[K.T.]

Thanks for the great review, Mark.
 
Wow, the way you described these, they seem to be right up my alley soundwise.
 
Unlike a lot of folks, I couldn't quite cotton to the RE-400. The slightly unrefined treble was a problem for me, but more importantly I never felt they let loose and flowed to the extent that I could connect to the music. They did a lot of things really well, but didn't breathe to the extent I like. The overall feeling I had was that they were technically very good, but too stiff and mechanical sounding (in terms of musical flow) to move me. I felt that some of the emotional content of the music was not communicated.
 
So it sounds like these RE-300s may be the ticket for me. The fact that they are less expensive is a bonus, too. Even if the RE-400 may be more detailed, that sense of flow and emotional connection is more important to me, personally.
 
I wonder how these compare to the Creative Aurvana 3 IEMs? The Creatives also have a warm, flowing, intimate sound. Where they fall short, IMO, is that they lack focus and drive. This gives them a very listenable quality, but they ultimately come of as a little bland and unexciting. So I hope the RE-300s are better in this regard.
 
I recently got the RE-600 and, wow, I connected with these immediately. They are what I initially hoped the RE-400 would be. The midrange of the RE-600 immediately grabbed me. It has something of a hypnotic quality to it, which is really nice. The RE-600s have that sense of flow and nuance that the RE-400s lack, and that really made a world of difference to me.
 
Now, my RE-600s have only a few hours on them, but if there's one complaint I have is that the bass seems to be somewhat small and constrained sounding. This may clear up with more use, but compared to my Phonak PFE-232 and Sony HBA-X40, the RE-600's seem to be missing balance, the bass sounding a little too small and recessed. I hope they improve with more use.
 
But the RE-300 sounds like something I'd like to try. Thanks for the review!

 

[mark2410]

well im glad you liked it.
 
re the 600, have a go with complys on and do give them a good powerful source.  they do like some power behind them, also if you still find them tame in the lows, given their dynamic nature if you do hit that bass boost button on an amp they will quite substantially shift some air.
 
in terms of balance thought i do think from what you say the 300 may be the sort of thing that your after.  certainly if you do grab a set, given they are pretty cheap id say why not, then do come back on and let me/everyone know here just what you make of them.  its always nice if someone has found that thing that they were looking for as a result of a review.  makes it all so much more interactive. 

 

[K.T.]

Yes, I definetely will post my impressions of the RE-300 here once I get them.

Thanks for the tips regarding the RE-600. I put some more listening hours in with them and boy, I must say, I do enjoy the RE-600 immensely. The big white silicone tips seem to be working quite well, but I'll give the Complys a whirl next.

Switched back over to RE-400 after a couple of hours with the RE-600 and there's no doubt: to my ears the 600 is simply head and shoulders more enjoyable than the 400.

I know a lot of folks get on brilliantly with the RE-400, but for me it's one of the bigger disappointments I've had in IEMs. Just not my cup of tea, personally.

Can't wait to try the RE-300, though. Don't want to get my hopes up too high, but if they get the gestalt of the music close to what I hope, I will be satisfied.

 

[Hatmann]

Well-done, Mark!
 
FWIW, I found the 300s to stay in my ears better than the 400s.
 
And now I'm looking forward to trying my new and still-unopened 600s.

 

[mark2410]

Yes, I definetely will post my impressions of the RE-300 here once I get them.

Thanks for the tips regarding the RE-600. I put some more listening hours in with them and boy, I must say, I do enjoy the RE-600 immensely. The big white silicone tips seem to be working quite well, but I'll give the Complys a whirl next.

Switched back over to RE-400 after a couple of hours with the RE-600 and there's no doubt: to my ears the 600 is simply head and shoulders more enjoyable than the 400.

I know a lot of folks get on brilliantly with the RE-400, but for me it's one of the bigger disappointments I've had in IEMs. Just not my cup of tea, personally.

Can't wait to try the RE-300, though. Don't want to get my hopes up too high, but if they get the gestalt of the music close to what I hope, I will be satisfied.

 
oh yeah the 400 compared to the 600 you do hear why they have a big disparity in pricing.  you got to remember though that at launch the 400 was what, a fifth of its price?  that huuuuuge cost disparity belied the fact that 400 hit an crazy price point ginev how good it is.  though i hear you abut the bit of dissapontment with it.  i feel its gets sooooooooo close to being everything but then the treble, while beating pretty much everything for the money, just inst ase incredible as the rest of it is.  plus the 0 was so outstanding in the treble.  no doubt though, HiFiMAN really know how to make some of the world finest IEM's.

  Well-done, Mark!
 
FWIW, I found the 300s to stay in my ears better than the 400s.
 
And now I'm looking forward to trying my new and still-unopened 600s.

thank you.
 
yes the 300 are such an odd looking shape but they really perfectly worked for me.  oh and congrats on the 600, they things are epic good.

 

[DaddyMojo]

Really good in depth review.  I am impressed with the clarity in which you convey the details of what you hear, comparing them to mainstream sound to give us a point of reference and then detailing your own personal assessments.  I really enjoyable review.
 
I joined Head.fi because I found my teenage son and I drifting apart and we got into headphones together, reading posts and comparing notes on what we found and we liked.  Like most headfiers, we started with the ATH-M50, which was a great entry point and moved on to Grado, Westone, V-Moda and Klipsch, finding the good and bad in all.  The fun for us is trying different sound signatures and trading them between ourselves, to fit our moods.  My son's is eyeing HiFiMan for his next purchase, while I am leaning more toward the RHA 750 or possibly the Westone W4.
 
So considering my son, who is a bass heavy but not a basshead, his favorite iem has been the GR07, however he caught it in a door and well, he misses it.  Do you think there is any comparison in the GR07 and the RE-300a or h?  Or for that matter, the 400?  As I said earlier, he seems to want to try different companies and their different sounds.  Before your review, I was trying to steer him toward AKG or Beyerdynamic.

 

[mark2410]

  Really good in depth review.  I am impressed with the clarity in which you convey the details of what you hear, comparing them to mainstream sound to give us a point of reference and then detailing your own personal assessments.  I really enjoyable review.
 
I joined Head.fi because I found my teenage son and I drifting apart and we got into headphones together, reading posts and comparing notes on what we found and we liked.  Like most headfiers, we started with the ATH-M50, which was a great entry point and moved on to Grado, Westone, V-Moda and Klipsch, finding the good and bad in all.  The fun for us is trying different sound signatures and trading them between ourselves, to fit our moods.  My son's is eyeing HiFiMan for his next purchase, while I am leaning more toward the RHA 750 or possibly the Westone W4.
 
So considering my son, who is a bass heavy but not a basshead, his favorite iem has been the GR07, however he caught it in a door and well, he misses it.  Do you think there is any comparison in the GR07 and the RE-300a or h?  Or for that matter, the 400?  As I said earlier, he seems to want to try different companies and their different sounds.  Before your review, I was trying to steer him toward AKG or Beyerdynamic.

 
curious about your looking at 750 or a w4 given their great differences not lest of which the price.
 
hmm so gr07 and the re300.  well, no not really.  the bass on the gr07 is quite fantastic but it only comes out to play when its asked to, the 300 is a rather more richly ever present, warm bottom.  i havent heard a gr07be but i believe ets rather a richer and warmer version of the 7 shifting its tone and over all flavour to mer that of the gr06.   actually, if you have a look for the GR04pro (i think thats it name this week) it would get your son most of the way back to the GR07 at a sliver of the price.
 
of course, as you say he likes bass so the 300 could hit a chord with him.  sometimes you never really know exactly what you want till you hear it.  of course the 400 is pretty stunning.  actually, skip pretty, its the most incredibly good sounding IEM for the money but it bass doesnt rise up like the 7 did.  hmm id suggest he read up on the 400 and the GR04pro (ive reviewed them both on here, the 4 was called the GR04 pro flagship at the time)
 
lol, you know there is good reason the head fi traditional greeting is, welcome, sorry for you wallet.

 

[DaddyMojo]

   
curious about your looking at 750 or a w4 given their great differences not lest of which the price.
 
hmm so gr07 and the re300.  well, no not really.  the bass on the gr07 is quite fantastic but it only comes out to play when its asked to, the 300 is a rather more richly ever present, warm bottom.  i havent heard a gr07be but i believe ets rather a richer and warmer version of the 7 shifting its tone and over all flavour to mer that of the gr06.   actually, if you have a look for the GR04pro (i think thats it name this week) it would get your son most of the way back to the GR07 at a sliver of the price.
 
of course, as you say he likes bass so the 300 could hit a chord with him.  sometimes you never really know exactly what you want till you hear it.  of course the 400 is pretty stunning.  actually, skip pretty, its the most incredibly good sounding IEM for the money but it bass doesnt rise up like the 7 did.  hmm id suggest he read up on the 400 and the GR04pro (ive reviewed them both on here, the 4 was called the GR04 pro flagship at the time)
 
lol, you know there is good reason the head fi traditional greeting is, welcome, sorry for you wallet.

Hey, I never said my IEM choices were rational, in a certain genre nor had certain common factors.  In fact, I enjoy diverse sounding headphones and some of them have very different sounds.  However, being a responsible parent and knowing that my IEMs get borrowed from time to time (see “often”), I do watch for solid build quality.  The two Westones I already own (3 Gold and the UM3X) are solidly built, while the RHA also gets strong marks in build quality.  With my headphones, I probably use my V-Moda M-80 more than any others, but a lot of that has to do with using the share cable.  The ATH-M50 I have is pre M50X, so I cannot use the share cable with it. 
 
I will say that the GR07 BE were very special, at least special until my son closed them in a door at school.  He wants them back but I think they are out of production.  So my son wants to replace them with the GR07 Classic, but he likes the idea of branching out to HiFiMan.  However, when he was ready to pull the trigger on a pair of 400s, the Amazon.com reviews talked about issues with build quality.  Now he is a wonderful son, but he is tough on gear and thankfully, the Audio-Technica, V-Moda and Westone gear we have, all have stellar service and warranty departments.  In fact, he just got his M-100s back where the headband “popped” and I logged in a warranty issue on the Sennheiser Momentum cable, but never heard back from them.
 
Why am I listing all this, to give you an idea of the diverse range of gear we have, but also to temper your recommendations.  I think he would like the HiFiMan 400 too, but he worries about build quality, while at the same time, he likes the reviews on Dunu DN-1000.  I know a lot of that gear you own, so it is worth throwing out there.  I thought the 300 may be a good option for him, but I am starting to think it may not fit his needs and I may just let him purchase another GR07.  He is not a basshead, but he likes defined base to be present and forward.

 

[mark2410]

  Hey, I never said my IEM choices were rational, in a certain genre nor had certain common factors.  In fact, I enjoy diverse sounding headphones and some of them have very different sounds.  However, being a responsible parent and knowing that my IEMs get borrowed from time to time (see “often”), I do watch for solid build quality.  The two Westones I already own (3 Gold and the UM3X) are solidly built, while the RHA also gets strong marks in build quality.  With my headphones, I probably use my V-Moda M-80 more than any others, but a lot of that has to do with using the share cable.  The ATH-M50 I have is pre M50X, so I cannot use the share cable with it. 
 
I will say that the GR07 BE were very special, at least special until my son closed them in a door at school.  He wants them back but I think they are out of production.  So my son wants to replace them with the GR07 Classic, but he likes the idea of branching out to HiFiMan.  However, when he was ready to pull the trigger on a pair of 400s, the Amazon.com reviews talked about issues with build quality.  Now he is a wonderful son, but he is tough on gear and thankfully, the Audio-Technica, V-Moda and Westone gear we have, all have stellar service and warranty departments.  In fact, he just got his M-100s back where the headband “popped” and I logged in a warranty issue on the Sennheiser Momentum cable, but never heard back from them.
 
Why am I listing all this, to give you an idea of the diverse range of gear we have, but also to temper your recommendations.  I think he would like the HiFiMan 400 too, but he worries about build quality, while at the same time, he likes the reviews on Dunu DN-1000.  I know a lot of that gear you own, so it is worth throwing out there.  I thought the 300 may be a good option for him, but I am starting to think it may not fit his needs and I may just let him purchase another GR07.  He is not a basshead, but he likes defined base to be present and forward.

 
ooh well you may have just opend a can of worms.
 
where to start, so first im thinking na maybe skip the w4.  not that its not a great product, its a bit boring and while its beild is good, yeah next to the MA750 or T10 that cost considerably less on the build front id say are both better options. 
 
then going on about the 400 again, well what about the 600?  its currently dirt cheap at US$200 and while its not maybe the words best build its quite a bit better than the 400 and its got a warmer sound than the 400 sooo you maybe want to have a wee read up on that one too (i reviewed it too when its was like 600 or something)  though, while you also mention it, there is the senn Momentums too.  they are really bassy, great fit, great in the hand and they are pretty cheap too (ive also reviewed them.)
 
then on to the DUNU's.  once more they are great, the 1000 and the 2000 are both excellent sounding and excellently built.  given your wide budget you cound get both for less than a w4.  actually givin the cost of the w4 you could get a few of these things and build a little collection.  just of the handful ive mentioned here you could get a couple that are really different and all offer something special.  however, i think the best thing is take the w4 budget.  haly it,half for you half for your son as that leaves a heap of money for you both.  then you can maybe go for differences, like the pure audio quality of the 400 or 600, maybe a 750 for indestructability, maybe a momentum for a bit of a bass beast.   you have soooo many permutations of your options and given you could get a few id be inclined to a get a 400 and/or a 600 in there.  if the beild is a concern maybe make it yours so you can baby itand your son maybe something more sturdy.  if you use your own tips then there is no reason why you two couldnt borrow each others.

 

[DaddyMojo]

   
ooh well you may have just opend a can of worms.
 
where to start, so first im thinking na maybe skip the w4.  not that its not a great product, its a bit boring and while its beild is good, yeah next to the MA750 or T10 that cost considerably less on the build front id say are both better options.
 
then going on about the 400 again, well what about the 600?  its currently dirt cheap at US$200 and while its not maybe the words best build its quite a bit better than the 400 and its got a warmer sound than the 400 sooo you maybe want to have a wee read up on that one too (i reviewed it too when its was like 600 or something)  though, while you also mention it, there is the senn Momentums too.  they are really bassy, great fit, great in the hand and they are pretty cheap too (ive also reviewed them.)
 
then on to the DUNU's.  once more they are great, the 1000 and the 2000 are both excellent sounding and excellently built.  given your wide budget you cound get both for less than a w4.  actually givin the cost of the w4 you could get a few of these things and build a little collection.  just of the handful ive mentioned here you could get a couple that are really different and all offer something special.  however, i think the best thing is take the w4 budget.  haly it,half for you half for your son as that leaves a heap of money for you both.  then you can maybe go for differences, like the pure audio quality of the 400 or 600, maybe a 750 for indestructability, maybe a momentum for a bit of a bass beast.   you have soooo many permutations of your options and given you could get a few id be inclined to a get a 400 and/or a 600 in there.  if the beild is a concern maybe make it yours so you can baby itand your son maybe something more sturdy.  if you use your own tips then there is no reason why you two couldnt borrow each others.

I never mind opening a can of worms, unless those cans are poorly built.
 
Part of the fun my son and I have it researching and listening to different gear, so you have given us a number of items to have fun discussing.  I had committed to buy him the Dunu a while back, which meant I would get his Grados.  However, lately, he has been whimsically reminiscing about his old GR07s.  I agree with you, the Westone sound is very accurate and pure, but it is not the most exciting sound out there.  I tend to color them with an EQ setting.  The 600 is not something I had considered, so I think that may be a good solution for him.
 
Thanks for your input and sorry about your wallet.

 

[mark2410]

  I never mind opening a can of worms, unless those cans are poorly built.
 
Part of the fun my son and I have it researching and listening to different gear, so you have given us a number of items to have fun discussing.  I had committed to buy him the Dunu a while back, which meant I would get his Grados.  However, lately, he has been whimsically reminiscing about his old GR07s.  I agree with you, the Westone sound is very accurate and pure, but it is not the most exciting sound out there.  I tend to color them with an EQ setting.  The 400 is not something I had considered, so I think that may be a good solution for him.
 
Thanks for your input and sorry about your wallet.

do you mean the 600?

 

[DaddyMojo]

Yes

 

[mark2410]

ahh yes that makes more sense.  should you get, do come back and say how you get on withi which ever you go for,  so if 600 then in my 600 review thread.  i always like to see how people get on with things ive suggested.

 

[DaddyMojo]

He ended up with the GR07 BE and is thrilled. Even got the BE not the Classic. He thought about the 600, but he said the GR07 was just his favorite.

And now I have my UM3X back.

 

[marab]

Wow, they decided to make a headphone with a remote? Finally. I'm waiting for them to get smart and have RE-400 remade with the remote. Then I will buy them.