Great writeup James444... does Head-Fi need a "Team: EQ or GTFO"?
The Playaz do sound really nice with your EQ settings. I've had similar positive EQing experiences with other cheap phones as well, like the CX300.
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Originally Posted by james444
The weakest of them (if I dare say so) was the RE0, because it also fell a bit short in rendering the highest highs, which came as a major surprise after all I’ve read about this phone. Maybe I’ve got a subpar unit (sorry dfkt!)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EraserXIV
from what i've read, it seems like the re0 you have might be one that had the foam-mod performed on it. i personally MUCH prefer the re0 without the foam mod. after performing the mod, the re0 becomes too forward, almost bordering on sibilance on some of the highs. it looses its silkiness and becomes a bit too sharp for my tastes.
have you checked to see if the foam in the re0 is still there?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by james444
Concerning cymbals, I think they must be very hard to render realistically. IMO it takes very detailed treble, plus sparkle. The RE252 has all the detail it takes, but misses some sparkle. I'm unable to A/B right now because dfkt has my CK10 and CK100, but from memory I'd say the Audio Technicas do great cymbals.
The mesh is still on, so I cannot tell, but they don't look like they have been tampered with. But I'll ask the owner.
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The RE0 are as-is, I didn't mod them or tinker with them in any way. They have maybe about 100-150 hours on them, only music, no silly forceful "burn-in". I did check them shortly before giving them to james444, and they sounded the same as I remember them back when I reviewed them.
It could indeed be that the Cowon i9 isn't the right match for the RE0. While the Sansa Clip/Clip+ drives them perfectly well, I can't say if Cowons behave the same - since I never use Cowons without an amp.
I find the CK10 to have too much treble energy with cymbals, and the CK100 too little of it. Those two AT's are quite weird - especially in their relation to each other, but also price- and armature-count-wise.
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Originally Posted by mvw2
Yep, the RE252 is pretty interesting, definitely better then I was expecting when I got my pair. Considering they can be found used for under $150, they are an insanely good buy for the quality of sound they produce.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by james444
x2, I wasn't expecting the RE252 to be that good, especially since dfkt's comments weren't flattering when he gave them to me.
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They are certainly nice sounding phones in a way, but I disagree that they're a good buy for their MSRP, or for $150, or anything above, say, $80 (like the RE0). Their $5 build quality and cable is a joke, their fit and form factor is very bad to my ears, not to mention their disgusting lint-magnetism, and the microphonics are unbearable since one can't loop the cables over one's ears. Like other Hifiman/Head-Direct products they seem to follow the dogma, "sound quality is all that counts, everything else doesn't matter at all" - which is something I can't subscribe to. I do have to judge a book by its cover (meaning, usability), in a way.
I absolutely hated the RE252's sound when they were new, but they indeed changed into something a lot better sounding over time. Too bad they're not really usable for my ears, or my overall idea of quality.
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Originally Posted by Pianist
I find that it misses a lot of harmonics and just sounds overly schematic/simplistic to my ears. The PFE also cannot reproduce the atmosphere of a recording properly IMO - all music I've tried sounds brighter, more "fun" than it should. Not sure if that makes sense, but the PFE sounded sort of "childish/immature" to my ears.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pianist
Perhaps the PFE is better balanced in terms of frequency response, but in overall sound quality, SE530 is a far better IEM IMO. It just has far superior detail, dynamics, bass impact, and just sounds a lot more realistic than the PFE to my ears. It's really in a different league. PFE is just solid entry level IEM IMO with a frequency response tuned well for modern pop music.
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Seems you really hate the PFE, the way you make it sound as if they're Skullcandy junk IEMs instead of being rather similar to the Etymotic/q-Jays sound. And I somewhat doubt you actually listened to "modern pop music" on them (whatever that phrase implies).
I couldn't disagree more with your opinion of the PFE being a 'toy'. While I'm the last one to actually like 'neutral' (read: 'boring, anemic') phones, the PFE do a lot of things better for my ears than the usual similar suspects like the Etymotic ER-4/6, the RE0, the q-Jays (Pianist, I'd love to hear your opinion on the q-Jays, by the way), or also the CK10. I find myself often reaching for the PFE when I'm mixing/mastering some audio tracks in the studio, since next to my speakers and other phones for me they're a point of reference regarding detail (not sure what some people mean by 'microdetail', descriptions seem to differ), correct weight of sum EQing, and such.
The SE530 in comparison lack real bass for my ears, it's all overshadowed by their unimpressive midbass. But indeed, despite their lack of bass and treble the SE530 certainly can sound more 'pleasing' and euphonic than the PFE in a way. For me it's usually just a matter of getting used to a phone over time... spending a lot of time with the PFE makes me think the SE530 are a muddy midrange mess, spending a lot of time with the SE530 makes me think the PFE are overly shrill and bright.
Concerning the 'brightness' of the PFE, seems that's very much dependent on the tips used with the phone. All of the stock PFE tips, including the Complys, have a specific diameter that acts as a kind of resonator, pushing the treble frequencies even higher. Using any other brand tip with different tube diameter might noticeably change treble response.
FWIW, I would use neither of the phones mentioned in this thread as my daily listening devices - with the exception of the IE8 - but the PFE are quite on top of my list, as far as the IEMs discussed in this thread are concerned.