[dweaver]

I agree both fit and tuning is awesome.

 

[razzer001]

Yep love the shape and comfort but I miss the metal case like that of the Jive, M100 etc.

 
Oh we love to work with metal, but metal has its limits, especially the way we craft them. The Jive, M100 and pretty much all the metal housings we use come off semi-automatic CNC lathe machines, with the organic shape of the B series housing it would not be possible to make it on the CNC lathe machines we currently use and to try and make them on a higher axis machine would just be way too expensive. We did first look into metal injection molds, but this too has its limit and really would not be suitable to the shape we wanted, we would have needed to modify the shape, which would have not made it as ergonomic and as comfortable. In the end plastic just made more sense, i totally agree metal gives a better sense of value, but again, this time we really were going for ergonomic and comfort over anything else in respective of the design.
 
Now saying this, we are working on making our flagship model out of ceramic so that we can keep with an organic shape for ergonomic comfort while making the housing look very slick and high end.

 

[nmatheis]

No need for metal. My only suggestion would be to round off edges by the strain relief. That would make these more comfortable if you lay on your side.

 

[crabdog]

Oh we love to work with metal, but metal has its limits, especially the way we craft them. The Jive, M100 and pretty much all the metal housings we use come off semi-automatic CNC lathe machines, with the organic shape of the B series housing it would not be possible to make it on the CNC lathe machines we currently use and to try and make them on a higher axis machine would just be way too expensive. We did first look into metal injection molds, but this too has its limit and really would not be suitable to the shape we wanted, we would have needed to modify the shape, which would have not made it as ergonomic and as comfortable. In the end plastic just made more sense, i totally agree metal gives a better sense of value, but again, this time we really were going for ergonomic and comfort over anything else in respective of the design.

Now saying this, we are working on making our flagship model out of ceramic so that we can keep with an organic shape for ergonomic comfort while making the housing look very slick and high end.

Thanks for the explanation, that makes perfect sense. I like the look and feel of ceramics too but it seems often it doesn't allow any resonance and the bass in ceramic iems has an unnaturally short decay. I could be wrong as I only own a few of them but regardless I trust Brainwavz to make great sounding products so I'm sure it will be fine.

Cheers

 

[rids57]

Got a pair of the B100's in the mail today and I think my Fidue A73s and MA750s are relegated to the drawer. I can't get over how good the imaging is and also very surprised by the bass, these things dig really deep. Amazing value, it's hard to believe that these were only £50.

 

[B9Scrambler]

@rids57 They are really good aren't they? Brainwavz seriously nailed it with the B100. 

 

[thingol]

I just received the samples from the B100, B150 and the M100 but didn't have the chance to check them out yet - but I've used an MA750i for a pretty while and the fact that b100 could beat it is very intresting. can't wait for monday to test them - you made me more curious  then before

 

[razzer001]

  @rids57 They are really good aren't they? Brainwavz seriously nailed it with the B100. 

 
Thank ya, i'll pass the compliment on to the team.

 

[nmatheis]

If you guys like B100, you should hear B200. B100 is a great entry-level single-BA IEM, on the warm side but with an upper mid bump and smooth treble. B200 is a very nice step up, with less prominent upper mids and yet a nice increase in detail retrieval and improved spacial cues without becoming bright or hot. In other words, B200 has a more refined character. Nice job on B200 Brainwavz!

 

[IMoARP]

Hello head-fi'ers!
I've just registered after having read a lot in this forum over the last years, while my interest in headphones and IEMs grew steadily and I can frankly state that I've got infected by the hifi virus after all.

The impressions and reviews of the B100 / B150 made me very curious about them and I wondered if someone had a chance to compare these to the Brainwavz M3 (HiFiChris? You reviewed the M3 some time ago)? I'm using the latter for more than a year now and like their sound signature, but sometimes miss some warmth, especially when I'm out and about. Could the B100/150 be an appropriate successor?

If you guys like B100, you should hear B200. B100 is a great entry-level single-BA IEM, on the warm side but with an upper mid bump and smooth treble. B200 is a very nice step up, with less prominent upper mids and yet a nice increase in detail retrieval and improved spacial cues without becoming bright or hot. In other words, B200 has a more refined character. Nice job on B200 Brainwavz!

Is there any update on when the B200 will be available in Europe (Germany) and the pricing? And what about some impressions of these IEs?

Thanks and cheers!

 

[nmatheis]

Is there any update on when the B200 will be available in Europe (Germany) and the pricing? And what about some impressions of these IEs?

Thanks and cheers!

 

 
In this video, I unbox the Brainwavz B100 and B200 IEM, show you their construction, and give an overview of how they sound to my ears.
 
In general, they share a similar sound signature, which is on the warm/smooth side. The B100 have increased upper mid presence, while the B200 have a slight upper mid dip. This makes female vocals more prominent and gives guitars more bite with B100, whereas B200 sounds more refined and tonally correct to my ears.        
 
I recommend both of these. The B100 are an excellent value at $60, a good entry point for people who are interested in trying out BA IEM. I'd probably give them a 4.5/5 star rating on the headfi review scale because of their excellent bang for your buck value. 
 
The B200 have some characteristics of much higher-priced multi-BA IEM I've heard, specifically their sense of refinement. They're the IEM I've been choosing to spend more time with out of the two. They're not released yet, but I'm guessing they'll be around the $200 price point. They sound good for that price, but I'd like to see a bit of differentiation in the shell design. I'd probaby give the B200 a 4/5 star rating, maybe 4.5/5 depending on my mood. 
 
Overall though, these are two very good releases from Brainwavz. Thanks to Pandora for giving me the chance to listen to test them out and provide my opinion on them to the community!
 
Thanks for watching, and until next time... Happy Listening!!!
 
 
EDIT: Here are links to posts in @crinacle's IEM measurement thread where I measured B100 (LINK) and B200 (LINK).

 

[IMoARP]

Thanks for sharing your comprehensive and informative video review! This makes me even more interested in the B100 but also the B200.
 
The latter is also because of your measurements of these IEMs and especially the comparison between the B200 and the HEM4 which I happened to test for a few weeks not so long ago. I overall liked the HEM4’s neutrality and clarity but was missing some warmth and “body” when I was on my commute (by train) and therefore I decided not to keep them.
 
Would you say the B200 are more on the warm side compared to the HEM4 and that the former would be able to deliver the fuller sound I was missing with the HEM4?

 

[HiFiChris]

The impressions and reviews of the B100 / B150 made me very curious about them and I wondered if someone had a chance to compare these to the Brainwavz M3 (@HiFiChris? You reviewed the M3 some time ago)? I'm using the latter for more than a year now and like their sound signature, but sometimes miss some warmth, especially when I'm out and about. Could the B100/150 be an appropriate successor?

 
Sorry for the slightly late reply, as I wasn't really on my full computer setup these days and didn't want to use my Nexus 7's on-screen keyboard and didn't want to connect one of my external keyboards to it due to the small screen (I still miss my BlackBerry's physical keyboard for typing when out and about - I even once wrote a bit less than one half of a review on it).

Anyway, back to your question: depending on your ear anatomy (due to the inner-facing vents that directly affect bass quantity), the amount of (sub-) bass elevation you get from your M3 might vary from quite little (~ 3 dB) to a bit more than moderate quantity (~ 8+ dB). Even if the vents were fully covered, the elevation would mainly take place in the sub-bass with lesser quantity in the midbass, upper bass and fundamental range/root.

Let's assume your ears (almost) fully cover your M3's vents, resulting in (almost) the most sub-bass quantity you could get from the M3: the B100 will noticeably focus more on the upper bass (centered around 100 Hz) and fundamental range (from that on up to ~ 500 Hz), so you would get more warmth with really low vocals, along with a more present kick in the bass. However, the B100 does also lose some quantity towards the sub-bass (making it more comparable with the Westone W4/R/40's bass response with a little bit less warmth and thickness), so you might probably miss a little of the M3's nicely integrated sub-bass.

Moving on to the midrange, the M3 will be a little more forward here.
In the lower and middle treble (according to fairaudio's definition that I think is the best/most detailed (http://www.fairaudio.de/hifi-lexikon-begriffe/frequenzbereiche-bass-mitten-hochton-grundton.html)), the M3 will have more of a "relaxation-dip" between ~ 2.5 and ~ 5 kHz, and the stronger and steeper accentuation around 8 kHz. So the B100 will be less "sharp" around 8 kHz, without subduing this area, and a bit more direct in the middle treble without accentuating it either.

Extension in the super treble above 10 kHz is somewhat better on the B100's side.

In terms of detail retrieval, I definitely see the B100 above the M3 - I really like the M3 for its tuning, soundstage depth and price, however don't find it perfect (put pretty much no headphone is perfect, is it?). The B100 will get you the quicker and better controlled as well as tighter bass response, along with a bit more definition and subtle separation in the treble. The M3 already is quite good in terms of speech intelligibility and midrange details, and I wouldn't dare to compare both here at this stage without doing more and longer comparisons between the two.

When it comes to soundstage, the M3's will give you the deeper sense of space (at least to my ears), while width is about comparable. Separation is a bit better on the B100's side.

It will probably not surprise you by much, but the B100's isolation is superior.

What I really like about the new B series is that the cable has been improved by quite a bit and is less springy. Ergonomics are more consumer-friendly as well (although I never had any issues with any Brainwavz in-ears that I bought or got in for review, except for the XF200).


///PS: All impressions above are based on listening and measurements with (the included) single-flange silicone tips. Impressions and comparisons might vary if you are using foam tips (or aftermarket-ones).

- - - - - - - -

Sans the sub-bass, the B100 might really be what you are looking for. If you'd like to retain the (slightly to more strongly) elevated sub-bass, there really won't be that many alternatives (at least not many that I can think of right now) if you don't want to go higher in price than the B200 without letting go the tonal balance in the midrange and treble. And most, if not all of the alternatives I have in mind, would have to be imported.


Just a quick brainstorming:

Audio Technica ATH-IM03? Could be, however chances that it won't fit well aren't little at all and it's not directly available in the EU.
FLC Technology FLC8S? Yep, but not too many EU-based shops carry it if I'm not mistaking.
iBasso IT03? Might fit with the stock wide-bore silicone tips, but you might get a slightly colder/leaner/brighter upper midrange, and the number of distributors that carry it are limited as well.
DUNU Titan 5? Too cold in the treble to fit the description.
Custom Art Ei.3? Might indeed fit well to the sound you are looking for.
Echobox Finder X1? Definitely too v-shaped and not carried by any EU-distributor at the moment if I see it correctly.

 

[IMoARP]

@HiFiChris
 
Many thanks for your detailed and in-depth comparison between the B100 and M3, very much appreciated! I guess, it's also interesting and helpful for others here and not just for me!
 
I'll give the B100 a try but will also keep an eye on the B200 and when they are available I will check them out as well.
 
Thanks again and

 

[nmatheis]

Thanks for sharing your comprehensive and informative video review! This makes me even more interested in the B100 but also the B200.

The latter is also because of your measurements of these IEMs and especially the comparison between the B200 and the HEM4 which I happened to test for a few weeks not so long ago. I overall liked the HEM4’s neutrality and clarity but was missing some warmth and “body” when I was on my commute (by train) and therefore I decided not to keep them.

Would you say the B200 are more on the warm side compared to the HEM4 and that the former would be able to deliver the fuller sound I was missing with the HEM4?

I'm glad it was helpful. I also thought HEM4 was lacking warmth, which made it my least favorite of the HEM IEM. I'd definitely say B200 will give you a fuller sound. Another IEM to consider is HEM2. That's a nice full sounding BA IEM. I could PM you comparative FR curves for those of you're interested. Just ping me via PM if you want those.