Sayajin
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2008
- Posts
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(Budget-fi)
I have been available to try these out for while and these seem to be one of the best and cheapest China-brand earphones out there at this moment. I can confirm that both are a great deal to grab with its own great and bad thing.
But when going head-to-head comparison between these things getting a little bit interesting. Read down below why.
This is my first impression thread.
(Oh sorry my bad English. Yes I now, I wrote a novel, I am a noob to this, writing bad and so on….LOL)
[size=small]Kanon MD-52[/size]
You can properly right now find these for around 7 $ on ecrater or eBay. They arrive in a clear simple box with no really accessories included other than 3 sets of tips. On the box you can read they include 3 sizes of tips but that’s not true. You only find a pair of small ones (pink) and 2 pairs of medium (blue). It’s properly not an issue. I sometimes wear large tips on other IEM’s but this time the blue medium did fit me great. They pretty comfortable, I don’t feel any huge discomfort with these, only when traveling I feel sometimes a small discomfort. At home, no really issues. I only listen to music 1 hour at time.
Just the pink ones were all too small for me.
Sound
I think I would describe MD-52 as overall bright, maybe someone I believe would say its a little bit cold. It still having well of bass to let things not sound too neutral, just the bass doesn’t feel it’s going very deep but still quiet good for a normal listener.
Mids I think they great, differently not dark. Way better than any IEM I’ve heard below 35 $. (DX buds, EP-630, EX71, all those). The high frequencies are boosted too, but I would not hide that MD-52 sometimes is slightly harsh with vocals as overall soundstage is pretty bright. I think it’s properly the deal on cheap IEM’s. So they are bit fatigue in that area. Still they defiantly not in the rest of the soundstage. The best thing of MD-52 is details. MD-52 doing great here. Very good separations it itself but if you heard PL30 these just doing similar, just a slightly better with a slightly more forward soundstage.
Build
The most weakness of MD-52 is the build quality. It doesn’t look horrible in first place, pretty okay but it giving trouble. First of all the J-cable is not very flexible. Less good than PL30. I sometimes get it in my face which is not very nice. It’s also having a weak point at the 3.5 jack where you may keep an eye it’s not breaking apart. :/
The earpieces are also having problems. The lower parts around the cable tend to feel apart already out of the box and need be glued. It’s properly a good idea check out this before you use these for the first time.
I also having a feeling that the main earpiece is sometimes lacking inside, so if they not made well inside from the factory there is a chance they not even working right out of the box.
First time I did try out these, I brought 2 pairs from Futuredaps. (Expensive place to get them now) The first one did work great as I did use this one for make this comparison. The second was pretty unbalanced. Something like the one earpiece did produce more volume. I did tired burn-in these for a while but didn’t help, so I must say these were faulty after all still when mostly that sound coming seems was similar to the first one.
I was curious to know if I was just unlucky about that second one so bought another 2 from ecrater. I was also needed to have pair for backup. Well 14 $ for earphones doesn’t hurt the wallet at all
It just ended up with this:
One the Third, well the whole button end of the soundstage was missing. O_o eehhh…
The fourth and last one did work right but were a bit stronger in bass and highs performance than my first one. (Hmm the Bass on these was that great to compare with PL30)
Overall
Well MD-52 is properly not a nice welcome when it comes to build quality, so you properly ask why even bring them out in the light and write about them here. MD-52 is just a very good sounding earphone, just as long it’s not a faulty one you listen to. They can be a great competitor to PL30.
Just the bit poor build quality still asking people if it worth giving them a try, but 7-8 dollars may not hurt your wallet. You could buy few of them to be sure you may get good sounding one and still save money over the PL30 but in that case it might just sound ridiculous.
[size=small]SoundMagic PL30[/size]
These arrive in a very nice box, way better than MD-52 here and pretty much accessories is included this time. Manual, winder, clip, a very nice carrying case and 3 small bags of tips. No doubt PL30 wins here. I the first bag you find 3 sets (3 sizes) of normal tips in black. The mediums are already by default on the PL30 which I’ve found best. The large ones did fit well too.
In the second bag you find another 3 sets of grey tips. I know someone here did have white ones instead. They feel not so soft than the black one in construction maybe for giving extra more seal.
In last bag you find the special tips. A pair of bi-flanges which didn’t fit me well and a pair of foam sleeves. Think these are some kind like Shure black foam (olive). They were just too small for my ears so I stick to the normal tips.
Hmm you need to wear those behind your ears. I personally don’t like this much but PL30 did this well that I was quiet happy with it. I did before this with SA6 but never got these as comfortable or easy to insert. So PL30 is pretty comfortable for me. They just pretty tricky to insert into the ear and keep into position at the beginning.
The knob for adjust the bass is a nice welcome too. I just don’t feel any huge change in sound when changing from clear to deep bass. I am still a bit unsure if there any change at all but PL30 is still pretty new in my collection so I maybe find out soon.
Sound
I did listen a little bit to MD-52 before I did tried listen to PL-30 for the first time. At that time I did turn up the volume I was pretty surprised and was also a little bit shocked. I ask myself: “Did I still listen with MD-52?” Unfortunately no, these earphones are to surprise nearly identical here. So much that I believe that they are using the same speaker units inside. I am pretty sure it’s actually the case. I imaging that many Chinese brands get their component from one factory and put them in their own earphones. The change switch to Pl-30 was very like so.
I have been pretty crazy on those Kanon’s for a while, so no doubt I like PL30 too and really IS sound magic for that money. The Bass on PL30 was a little stronger and punchy and did add a little warmness to sound but not much. The Treble was also tad stronger and did make PL30 a little more fatigue than MD-52. Mids: Pl-30 did too miss some details in soundstage that MD-52 unfortunately did slightly better and sound was a little more forward here. In that I can conclude PL30 is little behind MD-52 here.
Build
PL30 is overall better than MD-52 here too. Both the headphone jack and earpiece feel more solid. Only the cable is mostly the same as MD-52. Still not very flexible if you ask me but it’s properly the limit what I get for 25 $.
Some few members here did experience the knobs did fall off. I can confirm that my knobs stay in place and work nice. Also the accessories are in nice quality compare what you pay.
Overall
PL30 are worth the money. Sure. The best thing of PL30 is build quality and included accessories.
Just MD-52 seems to beat PL30 in sound by be bit more forward with more details and bit more soft.
I know we have a mod out there by removing the knobs to maybe let them sound better. But I maybe need a backup pair first to test that out.
[size=small]Conclusion [/size]
Just don’t expect on both high-end performance. Both of them may sometimes pretty harsh. But overall they still both very good for the money
Isolation is about the same – good - I find MD-52 better on comfort as the cables don’t go behind the ears.
PL30 is overall a better value. If you already have PL30 in your collection I think you nearly already listen to 90 % of a MD-52. For you guys it’s properly not worth getting MD-52.
MD-52 is just much cheaper. 7 $ doesn’t hurt your wallet much but it will also be a downgrade in build quality.
It just seems like playing Russian Roulette if you getting a pair who actually working. I better advice buy 2-3 of them. If the earphones work, there is slightly better soundstage to get and you don’t need to wear cables around your ears.
I may check out PL12 as well soon and later. May add it here later.
Thanks for reading.
I have been available to try these out for while and these seem to be one of the best and cheapest China-brand earphones out there at this moment. I can confirm that both are a great deal to grab with its own great and bad thing.
But when going head-to-head comparison between these things getting a little bit interesting. Read down below why.
This is my first impression thread.
(Oh sorry my bad English. Yes I now, I wrote a novel, I am a noob to this, writing bad and so on….LOL)
[size=small]Kanon MD-52[/size]
You can properly right now find these for around 7 $ on ecrater or eBay. They arrive in a clear simple box with no really accessories included other than 3 sets of tips. On the box you can read they include 3 sizes of tips but that’s not true. You only find a pair of small ones (pink) and 2 pairs of medium (blue). It’s properly not an issue. I sometimes wear large tips on other IEM’s but this time the blue medium did fit me great. They pretty comfortable, I don’t feel any huge discomfort with these, only when traveling I feel sometimes a small discomfort. At home, no really issues. I only listen to music 1 hour at time.
Just the pink ones were all too small for me.
Sound
I think I would describe MD-52 as overall bright, maybe someone I believe would say its a little bit cold. It still having well of bass to let things not sound too neutral, just the bass doesn’t feel it’s going very deep but still quiet good for a normal listener.
Mids I think they great, differently not dark. Way better than any IEM I’ve heard below 35 $. (DX buds, EP-630, EX71, all those). The high frequencies are boosted too, but I would not hide that MD-52 sometimes is slightly harsh with vocals as overall soundstage is pretty bright. I think it’s properly the deal on cheap IEM’s. So they are bit fatigue in that area. Still they defiantly not in the rest of the soundstage. The best thing of MD-52 is details. MD-52 doing great here. Very good separations it itself but if you heard PL30 these just doing similar, just a slightly better with a slightly more forward soundstage.
Build
The most weakness of MD-52 is the build quality. It doesn’t look horrible in first place, pretty okay but it giving trouble. First of all the J-cable is not very flexible. Less good than PL30. I sometimes get it in my face which is not very nice. It’s also having a weak point at the 3.5 jack where you may keep an eye it’s not breaking apart. :/
The earpieces are also having problems. The lower parts around the cable tend to feel apart already out of the box and need be glued. It’s properly a good idea check out this before you use these for the first time.
I also having a feeling that the main earpiece is sometimes lacking inside, so if they not made well inside from the factory there is a chance they not even working right out of the box.
First time I did try out these, I brought 2 pairs from Futuredaps. (Expensive place to get them now) The first one did work great as I did use this one for make this comparison. The second was pretty unbalanced. Something like the one earpiece did produce more volume. I did tired burn-in these for a while but didn’t help, so I must say these were faulty after all still when mostly that sound coming seems was similar to the first one.
I was curious to know if I was just unlucky about that second one so bought another 2 from ecrater. I was also needed to have pair for backup. Well 14 $ for earphones doesn’t hurt the wallet at all
It just ended up with this:
One the Third, well the whole button end of the soundstage was missing. O_o eehhh…
The fourth and last one did work right but were a bit stronger in bass and highs performance than my first one. (Hmm the Bass on these was that great to compare with PL30)
Overall
Well MD-52 is properly not a nice welcome when it comes to build quality, so you properly ask why even bring them out in the light and write about them here. MD-52 is just a very good sounding earphone, just as long it’s not a faulty one you listen to. They can be a great competitor to PL30.
Just the bit poor build quality still asking people if it worth giving them a try, but 7-8 dollars may not hurt your wallet. You could buy few of them to be sure you may get good sounding one and still save money over the PL30 but in that case it might just sound ridiculous.
[size=small]SoundMagic PL30[/size]
These arrive in a very nice box, way better than MD-52 here and pretty much accessories is included this time. Manual, winder, clip, a very nice carrying case and 3 small bags of tips. No doubt PL30 wins here. I the first bag you find 3 sets (3 sizes) of normal tips in black. The mediums are already by default on the PL30 which I’ve found best. The large ones did fit well too.
In the second bag you find another 3 sets of grey tips. I know someone here did have white ones instead. They feel not so soft than the black one in construction maybe for giving extra more seal.
In last bag you find the special tips. A pair of bi-flanges which didn’t fit me well and a pair of foam sleeves. Think these are some kind like Shure black foam (olive). They were just too small for my ears so I stick to the normal tips.
Hmm you need to wear those behind your ears. I personally don’t like this much but PL30 did this well that I was quiet happy with it. I did before this with SA6 but never got these as comfortable or easy to insert. So PL30 is pretty comfortable for me. They just pretty tricky to insert into the ear and keep into position at the beginning.
The knob for adjust the bass is a nice welcome too. I just don’t feel any huge change in sound when changing from clear to deep bass. I am still a bit unsure if there any change at all but PL30 is still pretty new in my collection so I maybe find out soon.
Sound
I did listen a little bit to MD-52 before I did tried listen to PL-30 for the first time. At that time I did turn up the volume I was pretty surprised and was also a little bit shocked. I ask myself: “Did I still listen with MD-52?” Unfortunately no, these earphones are to surprise nearly identical here. So much that I believe that they are using the same speaker units inside. I am pretty sure it’s actually the case. I imaging that many Chinese brands get their component from one factory and put them in their own earphones. The change switch to Pl-30 was very like so.
I have been pretty crazy on those Kanon’s for a while, so no doubt I like PL30 too and really IS sound magic for that money. The Bass on PL30 was a little stronger and punchy and did add a little warmness to sound but not much. The Treble was also tad stronger and did make PL30 a little more fatigue than MD-52. Mids: Pl-30 did too miss some details in soundstage that MD-52 unfortunately did slightly better and sound was a little more forward here. In that I can conclude PL30 is little behind MD-52 here.
Build
PL30 is overall better than MD-52 here too. Both the headphone jack and earpiece feel more solid. Only the cable is mostly the same as MD-52. Still not very flexible if you ask me but it’s properly the limit what I get for 25 $.
Some few members here did experience the knobs did fall off. I can confirm that my knobs stay in place and work nice. Also the accessories are in nice quality compare what you pay.
Overall
PL30 are worth the money. Sure. The best thing of PL30 is build quality and included accessories.
Just MD-52 seems to beat PL30 in sound by be bit more forward with more details and bit more soft.
I know we have a mod out there by removing the knobs to maybe let them sound better. But I maybe need a backup pair first to test that out.
[size=small]Conclusion [/size]
Just don’t expect on both high-end performance. Both of them may sometimes pretty harsh. But overall they still both very good for the money
Isolation is about the same – good - I find MD-52 better on comfort as the cables don’t go behind the ears.
PL30 is overall a better value. If you already have PL30 in your collection I think you nearly already listen to 90 % of a MD-52. For you guys it’s properly not worth getting MD-52.
MD-52 is just much cheaper. 7 $ doesn’t hurt your wallet much but it will also be a downgrade in build quality.
It just seems like playing Russian Roulette if you getting a pair who actually working. I better advice buy 2-3 of them. If the earphones work, there is slightly better soundstage to get and you don’t need to wear cables around your ears.
I may check out PL12 as well soon and later. May add it here later.
Thanks for reading.
.
