Coldheart29
100+ Head-Fier
Hi all!
A couple of monts ago, i bought a pair of sony xba-h1. But suddenly, one of the earpieces has stopped working. Simply, i took the earphones out of the carrying pouch, plugged them in my phone, and when i put them inside my ears, i noticed that the left earpiece wasn't working. If i press the earpiece further inside my ear, and then release it, it starts working briefly, kind of like the negative pressure forming in the ear canal when the eartip gets back to its position helps the driver working, but the balanced armor in the earpiece should be working anyway, so there's something else wrong.
By the way, i'm now looking for a replacenent IEM. While i kind of liked the signature of the xba-h1, i was still left wanting more.
So far, every earphone i've used, has always been afflicted by one issue: brightness.
For example, with the xba-h1 i have to use the eq on my phone (nexus 5 with power amp player) to keep the harshness and brightness of the earphones at torable levels. I usually tone down the 4 and 8 khz sliders by 3/4 decibels. Otherwise, i can't go past 3/4th of the volume slider. And yet, i still find them a bit too bright and harsh sounding.
So, i'm looking for an IEM with enhanced, punchy bass (not really on basshead level, i don't want the bass to dominate the scene, or bloat into low mids), clean, lush sounding mids, and highs as gentle as possible, but still retaining clarity and presence (to say, not excessively rolled off, i want to still be able to ear and cymbals) and airiness.
In the same price range as the sonys, i've found these earphones to be interesting, based on joker's reviews and other reviews found here on head-fi:
Shure se215 : well, not much to say here, praised as a really good entry level IEM from lots of headfiers. But i'm afraid that the high frequencies roll off could be too much, detracting from clarity and presence in this area.
RHA MA750: another highly regarded IEM, tought i'm not really sure the somewhat V-shaped sound would really fit my liking, i'm particularly concerned about that harshness i was speaking of before. Also, i'm afraid that the ear guide might result uncomfortable.
Yamaha eph 100: well, these might be exactly what i'm looking for, as they are said to have powerfull yet not overpowering lows, lush, clean mids and gentle yet airy highs.
Yamaha eph-m100/200: these are supposed to be the eph-100 successors, thought i seem to understand that they might lack that bit of sparkle and clarity compared to the eph-100. Interested in a comparison with the older model, as these ones are easier to find here in Italy.
Any thoughts on these IEMs and/or other suggestions? I'm also looking for suggestions for higher priced earphones, in the 175/200$ range.
P.S.: As a back up, cheap pair of IEMs i was looking for the dunu dn-12 trident, as the xiaomi piston 2 are getting harder to find, and those sold on amazon.it have many bad reviews, leading me to think that they might be some imitations. Any other suggestion in the sub 40$ price range?
Oh, by the way, i listen mostly at metal (every kind) and rock (mostly heavy or gothic), with just a bit of classical/sinphonic and indie thrown in the mix.
As always, thanks alot in advance for the answers!
A couple of monts ago, i bought a pair of sony xba-h1. But suddenly, one of the earpieces has stopped working. Simply, i took the earphones out of the carrying pouch, plugged them in my phone, and when i put them inside my ears, i noticed that the left earpiece wasn't working. If i press the earpiece further inside my ear, and then release it, it starts working briefly, kind of like the negative pressure forming in the ear canal when the eartip gets back to its position helps the driver working, but the balanced armor in the earpiece should be working anyway, so there's something else wrong.
By the way, i'm now looking for a replacenent IEM. While i kind of liked the signature of the xba-h1, i was still left wanting more.
So far, every earphone i've used, has always been afflicted by one issue: brightness.
For example, with the xba-h1 i have to use the eq on my phone (nexus 5 with power amp player) to keep the harshness and brightness of the earphones at torable levels. I usually tone down the 4 and 8 khz sliders by 3/4 decibels. Otherwise, i can't go past 3/4th of the volume slider. And yet, i still find them a bit too bright and harsh sounding.
So, i'm looking for an IEM with enhanced, punchy bass (not really on basshead level, i don't want the bass to dominate the scene, or bloat into low mids), clean, lush sounding mids, and highs as gentle as possible, but still retaining clarity and presence (to say, not excessively rolled off, i want to still be able to ear and cymbals) and airiness.
In the same price range as the sonys, i've found these earphones to be interesting, based on joker's reviews and other reviews found here on head-fi:
Shure se215 : well, not much to say here, praised as a really good entry level IEM from lots of headfiers. But i'm afraid that the high frequencies roll off could be too much, detracting from clarity and presence in this area.
RHA MA750: another highly regarded IEM, tought i'm not really sure the somewhat V-shaped sound would really fit my liking, i'm particularly concerned about that harshness i was speaking of before. Also, i'm afraid that the ear guide might result uncomfortable.
Yamaha eph 100: well, these might be exactly what i'm looking for, as they are said to have powerfull yet not overpowering lows, lush, clean mids and gentle yet airy highs.
Yamaha eph-m100/200: these are supposed to be the eph-100 successors, thought i seem to understand that they might lack that bit of sparkle and clarity compared to the eph-100. Interested in a comparison with the older model, as these ones are easier to find here in Italy.
Any thoughts on these IEMs and/or other suggestions? I'm also looking for suggestions for higher priced earphones, in the 175/200$ range.
P.S.: As a back up, cheap pair of IEMs i was looking for the dunu dn-12 trident, as the xiaomi piston 2 are getting harder to find, and those sold on amazon.it have many bad reviews, leading me to think that they might be some imitations. Any other suggestion in the sub 40$ price range?
Oh, by the way, i listen mostly at metal (every kind) and rock (mostly heavy or gothic), with just a bit of classical/sinphonic and indie thrown in the mix.
As always, thanks alot in advance for the answers!
