IEM's with BEST bass response £100-£250

[eke2k6]

Quote:

How do the GR07 compare to the Shure SE215 or HD650 in terms of brightness?
 
I am considering these now but I am a little worried they will be
 
a) bright / harsh / sibilant
b) Bass will not be better than Shure SE215

 
It's definitely brighter than the 215, and it has less bass slam. It makes up for it in rumble though.
 
You can check out the GR07 MK2 thread, and the first version thread. There are more comparisons there.

 

[Alondite]

The GR07 are sibilant out of the box, but it all but disappears after some use.

They are not too bright in the least bit; they have sparkle, but even on bright tracks it never goes over the top. If anything, the treble is ever so slightly less present than the rest of the spectrum. Never fatiguing in the least.

The bass is the best I've ever heard in an IEM. It extends down to the limits of my hearing, and remains powerful and refined all the way down. Texturing is excellent. It's like combining the speed of BA bass with the weight and decay of Dynamic bass. It is easily better than the bass of the 215s. In fact, the GR07s as a whole even sound better than the SE535.

Midrange is neutral with a touch of warmth. Detail and texturing are solid. Not the best-in-class, but not lacking. 

Soundstage is pretty solid for a closed IEM. Decent width, a bit of height, and enough depth to give them good laying. The soundstage is smaller than my AD900, but imaging is better, and they do a better job of layering and conveying 3D space due to better depth.

I'd say they they are the best bang-for-buck IEM that exists.

 

[nicholars]

Hmm well I ordered the Yamaha so we will see..
 
As usual everyone has a differing opinion of what is "bright" or how much bass quantity is enough etc. Different music tastes etc.... Just have to try the Yamaha and see, hopefully they will be an improvement over the Shures

 

[Huxley]

Quote:

Hmm well I ordered the Yamaha so we will see..
 
As usual everyone has a differing opinion of what is "bright" or how much bass quantity is enough etc. Different music tastes etc.... Just have to try the Yamaha and see, hopefully they will be an improvement over the Shures

 
The yamaha will have better bass than the GR07, same again for soundstage and depth but it wins on the mids and treble, they're more open and have better top end sparkle.
 
The yamahas are better suited for trance/edm/dubstep, being that they're quite laid back means you can just kick back and relax.
 
But honestly as an all rounder, i adore my JVC FXD80's, they have good punchy bass not as much as the yamahas bit it's tighter. But they have a timbre to die for and such a lovely top end with bags of sparkle.
 
They are also reasonably airy for an iem, florence + the machine is simply stunning, you hear every detail with these.
 
If you don't get on with the yammies, id highly suggest the jvc's.
 
They do like a good burn in to open up mind.
 

 

[tzjin]

Late to the party but for future reference, the Atrios MG7 and Monster Miles Davis Tributes have great bass. Not too hot in other regards though.

 

[Moosecraft]

sibilance on the gr07 disappears after around 100-200 hrs

 

[Alondite]

The GR07 are objectively balanced. They present all frequencies at the volumes intended by the recording. They are neither bright nor dark, bassy nor thin. They are simply balanced. 

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

 
The yamaha will have better bass than the GR07, same again for soundstage and depth but it wins on the mids and treble, they're more open and have better top end sparkle.
 
The yamahas are better suited for trance/edm/dubstep, being that they're quite laid back means you can just kick back and relax.
 
But honestly as an all rounder, i adore my JVC FXD80's, they have good punchy bass not as much as the yamahas bit it's tighter. But they have a timbre to die for and such a lovely top end with bags of sparkle.
 
They are also reasonably airy for an iem, florence + the machine is simply stunning, you hear every detail with these.
 
If you don't get on with the yammies, id highly suggest the jvc's.
 
They do like a good burn in to open up mind.
 

 
No. No. No. No. No. No. The GR07's bass is textured enough to make the EPH-100's bass sound like a one note thump in comparison. What the EPH has is more mid bass, and more punch in that area. The EPH has better backward depth, but absolutely no forward projection, and the treble is horribly off. 
 
However, I do agree that the EPH is more suited for EDM listening by the mases simply because it has more mid-bass punch. Nothing more.
 
As for the MG7, it has more sub-bass, but the other frequencies fall flat in comparison. I suspect it's the fact that they try to funnel the sound of a healthy dynamic driver through a sound bore that you only see on BA iems.

 

[nicholars]

Ok enough of the fanboyism now thanks... I will have to make my own decision about it..
 
In what way is the "treble horribly off"?

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

Ok enough of the fanboyism now thanks... I will have to make my own decision about it..
 
In what way is the "treble horribly off"?

 
Not sure who that's directed at, but your best option is to buy both and return the one you like less.
 
Maybe I exaggerated when I said horribly. What I meant was that the tonality of the treble is wrong. Look at the earlier pages of the EPH-100 thread for a better idea.

 

[AstroTurf]

Hmm well I ordered the Yamaha so we will see..

As usual everyone has a differing opinion of what is "bright" or how much bass quantity is enough etc. Different music tastes etc.... Just have to try the Yamaha and see, hopefully they will be an improvement over the Shures

Enjoy your new headphones!

Jim

PS You are right about all the puffery that is used to describe the sound of various headphones.
If I didn't know better, I would think that I walked into a room of Ole Farts describing wine.

LOLz

 

[nicholars]

Quote:

Enjoy your new headphones!
Jim
PS You are right about all the puffery that is used to describe the sound of various headphones.
If I didn't know better, I would think that I walked into a room of Ole Farts describing wine.
LOLz

 
Its not so much the "puffery" used to describe headphones that is confusing because overall it is the only way of describing how something sounds other than actually listening to it....
 
The problem is that although the terms have been defined to describe audio equipment eg. bright, fast, textured etc etc etc. these things mean completely different things to different people and everyone hears differently and has different tastes etc.
 
For example the treble sounding "wrong" to one person may sound absolutely fine to other people, according to the reviews I have read from joker and other experienced people the treble is not the strong point of the headphones but it is not described as being bad... Which is fine for me because I prefer warmer sound and cannot stand sibilance and harshness.
 
Someone who listens to exclusively classical music is going to have a very different version of "neutral" or "bass heavy" from someone who listens to drum and bass.
 
Anyway I hope they are an improvement on the Shures... Only one way to know for sure is to buy them.. Judging from the professional reviews they sound like and extremely good value all rounder IEM.

 

[nicholars]

NVM

 

[noxa]

Do the IE80 have good quality bass though? Is it fast and textured or slow and bloated? As I said I want bass quantity and sub bass but it is no good if it is bad quality.

The earsonics are not available in the UK unfortunately.

Do you think the IE80 are worth the cost? Are they durable and well built? I am a bit paranoid they would break especially when costing £220

Handheld audio have the Earsonics in stock and they're in the UK, i've got to say the SM2 do have a shocking amount of bass for a duel BA.

 

[nicholars]

Quote:

Handheld audio have the Earsonics in stock and they're in the UK, i've got to say the SM2 do have a shocking amount of bass for a duel BA.

 
Interesting.... Maybe if I decide to sell my HD650 and go for an IEM only setup I might try those....
 
I will have to wait and see how good the Yamaha EPH-100 are and if they satisfy my requirements.
 
I will either keep the Yamaha and get the new Denon AH-D600 or if they turn out to be a flop I will sell my HD650 and get an uber pair of IEM so they definately look like the correct sound signature I am looking for > Excellent bass / midrange and non bright treble