I recently got my hands on the grill modded H40. Loved the sound, hated the fit. Even with the grill mod, the bass was quite full for me, so can't imagine how would it have been in stock form. I compared it with my BGVP Artmagic DH3.
Soundstage and Presentation
H40 - Soundstage is very well rounded. Extend quite well in depth, and more in depth than in width. It is a quite holographic experience.
DH3 - Soundstage is more wide than deep. Depth is less than H40. Sounds a bit flatter compared to H40. However, because of less presence of subbass rumble, the presentation sounds more clean.
Separation and Imaging
H40 - It has much more air between different sounds, contributing to the holographic soundstage. Outstanding separation. Similarly outstanding imaging - different sources of sounds are very distinctly projected.
DH3 - Less air between different sounds, but nothing overlaps others. Good enough separation and acceptable air. Less impressive imaging, different sources are not that distinctly projected.
Bass
H40 - Meaty, full bodied, punchy, and has that sweet juicy rumble to give you the guilty pleasure. Gives a very enveloping feeling.
DH3 - Good punch, faster decay that makes the notes a bit drier than H40. Subbass has less focus than midbass. Midbass has good attack. No lingering presence of subbass rumble helps the presentation to stay clean. It is almost exactly what I look for in iems.
Mid:
H40 - Has good body and transparency. Nothing sounds fuzzy. Can be termed as warm, but not overly thick.
DH3 - Has slightly less body but equally transparent. Sounds slightly drier than H40, but absolutely not thin or cold. Less warm than H40 but has more edge to it.
High:
H40 - Transparent highs with good amount of body. Pretty similar to the Mid. Details are very good. Good extension.
DH3 - Similar to the mid, transparent with slightly less body, has more edge. Not at all thin or cold. Similarly good extension.
Fit:
H40 - Needs large ears to fit properly, sadly, I have average sized ears. Nozzle length is a bit shallow compared to the size. had to use large bore dual flange tips or large bore L sized tips to get the perfect fit. Not very comfortable for me.
DH3 - Extremely comfortable and snug fit. Even though the nozzle length is shallow, because of the much smaller size fits pretty good, while paired with the sky blue Vocal M tips.
Conclusion:
Wearing IEM for long time requires it to have a good fit, hence I'd have to choose DH3 over H40. Even though H40 is clearly superior in the sound department, has that juicy WOW factor, the comfort broke the deal.
P.s: H40 had very noticeable driver flex. DH3 has that too, but much less noticeable.
