bl1ndmanonac1d
New Head-Fier
For some reason ALL over-ear headphones sound "dark" to me unless I use my jaw to "open" my ear canals more, no kidding - so that restricts me to IEMs, where I seem to always get the full sound. I'm gutted, because I love certain technicalities from over-ear, but my unique issue cripples their capabilities, I'm not hearing them how they should be.
Hah, never heard about that before. Is it related to what happens when you yawn? I can pull on some jaw muscles that are the same ones that triggers when I yawn that (I think) equalizes the pressure in the ear or something, it causes some light popping in both ears.
Have you tried Beyerdynamics over ears? They're known to have a slight peak in the highs that put some people off but some people love it.
So far in IEMs I've got:
Tin T2 (with comply tips): great clarity + detail, not very comfortable, bad isolation, good imaging + soundstage, analytical not so much fun. I like them for classical music mostly.
Shure SE215: Slightly veiled, Amazing(!) isolation, I wish all IEMs had this isolation, very comfortable, ok imaging + small soundstage. I can listen to all kinds of music on these.
SoundMAGIC E10: Fun sounding, great for EDM. Ok detail. I put them in my pockets and don't worry if I loose them. I still need to find some tips that make a good fit for my ears.
The isolation of the Shures is something I really love so I might save up for one of their more expensive models like the SE535 to get more detail and clarity. It's also that the SE215s don't sound very exiting to me, like they don't engage me that much. The E10s actually to that, specifically with EDM, they're fun and I crank them up loud and rock out. The Tin T2s are not fun AT ALL to me, very neutral, I guess the SE 215s are in the middle there somewhere. IDK if I can have it all in one pair - exciting fun, clarity, detail, soundstage and top isolation... I'm hearing some good things about the IBASSO IT00 and also some more expensive ones like Mangird Tea and Audiosense T800. I never tried the Etymotic deep insertion plugs but it doesn't sound too comfy.
Would love to hear the impressions from someone who's only using IEMs