[Ninia]

Hi great forum, I been reading posts & reviews in the ‘Portable Source Gear’ subforum off and on for the last year. Anyway I’ve decided to take the plunge tomorrow and buy my first high SQ dap, the Cowon s9.

But concerning headphones, earphones and IEM’s, the technical jargon and concepts here are quite befuddling for a newbie.

Sorry my first post is a questions, but basically can you tell me if there are any "audiophile grade”:

Earphones
IEMs

At a price range of £25-£50 ($40-80), that allows me to fully take advantage of what the Cowon s9 got to offer. Or which earphones and/or iem’s under £50 ($100) have the best sound quality in market?

Thanks
Nina

 

[Ninia]

My fave bits in records: vocal work (any genre), orchestral instruments and brooding instrumentals

I prefer a warm sound, not cold or digital (which is why I didn’t purchase the D2 last year).

I have eclectic music tastes, from orchestral classical/Opera; to Classic Blues/soul; to gothic metal; to hiphop/rap.

I don’t listen to Electronica, dance, Heavy metal or Traditional rock.

 

[Zalithian]

You're probably going to want a warmer sounding pair of IEMS to compensate for the coldness/neutrality of the S9. I'm not familiar with a whole lot in the price range. Perhaps the Monster Turbines.

Why are you buying an S9 though? How much space do you need? Will you be watching videos often?

Cowon is not known to have warm sounding players. The D2 is definitely not one and I don't think the S9 is supposed to be very different in that regard.

 

[ABathingApe]

Hmm, try some Etymotic ER6i's? They seem to fit your budget, and are pretty neutral. Perhaps Zalithian can give you more insight? I've only heard good things about ety's, never an owner.

 

[ljokerl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABathingApe /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm, try some Etymotic ER6i's? They seem to fit your budget, and are pretty neutral. Perhaps Zalithian can give you more insight? I've only heard good things about ety's, never an owner.

Lol. Sound really doesn't get any colder than a cowon DAP combined with the Er6i. Perfect for me, but no warmth whatsoever. Throwing a Fiio E5 in would help, but I still wouldn't call it warm.

Slightly warm budget IEMs that I can think of right now: Nuforce NE-7M, Maximo Im-590.

Neutral budget IEMs: ADDIEM, Meelec AI-M9/M6

For earphones it would have the be the Yuin PK3/PK2. PK3's are slightly warm, easy to drive, and plenty of fun. Not sure how closely the PK2s resemble the PK3s.

 

[Sixteh]

The S9, for me, can sound fairly warm if you EQ it properly. Even with the 3D surround EQ turned up, however, the soundstage isn't spectacular or anything--still rather narrow.

 

[ABathingApe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljokerl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Lol. Sound really doesn't get any colder than a cowon DAP combined with the Er6i. Perfect for me, but no warmth whatsoever. Throwing a Fiio E5 in would help, but I still wouldn't call it warm.

Very true

. But like the poster before me suggested, you could EQ a bit. I'd rather have a setup that is cold and analytic, and then be able to customize from neutral, as opposed to starting with something a little more colored. The S9's have really good highly customizable 10 band EQ's IIRC.

 

[Sixteh]

The S9 EQ is 5-band, I'm afraid, along with BBE+, bass boost, pseudo-3d-surround, and 2 features called "stereo enhance" and "mp enhance"...I'm not too sure exactly what the last 2 do, though.

 

[insomniax]

i'm probably going to run cowon s9(on their way from koreA!) into um3x. i must really like cold sounding stuff.

that said, i'm going to go with joker on this: Nuforce NE-7M, Maximo Im-590 if u don't like to fool around with the equalizer.

If u do experiment with it, you could probably get the neutral ones. maybe u should check out ClieOS's multiple IEM shootout to find out what suits you.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/r...2-08-a-335851/

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/r...-v-2-a-394365/

 

[Zalithian]

UM3X isn't cold at all.

 

[insomniax]

but its definitely less warm than a good many other phones like W3s and CK100s. imho at least. but i'm cool with um3x coz i'm getting it with CASH today!

but let's not derail this poor chap's thread shall we. His budget is sub-hundred.

 

[Ninia]

Thanks for the suggestions so far, i'm checking them out right now.

 

[Ninia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insomniax /img/forum/go_quote.gif but let's not derail this poor chap's thread shall we. His budget is sub-hundred.

chapess

I have a durability issue in the last 18 months, so i don't won't to spend £120 ($200) unless there's an extended warranty.


@Zalithian

I need the space, and apparently the s9 is warmer than the D2, but not as warm the X5.