[Soyabeaner]

I bought a pair of Quadbeat 3s from eBay and am wondering if I got a fake pair, as the sound quality isn't as many have described in this thread. I've experimented with different tips - stock, memory foam and Spiral Dots, but the sound is still rather flat sounding and tinny. 

I've been listening to FLAC rips on my phone via PowerAmp, and without using the app's EQ to boost the bass, it is seriously lacking.

Anyone have any suggestions or thoughts?

I also don't think they're fake because there haven't been any such reports yet, and they're not that popular. Your pair is probably defective.

These are the opposite of flat sounding. After a month of listening to these and countless hours of EQing on my Sansa Clip Zip: I still prefer my Sony MH1 (before its unfortunate channel imbalance problem) for its smooth upper mids and treble. Both have similar bass. On the bright side, the LG QB3 is clearer (though the Sony can also be clearer doing the pinhole mod).

My impression differs from the others about it having slightly recessed mids: they're mid-forward due to the upper bass bloated into the lower mids and excessive 3-5khz bloat, resulting in certain female vocals to be "shouty" and male vocals to be sibilant (rare for me because it's usually the female vocals that tend to be sibilant). This matches the Goldenear measurements.

I played sine tones and thankfully don't hear that spike at 8.9khz like the graphs show. This means one less problem to correct with EQ, and we all know high frequencies are the most problematic with EQ. I only hear a slight rise around 10 khz. Between 6-10khz and frequencies after 10khz the tones roll off, which would explain why it's missing treble extension and detail (sparkles/shimmer are a bit lacking). Oddly and fortunately, these don't sound dark at all.

On the presentation side I also prefer MH1's rounded soundstage; e.g. its bass has better texture / is more tactile on its width's edges. LG's soundstage height is nothing special, but the mid thickness inadvertently helps it (EQing shaves off the bottom & top), width is okay, and at times it seems to have some depth that I don't notice with my past IEMs. The MH1 sounds more out of the head/immersive, whereas LG is clearly in the head/sometimes on top of the head and it presentation is right in front of me. I'm not an expert, but I suspect the reason to the MH1's better soundstage is due to the fact that each L/R channel partially covers the other - I found out once by playing the Left, Right, and Center test files to confirm i.e. playing the L channel should only play back in my left ear, but I hear a bit of it in my right ear as well and vice versa.

My final EQ applied only 2 filters:
Peak Filter 3 = 230 Hz @ -4.5 dB and Q = 1.3
Peak Filter 7 = 5000 Hz @ -4.5 dB and Q = 1.0

 

[zooooo]

Hi soyabeaner, thanks for such a detailed response. Unfortunately I don't have your level of technical knowledge, so I'm just basing my judgements on my other low price IEMs - Monoprice 8230s, and Xiaomi Piston 3s, amongst others. Compared with those two, the sound coming from these Quadbeats is seriously lacking.
 
Based on your comments, I guess my pair must be defective. I'll contact the seller and see if he can replace them.
 
Thanks again!

 

[Soyabeaner]

Good luck!

The "top-rated seller" at the time I bought from was etradekorea, which had the worst communication of any eBay seller I've dealt with: none! Didn't leave me any feedback for me as a buyer and never even replied to my question about not leaving a feedback either :mad:

 

[zooooo]

Good luck!

The "top-rated seller" at the time I bought from was etradekorea, which had the worst communication of any eBay seller I've dealt with: none! Didn't leave me any feedback for me as a buyer and never even replied to my question about not leaving a feedback either :mad:

Thanks! I emailed the seller and they've offered a refund, saying they can't guarantee a replacement. I'd rather the earphones just sounded right so I didn't have to return them.

Is there any way I can test to see if they're functioning correctly? I just can't understand why the performance isn't matching that described numerous times by others in this thread.

 

[Soyabeaner]

The easiest way to test I guess would be to compare against your Piston 3. Based on reviews, the Pistons 3 have less subbass than mid-bass. Listen to songs with deep rumbly bass. LG QB3 has lots of subbass and that would be a good/normal pair.

 

[Inks]

Got these

First off the build is the best at its price range, bar none, even beating out much pricier iems.

Sound wise, I was disappointed at first. Stock tips suck, too bassy and a bit sharp. Used comply S200 with a slight loose seal and wow. Smooth, extended treble, forward clear midrange and relatively clean bass with good subbass. These are giving the MH1 and Tenores competition! The weird part is the midrange is coming off as a bit too forward, but need more time and comparing

 

[getclikinagas]

Got these

First off the build is the best at its price range, bar none, even beating out much pricier iems.

Sound wise, I was disappointed at first. Stock tips suck, too bassy and a bit sharp. Used comply S200 with a slight loose seal and wow. Smooth, extended treble, forward clear midrange and relatively clean bass with good subbass. These are giving the MH1 and Tenores competition! The weird part is the midrange is coming off as a bit too forward, but need more time and comparing

Could you give us a short head to head with the QB2, which was quite impressive.

 

[Inks]

QB3 has

More subbass with slightly less midbass
Midrange is similar on both this is where they are most similar
Treble is smoother and more extended

 

[an-i-no]

Can anyone compare these to any DUNU offerings? I need something that I can afford to lose that won't take a month to get another pair lol

 

[Inks]

Ok these are quite surprising. Compared to the Tenore...

Bass levels are a lot less than expected. Frequency response wise you may think it has more bass then the Tenore, but it doesn't, it's actually less bassy, with a softer quicker bass. This is where transients come in, they kept the short decay on the bass that's presents on all Quadbeats

Midrange is one of the most detailed I've ever heard, it's quite amazing as is its treble. The Tenore actually comes off as a bit a peakier, these are smoother and just as extended.

Soundstage is airy and tall with great instrument separation for a single dynamic.

I can't believe these make the Tenore sound more v-shaped, did not see this coming. If anything my complaint is that the bass is perhaps a bit too fast, making it lack that feel the Tenore has, but at the same time, don't want it to be muddy, but I guess it's hard to have it all...

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

The quick decay is one of my favorite aspects of the QB's. I like QB2 bass better than QB3 because it has a mid bass hump, while QB3 has very flat mid bass with some sub bass thrown in.

 

[tomscy2000]

My uninformative review of the QB3: http://www.head-fi.org/products/genuine-lg-quadbeat3-hss-f630-premium-earphones-for-lg-g4-official-earphone-red/reviews/13939

 

[Inks]

Cool. 
 
I'll say despite it's FR the subbass isn't that high, so I like to keep the vent open. I agree with the right tips, these have glorious midrange and treble, the stock tips are useless...I will say that it does image well for a single dynamic, it's transients are good. 
 
iSound has succeeded in matching or even surpassing the previous best stock in-ear, the MH1. I wonder if there's going to be a special edition of these....

 

[Francisk]

Yes Inks, I totally agree with you, the Quadbeat 3 certainly sounds better than the Sony MH1

 

[shotgunshane]

Wow, these have a crap-ton of bass. Reminds me of my first horrible experience with the 20+ db boosted mh1c. I couldn't rip them out soon enough. Taped vents help but S200 tips greatly attenuate the bass while still leaving the vents open. I was considering gluing up the vents permanently but I'll give the S200's a go for a few days. Leaving the vents open seems to help keep the overall signature more open sounding through the midrange and treble. Might need to try some large S200's though; only have mediums at the moment.