[alphaman]

Quote:

I listened to your track and the sm3 had no problems keeping up and there was no congestion, though the jvc's displayed greater dynamics over the sm3 in that passage.
 
I would think something with this frequency response could sound pretty congested at times, no?  That appears to be a lot of mid bass overshadowing the lower midrange.
Edit: This is a genuine question (not meant to sound smart).  This is one of the reasons I never tried the IE8.  Just trying to understand where you are coming from.
 

 
I appreciate you taking time to experiment (tho' I almost hate to display gratitude in that it is psychological friction and our strong-headedness that keeps things interesting and, more important, technological evolution moving fwd!). Bottom line: I wish you folks wouldn't beat me up a bit more! IAC ...
I'm not surprised you did not hear the diffs. with that Mahler segment. "Audiophile" differences are often subtle and/or require some familiarity with the program material. Choose a passage from a track YOU are most familiar with; that passage should be complex with heavy transients (lots of instruments/voices/action-movie-segment and/or multi-track layers, in high relief, and rapidly-shifting loudness for each instr./voice/effect/etc.). Dealing this type of signal, the SM3s under-perform compared to my IE8s and SE530s. Given the various and multiple write-ups describing its characteristic sonics, I'm not surprised about the JVC FX700's superior dynamics. 
 
The freq. response has almost nothing to do with congestion. Yes, I do think the IE8 sounds flatter -- and flatter in a better + important (= more linear) way -- than any other IEM (and many full-sized + high-end cans) I have thus far heard. SM3s have a mid-range "hump" but extend more into lows and highs than my SE530s (which I often call "all-mids" [similarly, Stax electrostatics, especially older models, are "all-treble"]). Speaking of treble, the SM3s have a harder/grainer/duller treble compared to the IE8s (which are more extended and delicate and refined).
 
Overall, anyone contemplating buying (or upgrading) to the SM3s should, perhaps, save their pennies a few more weeks, and opt for ... say Sony EX1000s ... 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 

[alphaman]

Quote:

 There is no Doubt in my mind whatsoever, that I would own these IE8's, It's just that Isolation is so important for me at this time sadly. I love my Westone 3's, and from what I understand I would love the IE8's. 
The Speed thing at least I know I don't understand the specifics, I feel my 535's are a little faster than my W3's (not by much) but reading the IEM speed post, I'm not the only one that has no clue as to what speed is. My simple definition is efficiency. (i'm the kind of person that does much better keeping things real simple)

The new TS-500 (spherical) Comply foam (or even old Comply TS-500 ) -- see images below -- are better isolators than any stock Sennheiser IEx tip I know of. If you can get a double/triple-flange silicone, this will save a bit of time/hassle of compressing-holding-in-canal-while-foam-expands chore. The Comply's are $$$, too Probably, custom is best for long-term IE8 use.

 
Speaking of tips, I think the SM3v2's larger double-flange (stock) may be best (finally got around to extensively eval'ing it!). Wish the SM3s weren't to "tipsy" (tip type and its position changes  SM3's sonic charac. in MAJOR ways. Not ideal!).
 
 

 

[avorite]

Hey guys, just wanted to know if the cable connectors on the sm3 are common with the westones and triple fis? All replies appreciated!

 

[go0gle]

http://www.amazon.com/John-Digweed-Structures-Two/dp/B00544JPSK/ref=tmm_msc_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1308639109&sr=8-1
 
CD2 is a live mix from club Avalon in LA... the sm3 make me feel like I am in the middle of the dance floor..!
 

 

[Heret1c]

Just got the new Earsonics biflanges (wide-bored) in the mail today and have been using them with my Sm3 v1s for the past couple of hours. So far i can say I like them way better than the previous stock biflanges. The V1s signature seems more balanced now and the highs have a little more presence and clarity to them than before. Timbre seems the same, but will need to listen more to confirm this. They don't sound as warm as before (not by much) but still maintain all the traits I love about the v1s.
 
Physically, they seem softer and more comfortable than the previous stock tips, either because softer silicon is being used or perhaps because the bores are larger, making the stalks less thick, hence less stiff. Size-wise they're the same and I'm still getting the same level of seal / isolation, which is good.

 

[Heret1c]

@alphaman,
 
I've given the Mahler piece below a listen and much like shotgunshane, i couldn't detect any congestion and lack in dynamics...at first. I am still relatively new to the whole audiophile / headphile thing so perhaps I dont know what to listen for. But I can say that my CK10's handle this passage better than the sm3s noticeably but not by a huge margin. Havent heard the FX700s so can't comment on that, but now i'm curious to try it out!
 
TBH, never found the the sm3s to be congested or lacking in dynamics with the music I listen to, which I considered to be quite complex and dynamic as well. Perhaps not to the same level as classical music, though? Either way, I'm now of the opinion that the Sm3s are great for certain types of music and not so for other. I suppose the same could be said of other IEMS and / or full-sized cans, to varying degrees. The Sm3s are great with the music I listen compared to the other IEMs i have, hence they are near perfection in my scope (experience, music choice, IEMs owned / auditioned). I have no regrets about them but am now ever more curious to find a pair (IEMs specifically, still not into full-sized cans) which work equally well with all genres. Dunno if they exist but its gonna be a mighty exciting quest...not to mention expensive!

 
Quote:

I don't care for (nor have ever used) the term 'fanboyism' -- it seems to convey that subjects are immature and/or unsophisticated, which is not (IMO) what SM3 users ('fans') are.
 
As far as 'extrapolation' ... I subjectively 'weighed' the totality of sentiment and opinion thus far conveyed in this thread.
 
As far as the comment ... "Possibly there are BA based phones that have problems with fast/complex tracks but I've yet to hear one. " I have (compared to IE8) ... and that BA is the SM3v2 I'm currently evaluating. But my SE530 (which are BA of course) are better than IE8s WRT this same subjective metric (tho' the 530s are pretty sub-par -- comparatively speaking and IMO of course -- in most other sonic depts.).
 
Bottom line: I don't think one can generalize sonic hard-and-fast 'rules' and attributes based on transducer type.
 
... to be cont. ... 
Shifting gears to my continued evaluation ... which is evolving and maturing based on: (a) further/additional listening using wider audio/music.video-type mix; (b) more cross-comparisons with my other IEMs; (c) SM3s further burning in.
 
Compared to my reference (IE8), the SM3v2's sound cleaner and larger (more fwd and bigger). These are good attributes. 
 
Alas, despite more burn-in time, no relief of congestion when the 'going gets tough' (i.e., dynamic+complex passages). SE530 > IE8 > SM3v2
 
Example of "dynamic+complex passage": 08:00-08:25 in Mahler Symp. 5
 

... to be cont. ... 
 
 

 

 

[Heret1c]

Quote:

 
Speaking of tips, I think the SM3v2's larger double-flange (stock) may be best (finally got around to extensively eval'ing it!). Wish the SM3s weren't to "tipsy" (tip type and its position changes  SM3's sonic charac. in MAJOR ways. Not ideal!).
 
 

Agree somewhat with this.
 

 

[Hawaiiancerveza]

Nice I just looked it up.  I like it =)  
I like this song on the SM3
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MPtkBRcKgc
Quote:

http://www.amazon.com/John-Digweed-Structures-Two/dp/B00544JPSK/ref=tmm_msc_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1308639109&sr=8-1
 
CD2 is a live mix from club Avalon in LA... the sm3 make me feel like I am in the middle of the dance floor..!
 

 

 

[oclafcire]

Quote:

Agree somewhat with this.
 
I also agree with this. Though, I find that once I locate the 'perfect' spot, they tend to stay there. These things almost have a suction-like quality to them.

 

 

[Warlax]

I am curious as to these new biflange tips, however I'm not sure which ones I have in the first place.  I ordered my SM3s in early May from soundearphones.com (through amazon), and I received 2 pairs of what seem to be identical grey silicone tips.  The openings appear to be fairly wide, given that I ordered them relatively recently would it be safe to assume I have the wide-bore tips?  Thanks!
 
Quote:

Just got the new Earsonics biflanges (wide-bored) in the mail today and have been using them with my Sm3 v1s for the past couple of hours. So far i can say I like them way better than the previous stock biflanges. The V1s signature seems more balanced now and the highs have a little more presence and clarity to them than before. Timbre seems the same, but will need to listen more to confirm this. They don't sound as warm as before (not by much) but still maintain all the traits I love about the v1s.
 
Physically, they seem softer and more comfortable than the previous stock tips, either because softer silicon is being used or perhaps because the bores are larger, making the stalks less thick, hence less stiff. Size-wise they're the same and I'm still getting the same level of seal / isolation, which is good.

 

 

[Heret1c]

Hi Warlax,
 
Do you have the Sm3 v1 or v2? If the latter, you should have the new wide bored ones. Im pretty they all came with that. The v1s only came with the older, smaller opening tips.
 
Quote:

I am curious as to these new biflange tips, however I'm not sure which ones I have in the first place.  I ordered my SM3s in early May from soundearphones.com (through amazon), and I received 2 pairs of what seem to be identical grey silicone tips.  The openings appear to be fairly wide, given that I ordered them relatively recently would it be safe to assume I have the wide-bore tips?  Thanks!
 


 

 

 

[Hawaiiancerveza]

I just ordered the new tips from ES and I'd like to see the difference between the two. 

 

[shotgunshane]

I think v1 ordered in May come with the new tips. They were with mine but I bought used, so I'm not absolutely positive about this. I also ordered extras. Someone should just post a picture of them showing the sound hole. It will be evening before I can.

 

[Heret1c]

Quote:

I think v1 ordered in May come with the new tips. They were with mine but I bought used, so I'm not absolutely positive about this. I also ordered extras. Someone should just post a picture of them showing the sound hole. It will be evening before I can.

I could be wrong but someone posted pics of their v2s on this thread somewhere and it shows the new tips I think.....
 
Here we go....go0gle posted it up a while back. You can clearly see the wide bore on the new tips.
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/552337/earsonics-sm3-v2/405#post_7529908

 

[shotgunshane]

That's a good pic of them. Fwiw, they are awesome tips for the W4 too.