Originally Posted by shotgunshane /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I noticed that I was also experiencing a lot of harshness and an echo effect that made them very fatiguing to listen too.
I received a great fitting pair of MG6Pros in late April but unfortunately the issue of the harshness and echo effect, from the beginning, was still there.
The harshness and echo effect I was hearing seemed to be coming from the 2k and 3.5k ~4k areas. It was explained to me that Future Sonics has some peaks in the frequency response there to help balance the overall sound presentation out with the bass response. My sensitivity to these peaks seems to be greater than most, as Future Sonics has never had anyone complain about a harshness. It causes the tops of vocals and edges of guitars to become painful, fatiguing and ‘echoey’, which obscures details.
Upon sending them in for the 3rd time, along with some music tracks so that the techs and owner could hear what I was hearing, it was decided to rebuild and replace the components (which they do on any rebuild), to rule out any other possible attributing factors. I’m doubtful the Future Sonics staff was able to hear what I was hearing but they assured me the last set had passed their listening tests for the sound Future Sonics is known for.
I received my MG6Pro for the 4th time in early May. The harshness, echo effect and blurred treble detail remain.
It bears repeating, that to my knowledge, I am the only one to experience the harshness, echoey and blurring effects I’ve described in my review. It’s also not typical to discuss how an earphone sounds after EQ in a review but due to the apparent resonance issues I have with the Future Sonics tuning, I felt it important to bring this into the discussion.
Edit: Since the original writing of this review, I have received PM's from 4 to 5 other mg6pro owners confirming that they too hear issues similar to what I've described, albeit to differing levels.
It may sound as if I don’t like the MG6Pro and that would be true, due to the issues I am hearing. I simply cannot listen to them un-EQ’d for any length of time but I do find I can enjoy them once the peaks are taken away. The stock tuning is sadly disappointing and, in my opinion, tragically flawed.
Yes, I too experience an 'echoey' peak, occasionally, on my pair of MG6s. My personal take on this is that I suspect it may, perhaps, relate to a resonant frequency of the large single bore soundtube (anyone who has experience of building their own bass-reflex loudspeakers will be familiar with the kind of 'honk' peak that can occur with a less-than-optimal port implementation). Whether or not the MG6 Pro actually functions
as a miniature bass-reflex speaker (inadvertently or otherwise) is debatable, given that the majority of the DD diaphragm is not directly exposed to the outside world; just a tiny user-removable 'port' grommet, and, at the other end of the CIEM chamber, the canal nozzle/'port'. Therefore, I'm not specifically stating that I consider the MG6 Pro to be functioning in a bass-reflex manner, per sē - I'm simply saying that the 'peak' sound can occasionally sound somewhat-reminiscent of a poorly-implemented bass-reflex port on a conventional fullsize loudspeaker.
There is, perhaps, a greater likelihood that the 'peak' sound might relate to a
standing-wave within the chamber of the shell - it is notable that BA-based designs have sound tubes conveying all output directly to the ear canal nozzle of the CIEM, with no interaction possible within the main chamber of the shell.
Even hybrid designs, using DD woofer and BA mids/treble may employ a tube, of sorts, to gather the DD output and convey it as directly as possible to the ear canal nozzle, avoiding interaction with the main shell chamber. Additionally, such hybrid designs do not permit the DD to produce any significant audible output in the upper midband, where the MG6 Pro's 'peak' seems to manifest itself.
Every pair of CIEMs is, by virtue of being customised to the shape of each customer's ears, unique in it's size and shape, and therefore the size and the shape of the inner chamber will always vary from one customer to the next. I view this as a
major flaw in the design of the MG6 Pro. You would never see a loudspeaker manufacturer using identical drivers and crossovers but arbitrarily changing the dimensions and volume of the L/S cabinet for each consecutive pair rolling off the production line, with no consideration for the variability of interactions between the drivers and the cabinets. There would be uproar and derision.
