johnmatrix
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2005
- Posts
- 395
- Likes
- 10
I came on head-fi in Jan of ’05 looking for a new pair earphones for my iriver h320 and I bought the er-6 after much deliberation. I loved them! The first time I put these on it was a slap in the face. After some more reading, I thought an amp would help. So, I bought a cmoy off ebay. Another wonderful improvement, the bass got so much better. Around the time of the DC meet I was thinking about upgrading my iems, I was tiring of the ety cable noise and lack of bass on the move. So I tried the er4 at the meet and liked what I heard, but I was also interested in the um2. Ultimately, I chose the um2s because of the cord design and my interest in the dual driver. I have been listening the um2s since I got them Thursday for at least 4-5 hours a day with all types of music. Now that I upgraded the phones I am thinking about another amp. As you can tell, this place has me by the short and curlies.
Source: iriver H320 Amp: Cmoy with a 2227 opamp IC: pos ratshack Music: A little of every genre.
Acessories:8/10
The Westone case is built like a tank. It is a thick solid plastic with nice foam and some silica gel to keep the um2 dry. However, I take issue with the number of tips provided. The er4 provides twice as many tips and it is cheaper. Also, it should come with a mini to ¼ adapter.
Comfort:9.3/10
The westones are incredibly comfortable; I willing to bet only custom iems are more comfortable. The comply tips are the best, even better than my ety tips with mack’s foam. You can leave them in all day without soreness in the ear canal. They are also easy to remove and put in. The cord is very comfortable at the top of the ear and does not irritate. However, I still think a shirt clip would have been nice to tie down the cord without running it under your shirt. I like the short tips more than the longer ones because it feels like the longer ones are stuffing my ear canal. But the longer ones are better for airplanes and other high noise environments.
Extraneous Noise: 9/10
The cable noise from these is almost non-exsistant. I can bounce the cord like hot potato with my shirt and only a soft thud comes through. There is little wind noise or occlusion.
Soundstage: 8/10
Imagine a parabola with a minimum at the bridge of your nose and each arm intersecting a point several inches outside your ears. That’s the soundstage of the um2. The vocals are not in between your ears instead they are closer to the front of your face. There is very accurate horizontal placement of all the instruments and they all have enough space. Nothing feels compressed about the stage. Vertically on rock albums the placement of the drums behind the vocals is okay. On classical, the placement of sections is excellent with the percussion notably in the back. The soundstage is very deep here.
Sound: 9/10
The sound from the um2 is natural and full with deep effortless bass and a nice change from the er6. The music grabs your attention and holds it. These iems are not boring even though they have a soundstage like the senn’s. It has more detail than the er6; however, it is not as obvious. You have to listen for it because the um2 does not shove it in your face. The bass of the um2 is always present but never overpowering. It does not take over any part of the music nor does it become bloated. It is easy to tell different bass notes and instruments apart. The vocals are excellently reproduced; you can hear the vibrato of the singer and all of their inflections as well as their breathing. The cymbals are never sibilant or harsh. All the instruments sound like they should. The horns sound rich and full just like they should with little or no coloration. The decay feels natural. For example, tympanis reverberate well from the back of the stage and sounds like it they are being played live.
There are some problems. Sometimes, the um2s can’t keep up with a fast piece of music. This happened during a fast jazz sax solo were the notes simply muddied together a little bit when they should not have. It really takes something that fast for the um2s to sound muddy. In sections of classical music involving a lot of different parts, the presentation of the different instruments were run together some. Again, it was only pushed to the extreme that this happened.
The larger tips do change the sound. They add more bass and warmth to it which is not to my liking.
Conclusion
Overall, I am extremely happy with my purchase. I feel I am enjoying these much more than the etys simply because of the comfort and the bass when mobile. I would make one recommendation to possible buyers. If you choose an amp, make sure it is fast with detail and a good soundstage. That way you can balance the weaknesses of the um2s. If you are someone looking for more bass or comfort from the ety, I recommend these phones. If you enjoy the ety detail and do not mind the bass or do not move around with them, then stay with the er4.
Note: If there is anything you need explained, just post here or pm me.
Source: iriver H320 Amp: Cmoy with a 2227 opamp IC: pos ratshack Music: A little of every genre.
Acessories:8/10
The Westone case is built like a tank. It is a thick solid plastic with nice foam and some silica gel to keep the um2 dry. However, I take issue with the number of tips provided. The er4 provides twice as many tips and it is cheaper. Also, it should come with a mini to ¼ adapter.
Comfort:9.3/10
The westones are incredibly comfortable; I willing to bet only custom iems are more comfortable. The comply tips are the best, even better than my ety tips with mack’s foam. You can leave them in all day without soreness in the ear canal. They are also easy to remove and put in. The cord is very comfortable at the top of the ear and does not irritate. However, I still think a shirt clip would have been nice to tie down the cord without running it under your shirt. I like the short tips more than the longer ones because it feels like the longer ones are stuffing my ear canal. But the longer ones are better for airplanes and other high noise environments.
Extraneous Noise: 9/10
The cable noise from these is almost non-exsistant. I can bounce the cord like hot potato with my shirt and only a soft thud comes through. There is little wind noise or occlusion.
Soundstage: 8/10
Imagine a parabola with a minimum at the bridge of your nose and each arm intersecting a point several inches outside your ears. That’s the soundstage of the um2. The vocals are not in between your ears instead they are closer to the front of your face. There is very accurate horizontal placement of all the instruments and they all have enough space. Nothing feels compressed about the stage. Vertically on rock albums the placement of the drums behind the vocals is okay. On classical, the placement of sections is excellent with the percussion notably in the back. The soundstage is very deep here.
Sound: 9/10
The sound from the um2 is natural and full with deep effortless bass and a nice change from the er6. The music grabs your attention and holds it. These iems are not boring even though they have a soundstage like the senn’s. It has more detail than the er6; however, it is not as obvious. You have to listen for it because the um2 does not shove it in your face. The bass of the um2 is always present but never overpowering. It does not take over any part of the music nor does it become bloated. It is easy to tell different bass notes and instruments apart. The vocals are excellently reproduced; you can hear the vibrato of the singer and all of their inflections as well as their breathing. The cymbals are never sibilant or harsh. All the instruments sound like they should. The horns sound rich and full just like they should with little or no coloration. The decay feels natural. For example, tympanis reverberate well from the back of the stage and sounds like it they are being played live.
There are some problems. Sometimes, the um2s can’t keep up with a fast piece of music. This happened during a fast jazz sax solo were the notes simply muddied together a little bit when they should not have. It really takes something that fast for the um2s to sound muddy. In sections of classical music involving a lot of different parts, the presentation of the different instruments were run together some. Again, it was only pushed to the extreme that this happened.
The larger tips do change the sound. They add more bass and warmth to it which is not to my liking.
Conclusion
Overall, I am extremely happy with my purchase. I feel I am enjoying these much more than the etys simply because of the comfort and the bass when mobile. I would make one recommendation to possible buyers. If you choose an amp, make sure it is fast with detail and a good soundstage. That way you can balance the weaknesses of the um2s. If you are someone looking for more bass or comfort from the ety, I recommend these phones. If you enjoy the ety detail and do not mind the bass or do not move around with them, then stay with the er4.
Note: If there is anything you need explained, just post here or pm me.
