mgtb
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2011
- Posts
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- 10
Whoa 174 IEMs this must take you a long time to listen to them all.
thinking about doing more custom IEMs soon joker?
It would be interesting to see if someone could estimate the total number of IEM's available on the market.
Also let separate world and US market.
That's the thing - a dark fast armature sounds like it could be what I want. I like detail and I like speed but I don't particularly like a treble-oriented sound. You describe the CK90 as having a mostly neutral sound, with treble detail but no treble peaks. I'm a little surprised you say that you've never recommended it, your review sounds quite enticing. You say it's "quite dark for an armature", but I've noticed many of the BAs I've listened to have a treble-oriented sound (haven't heard a Westone or Earsonic). How does the CK90 balance compare to something like, say, a Turbine or the GR07?. If I ever get a chance to listen to them I would probably jump on the opportunity.
But I am perplexed by the rating system after this review. Despite the SE530 "failed to impress" and the entire review being quite critical of the SE530, it still scored a 9.2/10 for sound, which in my opinion is far too high based on your review and my own impressions. Even though the midrange was wonderful, the, and IMHO, dreadful treble performance should drag down its mark in sound out of a 9 and more like into a low 8. I'm sorry if me, a beginner, seems to be criticizing you, someone with much more experience, but this is my honest opinion
I've said it before, Joker seems able to set aside a sonic bias better than most.
From a couple of pages ago -
This is not the first time Joker has rated an IEM he does not personally like higher (UM3X, SM3 are examples). I'd think treble would be just one of the parameters based on which he evaluates and assigns the final SQ score, but the weight is definitely not loaded in favor of treble to drag down SE530.
@Aflac
My main problem with the SE530 was the REALLY rolled off treble. Perhaps I was A/B'ing with a RE0 and IE8, but call me an average listener, but the SE530 sounds unimpressive, and even low end, due to the severely rolled off treble.
Despite my dislike of the treble, I found the midrange to be amazing and the bass to be a bit bass heavy (which I like)
I'm not bashing the SE530, it does many things well, such as midrange, fit, isolation, build quality, and bass, but the rolled off treble just wasn't my cup of tea.
@Aflac
My main problem with the SE530 was the REALLY rolled off treble. Perhaps I was A/B'ing with a RE0 and IE8, but call me an average listener, but the SE530 sounds unimpressive, and even low end, due to the severely rolled off treble.
Despite my dislike of the treble, I found the midrange to be amazing and the bass to be a bit bass heavy (which I like)
I'm not bashing the SE530, it does many things well, such as midrange, fit, isolation, build quality, and bass, but the rolled off treble just wasn't my cup of tea.
I realize treble is just one component of sound, but I believe an earphone that can score >9 should do nothing bad. The treble on the SE530 are, well, bad. Also, I've never read such a critical review for an earphone getting >9
I personally have heard of the SE530, and I agree with most of what you say. But I am perplexed by the rating system after this review. Despite the SE530 "failed to impress" and the entire review being quite critical of the SE530, it still scored a 9.2/10 for sound, which in my opinion is far too high based on your review and my own impressions. Even though the midrange was wonderful, the, and IMHO, dreadful treble performance should drag down its mark in sound out of a 9 and more like into a low 8. I'm sorry if me, a beginner, seems to be criticizing you, someone with much more experience, but this is my honest opinion
I have a question. How does the GR07, a 9.4, compare to the 9.2 SE530? I originally wanted to buy a DBA-02 because it has even better clarity than the RE0 with more bass, but I ultimately cancelled due to customer service and build quality issues and bought a GR07 based on the great reviews and good build quality. I know the GR07 is a smoother phone, not as trebly and analytical, but if the GR07 sounds anywhere near like a SE530 in treble, I have to cancel my order.
I think I am an analytical listener, because I like a trebly sound, but I also like bass. I can't hear difference between the level of detail between two phones. I had a Shure E2c before the RE0, and I thought the RE0 was just a much more trebly phone than the E2c. As much as I love the RE0, the lack of bass and the thin sound makes me want to upgrade. The IE8 is probably my favorite IEM due to the V shaped sound. If I had $300, I'd just buy a CK10 and be done with it, but unfortunately $180 is already pushing it.
Originally Posted by chengbin /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'm not bashing the SE530, it does many things well, such as midrange, fit, isolation, build quality, and bass, but the rolled off treble just wasn't my cup of tea.
This thread is an excellent read to catch up on as always, a shame joker gave the 1964-T a 10/10 on sound quality though, Lol.
Is it safe to say it doesn't have the unique strengths of some other IEM's? I mean for example, he says the Yuin OK1 has a nudity in the vocal presentation, ck10 forgiving of low quality source material, excellent high-end sparkle, etc.? I mean with 9.X/10 scores on every universal, and a sudden 10/10 score on the custom, I get this dissapointing feeling "custom > universal", Lol, is that the case?
Also, a quick check on 1964's website, and the frequency graph on the 1964-D seems to have better high end extension than the 1964-T, however they both lack the 10kHz clarity spike present in many other headphones and IEM's like the CK10 and W4... just my initial thoughts. =)
As you pointed out, the review does point out it's defects. But, there's always the question of benchmarks. An IEM can be "bad" compared to those which are higher up the SQ score, but can still be better than those which have lesser SQ score. IMO, Joker had to put an older SE530 in it's place among the current crop of top-tiers and that's not possible without describing the flaws. At the same time, knowing that he's trying to be as objective as he can be, SE530 should have bettered the other IEMs on few other parameters to earn that 9.2 score. If he had to bring personal preferences into the SQ score, I am sure SE53X would have scored lesser.