Xitomatl
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2011
- Posts
- 7
- Likes
- 10
I bought a pair of IE-8's over the winter, but lacked the money to upgrade other components at that time. I was using it with my iPod, but I knew I was missing a lot of quality because when I plugged my IE-8's into my Pioneer home stereo receiver, I was blown away. I wasn't sure what to do to get the sound I wanted into my pocket. I thought about the Fiio E7, but I heard that it wasn't a good match for the IE-8 because they are both on the warm side. I didn't want the I also wasn't excited about having two objects strapped to each other in my pocket, and two objects to keep charged up. I also wasn't sure that the E7 could improve enough upon the iPod; it would probably be "garbage in, improved garbage out." I had heard of the Cowon J3, but the price difference between an E7 and a J3 is a lot ($100 vs $267). Ultimately, my hand was "forced" by outside forces. I am a medical student, and my lectures are all recorded to MP3. I listen to them at home on my PC and speed up the playback so I can do more with less time, which I've always wanted to do in my car, but the iPod can't speed up MP3's. When I found out that the J3 could do it, I justified the expense to myself. The J3's FLAC support certainly sweetened the deal as well.
While the J3 needs to be amped for full size headphones, for IEM's the J3 is perfect on its own, and specifically, Sennheiser IE-8's sound amazing. The J3 has an adjustable EQ plus a bunch of other "enhancers" that can be turned on, many to levels 0-10, some just on/off. I'm sure you could set up the J3 to sound great with any high-end IEM's, but I can only speak for the IE-8, and I can't speak of the combination highly enough. You can save your custom EQ to any of 4 custom slots, and I made one that makes my music sound better than it does through my home stereo receiver. All the levels are perfect to my ears; the bass is punchy but not overbearing, the highs are crisp but lacking sibilance, the mids are present without smothering the higher notes. And with the J3, you can make adjustments that change the soundstage, so if you don't like how the IE-8's place you in the middle of the audience, you can move yourself almost onto the stage like Westone 3's.
So to those out there with a J3 wanting to upgrade your earphones, you can't go wrong with the IE-8's. And to those with IE-8's wanting to upgrade their portable audio player, you can't go wrong with the J3, and you won't need an amp or anything else. And to those new to all of this that want to buy the whole package, there are lots of ways to skin the cat, but this a great way to go. I feel that I am getting the full potential of both the J3 and the IE-8 by pairing them.
Full disclosure: this is just some dude's thoughts; I'm no experienced audiophile, I just like music and I like quality. Hope this helps somebody make a tough decision. My expenses, even though I really can't afford them, have been worth every penny.
While the J3 needs to be amped for full size headphones, for IEM's the J3 is perfect on its own, and specifically, Sennheiser IE-8's sound amazing. The J3 has an adjustable EQ plus a bunch of other "enhancers" that can be turned on, many to levels 0-10, some just on/off. I'm sure you could set up the J3 to sound great with any high-end IEM's, but I can only speak for the IE-8, and I can't speak of the combination highly enough. You can save your custom EQ to any of 4 custom slots, and I made one that makes my music sound better than it does through my home stereo receiver. All the levels are perfect to my ears; the bass is punchy but not overbearing, the highs are crisp but lacking sibilance, the mids are present without smothering the higher notes. And with the J3, you can make adjustments that change the soundstage, so if you don't like how the IE-8's place you in the middle of the audience, you can move yourself almost onto the stage like Westone 3's.
So to those out there with a J3 wanting to upgrade your earphones, you can't go wrong with the IE-8's. And to those with IE-8's wanting to upgrade their portable audio player, you can't go wrong with the J3, and you won't need an amp or anything else. And to those new to all of this that want to buy the whole package, there are lots of ways to skin the cat, but this a great way to go. I feel that I am getting the full potential of both the J3 and the IE-8 by pairing them.
Full disclosure: this is just some dude's thoughts; I'm no experienced audiophile, I just like music and I like quality. Hope this helps somebody make a tough decision. My expenses, even though I really can't afford them, have been worth every penny.
