qinjuehang
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2009
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I've been looking for cheap closed headphones and IEMs lately for use on the go, and really, I found a awesome deal! (not trying to sound like an advert, but yeah
)
Anyway, straight to the point, I bought a pair of Hippo Shrooms IEMs. I myself lack experience with IEMs, so I am comparing to my Portapros and Grado SR80s. I'm using a Nokia Xpressmusic 5630 as source. (Better source to come later in a day or two, my desktop is out of service, and my amp is not done.)
Firstly, this pair of IEMs are not for you bass-lovers out there, neither are they for people accustomed to UEs and such. I got them for SGD $68 (about USD$48), a real killed price.
The first thing I did with them is to wear them on the train on the way home. And the isolation is superb. I don't have experience with IEMs, but I've used some cheap ones before (years ago, before I felt sorry for my wallet), and the isolation is superb. The volume I listen to on the train is only 1 notch higher than my normal volume. Granted, I can still hear the annoying voice telling me what the next station is, but for my music is completely listen-able one notch above the volume I listen to in near complete silence is quite good.
Alright, so for SQ comparisons:
Nirvana-Smells Like Teen Spirit
I listened to Portapros, then switched to the Grados and lastly the Shrooms. The most noticeable difference between the three is bass. The Portapros had the most bass, followed by the Grados and the Shrooms has the least bass.
The Grados here are the clear winner. The Portapros didn't sound too bad, but lack detain compared to the other two. However, when I put the Grados on, the bass drops ever so slightly, but the guitars simply comes alive. And surprisingly, guitars in this song sound quite as good on the shrooms as well. However, the highs (I presume cymbals) are overpowering, and the bass extension (or lack of it) shows from the drum beats.
For this song, I prefer the Portapros slightly over Shrooms.
Queen - The Show Must Go On
For the intro (organs), the Grados are the clear winner again. However, the Shrooms, for all its worth, put up quite a fight. In fact, it is only slightly bettered by the Grados. The Protapros, on the other hand, sounds pretty boring.
As with the previous song, once the drums start, the shrooms fell back. Bass extension, quality, and quantity are all lacking, even more obvious here.
At 2:2x there is a mini guitar solo, and there, the shrooms really shone. It was on par with the SR80s for a short while. However, once the solo ended, I noticed that Freddie Mercury sounded even more shrill than usual, almost to the point of stabbing your ear. The Portapros sounded rather flat at the guitar solo, and muffled the vocals compared to the other two, but bass is on par with Grados in terms of extension and quantity, but is rather muddy.
For this song, I prefer the shrooms much more than the Portapros.
Pink Floyd - The Gunner's Dream
The piano is simply awesome with shrooms. However, when the vocals start, there is a tininess to the sound...almost like you are listening to Roger Waters through a telephone (that is exaggerated, of course). The pianos on the portapros, on the other hand, is not quite as impressive. The vocals are...as usual, not bad but not very interesting.
For this song, I prefer shrooms over Portapros. (However, at about 2:13, the drum beats sound quite bad with shrooms, due to its inexistent bass)
Nine Inch Nails - Echoplex
Due to a change of mood, I decided on a more modern song.
On this song, the portapros performed quite well as it is rather bassy. Protapros do muffle the vocals slightly, however. The Grados in this case aren't quite the "clear winner" anymore, as it causes the guitars to be overpowering. The worst is the shrooms here, as the song sounds completely different, with the lack of bass.
The Grados are marginally better than Portapros on this song, and either blows the Shrooms away.
So, to sum it up,
Bass: Completely lacking
Mids: Rather Clear (I was surprised at first by what such cheap earbuds can do)
Highs: Clear as well, but sometimes shrill.
They are rather analytical and brings out a lot of detail in songs, but on certain songs can sound rather tiny. They are good for certain types of rock and metal, as long as you are not a basshead. These are rather cheap, so try them. You might just be surprised!
As a side note, these have rather low efficiency and impedence, possibly drawing too much current for a phone to handle, so they might improve on my desktop (which has some amping ability, with discrete op amps and such.)
Anyway, straight to the point, I bought a pair of Hippo Shrooms IEMs. I myself lack experience with IEMs, so I am comparing to my Portapros and Grado SR80s. I'm using a Nokia Xpressmusic 5630 as source. (Better source to come later in a day or two, my desktop is out of service, and my amp is not done.)
Firstly, this pair of IEMs are not for you bass-lovers out there, neither are they for people accustomed to UEs and such. I got them for SGD $68 (about USD$48), a real killed price.
The first thing I did with them is to wear them on the train on the way home. And the isolation is superb. I don't have experience with IEMs, but I've used some cheap ones before (years ago, before I felt sorry for my wallet), and the isolation is superb. The volume I listen to on the train is only 1 notch higher than my normal volume. Granted, I can still hear the annoying voice telling me what the next station is, but for my music is completely listen-able one notch above the volume I listen to in near complete silence is quite good.
Alright, so for SQ comparisons:
Nirvana-Smells Like Teen Spirit
I listened to Portapros, then switched to the Grados and lastly the Shrooms. The most noticeable difference between the three is bass. The Portapros had the most bass, followed by the Grados and the Shrooms has the least bass.
The Grados here are the clear winner. The Portapros didn't sound too bad, but lack detain compared to the other two. However, when I put the Grados on, the bass drops ever so slightly, but the guitars simply comes alive. And surprisingly, guitars in this song sound quite as good on the shrooms as well. However, the highs (I presume cymbals) are overpowering, and the bass extension (or lack of it) shows from the drum beats.
For this song, I prefer the Portapros slightly over Shrooms.
Queen - The Show Must Go On
For the intro (organs), the Grados are the clear winner again. However, the Shrooms, for all its worth, put up quite a fight. In fact, it is only slightly bettered by the Grados. The Protapros, on the other hand, sounds pretty boring.
As with the previous song, once the drums start, the shrooms fell back. Bass extension, quality, and quantity are all lacking, even more obvious here.
At 2:2x there is a mini guitar solo, and there, the shrooms really shone. It was on par with the SR80s for a short while. However, once the solo ended, I noticed that Freddie Mercury sounded even more shrill than usual, almost to the point of stabbing your ear. The Portapros sounded rather flat at the guitar solo, and muffled the vocals compared to the other two, but bass is on par with Grados in terms of extension and quantity, but is rather muddy.
For this song, I prefer the shrooms much more than the Portapros.
Pink Floyd - The Gunner's Dream
The piano is simply awesome with shrooms. However, when the vocals start, there is a tininess to the sound...almost like you are listening to Roger Waters through a telephone (that is exaggerated, of course). The pianos on the portapros, on the other hand, is not quite as impressive. The vocals are...as usual, not bad but not very interesting.
For this song, I prefer shrooms over Portapros. (However, at about 2:13, the drum beats sound quite bad with shrooms, due to its inexistent bass)
Nine Inch Nails - Echoplex
Due to a change of mood, I decided on a more modern song.
On this song, the portapros performed quite well as it is rather bassy. Protapros do muffle the vocals slightly, however. The Grados in this case aren't quite the "clear winner" anymore, as it causes the guitars to be overpowering. The worst is the shrooms here, as the song sounds completely different, with the lack of bass.
The Grados are marginally better than Portapros on this song, and either blows the Shrooms away.
So, to sum it up,
Bass: Completely lacking
Mids: Rather Clear (I was surprised at first by what such cheap earbuds can do)
Highs: Clear as well, but sometimes shrill.
They are rather analytical and brings out a lot of detail in songs, but on certain songs can sound rather tiny. They are good for certain types of rock and metal, as long as you are not a basshead. These are rather cheap, so try them. You might just be surprised!
As a side note, these have rather low efficiency and impedence, possibly drawing too much current for a phone to handle, so they might improve on my desktop (which has some amping ability, with discrete op amps and such.)
