[DeusEx]

I have some. Upgrade to SE530s soon. Hope I lose the bloated bass..but hey, for $30, they're pretty damn good.

 

[Bilavideo]

Wow. There's a lot of love in the room. I wonder how many have actually plunked down the $20 to hear the hated Marshmallows. I used to think they were the worst until I bought a pair the other night and I was surprised. I'm not saying I'd trade my UM3Xs for a Happy Meal toy, but hey, sometimes a little bloated bass is where it's at: THUNK, THUNK, THUNK.

Have you seen the frequency response graph for the IE8 or, as some have called it, THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST? TALK ABOUT BLOATED BASS! Would you like a little of the rest of the frequency spectrum with that bass? Wow. And that's before Sennheiser came out with a bassier edition so it could blow clean all obstacles from ear to ear. Oh well, I'm sure people will invest in balanced armatures when they're buying hearing aids.

 

[divideby0]

I haven't heard the CX300, so I won't comment on them, but I haven't been very impressed with my Marshmallows (FX34s). The FX66 (Air Cushions) can be had for less than $30 and are far superior to their lower-end sibling, as many others have stated; well worth a few extra bucks for a more rounded and cleaner sound.

 

[revolink24]

The marshmallows are far from hated here for the price.

I also enjoy my Denon AH-C351k. Sure, like all the IEMs in this price range, the bass is bloated, and even the mids are a bit muddy and lack detail (I'm used to the analytical style of Grados), but soundstage is good for an IEM. For $30, meh what can you expect? They suit my needs fine for fast portable, non-serious listening, esp. podcasts and the like.

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by revolink24 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The marshmallows are far from hated here for the price. I also enjoy my Denon AH-C351k. Sure, like all the IEMs in this price range, the bass is bloated, and even the mids are a bit muddy and lack detail (I'm used to the analytical style of Grados), but soundstage is good for an IEM. For $30, meh what can you expect? They suit my needs fine for fast portable, non-serious listening, esp. podcasts and the like.

Obviously you haven't heard a whole lot of IEMs in this price range. Thats a pretty heavy generalization that could throw off a lot of people. I think everyone who's tried them agrees that certain budget IEMs, such as the ADDIEMs and the Meelec Ai-M9's are anything but bloated and far more detailed than some much more expensive phones.

 

[revolink24]

I don't typically see ADDIEMS in this price range. And I haven't heard those Meelecs, so you'll have to pardon me on that one. It was perhaps a poor choice of words, as I will admit that there must be some that don't have bloated bass, some are bass-light, etc. I have always found bass to be one of the poorer areas of lower-end IEMs. Too much boom, not enough bite.

 

[ljokerl]

Well, perhaps you are right in most cases. It was just the choice of words that set me off. Also, the price of ADDIEMs has risen in the past few weeks to a low of $32.50 this week vs. $27.50 a few weeks ago. Not sure what principle the sellers follow when setting the Buy-it-now prices as the actual auctions tend to go at least into the high $30 range.