, very close.  More to come later after the SM3s have been worn substantially more, after a bunch more A/B comparisons, different tracks, etc.

 

[ahmadmfz]

Quote:

Thanks for the excellent comparison! I pretty much agree with you on everything. IMO fullness and smoothness are very subjective things and are not an indication of technical superiority. The mids on ER4 just sound real to me, whereas on the SM3 I sometimes felt that certain vocals and instruments sounded a bit too full. In case of vocals, some sounded a bit more chesty than they should to my ears. ER4 doesn't have this problem, although it can sound very dry with some sources. In regards to treble, the SM3 is of very good quality up there and beats out the ER4p IMO, but it's just recessed. Also, I sometimes felt that SM3 wasn't sounding coherent. In fact, I noticed this issue with pretty much every single multi driver IEM. They all lack coherency - some more, others less. With SM3, it's very hard to tell what exactly makes the sound incoherent, but I just feel that there is something not quite right.

Perhaps you need more brain burn in? Initially i HATED the sm3s. My previous iems were the dba-02s, and they were such awesome gems.
I hated the sm3s for sounding so.. weird? i wasn't used to the sound signature. It was too muddled up at first.
But after some time, around a week or so.. i felt comfortable with the sound signature and grew to like it. Yup.
 
I'm still wishing for something that has the SM3s bass,mids, speed and space but with a treble like the DBA-02s.

 

[kingice10]

Deleted..transfered to J3 Forums

 

[Geruvah]

Has it been discussed where to get the Sensorcom tips for the cheapest in the US? If I buy directly from them, I'd pay about $30 because it's coming from the UK for a pair that's only £5.

 

[CareyPrice31]

I'm selling a brand new pack of 6 Sensorcom's for only $25.00 (shipping from Canada).

 

[drhoooon]

Dang how many packs did you buy, hope mines arrives soon enough..Canada's pretty close to me.
 
Quote:

I'm selling a brand new pack of 6 Sensorcom's for only $25.00 (shipping from Canada).

 

[CareyPrice31]

Ordered 2 packs.
 
Yours should be arriving shortly!
Quote:

Dang how many packs did you buy, hope mines arrives soon enough..Canada's pretty close to me.
 

 

 

[drhoooon]

Yay! At first SM3 sounded veiled as everyone says but I think my brain burn-in started happening and it just sounds phenomenal now. Can't wait to try the new tips! 

 

[kingice10]

Quote:

Yay! At first SM3 sounded veiled as everyone says but I think my brain burn-in started happening and it just sounds phenomenal now. Can't wait to try the new tips! 

That's my first experience too coming from my Iphone 3GS...but when I paired to my J3, it exceeded my expectations.
 

 

[klekk]

My dog recently ate!!!!! my IE8s. (you do not want to see pictures, its horrible)  So I had to get me some new iems. fast. So I decided to get me some sm3¨s.
 
They came in the mail today. I have been listening to them during a workout and now some hours on the sofa. These things are warm, but as somebody earlier stated, your ears does not go fatigue. The sound is nice and I am looking forward to getting to know them better. What I can say as of now is that I enjoy these more than i enjoyed the ie8 right after i got them. I really liked the ie8 so I am excited to see if the sm3 can replace them in time.
 
I listen to a lot of electronica and I can say that the sm3s shine when listening to afrojack, deadmau5 and crystal castles.
 
Edit: forgot to tell. I use Itunes (alac or 320) - Optical cable - Ibasso d12 - sm3
 
Edit2: How are one supposed to use the cleaner tool that came with the sm3, and what is that little magnet thing on it for?

 

[Inks]

For me at first the sound signature was what I expected, no surprises there and I wasn't that impressed. But then what opened up for me was the imaging and precision of the drivers. 

 

[average_joe]

Quote:

My dog recently ate!!!!! my IE8s. (you do not want to see pictures, its horrible)  So I had to get me some new iems. fast. So I decided to get me some sm3¨s.
 
They came in the mail today. I have been listening to them during a workout and now some hours on the sofa. These things are warm, but as somebody earlier stated, your ears does not go fatigue. The sound is nice and I am looking forward to getting to know them better. What I can say as of now is that I enjoy these more than i enjoyed the ie8 right after i got them. I really liked the ie8 so I am excited to see if the sm3 can replace them in time.
 
I listen to a lot of electronica and I can say that the sm3s shine when listening to afrojack, deadmau5 and crystal castles.
 
Edit: forgot to tell. I use Itunes (alac or 320) - Optical cable - Ibasso d12 - sm3
 
Edit2: How are one supposed to use the cleaner tool that came with the sm3, and what is that little magnet thing on it for?

I want to see the pictures.  And yes, the SM3 is awesome with electronic among other things!

 

[tigon_ridge]

The more I a/b the sm3 with my sm3eq, the more I feel a hybrid of the sm3 and re0 (having the re0's frequency response and sm3's technical capabilities) would be very close to my ideal sound. The sm3 has much better speed and separation, but sounds veiled and more sibilant compared to the re0. As it stands, I think I would actually enjoy the re0 more than the stock sm3 which is bjillion times the price. I have a feeling the w4 might be closer to the sm3eq in terms of frequency response than the stock sm3. Will have to save up... again.

 

[Confispect]

^ What EQ are you using???

 

[drhoooon]

 
This
 
[size=7.5pt]Using foobar2k eq:[/size]
[size=7.5pt](increment value is 1 dB)[/size]
[size=7.5pt]-4 55 Hz
-4 77 Hz
-4 110 Hz
-4 156 Hz
-4 220 Hz
-4 311 Hz
-3 440 Hz
-2 622 Hz
-1 880 Hz
0 1.2 kHz
0 1.8 kHz
0 2.5 kHz
0 3.5 kHz
0 5 kHz
-3 7 kHz (sibilance reduction)
-3 10 kHz (sibiliance reduction)
0 14 kHz
0 20 kHz[/size]
 
I liked it at first but I found myself using it less as I got used to the sound signature more.