binkgle
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2005
- Posts
- 794
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- 10
Just received these early this afternoon, only have a few hours of listening time on them so far. i bought them as i'm about to go on a two month holiday in france with my grade (all 26 of us, plus five really cool teachers
) and i definitely can't bring my akg k240s (they're way too big, and technically i'm not supposed to be bringing my ipod)
so, yeah, my source is a 3g 15gig ipod, playing aac encoded either by itunes vbr ~128 kbps or nero's new encoder @ q4.5. I'm listening directly out of the ipod's headphone jack, with the im716's volume knob turned all the way up, controlling the volume from the ipod.
i don't mind the more in-my-head sound of the iems (these are the first i've ever tried for more than two minutes), and these actually do have a bit of soundstage, with good separation (better separation than the k240s, i find). the sound is more detailed than my k240s, though not nearly as warm or encompassing, but i never expected this when comparing $70 iems to $100 full-size cans.
about the hd and bass modes: i prefer bass mode. i like a slightly warmer sound, or at least the noticeable presence of bass without them being overwhelmingly bassy, and this mode is certainly better for that. in both modes i can, for the first time, clearly hear the drumstick hitting the cymbals (i can kind of hear it with the k240s), though i can hear it very slightly better in hd mode. hd mode just sounds too thin for me, though this might change when i get an amp.
a lot of people have complained about the inefficency of these iems. i would have no desire to crank them up past maybe 50% on my ipod, and so far i've been listening more at 25-35% just fine. maybe on planes it'll go nearer to 50%, but it gets painful above that.
over the past few hours my ears have grown more accustomed to having the iems in them, but i'll need to wear them a lot over the next ten days so that i'm really used to them by the time i leave. i'm using the tri-flanges, and at first they really hurt; now i can still feel that they're there, but it doesn't hurt. i bet the flanges will soften a bit with time, though. i wonder whether it's possible to get slightly small flange tips, though, i think these might just be a tad too big. i haven't yet tried the foam tips.
one last topic: isolation. these are great for isolation. i was alone at home, and so i went around ruffling plastic bags, closing doors, knocking on doors, calling my cell phone from the land line, going outside and walking on the sidewalk, etc, all the while listening to the grateful dead at a relativly low level. these block out a ton of sound, but still high pitches like a ringing phone can get through if the sound is loud enough (which phones generally are). these'll work wonders on planes.
i've just put my k240s back on, and they're so comfortable, surrounding, and fun, i'll really miss them. i'm very glad i have the im716s, though. they don't sound half bad (they actually sound really good, especially for the price, they just don't groove like the akgs), they're getting more comfortable already, i can wear them in bed (k240s are way too big to do that comfortably), and they isolate excellently. i'll report back in on the effects of burn-in, etc.
so, yeah, my source is a 3g 15gig ipod, playing aac encoded either by itunes vbr ~128 kbps or nero's new encoder @ q4.5. I'm listening directly out of the ipod's headphone jack, with the im716's volume knob turned all the way up, controlling the volume from the ipod.
i don't mind the more in-my-head sound of the iems (these are the first i've ever tried for more than two minutes), and these actually do have a bit of soundstage, with good separation (better separation than the k240s, i find). the sound is more detailed than my k240s, though not nearly as warm or encompassing, but i never expected this when comparing $70 iems to $100 full-size cans.
about the hd and bass modes: i prefer bass mode. i like a slightly warmer sound, or at least the noticeable presence of bass without them being overwhelmingly bassy, and this mode is certainly better for that. in both modes i can, for the first time, clearly hear the drumstick hitting the cymbals (i can kind of hear it with the k240s), though i can hear it very slightly better in hd mode. hd mode just sounds too thin for me, though this might change when i get an amp.
a lot of people have complained about the inefficency of these iems. i would have no desire to crank them up past maybe 50% on my ipod, and so far i've been listening more at 25-35% just fine. maybe on planes it'll go nearer to 50%, but it gets painful above that.
over the past few hours my ears have grown more accustomed to having the iems in them, but i'll need to wear them a lot over the next ten days so that i'm really used to them by the time i leave. i'm using the tri-flanges, and at first they really hurt; now i can still feel that they're there, but it doesn't hurt. i bet the flanges will soften a bit with time, though. i wonder whether it's possible to get slightly small flange tips, though, i think these might just be a tad too big. i haven't yet tried the foam tips.
one last topic: isolation. these are great for isolation. i was alone at home, and so i went around ruffling plastic bags, closing doors, knocking on doors, calling my cell phone from the land line, going outside and walking on the sidewalk, etc, all the while listening to the grateful dead at a relativly low level. these block out a ton of sound, but still high pitches like a ringing phone can get through if the sound is loud enough (which phones generally are). these'll work wonders on planes.
i've just put my k240s back on, and they're so comfortable, surrounding, and fun, i'll really miss them. i'm very glad i have the im716s, though. they don't sound half bad (they actually sound really good, especially for the price, they just don't groove like the akgs), they're getting more comfortable already, i can wear them in bed (k240s are way too big to do that comfortably), and they isolate excellently. i'll report back in on the effects of burn-in, etc.
