Going to apologize for my writing style right off the bat and my ADD. I applaud anyone that gets through it all.
Well, with word of the KSE1200 coming only days after I ended a multi month long iem search with a pair of Phantoms, I decided to drop back into the Headfoneshop and put the Phantom and KSE1500 head to head. Knowing they would sound very, very different from one another I was prepared to have to quickly cleanse my tonal palette between swaps so I brought along my ER4S as I figured 60 seconds on it between swaps will give me a good rinse off. I find I can adapt fairly easily to sound signatures as long as they don't have glaring issues so let's see how it went.
My source is a DX200 w/Amp4s but used Amp5 instead for the line out - like many I'm waiting a bit on a 4.4mm Ares II from EE so haven't heard the Phantom/4s combo yet. Have a OS849/CA02 combo inbound on Monday thanks to Tw6's positive review, so very excited to finally get all the pieces together.
Only had 45 mins in the shop before close, which in the end did not equate to much audition/comparison time as there were some issues.
Here's what I first noticed, the iems themselves feel very "inexpensive" to me. When handling them more conscientiously - like when changing tips - they gave me a very "plasticy" feel. No clue what the outershell is made of but my fingers are telling me straight up plastic. Rather thin as well.
Back to tips...I could only get a good seal with trip flanges. I couldn't get them inserted deep enough to make an adequate seal with anything but. I have small ears but haven't had this much trouble before. Clearly ymmv.
Next hiccup was I couldn't get enough gain through Amp5 line out before clipping. I was like "whaaaa"! Did not see that coming!! Playing out of phone out instead of line out helped slightly, but only by 3db or so before clipping again. Had to crank it to 140 or so to get that extra 3db too (I realize meaningless for non-DX200 owners but just know there's no reason that shouldn't be sufficient) Yes, I do listen at an above average volume but not ridiculously so. This was with -10db pad. I tried modulating the volume between the two devices (keeping the KSE amp from clipping) but that didn't help. I then took off the pad but at this point you no longer have the full volume of the KSE amp at your disposal before clipping once again. Up to 21 out of 25 on the dial. 22 or higher, no dice, yes distortion. So in reality you're not really gaining 10db of useable gain. Regardless, this still wasn't loud enough for my tastes before I could hear clipping...again. Maybe a 6db gain.
I then tried the SP1000 SS as the source, this was slightly more powerful but could still easily induce clipping in highly-dynamic passages at sufficient volume. Keep in mind the clipping I've been speaking to is only audible clipping - as in not clipping on the level meter on the KSE amp. At this point in time I concluded that this KSE is defective lol. I was assured it's not and that I just listen too loud. Regardless of how loud I listen I've never heard clipping like this before in any audio product so ya, going back to thinking it's got a problem. Though, even if this amp has an issue I doubt fixing it will add gain, lol. Might not just be enough for some of us?
Despite all of this I was still able to get some very brief lower volume impressions. I found the bass adequate in quantity. No it doesn't plumb the depths but it's speed and texture make up for it. Mids were a little lean for my tastes but the resolution and clarity on hand are the best I've heard on an iem. Compared to the Phantom you could call them a little recessed but I do think they are slightly forward on the Phantom and I prefer them here. Treble is super resolved, effortless and that extension! I've never heard anything like it in an iem. I find the upper treble so extended and airy that it tends to light-up the stage in songs that can take advantage of this trick. Most of my music does not however, lol. The Phantom is quite a bit darker sounding while still retaining all the detail I would really need for the less nuanced music I tend to listen to. The KSE is technically brilliant but do I find myself truly enjoying my music more with them than Phantoms or does it's open-window transparency (not that Phantom isn't just in A/B) have me nerding out on superficialities rather than getting lost in song? I wasn't sure yet.
On to soundstage. Their neutrality clearly helps create a deep, airy, relatively wide stage with above average height. Separation is superb. Makes sense right? With a generous amount of space between instruments. Layering was decent due to generous depth and high macro-detail retrieval - vocals don't pop out like they can with the Phantom, though this helps extend the depth of the soundstage. I find layering to be a rather tough job on any iem with their limited depth. The Phantom is more intimate sounding in comparison. Think lounge (not smokey though) as apposed to hall type venue. So impressive soundstage for the KSE but I did not find their imaging to be the most precise. A little diffuse sounding, reminding me of HD800. This could be due to the general neutral signature, ample separation and air, tri flange tips, component or cable matchup etc. I ran out of time to try other daps and cables. I won't come out and say imaging isn't as strong as the rest of it's soundstaging abilities just that it didn't call attention to itself in my little time with them and that surprised me due to their tremendous resolve and soundstaging abilities.
Dynamics were hard to judge as I'm not used to listening at this lower volume required so my reference was thrown off. Didn't "seem" lacking though, even in bass.
It should be a given that the KSE offered superior micro-detail than the Phantoms. Exorbitant amounts of plankton, but your music has to want to be uncovered in such a revealing way and once again most of mine would rather wear a t-shirt in the pool than a string bikini. You might be wondering what some of this super shy music could be. Let's see, most recent album I dig but sounds pretty poor...Twin Fantasy by Car Seat Headrest as an example.
Listening with the KSE - even at low volume - got me thinking...I don't think even the recording/mastering engineers that worked on these songs heard them in such a detailed, transparent and stark manner and that isn't a positive for the KSE. Why would I possibly want to be able to hear a track more clearly than the folks who created it? Yes, the KSE made many of my "tolerable" recording even less so and yes, this clearly happens with all highly revealing gear but this was different. These albums were nearly unlistenable now. The KSE got me thinking that what if the problems I was hearing in these albums purely just weren't ever discovered in the production process? This thought only entered my mind because they were so glaring now, even more so than before. Like, "How could they miss that?" It's one thing where the production team tried their best, failed, ended up with a sub-par recording and this gets easily exposed by the KSE. No biggie really, right? What did you expect? But when what we thought were "good" recordings get picked apart and laid bare by the KSE too...well...Phantom? Ok ok or whatever your preference. How can you master an album to sound good on a car stereo but also great on a electrostatic speaker inside your ear canal? I guess you could say the same for any iem really, but the big difference is the KSE doesn't sound like any other iem.
You know, what I took away from this the most was the massive juxtaposition between the crystal clear - like I've never heard in an iem - sound of the KSE and it's clipping issues, ranging from low-level super annoying distorted nasties (this really was the most frustrating as you had super cleanliness married with distortions just audible enough to royally piss you off) all the way to full-on loud distortion crunch. Was the first time I've actually got anxiety from listening to a piece of gear lol.
Clearly I really need to listen to a pair of KSE before I can be sure of what they truly offer. But as it stands right now, they are getting
. HA HA HA.....
