jomito7
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2014
- Posts
- 3
- Likes
- 14
Okay, this is my first post on head-fi, but I guarantee you that I am quite the audiophile especially when it comes to finding the best sound for money. I'm all about sound quality for the best dollar. Great sound tests the "law of diminishing returns" Gods of capitalism, so I respect Hifiman for setting new standards of their affordable cans and IEMs with great sound.
No doubt I can hear the difference between westone W40 vs hifiman RE-400, but for a fraction of the cost the RE-400 is by far the best headphone I've ever heard. I don't know how to quantify dollars for sound, but if there was a metric the RE-400 would win. The RE-400 has the clearest mids I've heard from an IEM, and the clarity and smoothness of their highs are just awesome. My problem with the RE-400 was that mid-bass and low bass was a bit to be desired. No, I'm not a bass head, but hearing guitars, drums, and some electronic versions of bass is just flat out fun. The RE-400 has very tight bass, but I need my fiio E12 additional bass setting to push more power to the lower frequencies, and even then it was just okay. The RE-400 is best with acoustic guitars, strings, pianos and vocals, but is not a rock, hip-hop, electronic type IEM.
Insert the Hifiman RE300 ... I bought both the 300i and the 300h, and yes there is a significant difference between the two. I don't care for mic's and controls on the cables because that's what a damn phone is for. I hate that "professional" reviews point this "deficiency" out, and grade poorly. To me, there is no added convenience to have an inline mic and volume control features, but I guess it is a market demand for the non-audiophile types.
I had a three fold setup to test different configurations:
Setup 1 - iphone 5c (all with 16/44.1 files)
Setup 2 - iPod 6th gen with the fiio E12 connected with an L9 line out cable (all with 16/44.1 files)
Setup 3 - Audioquest's Dragonfly 1.2 out of my MacBook Air using Audirvana Plus (all with 24/96+ or 16/44.1 files)
Music types: Zac Brown Band, Foo Fighters (album and live), Michael Jackson (Thriller Album), Violin Concerto No. 1, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, Linkin Park, John Mayer, Hans Zimmer, Daft Punk, The Band Perry, Aloe Blacc, and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (obviously I love all kinds of music)
I did comparisons with the RE300i, RE300h, and RE-400 IEMs.
The obvious thing I could immediately hear is the loudness of the RE300H versus the RE300i. There is an obvious answer why, and that is the RE300H is a 16ohm IEM where the RE300i is a 32ohm IEM. Higher impedance = less current on voltage drive amps (which is pretty much all of them). The i and H IEMs probably have the same drivers, it's just with the mic integrated or different cable type they were forced to a different wiring configuration to the drivers (speculation of course). Who knows why, but I can tell the difference right away.
I agree with the previous posts ... first thing I noticed was the bass with either the i or H. With country and rock songs, I could feel the punch of the bass drums. With the string instruments I could hear the cello after the bow had pushed against the strings. With the hip-hop and electronic music the bass hits were just something I've never heard from a Hifiman IEM. I did a quick comparison to a set of JVC IEMs (which are just all bass and nothing more), and the bass was so much cleaner. Hifiman IEM Bass, where have you been!
The mids were neither sacrificed with the i nor H from the RE-400. I do, however, think there is a little bleed-over of the RE300i in the mid bass 200 - 400 Hz frequency ... Nothing a little equalizing can't take of. I heard none of this bleed with the RE300H, however the lower vocals on both the i and H were a little too much. Needed to tone down a bit. Something the RE-400 had a clear improvement. The RE300i started to tail off at the higher end of the vocal spectrum and not do well in the highs.
Finally, the highs of the RE-400 are still superior than either of the RE300i or the RE300H. I do, however, think the RE300H is still very good. Symbol clashes, hand claps, and percussions sound clear, and really weren't too far behind the RE-400. I hate bright highs, and that is not hifiman at all. I do think that the RE300H has harsh highs somewhat (like too much harsh, as opposed to piercing bright). The RE300i, however, did not sound good at the top end. To me, sounded muddled, and really required some equalizing to help, but the deficiencies were too much to really get the i's to an adequate state (at least for me).
As for the sounds in the different configurations, the RE300H paired with any of the configs sounded great. A good DAC like the Dragonfly 1.2 pushed the highs and vocals well. The Foo Fighters Skin and Bones Live album is just unreal with these IEMs. They aren't bass head IEMs, but the presence may be too much for those who despise bass overpowering other spectrum. For me, it's absolutely perfect balance for Rock Music and Country. The RE300H sounds great with the pairing of the iPhone, especially with my fiio E12 amp. I don't think the additional bass switch is necessary, but if you want to have fun with Rock and Hip-Hop, it's punchy and tight.
I do not like the sound from the RE300i's I've decided. Too little on the high mids and the highs are not good enough, and the bleed of the mid-lows. Probably adequate at the $50 price tag for sure, but average is the best word that describes it. The pairing with the iPhone was what sealed the deal for me for the RE300i review. When on the dragonfly 1.2 DAC, the high's started to appear, but certainly not with the awful iPhone DAC and amp. This is funny to me because the point of having the RE300i is to pair with the iPhone with the additional features, but the sound really is not there. However, at the $50 price tag, good deal compared to some of the more popular consumer brands.
The RE300H is phenomenal for its price tag at $50. Sacrificed highs for an enormous improvement in the lows when compared to the RE-400. Instruments sound good on these, it almost feels like I'm stealing from Hifiman at this price tag.
So that gets me into some speculation ... why did Hifiman decide to put different models out? Were they not getting enough sales from the RE-400 because people who want more features in the product require a mic and controls? And I realize good cabling can make a world of difference, but why such a difference between the two models with the impedances and frequency specs (RE300i is 20 - 20k and RE300H is 15 - 22k)? I believe this is a blatant attempt to show the world that Hifiman can build quality for "convenience" and make good sales with the RE300i, but if you just keep things simple, pay attention to details such as good cabling, it can make the world of difference. I also think at the price point, Hifiman is basically waving on the competition as to say "come guys, keep up".
Some other things to note ... the drivers on these IEMs are much smaller than I thought they were going to be. The plastic casing looks larger in the photos (caution: objects in picture look larger than they appear), but they are clearly smaller than my RE-400. The fit is perfect for me, and the isolation is very good. Aesthetically these are bad ass, if that matters to you.
Overall, the RE300H is one of the best IEMs for the dollar at this price point, and the RE300i is good but not great. Sure, $600 pair of headphones will sound better, but that is obvious at the price points. IEMs at the RE300 price point that manufacturers JVC, skull candy, beats, and Monster exist, but only expose certain frequency spectrum to trick regular consumers in thinking they sound good. The RE300H is an IEM that is balanced, and sounds great with many different types of music. Great buy, great job Hifiman once again, and thank you for the additional bass for the non-audiophile music types.
No doubt I can hear the difference between westone W40 vs hifiman RE-400, but for a fraction of the cost the RE-400 is by far the best headphone I've ever heard. I don't know how to quantify dollars for sound, but if there was a metric the RE-400 would win. The RE-400 has the clearest mids I've heard from an IEM, and the clarity and smoothness of their highs are just awesome. My problem with the RE-400 was that mid-bass and low bass was a bit to be desired. No, I'm not a bass head, but hearing guitars, drums, and some electronic versions of bass is just flat out fun. The RE-400 has very tight bass, but I need my fiio E12 additional bass setting to push more power to the lower frequencies, and even then it was just okay. The RE-400 is best with acoustic guitars, strings, pianos and vocals, but is not a rock, hip-hop, electronic type IEM.
Insert the Hifiman RE300 ... I bought both the 300i and the 300h, and yes there is a significant difference between the two. I don't care for mic's and controls on the cables because that's what a damn phone is for. I hate that "professional" reviews point this "deficiency" out, and grade poorly. To me, there is no added convenience to have an inline mic and volume control features, but I guess it is a market demand for the non-audiophile types.
I had a three fold setup to test different configurations:
Setup 1 - iphone 5c (all with 16/44.1 files)
Setup 2 - iPod 6th gen with the fiio E12 connected with an L9 line out cable (all with 16/44.1 files)
Setup 3 - Audioquest's Dragonfly 1.2 out of my MacBook Air using Audirvana Plus (all with 24/96+ or 16/44.1 files)
Music types: Zac Brown Band, Foo Fighters (album and live), Michael Jackson (Thriller Album), Violin Concerto No. 1, Alicia Keys, Bruno Mars, Linkin Park, John Mayer, Hans Zimmer, Daft Punk, The Band Perry, Aloe Blacc, and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (obviously I love all kinds of music)
I did comparisons with the RE300i, RE300h, and RE-400 IEMs.
The obvious thing I could immediately hear is the loudness of the RE300H versus the RE300i. There is an obvious answer why, and that is the RE300H is a 16ohm IEM where the RE300i is a 32ohm IEM. Higher impedance = less current on voltage drive amps (which is pretty much all of them). The i and H IEMs probably have the same drivers, it's just with the mic integrated or different cable type they were forced to a different wiring configuration to the drivers (speculation of course). Who knows why, but I can tell the difference right away.
I agree with the previous posts ... first thing I noticed was the bass with either the i or H. With country and rock songs, I could feel the punch of the bass drums. With the string instruments I could hear the cello after the bow had pushed against the strings. With the hip-hop and electronic music the bass hits were just something I've never heard from a Hifiman IEM. I did a quick comparison to a set of JVC IEMs (which are just all bass and nothing more), and the bass was so much cleaner. Hifiman IEM Bass, where have you been!
The mids were neither sacrificed with the i nor H from the RE-400. I do, however, think there is a little bleed-over of the RE300i in the mid bass 200 - 400 Hz frequency ... Nothing a little equalizing can't take of. I heard none of this bleed with the RE300H, however the lower vocals on both the i and H were a little too much. Needed to tone down a bit. Something the RE-400 had a clear improvement. The RE300i started to tail off at the higher end of the vocal spectrum and not do well in the highs.
Finally, the highs of the RE-400 are still superior than either of the RE300i or the RE300H. I do, however, think the RE300H is still very good. Symbol clashes, hand claps, and percussions sound clear, and really weren't too far behind the RE-400. I hate bright highs, and that is not hifiman at all. I do think that the RE300H has harsh highs somewhat (like too much harsh, as opposed to piercing bright). The RE300i, however, did not sound good at the top end. To me, sounded muddled, and really required some equalizing to help, but the deficiencies were too much to really get the i's to an adequate state (at least for me).
As for the sounds in the different configurations, the RE300H paired with any of the configs sounded great. A good DAC like the Dragonfly 1.2 pushed the highs and vocals well. The Foo Fighters Skin and Bones Live album is just unreal with these IEMs. They aren't bass head IEMs, but the presence may be too much for those who despise bass overpowering other spectrum. For me, it's absolutely perfect balance for Rock Music and Country. The RE300H sounds great with the pairing of the iPhone, especially with my fiio E12 amp. I don't think the additional bass switch is necessary, but if you want to have fun with Rock and Hip-Hop, it's punchy and tight.
I do not like the sound from the RE300i's I've decided. Too little on the high mids and the highs are not good enough, and the bleed of the mid-lows. Probably adequate at the $50 price tag for sure, but average is the best word that describes it. The pairing with the iPhone was what sealed the deal for me for the RE300i review. When on the dragonfly 1.2 DAC, the high's started to appear, but certainly not with the awful iPhone DAC and amp. This is funny to me because the point of having the RE300i is to pair with the iPhone with the additional features, but the sound really is not there. However, at the $50 price tag, good deal compared to some of the more popular consumer brands.
The RE300H is phenomenal for its price tag at $50. Sacrificed highs for an enormous improvement in the lows when compared to the RE-400. Instruments sound good on these, it almost feels like I'm stealing from Hifiman at this price tag.
So that gets me into some speculation ... why did Hifiman decide to put different models out? Were they not getting enough sales from the RE-400 because people who want more features in the product require a mic and controls? And I realize good cabling can make a world of difference, but why such a difference between the two models with the impedances and frequency specs (RE300i is 20 - 20k and RE300H is 15 - 22k)? I believe this is a blatant attempt to show the world that Hifiman can build quality for "convenience" and make good sales with the RE300i, but if you just keep things simple, pay attention to details such as good cabling, it can make the world of difference. I also think at the price point, Hifiman is basically waving on the competition as to say "come guys, keep up".
Some other things to note ... the drivers on these IEMs are much smaller than I thought they were going to be. The plastic casing looks larger in the photos (caution: objects in picture look larger than they appear), but they are clearly smaller than my RE-400. The fit is perfect for me, and the isolation is very good. Aesthetically these are bad ass, if that matters to you.
Overall, the RE300H is one of the best IEMs for the dollar at this price point, and the RE300i is good but not great. Sure, $600 pair of headphones will sound better, but that is obvious at the price points. IEMs at the RE300 price point that manufacturers JVC, skull candy, beats, and Monster exist, but only expose certain frequency spectrum to trick regular consumers in thinking they sound good. The RE300H is an IEM that is balanced, and sounds great with many different types of music. Great buy, great job Hifiman once again, and thank you for the additional bass for the non-audiophile music types.
